Voters honoured to follow in Madiba’s footsteps
|Published
Durban — Voters who were the first to exercise their democratic rights on Wednesday at John Langalibalele Dube’s Ohlange High School in Inanda, north of Durban, said they were excited about voting where the first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela voted in 1994.
Early bird Nkosinathi Dlamini was first to vote on Wednesday at the historical school founded by Dube, the first president of the ANC, and his wife Nokutela Mdima in 1901.
Dlamini said he witnessed Mandela voting in the first democratic election in 1994.
“When Mandela voted in my presence, I felt so happy because I fought and struggled for his release from prison.
“That event convinced me that our lives were going to change for the better and indeed things changed for the better,” he said.
He said the administration of the Mandela-led ANC introduced free education.
“Many of the roads, which were in a bad state in Inanda, were improved,” he said.
The station at the historic high school in the overcrowded, poverty-stricken township had 1 706 registered voters. At 6am, Dlamini was first in the long queue of people waiting to exercise their democratic rights despite the ice-cold morning breeze.
On Tuesday, Dlamini, 61, went to sleep early with his ID next to his bed as he prepared to wake up at 5am to walk to the station to express his wishes.
In 1994, Dlamini voted with Mandela at the school built by Dube and Mdima in 1901. They also co-founded the Ilanga lase Natal newspaper.
In the same queue was Dube’s great-grandson Sipho Dube, who was third to make his mark. He was proud that the country’s first non-racial state president voted in the school built by his ancestors.
“The school produced lots of alumnus, including former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka,” said Dube.
According to the Ohlange High School Alumni Association (OHSAA) chairperson Zandile Mkhize, other prominent graduates from the school included Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza, former KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Justice Thabani Jali and former Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe.
“Mafukuzela (John Langalibalele Dube) built this place from the ground and he was the pillar of this village as he was working on rescuing the locals from poverty. There were many children of this area who went through this school to become successful despite apartheid laws,” he said.
He said every February the Dube family members met to discuss the affairs of the school.
Dube said despite poverty, the community of Inanda had been able to pull together to fight against crime which had been prevalent in the village for many years.
Mkhize said Mandela voted at the school as part of his reporting to the ANC co-founder, whose grave and museum are on the premises, that the struggle against the racist apartheid system had been won.
The school buildings, including the pupils’ living quarters, looked old and Mkhize said the institution was under renovation.
“The renovation has already started, then this is going to move to the dormitories. This took almost 16 years to be implemented and we are happy about it,” said Mkhize.
He said Ohlange started as a private school providing quality education to black children from all over the country.
“Since we started as alumni four years ago, we have realised that Ohlange is accommodating children from the poorest families, which is why every beginning of the year our Gogo MaKhumalo project, which is named after Mafukuzela’s last wife, provides children with school uniforms.
“This year we donated full uniforms from shoe to jersey to 200 children and some of the children cried after receiving uniforms saying it was the first time he/she received a brand new school uniform.
“Every year the top three performing matric pupils receive funds (from the OHSAA). Number one received R12 000, number two R10 000 and number three R8 000 and for the three years we have been doing this, all children who received this money say they spent it to register at universities because NSFAS does not pay for registration,” said Mkhize.
Talking about his years as a pupil at the school, Mkhize said that after finishing at the school, Mlambo-Ngcuka came back to “teach me English and later also taught history”.
“She has been a student and teacher at Ohlange, and Thoko Didiza and Judge Hlophe were seniors to me,” he said.
Mkhize said when Mlambo-Ngcuka was teaching history, she brought playwright Mbongeni Ngema’s Asinamali play to the school despite it being banned by the apartheid government.
“When I see the role played by Whoopi Goldberg in Sarafina, I see Phumzile because while teaching, she (Mlambo-Ngcuka) would say ‘let’s put aside the books so that I can tell you about our history’,” said Mkhize.
Independent on Saturday