Oldest teacher remembers Madiba
She spoke highly of the former first black president of the country whom she says gave women an opportunity to study.
Celebrated anti-apartheid icon, Dr Nelson Mandela’s life is celebrated by the elderly, literate and illiterate.
93-year-old teacher, possibly the oldest teacher in South Africa, Gogo Nontsikelelo Qwelane, who hails from the Eastern Cape, claims to know ‘Tata’ (as he is passionately known by the country’s patriots) on a personal level, but she thinks he would not remember her.
She spoke highly of the former first black president of the country whom she says gave women an opportunity to study.
“Mandela was the only man who gave us hope and because of him, we as African females were allowed to get educated,” she reminisces.
The teacher’s fondest memory about him are the words he said regarding education during his speech when he had just been released from prison. “I remember him saying that young people should get education so that they can know what to say and how to say it. I wish the so called born-frees would have been there and taken his wise words to heart because we are sitting with a huge problem of the youth that is not interested in studying,” she said.
Gogo Qwelane, who has been teaching since 1940, said that she remembers going to the offices where Madiba and the late Mr Walter Sisulu were working as lawyers in the Eastern Cape, looking for a job. That day she could only speak to Sisulu as Mandela was busy packing their stuff inside boxes.
She said all Sisulu said to her was: ” It’s not safe here, we are going.”
“I did not understand what he meant and later I heard that they had been arrested,” said Qwelane who also said that the country would not have improved the way it has, had it not been for Mandela’s sacrifice.
“I’m grateful for what he did, but it troubles me that he had to sacrifice his health and life for the nation and now it seems as if people have forgotten that. He had been so frail for a long time now and look at me, still going strong and I’m only two years younger than him,” she said.
She wishes that as a way of celebrating Madiba’s life and sacrifice, people should continue to strive to get quality education.
For 84-year-old Gogo Dorah Mnisi from Bushbuckridge, seeing Mandela for the first time when he visited the area before the first democratic elections in 1994, was a dream come true.
“It was the first time for me to see a helicopter land on our land. We were so excited and we ran to the stadium to meet him,” she said.
She also said that the international icon changed things around for the black rural communities as they experienced voting for the first time. “We were taught how to make a cross and I remember looking for Mandela’s picture on the ballot paper when I was supposed to look for a spear and arrow. He was our hero back then and we will regard him as one forever.”
Mnisi will always adore South Africa’s first black president for his dignified dance compared to “Mshini Wam” which she says doesn’t complement the peace and forgiveness that Mandela fought so hard for.
