MBOMBELA – This year will mark the first time Mandela day has been celebrated without the liberation struggle icon. It is the fifth year since the United Nations in 2009 declared July 18, the former president’s birthday, an international day aimed at “bringing people together to fight poverty and promote peace and reconciliation.
One of Mandela’s remarkable quotes on education goes, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, and it is for this reason that 94-year-old teacher, possibly the oldest teacher in South Africa, Gogo Nontsikelelo Qwelane, who hails from the Eastern Cape, has spent most of her years educating the nation.
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 is troubled by the fact that the youth of today are not interested in acquiring education in order to secure a better future.
