Page 88 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

Gender
FrOM MIner TO
CommUnity mediAtor
Computer centre run for youth in Mqanduli. Ezile Sahlulo the Computer Facilitator in a computer centre Clients in Mqanduli waiting in the Advice Office. run for youth in Mqanduli.
clArence Xiniwe
CLARENCE xINIWE WAS A MINER WHO jOINED THE NATIONAL UNION OF MINEWORKERS TO FIGHT AGAINST INHUMANE TREATMENT OF WORKERS IN THE MINES. HE RETURNED HOME TO HIS RURAL VILLAGE IN THE EASTERN CAPE TO USE THE SKILLS HE LEARNT IN THE MINES, TO CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH AN ADVICE OFFICE HE SET UP IN MQANDULI.
I am born to a royal family through my father who is a member of Amanqabe Clan. He is a member of the Amanqabe Traditional Council.
I left Mqanduli as a young man to work in the mines in rustenburg, in the former homeland of Bophuthatswana. The conditions were not good nor safe on the mines as rocks could fall at any time and your life could be endangered. We were crammed in the mine hostel, thirty men in the same room. Food that we were served was of poor quality. We were given amarhewu5 and some porridge which was not properly cooked. There was no meat or vegetables. Workers were not protected by labour laws and rights. You could be fired at the blink of an eye without a fair hearing. Our contracts did not allow us to go home without finishing the term of a contract even if you had problems at home. The Group Areas Act prevented women from visiting us.
These terrible conditions on the mine led me to join the national union of Mineworkers (NUM). We had to fight for better working conditions. In retaliation, the mine management dismissed all who were union members. It was this experience of injustice that made me realise I wanted to spend my life helping others.
There were many incidents of injustices such as ukuthwala6, a form of gender based violence using tradition as an excuse, that were taking place in Mqanduli. rural women
5. A drink made of thin, slightly fermented maize-meal porridge.
6. ukuthwala is a form of abduction that involves kidnapping a girl or a young woman by a man and his friends or peers with the
intention of compelling the girl or young woman’s family to agree to marriage (.Justice/resources/Publications/ukuthwala. (n.d.). retrieved October 3, 2019, from http://www.justice.gov.za/brochure/ukuthwala/ukuthwala.html)
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RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years