Zukile Majova
I am one of those people with a deep appreciation for celebrating the moment and a life lived to the full.
So you can imagine what a great weekend I had witnessing the burial of an 81-year-old former South African Ambassador to Iran, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.
Jeremiah Mkhando Mgqibi was buried on Saturday at his home in Dangwana village in Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape.
Meanwhile, on the same day, up the road from my village of Umvuzi in KwaBhaca, dozens gathered for the centennial birthday celebration of Mama Matshezi Constance Nongindzi at her home in Mawusheni village.
But first let me tell you about Mr Mgqibi, the ANC gallant who served at the very top level of his organisation.
Upon his death, ordinary people dug his grave and ordinary folks carried his coffin to his final resting place.
This I figured was quite fitting for a man who travelled the world but remained a pillar of his community. To this day the community continues to enjoy the fruits of his labour as the founder of eMantusini Dairy Project in Port St Johns.
As a businessman he was also a member of Nafcoc, a former mayor of Port St Johns and his obituary said proudly that he was a member of the ANC in good standing.
I expected ANC bigwigs to show up for the burial of a former ambassador. They didn’t.
Such a poor appreciation for life.
On the same day the Nongindzi family and the people of Mawusheni Administrative Area in Kwa-Bhaca danced late into the night celebrating Mama Matshezi’s 100th birthday.
She was born on 12 February 1922, in the area which was then called Kwa-Nongindzi, before a forced relocation to Mawusheni in the early 1960s.
Rev. Dingiswayo said the entire village was out to celebrate her life because for many years she was a mother to many children in the community – giving true meaning to the African saying that “it takes a community to raise a child”.
Mama Matshezi said: “I have never before had a birthday or cake on my day of birth, I am happy with this idea in my lifetime, to have a cake is a big thing.”
