Page 42 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

Access to Justice
qunu
ADVICE OFFICE
Qunu is a small rural village in the eastern cape, 32km south west of Mthatha. It is most known as the place former president Mr Rholihlahla Dalibhunga Nelson Mandela called home. The young Mandela grew up in Qunu after his father was deposed as the chief of the nearby village of Mvezo. After his retirement, Mandela returned to Qunu and it where he was laid to rest after he passed away in 2013.1 In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela describes Qunu as the place where he spent the happiest moments of his childhood, where nature was his playground. Mandela wrote that the hills above Qunu “were dotted with large smooth rocks which we transformed into our own rollercoaster. We sat on flat stones and slid down the face of the rocks. We did this until our backsides were so sore we could hardly sit down.”2
While Qunu has benefitted from the world status of its most famous son with the development of the Nelson Mandela Museum, some paved roads and tourism related jobs, most of the people live on social grants and subsistence farming. The population size of Qunu according to the 2001 census is just over 200, most speaking isiXhosa. since Mandela’s passing residents of Qunu say their living conditions have worsened with poverty and crime escalating.3
The Qunu Advice Office was set up to address these social problems. The office is situated opposite the home of Mandela. currently the organisation champions child birth certificate registration in partnership with UCT’s Child Institute. The organisation also deals with, maintenance cases, consumer issues, labour related cases and they encourage and educate rural women to report domestic abuse and unfair treatment, providing counselling to those affected.
1. Brockes,Emma; Smith, D. (2013). Qunu: the place where Nelson Mandela was at home | World news | The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2019, from The Guardian website: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/06/qunu-nelson-mandela-home
2. Mandela, Nelson, 1918-2013. Long Walk to Freedom. New York :Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press, 2009.
3. sABconline. (2019). Qunu residents lament living condition since Madiba’s passing - sABc News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all south African current events. Africa’s news leader. Retrieved september 26, 2019, from sABcnews website: http://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/qunu-residents-lament-living-condition-since-
madibas-passing/
FAst FACTS
NaMe: Qunu Advice Office
LeD By: Philiswa Gwazela
MaiN cHaLLeNGes faceD By tHe coMMuNity: crime, gender-based violence, poverty
MaiN actiVities: Paralegal support; gender equality; community development aDDress: Qunu community Health care centre, Qunu
coNtact: 078 211 3171
email: pgwazela@yahoo.com
40