Sharing a birthday with Madiba
2009-07-23
HER handshake is still firm and her face lights up as she reminds her visitors that not only does she share the same birthday with Madiba, but she’s also the same age. Mama Nontozanele Gladys Magowa (Semelene), quickly shows us to take a seat in her modest home in Phola Park, Mbekweni, where she lives with her son and daughter. She’s excited and loves every birthday “only because its on the same day as our Nelson Mandela” she exclaimed. Mama Nontozanele was born on 18 July 1918 in a small town, Bongweni in Cradock. She never went to school and has been a domestic worker since a very young age. In 1949 she married Archibald Magowa and they moved to Paarl for a better life. They set up home in Klippiesdal - now known as Onder-Rug in Paarl East - and had five children. She worked at Jones canning factory which was later bought over by Langeberg. In 1960, her husband passed away. She continued working and together with the late Rocky Mafikeng and Nana Abrahams, fought for workers’ rights. Soon after her husband’s death, the family was forced to move from their home to Mbekweni, but no house was allocated to her, because she did not have a husband. “It was a very tough and trying time. We had no place to live and had to move in with friends and family. My children and I had to sleep on the kitchen floor and had to get up at four o’clock every morning,” she recalled. She clearly remembers the call in 1960 to burn all the passes - the permit black people had to carry with them at all times, which indicated whether they were “legally” in a specific town. “I burnt my dompass, but fortunately I was never arrested by the police. We always had to look out for safer routes to take to work, home and to do our shopping,” she said. According to Nontozanele’s daughter, Elizabeth Magowa, her mother at 91 is always busy. “She still loves to cook and clean the house. She gets up at five o’clock most mornings and starts working. She loves watching television and her favourite programme is Generations.” Apart from an eye ailment, she is still healthy and only complains of pains in her legs which prevent her from attending church. Asked what she would still like to do, she says, “Since 1994 I’m much happier and life is also much better now.”
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