Page 33 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

THANKs TO scAT,
We Have oUR dignitY
Puseletso Hanisi (left) and Bellina Mtoto (right). Siyanakekela Community Development.
SEKUMPANA MSHENGU SHABALALA DREAMED OF BECOMING A LAWYER BUT COULD NOT AFFORD TO STUDY. HIS WORK AS A COORDINATOR AT SIYANAKEKALA HAS HELPED HIM ACHIEVE HIS DREAM BY BEING AN ADVOCATE FOR jUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS, HIVAIDS AND EMPLOYEE RIGHTS.
I was born in a village called Khubetsoana, in Matatiele town. The name Matatiele is from “Matata a ile”. It became Matatiele after white people could not say “Matata a ile” then said Matatiele.
After I passed my standard 10 (grade 12), I could not further my studies because my parents could not afford to pay for my fees. My whole family was dependent on my father as he was the only one working. My mother stayed at home to look after my five siblings and I. I had dreamed of becoming a lawyer when I started working.
Because I could not afford to study law, I ended up working as a clerk at a company called Foreign Works. It was while working there that I started to fight for workers’ rights. I saw that employees did not know where to go to ask for solutions. Before I went to work at Foreigns, I was one of the people who volunteered at the Matatiele Advice centre. When there was a post available at Matatiele Advice centre, I stopped working at Foreigns, and came back home to help my community.
What attracted me to this job at the advice centre was that I could educate my community about justice, human rights, HIVAIDs and employee rights. After 14 years working at the Matatiele Advice centre, I became the spokesperson of siyanakekela community Development (scD). I became a coordinator from 2015 up to now. scD has the following programmes:
1. HiV/aiDs – awareness and home based care
We do awareness of this virus and have volunteers or caregivers who visit sick people at their houses, help them clean their laundry and keep the house clean. Most importantly caregivers check if patients take their medication regularly and fetch medication from clinics for those who are unable to do so for themselves.
sekuMpAnA MshenGu shAbAlAlA
RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years
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