Class of ’76 cleans up for Mandela Day

Duduza – The Duduza Class of 1976 visited their alma mater, Esibonelwesihle High School, for Mandela Day, where they spent the day cleaning.

Member of the Class of ’76 Popla Khoza says it was a rewarding experience to go back to their school on Mandela Day.

“It was important for us to spend this day at our former school where we were final-year learners and where we took part in the fight against apartheid, which resulted in the death of one our friends, Bafana,” he says.

According to him, the highlight of the day was the arrival of former teacher Saki Mogotu.

“It was lovely seeing Mr Mogotu, a long-time teacher at the school who helped us with the cleaning.

“He is very important to us as he not only taught us, but our parents and children too,” he adds.

Also read: Duduza Class of 1976 reunion

Khoza says the group approached the school to offer their time to do whatever the school needed.

“We approached the school and told them that we want to spend the day there and they asked us to clean classrooms and remove a tree which had fallen over,” he says.

According to Khoza, the day was a success as they cleaned five classrooms and invited community members to collect firewood from the fallen tree.

“We could only clean five classrooms and the library as it was a normal school day and the learners were using some of the classrooms,” he explains.

He also says that because it was a school day, they could not spend time with the learners.

“We wanted to teach the learners about our history at the school and our contribution to the fight against apartheid, but there was no time for that as the learners were in class,” he says.

Khoza says it is important for them to participate in Mandela Day activities because to them Mandela is a symbol of the victory against apartheid.

The group says they want to do more for the school and have approached it to offer any kind of help they might need in the future.