Temba Black History Month:
It was whilst interviewing Florence Mahlare at her home in Manyeleti, Temba (Hammanskraal) about her late mother, Nurse Kwena Gweneth Mahlare (29 September 1935 – 27 April 2017) that my mind was distracted to Florence`s 18 years old daughter, Kea Mahlare who was busy with her studies. And I asked with a deep sense of invasive inquisitiveness what Kea was busy with in her her life. “She is doing her matric at Prestige College and her career plan is to study medicine at the University of Pretoria in 2020,” said her monther. And when I was about to leave, I said to Kea: “Please invite me for your graduation ceremony as a professional medical doctor in 2026”.
Married to a former Principal who passed away in the 1990`s, she had sired a son Mpho Gift Makhanda Mahlare (I wonder why he is called “Gunman”) who is a professional electrical engineer and a daughter to Florence Mahlare who has followed in the footsteps to become a practicing nurse at the Jubilee Hospital in Temba, where her mother was a nurse from 1956 until her retirement in 1980.
And now Kea Mahlare is preparing to “raise the bar” and become “Dr” Kea Mahlare in 2026 when she successfully completes her medical studies at the University of Pretoria Medical School attached to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in the City of Tshwane.
Nurse Kwena Gweneth Mahlare was the first nurse at Pankop Clinic north of Hammanskraal after completion of her Nursing Course at Elim Hospital in Elim, Limpopo. She obtained a Certificate in Midwifery at Bridgman Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg after which she was employed at Orlando Clinic in Soweto until 1963.
It was during her stint at Orlando Clinic in Soweto that she inducted and mentored Evelyn Mase who was the first wife of Nelson Mandela. She also obtained a Diploma in Nursing Administration, Community Nursing and Clinical Care Administration and Instruction at the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA).
In 1963 she was employed as one of the black nurses to practice at Jubilee Mission Hospital in Temba until her retirement 2000. Nurse Mahlare was also a renowned community nurse. It was during her funeral on 6 May 2017 that one of the community members Mrs. Moraka – of the PHL Moraka family – attested to how Ma-Matlhare was the family midwife to all her children including one of her sons who was so big at birth that Ma-Matlhare nick-named him “Two Boy”. With little health facilities during these early years, these astute midwives were often called to perform home-births at many homes in and around Temba.
It was out of this brief encounter with Kea Mahlare that I realized the inter-generational impact of the life journey of the late Mma-Mahlare, not only for her family but also for the Temba community during her illustrious 41 years career as one of the early nurses in the Temba Community