Last Thursday, Clemens and I were invited to the village of Ngcobo, about 45 kilometers outside of Mthatha. There we were to address a village meeting of local chiefs, community members and leaders about our upcoming conference on capacity building for co-operatives. The purpose of the meeting is to address issues concerning community well-being.
We received a wonderful reception from the good people of Ngcobo. It was the first time leaders from neighbouring villages were coming to meet together all at once. A sheep and an Ox were slaughtered in honour of this historical meeting.
One individual I connected with was Misuwzi Zilimbola, Prince of Ngcobo. He is third in line to become chief of his community. A very friendly guy, Misuwzi was educated in the city, but could never bring himself to live there. Misuwzi works at the hospital during the week and contributes to developing his community on the weekend. He is married with one child and travels 80 kilometers each day to work. He tells me stories of growing up attending to the cattle. “You would be out all day. Food was to be discovered by digging for potatoes”.
Tent where the meeting was held
In our drive to Ngcobo, Clemens explains the village life to me, “receiving water would be a blessing. Receiving electricity, now that is heaven on earth”.
There are a few homes that do have electricity. An interesting fact is that cell phones are cheap and almost everyone has one. However, people have to travel into town to have them recharged at a nominal fee of 5R ($0.80 CDA) per phone.
But make no mistake the people enjoy the rural life. They wish to be treated like the rest of South Africans. Clean water, schools, hospitals, are the minimum they request from the government.
The conference on rural development has begun. The government meets their toughest critics.
"Welcome to Ngocbo"
