Chapter 7 - Life Experience in the Rural Areas

I had a friend called Masali. She was very fond of me. We did a lot of things together. There was a game we enjoyed playing together. The game was called kgwele. The game was more like hockey. We played it in veld using round wood and a wooden stick.

Masali and I used to grind mealies on big rocks using small manageable rocks to grind with.  My hands used to get blisters initially, but I got used to it as time went on.  We also used wooden poles to grind mealies until finely ground into mealie meal. Picking wild fruits and vegetables was one of my favourite pastimes.

Our regular food was sour milk and porridge.  My mom used to send money so that my grandmother may buy this milk.  There was a farm nearby where this milk was sold. My brother used to go to buy from the farmer.

My grandmother was untidy; she would keep our food where cockroaches would get into our food. Before we ate, we had to first remove the cockroaches.

My grandparent's house was made up of...

To get more about the type of house they lived in; buy the book at: https://www.amazon.com/Memories-Life-Alexandra-Township-Know/dp/1483693805 (Amazon) or http://www.takealot.com/the-memories-of-my-life-in-alexandra-township-i-know/PLID36786983 (Takealot).

Rose and her paternal grandmother, Magdeline Rakoma, who used to be very strict.

Chapter 6 - Traditional Schooling

In 1955, my younger brother Johannes arrived from Alexandra to join us. He was only eight years old.  He arrived during winter. He had come to attend initiation school in the Lebopo or Lebombo Mountains.

While in initiation school, my brother got sick.  My maternal grandfather had to tell my parents, who were in Alexandra at the time, about my brother's condition.  Our tradition forbade us from visiting him.  My mom, worried, came to Pietersburg.

My paternal grandfather was against initiation school.  My brother's sickness only made his point strong.  He was an elder of a local church and a devoted Christian.  He was also a .......




To get more about the difficult grandfather; buy the book at: https://www.amazon.com/Memories-Life-Alexandra-Township-Know/dp/1483693805 (Amazon) or http://www.takealot.com/the-memories-of-my-life-in-alexandra-township-i-know/PLID36786983 (Takealot).