Black History Month Series:
They all had one thing in common, they were born during the second and third decade (1952 to 1972) after the founding of Temba in 1942 amidst the growing pains of the new community, and yet they are the generation of the Temba youth of yesteryear who were instrumental in defining the “age of hope and prosperity” for the Temba community.
Immersed in the value system and conservative structures of their parents who had been shaped by the education and scholarship of the early missionary education between the first half of the twentieth century (1900 to 1950), these generation of “early and late baby boomers”, consolidated the sense of community and purpose that formed the solid and cohesive socio-political structure of Temba as it has come to be known today.
More that any generation, the Temba youth of the 1960`s and 1970`s contributed immensely in the shaping of the collective memory and heritage of Temba and needs to be celebrated for their contribution towards the imaging of Temba as it has become today.
With the rapid development of the new schools in the community such as Kudube, Lefofa, Itireleleng, Legoso, Kgetsi-Ya-Tsie and Ratshepo, this generation “loved education”, and were guided by a rare crop of legendary principals and teachers who “took their jobs seriously” and were well respected by the community.
Some of these “old school” and yet principled principals included Principal Setshedi, Thobejane, Dammie, Lekgathe, Mohajane, Monnakgotla, Ramalepe, Ramasodi and Mogotsi, to name but a few, and they were instrumental in their stewardship towards the creation of a solid and structured school system that produced not only the best academics, but also a cohort of leaders in all spheres of life and community.
Back then, it really “took a village, to educate a child” because then parents, the church, the social workers, the business community and community leaders, collaborated towards the success of the learners and students. These selfless principals and teachers need to be celebrated and honored for their contribution in the shaping of the early years of the Temba community.
The schools and the church then, were the true centers of community that guided every child irrespective of class or creed, towards the achievement of their potential. The schools provided a structured extra-curricular program that produced some of the finest intellectuals, sportsmen and artists from this community.
Interred at Akasia Cemetery in Nina Park, Thomas “Who is Fooling Who” Hlongwane (1962-2006) from Temba (and a son of a food vendor), was once the most expensive player (at a price tag of R22,000) and a leading scorer in South Africa when he was bought by Moroka Swallows in 1982 from his Pretoria-based Arcadia Shepherds. In 1986 he won the PSL Golden Boots Award.
Buried in the bowels of the Temba Cemetery, the late Monageng Makou (1962-1980) (a son of a principal and a nurse), who was an alumnus of Lefofa Primary School and St Paul`s Catholic School, was an ANC political activist who was bombed to death on 4 June 1980 whilst in exile in Manzini, Swaziland.
Schooled with political education and black consciousness at the (now desecrated) St Peter`s Seminar (next to the Jubilee Hospital), he crossed and escaped into Lesotho after the 1976 Soweto Uprisings and the establishment of the repressive Bophuthatswana regime in 1977.
Sadly, some of them lost their lives in their prime years. On 2 July 1988, the Temba Community two law post-graduates Noko Mamarege (LLB) and Oupa Motaung (B. Proc) together with Mpolayeng Modise (B. Paed) who were tragically killed in a fatal car accident on their way to their graduation ceremony at the then University of the North in the Mankweng village in Polokwane. Like them, many other successful youths of the 70`s and 80`s lay interred in the Temba Cemetery with their disrupted talents that could have served the community.
The early seventies and eighties also saw the migration of the “university exempted matriculants” pursuing their college and university education in renowned black “bush” universities such as Turfloop, Ngoye, Fort Hare, and medical universities such as MEDUNSA and the University of Natal. Distinguished academics such as Dr Matata “Tito” Mokwele and Prof. Skepe Matjila (whose grandfather owned the first Temba Dry Cleaners) were produced through the local schooling system.
Amongst others, Dr Sinky Legodi (whose mother “Cousty” was a food vendor), went on to become one of the best medical doctors Temba Township had ever produced. Dr Jackie Mphafudi (whose dad was a principal and a successful business man), went on to become the youngest first black specialist Pediatricians in South Africa.
Considered to be one of the longest-serving Director-General (1996 to 2019, Vusi Madonsela is an alumnus of the University of Natal and a fellow of Oxford University in the United Kingdom. A qualified Attorney in Law and Solicitor, he received his ground root education from Kgetsi-ya-Tsie Secondary School and Ratshepo High School and went on to distinguish himself on the national and international stage including the UN Commission for Social Development, BRICS Project on Social Security and SA contact person for the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Often it does not serve a purpose to compare one generation from the other, but there is no doubt that Temba was a different and prosperous vibrant community between the 1960 and 1990, before the advent of democracy in 1994. It would seem that the effects of the apartheid system to disintegrate the black communities has led to “things “falling apart”, and that the solid and structure community of yesteryear have ruptured irretrievably …
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Things (have fallen) apart, the centre cannot hold.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed
And everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned
The best lack conviction whilst
The worst are full of passionate intensity
WB Yeats (1865-1939)
