I am Dudu Mavis Maponopono (Mahleza). I was born in 1971 in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. I am 35 years old.

I grew up in a small village called Izagwityi where I obtained my junior school education. My junior school was about 5kms from home. Every morning I walked to school with my friends. Before going to school we milked the cows, sheep and goats, which I enjoyed very much. Every Friday we took them to the dip before going to school, which I didn’t like because corporal punishment was the only punishment for being late at school – missing morning lessons. My high school, Zwelandile Senior Secondary School, was about 15 kms from home which meant waking up at 4.30 am to go to school every morning, raining or not, and I was at school every day.

My mother was a single parent who never worked. I grew up with my grandparents who had a piece of land to grow mielies. We were 16 grandchildren living under one roof and fed on mielies and sour milk. My mother sold uMqombothi (African beer), salt and paraffin to pay school fees for me and my brother, Fumanekile who wasn’t in good health at that time. We never knew what was wrong with him because my mother couldn’t afford to take him to the doctor. He was cured by traditional muti. We didn’t have a nearby clinic and also the hospital was very far from home. There were no taxis or busses at that time. We had to walk anywhere we were going.

Because my Dad was not married to my mother I wasn’t allowed to call him Dad because of tradition. Because my mother was not married to my father I wasn’t allowed to spend time with him. When I talk about my family I’m talking about my mother’s family. I never met my father’s family. I lived with my grandparents. I lived with my grandparents in a big rondavel with two single beds. The only furniture we had was a handmade cupboard where we kept our dishes and spoons. We had two benches made from mud. These benches were called osoze. Our floor was a mud floor. It was cleaned with cow dung mixed with water. That process was called ukusinda. The floor was swept using a broom made from grass. Our rondavel had two small windows. We didn’t have glass windows, we had wooden shutters and the house was very dark. Me and my 15 cousins slept on the floor without mattresses. We were rolling ourselves with blankets and found space anywhere on the floor to sleep. It was very cold in winter and we didn’t even have pyjamas or enough blankets. My grandfather would wake up in the middle of the night to make the fire to warm the house. I was not allowed to go and sleep with my mother because my father was only coming at night to visit her. She had a small thatched rondavel on the one side. My grandfather knew about my father but because of the tradition my father was not allowed to come during the day. My father was only coming at night and made sure that the dogs didn’t bark otherwise my grandfather would kill him thinking it was thieves coming to steal his livestock. My father would wake up as early as 4 am to leave before my grandfather woke up at 5 am.

Because we were a big family we were divided into groups of boys and girls. Boys would wake up on Saturday mornings to go and plough the mielie fields when the season came. Girls would go to the river to do the washing and fetch water. As children we were not allowed to drink tea because there wasn’t enough sugar. For making tea and cooking we made an open fire outside. We didn’t have any type of stove. We only bought paraffin lamps which were made from old tins and material. Those lamps were called ufinyafuthi. They were not so bright. It was difficult to see while they were on.

We were only allowed to go and play on Sunday afternoon after we came back from church. I liked Sunday afternoon very much because it was the only time we had fun with other children. We had to be back home at five o’clock so that we could go and fetch the sheep, goats and cattle. We counted them every evening. When one of them was missing my uncle would beat us naked, sometimes from a sleep. He woke us up in the middle of the night to beat us. My uncle would wake us up very early in the morning to go and look for the missing livestock.

Everyday we had samp and beans for dinner. Samp was hand made and beans were from the mielie fields. For making samp my grandfather would cut a tree trunk and dig a hole in the tree trunk, smooth the hole so that the samp didn’t come out dirty. To make it we would place mielies in the tree trunk, pour a bit of water and lift a heavy steel pole up and down in the tree trunk. This process was called ukungqusha. When done we would separate the pulp from the samp, wash it and cook it. When boiled a white juice would come out and it was used to feed the babies. Samp was served in big bowls. We didn’t have plates. We only ate meat on Christmas Day. When cooked it was placed in a big dish and given to my grandfather. He would eat as much as he liked and afterwards divide it between the rest of the family.

We rarely saw police vans. Problems were solved by the headman and his advisors. Police were called by the headman when necessary. There were no telephones. The headman would walk to town to call the police. When one needed a piece of land one needed a sheep to bribe the headman so that it could be approved. Even when we needed an ID we first went to the headman and if he didn’t like your family you would wait for months before he would take you to the Department of Home Affairs. Sometimes you had to bribe him to take you to Home Affairs. For my family it wasn’t difficult because my biological father was a member of the Tribal Authority. The community liked my father because he was a bit educated. They went to him for reading and writing letters. My father also gave English names to the new born children when asked to do so.

I passed Std 9 in 1986, but could not go any further. I always wanted to continue with my studies. I did my matric ten years later part-time in 1996 at the Vulingqondo adult centre. If I can manage to get any funding I would like to be a professional chef or an event organiser which I can do part-time.

Unfortunately, my mother’s selling wasn’t doing well because she didn’t have any formal business training. In 1987 I decided to come to Cape Town to find a job. I came to my late aunt (my father’s sister) who lived in Gugulethu. Unfortunately it was difficult to find a job because I didn’t have skills. In 1989 I met my late husband, Michael Maponopono. He was the only solution to my poverty because he was working. I was a second wife to him. He had three boys. In December 1990 he was retrenched by SAB. We had our first and second children Tshita in 1991 and Naledi in 1992 while we were both not working. Things were not going well. We had to feed five children on nothing. In 1993 my brother decided to take both my children until we found ourselves jobs. He looked well after them. The three boys went to my mother-in-law.

We were left looking for jobs and my late husband found a job working for a security company called Sea Link. In December 1996 I found a casual job as Zorba Steak House as a cleaner. That’s where I gained working experience. Towards the end of 1996 Michael was employed by the Independent Development Trust as a security guard where he worked with Dr Sholto Cross. In April 1997 I was employed by Dr Sholto Cross. That made a big difference because I had two permantent days a week. In 1998 I was employed by Mary Simons for a third day and in 1999 I was employed by Dr Michael and Ruth Rice as a domestic worker, then I started working five days a week.

The IDT retrenched my husband in December 1999. I was now the only one working. My son Tshita started school in 1997 and my daughter Naledi in 1998. When we started working we decided to fetch them from my brother’s and both children were with us. We also had two of my step-sons staying with us. Because Michael wasn’t skilled it was very difficult to find another job. Tshita and Naledi were doing very well at school. I always wanted the best education for them but couldn’t afford it.
In May 2004 my husband was shot in a cell phone robbery. He was hospitalised for six weeks, but couldn’t get better and died. Life was even tougher because he was not working and I had two children to look after.

I applied to several high schools including Westerford High for my son Tshita with the help of my employers. Westerford High accepted him and introduced us to Mr Richard Mason who interviewed him and gave him a bursary because I couldn’t afford to pay his school fees. Both my children are now at Westerford High. They both have never been so happy at school. Thank you Mr Richard Mason. I appreciate your help very much. I don’t know what I would do without your help. My children are going to do much better than I did.