From Limpopo to the World: Resilience Unveiled: Sefako Makgatho's Journey to South Africa's Long Walk to Freedom

In the rhythmic heart of Limpopo, beneath the watchful gaze of tribal traditions and the expansive African sky, a resilient spirit was kindled—the spirit of Sefako Makgatho. Born into the lineage of a chief, his journey from the fertile landscapes of Limpopo to the global stage would unfold as an extraordinary saga of tenacity and resilience, leaving an indelible mark on the unfolding narrative of South Africa's long walk to freedom.

As the son of a chief, Makgatho inherited not only the responsibilities of his lineage but also a rich tapestry of cultural heritage woven with the threads of leadership and tradition. The winds of destiny whispered through the vast plains of Limpopo, foretelling a narrative that would transcend boundaries, challenge oppressions, and resonate far beyond the horizons of his birthplace.

In the serenity of Limpopo's landscapes, where the call of nature intertwines with the echoes of ancestral wisdom, Makgatho's story began. It was a story shaped by the traditions of a chiefdom, where leadership was not merely a title but a sacred duty—a duty to safeguard the cultural fabric that defined the identity of his people.

Yet, Makgatho's narrative was destined to extend beyond the familiar boundaries of his homeland. It was a journey marked by resilience, an unwavering commitment to challenge the oppressive forces that sought to define Africans as inferior. The echoes of European imperialism reverberated across the continent, attempting to overshadow the vibrant spirit of African cultures, and in response, Makgatho emerged as a formidable force in the psychological warfare waged against the deeply ingrained prejudices.

As we trace the footsteps of Makgatho, from the verdant landscapes of Limpopo to the global arena, we unravel a narrative that goes beyond a mere biography. It becomes a testament to the resilience embedded in the soil of his birthplace, a resilience that propelled him to stand against the prevailing narrative and declare the equality of all humans.

In the face of an imposed hierarchy, Makgatho's journey becomes a symbol of defiance—a beacon that illuminated the path toward freedom. The title, "From Limpopo to the World: Resilience Unveiled," encapsulates the essence of this journey. It is an exploration of a man whose roots ran deep in the soil of Limpopo but whose impact resonated globally, ultimately contributing to South Africa's arduous but triumphant long walk to freedom.

The Teachings of Sefako Makgatho:

The Path to Success and Living Peacefully

CHAPTER 1

The Shadows Rise

For many centuries Africa and Africans seemed mysterious people to the rest of the world. They knew and valued Africa’s gold and ivory, but the continent itself remained a puzzle. Where had Africans come from? Why were they so different from other people?

Many answers to these questions were proposed. At last Europeans resorted to a conclusion - one that reflected their inability to judge any culture except in terms of their own. Africans, they decided, were savages, inferior beings, and had always been so.

This lie continued and we are still fighting it.

On the contrary Africans had a long and lively history, and have made an impressive contribution to humankind’s general knowledge. Africans created cultures and civilizations, evolved systems of government and systems of thought, and pursued the inner life of the spirit with a consuming passion.

The history of Africans is a record of accomplishments achieved in isolation against tremendous odds. Africans developed methods of growing crops and raising cattle; they learned how to extract metals from the earth and refine and use them. They forged joyful ways of making a living and living together in peace.

South Africa was gripped by European rule for a period of more than hundred years: first the colonial rule and second the viciousness of the apartheid system scarred it.

The relationship between Europe and Africa was controlled by Europeans. The economic system was designed to have Africa produce the raw materials that fed the manufacturing factories of Europe, make Europe and America what it is today.

But the human spirit is indomitable and cannot be permanently suppressed. Sooner or later, the defeated reassert their will to power, as morning follows the night. Africa and Africans demonstrated this fact.

Among all the oppressed people of the world, Africans has shown their strength and durability. When Europe took over the America’s they destroyed the native Indians. When they captured Australia they destroyed the aborigines. When they came to Africa, they conquered and prevailed over Africans. But Africans waged wars of struggle to dislodge Africa from Europe. Africans are known for their enduring resilience. Unlike others, Africa is now under Africans.

Resilience is often referred to as the ability to bounce back from adversity; as a kind of steeliness or lack of vulnerability. But the new wave of thinking on resilience infers the ability to ‘bounce beyond’ – to not just survive hardship but to be transformed positively by it. It advocates that resiliency contains the idea of rebirth; hence we had the concept of African Renaissance. The African Renaissance is the concept that African people overcoming darks oppressive forces and achieve cultural, scientific, and economic renewal.

The incredible thing is that despite this one thousand year assault on their humanity, black folks have managed to survive and survive without bitterness in their souls.

Most black people are not angry at white folks, as one would expect them to be for what was done to them. Most black folks just want to be left alone to live their lives as they see fit.

The resilience of black folks shows that human beings cannot be easily destroyed by adversities. We always manage to survive and live.

Black folks have been in a giant struggle to believe in their humanness; they simply want other persons to treat them with some respect.

The story of South Africa is so fascinating, so special and so intriguing for the very fact that South Africa had been under a foreign rule for a very long period than any country in the world in modern history.

And throughout this long process of colonialism and apartheid, two things happened: Africa influenced Europe as Europe influenced Africa.

It was a contest, a show down. As European settlers went on a full throttle frontal offensive with the system of apartheid over Africans, Africans responded with the same amount of force.

“I do not understand why certain human beings cannot just accept that all human beings are the same and equal and instead have an obsessive-compulsive desire to prove that this or that race is superior to others” – Sefako Makgatho

“I consider Europe’s worldview very wrong! I want to replace that worldview with what seems to me a civilized state of human beings: loving people, not predatory people who go all over the world killing people, grabbing their lands and stealing from people. I want a Christ based world, by that I mean a world based on love; a world where we love each other and serve each other's needs rather than exploit each other” - Sefako Makgatho

The question that needs to be answered is how Africans did assert themselves and eventually overpowered Whites to determine their own destiny – having their own government?

The struggle was long and protracted. Nelson Mandela aptly called it the Long Walk to Freedom.

If South Africa has been in a long walk to freedom as Nelson Mandela attested, then we have to discover when the long walk began. Certainly a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. South Africa was involved in this long journey to freedom. But what was the first step?

With my 30 year old research I argue in this book that the first step towards South Africa’s long walk to freedom began with Sefako Makgatho.

The long unbroken life of Sefako Makgatho was dedicated to fighting the entrenched prejudices of an imperialistic narrative, which sought to embezzle South African life.

There are all kinds of wars, wars fought with bullets and wars fought with ideas. At the time when Sefako Makgatho was entering young adulthood (impressionable stage of life), Europe had declared war on Africans. They had told Africans that they are superior to them.

Africans being human beings appreciated what Europeans were doing and fought back hard. Some fought back by trying to prove that they are superior to the Europeans; others did so by trying to prove that all humans are equals.

Make no mistake about it, there is a psychological war going on out there; this is a war of the races; white folks declared this war on black folks and black folks have a right to fight back.

Let us consider for example, the history of the United States of America. Englishmen first settled at James Town, Virginia in 1607. Twelve years later, 1619, Africans came to James Town. That is to say that Africans have been in the United States for as long as white men have been in it. If you look at the seminal moments in American history Africans were involved.

African-Americans were involved in the war of revolution that began with the declaration of American independence. In fact, the first soldier killed in that war was an African, Crispus Attucks. If you examine the civil war you would see that Africans played an outsized role in it. And get this, Africans built the road, Alcan, that links Alaska to Canada (hence the lower forty eight states).

The major cities of America were either founded or built by Africans (Chicago was founded by an African, Los Angeles was founded by an African), Washington DC was largely constructed by an African.

You cannot look at any facets of America’s life without seeing the role played by African Americans. There is no such thing as the United States of America without African Americans. American culture is literally derived from African culture.

You would not know these facts if you read textbooks on American history. What you would read is about the doings of the great white fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklyn, Alexander Hamilton, etc. Indeed, if you looked at those founding fathers you would see that most of what they did was taken from their African servants.

Simply put, America is the product of African Americans contribution to it but white written history books leave out mentioning of black folks contributions. Is not that a war?

The same goes with the history of other parts of the world. If you look at Europe itself you would see that Africans played seminal roles in its development.

For over a thousand years the other races of mankind, especially the white race (European and Semitic variety of it) launched an unmitigated attack on black folks. They enslaved black folks; they colonized black folks; they said everything negative that human beings can possibly say about each other to black folks; they said that black folks are an inferior race.

It is always the white race that assigned to itself the right to say what black folks are or are not. Apparently, in their deluded grandiose minds they believe that they have the right to determine the worth of black folks and that black folks do not have the right to say something about their worth and cannot say anything about white folk’s worth.

With Sefako Makgatho we began our first step towards our long walk of fighting back. Sefako Makgatho did a hard job. He came at the dawn of the struggle against European rule.

Starting is really the toughest work, the hardest part. By merely starting half of the battle is won.

Among all freedom fighters, among key founders of the ANC, Sefako Makgatho was the oldest. He was born in 1861 and lived an active life until he was 90 years old.

In physique Sefako Makgatho was rather smallish in stature, but managed to project an upper-class carriage. He had the kind of facial features that would be a portrait artist’s delight, a face that suggested erudition and aristocratic bearing. He was the son of a progressive African king.

Nelson Mandela called Sefako Makgatho as a man possessing an indomitable spirit. The term indomitable simply means “impossible to subdue or defeat”. It is a concept used during war.

In other interviews, Nelson Mandela remarked about his moral courage, his distaste for injustice, and his stubborn fidelity to noble principles even in the face of threats from power-drunk and diabolical forces.

After finishing his term as the second ANC president from 1917 to 1924 Sefako Makgatho remained at the top echelons of the ANC as a kind of Minister of Finance. He was Treasurer-General. He made contacts far and near through his efforts of raising the necessary money to sustain the young and weak ANC project. As Treasurer-General he succeeded in fund raising and the distribution of cash money for different ANC projects across the land of South Africa.

When AB Xuma became ANC president, he declared Sefako Makgatho as life president of the ANC.

Looking at Sefako Makgatho’s early life, you encounter the early stirrings of anger, revolt and outright defiance.

Sefako Makgatho declared war on passes and permits, the tools that Europe used to control Africans in their own land.

In September 1900 three types of passes were introduced. The first was the existing 'native' pass which had been embodied in Article 37 of the Town Regulations of 1895, and was applicable throughout the Transvaal.

Accordingly, every African male in towns was required to carry a printed pass with the name of their employer and the duration of their service contract. The employer would enter a full record of employment, including wages, reasons for the termination of the contract and a full reference of the employee; his alleged conduct and behaviour at work.

The second type of pass was a monthly pass which each African employee also had to obtain. This pass contained the employee's name, the number of his Native Pass, the period of employment, and the name, address and signature of his employer. It had to be renewed monthly at cost.

The Third pass was about every African seeking work in the Gauteng; had to obtain a work pass which entitled him to three days in which to find a job or be arrested.

Professor Booner of Wits University writes: “John Dube and Sol Plaatjie were purged from the leadership of the ANC”. This was done to give way to much radical and fearless Sefako Makgatho, who was leader of Transvaal.

In 1917 was Sefako Makgatho was elected by overwhelming majority to become the president of the African National Congress (ANC). His election was a blast of fresh air.

Tom Lodge writes about the leadership of Sefako Makgatho:

“More conservative ANC leaders were being publicly denounced and shouted down at meetings when they counselled caution and moderation. These people represented an influential voice in Congress [ANC] which would help to guide it towards different paths in the oncoming decade”.

Under Sefako Makgatho a determination to systematically to build up mass membership and branch organisations so as to assert the power of the African majority against European domination began.

African kingdoms in the form of chiefs played a key role in the foundation and early years of the organization. Some of the most senior royals in the eastern Transvaal, such as Chief Sekhukhune II, Chief Tseke Masemola and Chief Sekwati Mampuru, maintained close connections and provided financial support, the latter two becoming members of the ANC House of Chiefs from the 1920s.

Professor Bonner notes, the ANC under Sefako Makgatho was ‘swept away by an immensely powerful upsurge of working class agitation, being radicalised and fragmented [decentralised] at the same time’.

Fragmentation speaks of democratisation of leadership. Each of us, by the very fact of our shared humanity, can show leadership. This was the original new dawn. ANC was no longer a club of the elite but an organization anchored and rooted within the people.

Sefako Makgatho’s wisdom was called upon in many ways by a succession of ANC presidents. After his successful term as ANC president, he remained the chairman of the ANC in the present day Gauteng (Transvaal). The role he played in building of the ANC and South Africa astounding, immeasurable and remarkable.

These are self-evident truths. I only care for the self-evident truth. I am not comfortable with lies, particularly lies told about what history is about. The liar only deceives himself, not other people, for human beings have the capacity for discernment and can tell the truth from lies.

Sefako Makgatho is deserving of our closest attention and calls for our deepest admiration in the study of South Africa.

The challenge now is not so much what the Sefako Makgatho’s legacy should be. His place is already assured among in the pantheon of the great men and women of Africa.

Both Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu in their biographies offer their readers the most penetrating insight into the life of this great man.

Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of India and people of Indian descent characterised Sefako Makgatho as fearless fighter.

Mahatma Gandhi was particularly has moved by the consistency of Sefako Makgatho’s moral example, his continuous engagement with our country’s moral and ethical crisis.

His newspaper the Indian Opinion covered feature stories about Sefako Makgatho in his fight with White oppression.

Anil Nauriya who is the advocate of the Supreme Court writes:

“Mahatma Gandhi’s paper covered in detail the proceedings before the Magistrate in the case concerning the ejection of Sefako Makgatho, the President of the Transvaal Native Organisation, on January 3, 1912 from a first class railway carriage on the Delagoa line near Pretoria. [Indian Opinion, March 23, 1912] The incident had occurred five days before the founding of the ANC, and nearly 20 years after Gandhi’s own ejection from a train in Pietermaritzburg in 1893. Sefako Makgatho, a founder of the ANC, would succeed John Dube as its President General in 1917”.

Tom Lodge of Wits University writes:

“From 1917 to 1924 Sefako Makgatho presided over the ANC itself, during the restless years after the First World War leading two local civil disobedience campaigns, one to obtain for Africans the provision of first-class railway accommodation and the other to gain the right to use the city's pavements, hitherto denied to black people. Both were successful”.

Sefako Makgatho achieved further striking successes during his 7 year rule of the ANC.

An outstanding achievement of Sefako Makgatho's presidency organisationally, is that the ANC finalised its Constitution in 1919.

There was thus a framework within which to operate as well as procedures for the membership to follow.

The constitution was aimed at addressing a number of issues, primary amongst them being the unity of the African people. The Constitution brought the ANC into the realm of the people.

In addition to language differences, the reality is that before 1910, the African communities were governed by very different White regimes in the four regions which also meant that their political experience differed to some degree.

President Makgatho achieved phenomenal growth for the ANC. The ANC grew its membership to a paid membership of 3000! It was not an easy achievement those days considering problems of communication, illiteracy, and lack of adequate transportation including African people dispersed through a vast terriotory.

After his interventions and meetings at the Union Buildings with Prime Minister (President) Louis Botha, the following were to follow:

In September 1918, Louis Botha urged the Administrator of the Transvaal that the housing question for Africans should be taken up urgently with the local authorities. "The present state of affairs" he emphasised was, "not only a grave menace to public health, but in addition the social and moral evils accruing from the indiscriminate herding together of Europeans and natives in slum quarters in Johannesburg are incalculable"

Shortly afterwards, in 1919, the Public Health Act was passed, empowering local authorities to prevent or remedy unhealthy housing conditions, and this was followed in 1920 by the Housing Act which authorised the central government to assist local authorities in preparing housing schemes and which allowed them to raise loans either privately or from government sources”.

Sefako Makgatho never saw politics as a ‘do or die' affair believing strongly in his Methodist faith that only the will of God will prevail at all times.

The theology Sefako Makgatho advanced was that of defending the notion of black humanity while laying siege to white domination, proving that white superiority was a lie.

His theology was concerned about the issues of serious injustice and inequality. And he advanced this through all peaceful avenues possible or available.

Also, on 1918 he led a delegate to the Union Buildings for meeting with Prime Minister (President) Louis Botha. This was a peaceful march.

On the table was a list of grievances in the form of a petition. Here is the Petition in its entirety:

LIST OF GRIEVANCES1 5 1

(a) The economic position of the natives on the Rand having regard to:-

(1) increased cost of living due to the war;

(2) the consequent dersire for increased wage;

(3) housing accommodation in the case of those not directly employed on the mines and the incidental disadvantages of the existing systems;

(4) inability under existing conditions to give proper support to wife and family, more particularly in the case of those resident in labour areas;

(5) disabilities and disadvantages imposed by "the colour bar" in law and the consequent artificial interference with progress;

(6) payment of compensation in respect of miners' phthisis, death or incapacitation from accident;

(a) enforcement of the Night Passes Ordinance in respect of women; (b) non-availability of letters of exemption in the different provinces owing to the operation of the different preUnion laws; (c) restriction on employment of natives as interpreters in Courts of Law; (d) non-employment of natives in post offices and unsuitability of post office accommodation for natives; (e) multiplicity of passes in labour districts; (g) residential passes and disadvantages owing to the distance of the native locations from the towns, together with a request for suitable housing provisions; (h) lack of facilities for education.

Sefako Makgatho spoke eloquently and added passion and energy to the petition. Prime Minister Botha listened quietly and received the petition.

Another meeting was convened to which the government announced concessions on the following issues:

1. Recommend increases in wages for those permanently resident in towns nor enjoying the benefit of employer provided accommodation and rations.

2. "Wage increases for black soldiers and policemen in the SAMR and SAVfi] (5/- a month for a single man - up to 12/6 a month for a married man, plus a war bonus for those married and earning over 3/6d a day), and special allowances not exceeding 25/- a month for those employed in the higher ranks of interpreters.

3. Conciliation boards (under very restricted circumstances).

4. Removal of the 1/- a day fee for a travelling pass.

5. Removal of night passes for women.

6. Improved Post Office accommodation for blacks with the possibility of employing black clerks being under consideration.

7. Court interpreters to be chosen exclusively on the basis of merit.

8. Attempts in progress to improve living conditions.

For Sefako Makgatho, white oppression, injustice, the conquest and occupation of African lands and resources was an unpardonable crime. He was strong-minded to bring justice in Africa. He believed that the liberation of Africa was a project that was within reach. He had faith that freedom is possible and can be achieved.

At the age of his death, in 1951, when he was 90 years of age, he still displayed that energy of industry and determination. Old age did not mar him or make him to succumb. What old age did to him is it decorated him. He looked scandalously young and vibrant, his physique trim, his mind ever engaged with some of the major social and political issues of the time.

CHAPTER 2

“Our eyes are focused and anchored. There is no satanic stronghold, no inhuman blockage can stop the cry of change among this nation’s teeming masses” - Sefako Makgatho (1903 – address in Marabastad, Pretoria – Tshwane).

“I tell you we are not afraid of the white man. We can destroy Johannesburg in a day” - Sefako Makgatho 1917.

“These people are a sorry people; there is simply no other way of putting it. They choose to tell lies about Africans thus making those they lied about angry at them. Unavoidably, those they lied about attack them, for no one likes to see his character debased” - Sefako Makgatho

The name Sefako Makgatho is an enigma, enigma of a kind. The more we try to define him, the more we are confronted with a man approaching greatness – in decorum, integrity, manner, principle, dream, determination and ambition.

Sefako Makgatho began first as the voice of the people in what today is called Gauteng. He was called an urban king. And because of the economic power of Gauteng Sefako Makgatho was the most powerful African leader primus inter pares - a first among equals; the senior or representative member of the African race.

It was Sefako Makgatho who posited a grand concept plan on how to start black wide organization to uplift the race. Out of that grand idea came the African National Congress was born. He rallied his peers for the grand course of freedom and prosperity among Africans.

If you were to conduct a paternity test on the South Africa we have today, you will discover that beneath the surface foundation you will discover that Sefako Makgatho has played a prominent principal role in the development, evolution and the shaping of South Africa we experience today.

Sefako Makgatho was a fascinating leader. He was dynamic. I use the term “dynamic” in its original Greek sense, i.e., “powerful”; “possessing power.”

The word “fascinate” originates from the Latin word “Fascinare,” meaning “to enchant; bewitch, charm by eyes or tongue; captivate, attract,” etc.

The modern definition of the English word, “Fascinate,” is as follows: “To act upon by some powerful or irresistible influence; to influence by an irresistible charm; to allure, or excite, irresistibly or powerfully; to charm, captivate, or attract, powerfully; to influence the imagination, reason or will of another, in an uncontrollable manner; to enchant, captivate or allure, powerfully or irresistibly; the action of a mental force that powerfully influences other people”.

Normally we come to understand people of history by their legacies and how the world remembers them after they have long departed from our world. He has become larger than life, and his voice seemed to ring even more resonantly from beyond the grave. He embodies the spirit of a certain chapter of South Africa’s long-walk journey to freedom.

South Africa’s only health and medicine university is named after Sefako Makgatho. The Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University plays the greatest role in South Africa and the rest of Africa. It is unique, significant and special in the fact that its graduates serve the health needs of the humblest African and in the most remotest area of South Africa.

One of the most important roads in the capital city of Pretoria is named after Sefako Makgatho. Sefako Makgatho Avenue in Pretoria connects with Moloto Road, the famous and busiest road that covers the three provinces of the nine provinces of South Africa.

In naming the guesthouse at the Union Buildings after Sefako Makgatho, the then President of South Africa President Jacob Zuma remarked:

"Today we are celebrating yet again the legacy of an outstanding South African, the Limpopo-born teacher, politician and journalist - Sefako Mapogo Makgatho."

Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse located at the country’s palace, the Union Buildings serves as an official residence of visiting country presidents, prime ministers, heads of missions, and leaders of the world.

The Sefako Makgatho Primary School in Pretoria also serves as an important legacy of the man Sefako Makgatho. The School was chosen by the United Nations as a flagship project for announcing the International Mandela Day.

In a statement the United Nations said:

“In keeping with Madiba’s legacy, UN will this year provide desk-bags to pupils from Sefako Mapogo Makgatho Primary school in Atteridegvile, Pretoria West. The roll out of the deskbags will be an ongoing project for the support of underprivileged schools in the country. The initiative also ties in with the UN’s Sustainable Development goal of access to quality education”.

“Primary schools are the foundation for learning. A solid house cannot be built on an unstable foundation. Likewise, children are more likely to stay in school if they succeed at it. The deskbag initiative is aimed at encouraging primary school learners to learn with less difficulty and to further encourage their desire to excel. Furthermore, their success at primary school level will foster the need and want to stay in school.

“The school earmarked for the deskbags is named after Sefako Makgatho, a South African teacher, journalist and human rights activist. He was born in 1861 in the now Limpopo Province and began his education in Pretoria. He was a founding member of one of the first teachers union, the Transvaal African Teachers’ Association (TATA) and was actively involved in the struggle against segregation as ANC President in his later years”.

The Sefako Makgatho Heritage and Knowledge Centre is also an important national monument. The Sefako Makgatho Library and Heritage is situated along the Moloto Road in the countryside region of the historic KwaMhlanga.

The Sefako Makgatho Heritage and Knowledge Centre stone clad imposing structure that is on the sight of thousands of motorists traveling along Moloto Road daily.

The prime land for the establishment of the Sefako Makgatho Heritage and Knowledge Centre was provided by the Ndebele Kingdom. Individuals from around the world have come to this special place on the planet to spiritually heal and expand their consciousness into new octaves of possibilities through natural meditations. Nature meditations are better done away from city and stagnant suburbia life.

In opening the Sefako Makgatho Heritage and Knowledge Centre I remarked as the founding executive president that “We’ve engineered a stimulating and immersive space where people can have fun discovering their core self —as they appreciate the profound impact of Sefako Makgatho to the world.”

There was a long search for the perfect location and I remember when I walked into this space, it just took my breath away as it lies along the Moloto Road just 37 km north of Pretoria where Sefako Makgatho lived the rest of his adult life, and 35 km south of Limpopo province where Sefako Makgatho was born.

The Sefako Makgatho Heritage and Knowledge Centre is a place to discover the stories and secrets behind the life of Sefako Makgatho—through exhibits, digital collection and educational lecture programs.

Adjacent to the Sefako Makgatho Heritage and Knowledge Centre is the friendly Sefako Makgatho Lodge. The Lodge is 4 minutes’ walk from the Sefako Makgatho Heritage and Knowledge Centre. The Lodge is self-catering, secured and peaceful; serves as soul healing and soul awakening enclave for people who want to bounce back to life after stress and depression.

In his land mark classic autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela writes:

"The struggle, I was learning, was all-consuming. A man involved in the struggle was a man without a home life. I was in the midst of the Day of Protest that my second son, Makgatho Lewanika, was born. I was with Evelyn [Mandela's first wife] at the hospital when he came into the world, but it was only a brief respite from my activities. He was named for Sefako Mapogo Makgatho, the second president of the ANC, from 1917 until 1924. …Makgatho, the son of a Pedi chief, had led volunteers to defy the color bar that did not permit Africans to walk on the sidewalks of Pretoria, and his name for me was an emblem of indomitability and courage" (p. 119).

When South Africa was established as Union of South Africa under the leadership of Louis Botha, Sefako Makgatho as President of the African National Congress had conference meetings with Louis Botha at the Union Buildings Presidential Guest House. The very guest house has since been renamed and called Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House.

Sefako Makgatho grew up in a non-racial environment. That was period when Africa and Europe met. His father, Chief Kgorutle Josiah Makgatho was a great friend of the renowned missionary teacher and leader Alexander Merensky.

European missionaries came to Africa and built schools and lived in thatch houses to engage Africans. Many of those missionaries caught terrible diseases and died from them; they sacrificed their lives.

The point that Sefako Makgatho knew very well was that that not all Europeans were out to humiliate Africans by telling them that they are inferior.

Alexander Merensky was a pioneering missionary in Limpopo Province. He was also a medical doctor. He did great things among the Bapedi people like healing of wounds, stopping the spread of malaria and serving as a shield of Black people against the encroaching merciless brutish Boers from Pretoria.

Merensky was the man who helped introduce Sefako Makgatho to the Christian faith, a man who spoke to Sefako Makgatho about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. A man who for many years led a church that served the community by doing God’s work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships.

Training leaders of tomorrow was part of the work of Alexander Merensky. Merensky was very fluent in Sepedi language. He was very interested in geography, which led his contribution to the discovery of Zimbabwe ruins. Through his efforts Sefako Makgatho learned about Africans, how Africans were gold producing people during a period between Solomon and the Phoenicians. That very discovery of the role of Africa and Africans gave Sefako Makgatho pride and he believed he could fly.

Alexander Merensky through his skills as a medical practitioner attracted both Blacks and Whites in his missions. His missions were non-racial. At the time he was the only medical doctor in Limpopo.

Alexander Merensky promoted the importance of economic relationship between Whites and Blacks in South Africa. He advocated the allocation of gardens and land to blacks working on farms in South Africa. He discouraged forced labour and slavery.

He entered into negotiations with King Sekhukhune to settle in Botshabelo with his Black converts. Merensky bought a large farm and settled together with the Christian converts. They worked the land and became a prosperous non-racial community. There was Merensky and his family, and there were scores of other white families as well.

A lot of Black people migrated from different parts of the Transvaal to settle in Botshabelo.

Alexander Merensky wanted to experience black culture and fuse it with western culture. Botshabelo community was a more perfect union.

Above all Alexander Merensky opposed Europeanization and emphasised the protection and maintenance of distinct national character for Africans, including the preservation of the authority of families and tribal chiefs.

When it came to work Merensky wanted to keep everybody busy like a bee, with himself setting the pace. Thus he earned the nickname “Phakisha”, a Sepedi word meaning “be quick”.

Alexander Merensky established different types of schools. These were The Evening School for Adults; the Youth School, the Sunday School, the Trade School; the Evangelist School and the Evangelist Seminary.

Teachers were called from Germany. Some of these teachers were Reuds Hermann During, Johannes Winter and Carl Richter.

There were also Black teachers; among them were Maritinus Sebushane, Ezekiel Mampe, Abraham Serote and EM Ramaila.

The missionaries were the only white people that were living in brotherly kindness and peace with Africans.

This part of the life of Sefako Makgatho under the spirit and work of Alexander Merensky gives us the understanding of the seeds of the non-racial South Africa we live in today.

Alexander Merensky believed that the only solutions to South Africa’s racial problem were when Whites and Blacks.

When Sefako Makgatho was living in Ealing, London, Britain, he felt kindred spirit with both blacks and whites (even though there was racism…he ignored it and made friends across the racial divide). The concept of race was anathema to him; as far he was concerned, there is only one race, the human race. As he saw it, all people are children of one family, God’s family. Throughout his life any talk of racial separation was unacceptable to him.

The pedigree personality of Sefako Makgatho influenced Nelson Mandela very much and in great many ways.

I have made great efforts in different ways (including this book) to bring to the surface the rich life of this great man so that we can be educated and become more wiser.

It is true that we live in a system where everything is connected to everything and everything affects every thing; what other persons do affect us and what we do affect them; there is no such thing as an isolated individual. We affect each other, for good or bad, yet I personally do not like to stress the fact that other people affect me. Of course, I know that other people affect me. Yet, I would like to believe that I have inner power and I am in charge of my life. Too many black people see themselves as victims of Europeans [Whites]. Of course, we are their victims; still, I do not like to see myself that way.” ---- Sefako Makgatho

“I am only interested in what benefits all humanity, not what elevates some and denigrates others. I have never placed white folks on a pedestal and therefore had no need to pull them down”. --- Sefako Makgatho

“I left Africa before I was 20 years of age and lived with white students in my college in Britain and at no time did I see them as different from me. From where I stand I just accept that all people are the same and have never worried my little head with this whole race issue.”----Sefako Makgatho

I have studied the life of Sefako Makgatho for a period spanning 30 years, first when I was a researcher at the University of Limpopo, and when I was a librarian at the University of Johannesburg and when I was a chief researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). I wrote a lot about his business sense in my Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

I got a taste of the specialness of the man.

Through my extensive and intensive research, it is clear to me that Sefako Makgatho was immensely affected by what he believed was Europe’s concerted effort to put Africans down and he went on a warpath and sought combative ways to assuage perceived European attack on Africans. Part of this defense is to show that almighty Europe owed its very existence to Africa.

Sefako Makgatho’s life thesis was that Africa influenced Europe as Europe influenced Africa; it was and still is a symbiotic relationship. Even contemporary European and American culture is influenced by Africans just as contemporary African culture is influenced by European culture.

What it comes down to is that despite the vanity of White people trying to impress to Blacks that they are better, Sefako Makgatho never paid attention to those lies.

“Certain white people think that it is kind of cute to degrade and humiliate African natives; it kind of makes them feel (falsely) superior by putting other human beings down. They take primitive joy in causing pain. Some of them even believe that they are superior to Africans. Since in reality all human beings are the same and equal those who feel superior to other persons are not well and need to heal by accepting our equality and respecting all people. They structure things and events in such a manner that Africans are left suffering. Our White counterparts are dangerous people for their behaviors could lead to killing those they deem inferior and not feel bad from doing so.” ---- Sefako Makgatho

“I do not understand why certain human beings cannot just accept that all human beings are the same and equal and instead have a compulsive desire to prove that this or that race is superior to others. In my judgment, it is now time for human beings to have the courage to accept our sameness and equality and quit talking about differences for there are no racial differences at all. People of all races are the same; their only difference is their skin color and texture of hair. We must stop emphasizing what separates us and stress what unifies us, our common humanity.” ---- Sefako Makgatho

Contemporary science tells us that all human beings originated from Africa. Science tells us that about fifty thousand years ago humans began migration from Africa to other areas of the world. They began their migration from what in Africa and went up north, settled in the Nile Valley, then crossed into Asia and in time multiplied and filled Europe, Asia and later crossed the Bering land link into Alaska and from there to all of the Americas. Simply stated, human beings evolved in Africa and moved out of Africa.

Strictly speaking white folks are Africans; there is only one human species, Africans. Everything in the ancient world, in Persia, Greece, and Rome and indeed in the modern world has its origin in Africa. Africa is tops and all others are imitating her.

This is the ideology of Sefako Makgatho that inspired Nelson Mandela. Intelligence is not given to only one group of people; all people are independently intelligent and therefore can generate civilization in their local world.

The principal theme of Nelson Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom is that his life was to continue the long walk of those who came before him. The long walk for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous South Africa and the world.

The life of Sefako Makgatho (1861-1951) marked an important epoch in the history or rather the making of South Africa as a multi-coloured diverse remarkable rainbow nation.

Sefako Makgatho is rightly called by scholars as the seed plot and the root, where Nelson Mandela was to spring up. Nelson Mandela himself has spoken extensively in Long Walk to Freedom about the massive inspiration he obtained from Sefako Makgatho.

Nelson Mandela was so fired and so inspired by Sefako Makgatho that he named his second son Makgatho.

In the book Walter And Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime, Walter Sisulu who spent 25 years in Robben Island prison with his friend Nelson Mandela notes that the giant stature of Sefako Makgatho was so impressive that he was made life president of the African National Congress by AB Xuma who was president of the ANC from 1940 to 1949.

In our contemporary world there is no doubt as to who is up and who is down. Clearly, white folks are up and black folks are down. We do not need to debate the obvious.

“My observation of white folks instructs me that they tend to believe that they are special and superior to other people and as a special people ought to be served by those they believe are inferior to them; they tend to justify using those they believe are inferior to them in earning a living. In my experience, white folks would not hesitate for a minute in using you to make a living and discard you when you are no longer useful to them and feel no guilt or remorse from doing so”--- Sefako Makgatho

CHAPTER 3: THE STORY THAT DELIGHTS AS IT TEACHES

My extensive 30 years of research about the life of Sefako Makgatho took me to Ealing, a suburban community to the west of London in England, Great Britain.

I spent 21 days lodging in Ealing seeking to understand the town, what it looked like during the time when Sefako Makgatho lived there.

Ealing marks a crucial and important time in the life of Sefako Makgatho. Sefako Makgatho began his adulthood in Ealing. He was 20 years old when he sailed from South Africa to Ealing towards the end of 1881.

Sefako Makgatho once wrote: “I believe that I have carried away with me some parts of Ealing that can never be taken from me”. Ealing framed his personality. Personality is the individual’s predictable pattern of behaving, of responding to his physical and social world. The environment is always bombarding people with stimuli and they are responding to them; personality is the individual’s pattern of responding to stimuli emanating from his physical and social environment.

London was the seat of the British Empire - world power. It was when the British Empire was in its zenith. For many years the British Empire was the sole super power of the world.

Sefako Makgatho lived in a boarding house a mile away. The residence was complete with helpers and laundry service. He got along with England but did not really identify with it. He was being nostalgic about the life back home – an Africa far away.

He missed home – South Africa and the African atmosphere. He relished the African ambience, the unceasing feasting that went on, the eating of meat and drinking of beer and spirits, but—most of all— he missed the captivating talk, the ritual language, encapsulating something of the theology of deity, and the sheer dazzle of the language used by the elders as they bantered.

Back home where he grew up, life revolved around the clan and family fireside. He missed the essence of fellowship by the fireside: the enjoyment of good company: urbane manners and a friendliness which expresses itself in eating and drinking together. This serving the purpose not only of merry conversation, but also of discussion between equals, which Africans back then considered as the principal form of education.

He never learned to speak English in the slang-heavy diction British accent. He read Julius Caesar and Charles Dickens and took German lessons.

There was racism, but he ignored it.

“I remember every instance of racism that I have felt in Britain. I do not like them. I filed them away in my mind. White people offered me opportunity to go to their finest schools and helped me out with paying my school fees. In my view, all human beings are the same and coequal and must be treated with respect and love; it is in love that we shall have peace and happiness on planet earth.” – Sefako Makgatho

But what is the root cause of racism in Europe and America?

White folks (I am generalizing; there are always exceptions to every general rule) believe that they are surrounded by a sea of black folks. They feel that they must do something to prevent black folks from swallowing them up; they are afraid of the demise of their race. They do not want race mixing for they feel that it would lead to the death of the white race. They feel that they must protect their race from the black race and to some extent from other races, such as the Chinese and Indians.

White folks most feared foe, however, is the black race.

Reality is what it is; it is not for us to determine it; our role is to adapt to it. We are one human race and must live with one another, as loving and forgivingly as is humanly possible.

People will always oppose the realistic thing and do what their ignorance and prejudice disposes them to do. In the process, people will always have interpersonal and intergroup animosities.

Society is always riddled with conflict. Leaders of society manage conflicts but do not eliminate them.

In the long term people who are abused have a tendency to get back at those who insulted them. The lesson black folks eventually learn from white racism is that no one can humiliate them.

No one can humiliate you unless you had hitherto believed that you can be humiliated.

Sefako Makgatho read books on interpersonal relationships (also called interpersonal communications or social skills/life skills development).

In courses on interpersonal relationships, folks are taught that to make friends you must be friendly yourself.

So you want to have other people to become friendly rewards you, eh? Good idea. You have to do one thing: become friendly towards other people.

In his theology classes Sefako Makgatho learned what Jesus Christ said on this subject: do unto other people as you want them to do to you. He also said that all the laws and prophesies can be summarized to one word: love.

If you want other people to love and respect you, then love and respect other people, for as you do unto others they are more likely to do to you. If you love other people, the chances are that they would love and respect you in return, and if you hate other people, the chances are that they would hate you in return.

Giving is receiving; what you give is what is given to you. Love begets love and hate begets hate.

As far as human experience is our guide, most normal human beings desire to be treated as dignified by their fellow human beings. Deep down most people feel unimportant and want their fellow human beings to treat them as if they are important.

Do you want other people to care for you? If so care for other people. Do you want other people to be kind, gentle and warm to you? If so be kind and warm and gentle towards other people.

Outside his studies, Sefako Makgatho explored Europe.

He bought a bicycle, taught himself to ride, and cycled through the countryside.

He took frequent trips into London by train, where he observed sessions of Parliament. He travelled across Oxford and Stratford.

No surprise that he once remarked that England had an impress on him that was to remain with him the rest of his life.

He made a daily schedule: time for reading, time for writing letters back home in South Africa. He wrote letters to his father Chief Kgorutle Josiah Makgatho who was not only literate but astute African leader of the times.

He also had time for socializing and refreshing, time for cooking meals and for retiring. Of course in such a very foreign country among a community of White people, he had spells of homesickness and sheer boredom: social awkwardness, a product of his conspicuous foreignness and stranger-ness.

He had time for sightseeing. And time for loafing; buying himself long trousers, cuffs and stiff shirts.

Much of Ealing in the late 1800 was composed of orchards and gardens. It was rural in its scenery. Life in Ealing was quiet, and provided direct opposite to the busy life in the city of London. In a way Ealing had some characteristics of African scenery.

He had a lot of time to kill. He studied and reviewed the great scientists of the Western world and their contributions to science, such as Galileo, Kepler, Huygens, Newton, Dalton, Boyle, etc.

He did some writings on politics and political theory, from Plato's idealism to Aristotle's realism, to Machiavelli's political science, to the great political philosophers such as Hobbes, Locke, and John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham, Karl Marx, Charles Montesquieu, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison (Federalists Papers) and the other luminaries in the field of how the human polity is governed.

But most importantly Sefako Makgatho privately read and studied the life of Buddha.

Buddhism is the religion of most Asians (Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, Cambodians and Vietnamese etc.).

To understand Buddhism it is necessary to briefly review the life of Gautama Buddha.

Gautama Buddha was born in Northern India 2500 hundred years ago. His father was a king, a maharaja in one of the Indian provinces. He was secluded from the rest of the world and given all the wealth, comforts and luxury of this world.

His parents sheltered him from the suffering of this world by surrounding him with creature comforts still he was dissatisfied. He felt empty. At an early age they got him a wife and he had a son. The parents thought that that ought to satisfy him. But young Gautama was not satisfied.

He was said to be bored with his luxurious lifestyle.

At age twenty-eight he ventured out of his father's luxurious palace and saw the poverty that Indians lived in. He saw beggars on the streets; he saw dead bodies everywhere. He could not believe that people lived in such penury. How could this be, he asked?

Gautama Buddha saw the human condition with his own eyes: suffering. This, apparently, alerted him to the fact that there is a lot of suffering in human existence. He resolved to find out why people suffer.

He became obsessed with the desire to understand why people suffer. He left his home and went on a journey to go find out. He disappeared from his town.

He left his palace and walked long distance far away from people in the heart of a huge jungle forest.

After many years of searching for the answer and could not find it he became despondent. One day he got so tired of not knowing what the cause of human suffering was that he resolved to sit under a Bo tree and never to get up until he found the answer. He was prepared to die while sitting there (not eating food).

The man went for broke (you cannot find anything significant until you go for broke, commit to it completely). He sat there and meditated.

The purpose of meditation is to remove the veil over the other worlds, to silence the ego and its ceaseless chattering that keeps us in this world of delusion. In meditation we make our minds silent until our minds break through and experience other worlds.

Gautama Buddha then arose and returned back to his people. He taught them how to find inner peace and happiness in this world of war and conflict. He taught what he called the four noble truths.

The first noble truth is his thesis, his postulation that all life in body, in ego is sorrowful. To be a human being is to be in sorrow, to suffer. We are born, age and must die.

What is the cause of our sorrowful existence? Buddha posits (second noble truth) that it is caused by our desire to live as separated selves, our desire for ego.

What is the cure for our suffering? If desire, wish and want to be a separated self is the cause of our problems it follows that giving up the desire to be a separated self is the cure (third noble truth). Give up your desire for separated self, stop affirming and defending your ego and you experience surcease of your suffering.

If you are non-attached to the ego, if you do not get anything you don’t feel disappointed and frustrated. If, ultimately, you do not desire ego and body, dying would not bother you. In that case death, the ultimate terrorizer of mankind, would no longer terrorize you.

If you give up the wish to have a separated self you can live with detachment to this world and be in the world and not be of the world. If you do so you live in peace and joy, bliss.

Buddhism teaches folks how to relinquish the ego and its world and return to the awareness of unified self, a nameless formless, spirit self. To get to that state Buddha taught what he called the eight noble paths to the awareness of the truth; they are equivalent to Christians ten commandment: love people, have compassion for people, work for social interests, do not tell lies, do not backbite other people and do not steal etc.

Buddha influenced Sefako Makgatho. Later in his his life after he has returned home in South Africa, Sefako Makgatho once said:

“White people want you to see them as superior persons; if you challenge them and see them as they are, as ordinary persons they feel like you have de-exalted them and since they want to be looked in an exalted light they see you as their opponent and attack you. They exactly want to kill you or eliminate you from the scene to leave them to charade around as idols. These people are truly operating in the world of fantasy”.

Since I point out their commonness they dislike me and want to do away with me; my going away would leave them to keep living in their delusion of superiority.

But I will not go away. This is because I am their healer, not their opponent; I help heal them by encouraging them to see all people as the same and equal; I help heal them by asking them to love and respect all human beings, for all people are parts of our shared one self, the one son of God who is one with his father, God”.

You can see here how Sefako Makgatho was such a huge influence on Nelson Mandela.

“If you let go of your pride you would experience God and become a saint, an enlightened person. Forgive and love all people and you would experience God. I do forgive those who harmed me and when I do I feel even more peaceful " – Sefako Makgatho

What is love?

Love is when one person sees another person as like him and believes that both of them have common interests and consciously sets out to do what serves their mutual interests and refuses to take advantage of the other person even if he could do so and get away with it.

Loving is giving to the other what nurtures him or her. Love understands that all of us need love and loving another as one would like him to love one even if he does not reciprocate that love. Love is a giving thing (and in adult situation also a receiving thing; if the loved person reciprocates with love).

CHAPTER 4: THE BIRTH OF THE AFRICAN NATIVE ADVOCATE NEWSPAPER

Our plan in this book is not to furnish a straight line exposition of the life of Sefako Makgatho, but rather to treat the events of his life topically, singling out the more important aspects of his life and concentrating our attention upon them. The most serious disadvantage of this method is, that after we have followed out one topic to its conclusion, we are forced to retrace our steps to begin a new one. It is much easier to fix details in the mind when they are classified and conveniently grouped and follow them in straight line.

Our focus in this book is to present the balance of truth about the life story of Sefako Makgatho. The life of Sefako Makgatho as one of the founding fathers of the African National Congress has so impressed people, that people have concentrated their attention upon it, almost to the exclusion of everything else about him.

The political life of Sefako Makgatho is not his sole distinctive badge. There is real need to create a balance so as to see the beauty of Sefako Makgatho’s life story – a story that we can greatly benefit from. Beauty is, primarily, a matter of proportion.

Professor Tom Lodge remarks: One of the forerunners to the ANC, the Transvaal Native Congress, was founded in Pretoria by S M Makgatho of Lady Selborne, a former high school teacher, estate agent and newspaper proprietor.

In this chapter we treat Sefako Makgatho as a newspaper proprietor and in the next chapter we study his activities as a real estate businessman.

The media is a means of spreading news and opinions on subjects in the public domain. The media is a powerful means of educating people and persuading them to think in a certain manner. As such, whoever controls the media, more or less, controls what the people think about.

Whoever controls the media has the power to set the political agenda for public discourse.

Sefako Makgatho not only had the idea, he also knew how to actualize and sustain it. Consequently, he was a suave administrator.

Sefako Makgatho recognized the power of the media as a weapon for setting national agenda and correcting wrongs.

Sefako Makgatho together with Alfred Mangena started an inspirational character building newspaper called the African Native Advocate. It was to change its title to simply the African Advocate.

The vision and mission of the African Native Advocate was implicit in the title. It advocated for the development of Africans. The word advocate refers to someone who speaks in favour of the interests of particular person or group of persons.

Sefako Makgatho and Alfred Mangena started the African Native Advocate on a financial shoestring, but had early successes in circulation and reaching their targets. But they soon ran out of money and debts began to pile up. Printing costs were way too expensive in those days.

But Sefako Makgatho and Alfred Mangena, as owners and publishers struggle on amidst the financial problems.

The African Native Advocate was a four-page leaflet meant to encourage and uplift individuals. It contained stories of people who overcame hardships. These can include grief, poverty, relocation, serious personal or family illness, unemployment, and strained personal relationships.

The newspaper flourished editorially. Indeed for a time, the African Native Advocate grew. Sefako Makgatho set out to lead an inquiry into what he called the “national purpose”.

Reports were published about state of affairs – a kind of State of the Nation Address. It reported:

Material conditions are squalid and depressed. Klipspruit, Sophiatown, Martindale, Newclare and Germiston and a number of other east Rand locations are built near municipal sewage depositing sites. Klipspruit is the worst. It is virtually surrounded by the sewage farm, with many houses being within 300 yards.

Even though Africans could into do business around the 1910 possibilities for capital accumulation were very small.

In another issue, he wrote:

“The Bible said: you should love your neighbour as yourself and do unto others as you want them to do to you. Every person likes to be loved, so one should love other persons; nobody likes to be enslaved, so one should not enslave other persons”.

“Cain asked: am I my brother's keeper? God said yes. Cain's refusal to practice that philosopher led to his demise. Jesus Christ essentially preached a philosophy of love and serving the less fortunate of society”.

To feel superior or inferior to any human being is to have delusional disorder. Mental health lies in accepting the truth of our human equality. All people are the same and equal, and if you believe differently you are insane.

Having read some copies of the African Native Advocate I can attest that its quality sometimes rivals, even surpasses the quality of newspapers today. I found it as good as any in the world and comparable to any in the world.

But the African Native Advocate continued to suffer financially as debts mounted and piled. The end was inevitable.

And so onwards the end of the year Sefako Makgatho announced that he was terminating what had been perhaps the most elegant newspaper.

“We persevered as long as we could see any realistic prospects”, said Sefako Makgatho as he announced the closure of the African Native Advocate.

At the bottom of cover of the last issue of the African Native Advocate was a small print: “Good bye”

Empires are made of people. People are thinking organisms and have ideas. People build empires when they have certain ideas that are able to bring about the rise of empires.

The media is very powerful in influencing public opinion. The media is a means of spreading information in a polity. It is a means of expressing opinions on issues of the day. It is a means of trying to influence public opinion and public policies. Access to the media is a good way to influence what the political system does.

Sefako Makgatho must be given credit for realizing the importance of the media as a weapon in correcting the colonialist generated fear of white men and women. The colonial masters made themselves seem superior to Africans and propagated that nonsensical view in their colonies. Indeed, even the colonialists themselves believed in that propaganda.

Most of the articles that were written by Sefako Makgatho and published in his newspaper the African Native Advocate has almost disappeared. But in the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s records were widely available.

The articles reflected the mind of Sefako Makgatho. Nelson Mandela read and studied Sefako Makgatho from these articles and he was not only impressed but influenced.

I must say I had the opportunity to read some of the editions of the Native African Advocate when I was in intern at the Lebowakgomo Public Library in early 1990s. Lebowakgomo was the capital city of the Lebowa Government and was the seat of its Chief Minister. This is the place where I read and studied about Sefako Makgatho. Somewhat those records are no longer available, they have been removed by the librarians because they feel they are old and of no value today. I guess it is the same story everywhere. Until currently all records has vanished. What a sad affair.

What we can do is to create a tapestry to begin restoring those records with the fragments of memories of their contents. This is not easy but it sure goes a long way in restoration of such precious wealth of knowledge that should be guiding us today.

There are different approaches to writing history. The approach to writing of history where there are no clear records is called telementation. "Telementation" means mentation exerted over space, or long-range mental seeing.

It suffices to point out that scholarly it is possible that one can rigmarole with knowledge but the main point is that after pushing and throttling with all the gear levels in the system of searching for knowledge one is still left with a difficult task of weaving together all ends into one proper shape: semantically tailoring.

CHAPTER 5: SEFAKO MAKGATHO: THE PIONEERING AFRICAN REAL ESTATE MOGUL

Beyond and above Sefako Makgatho being the second president of the ANC is the fact that he was a very successful businessperson. Precisely he was a real estate business mogul and was arguably the first African real estate businessperson. Walter Sisulu followed on his footsteps.

In Pretoria, Sefako Makgatho played key role in the development of Lady Selborne and Marabstad. These were areas in Pretoria where Africans had the opportunity to own land.

The fruits of his efforts as a real business person, adviser and fighting for the rights of African people were to be later felt.

And so by 1960 three-quarters of Pretoria's 200,000 African inhabitants lived in the freehold township of Lady Selborne and the municipal townships of Atteridgeville and Vlakfontein (Mamelodi). Four basic types of houses were built, of varying sizes, each provided with lights, baths and running water: for its time, Atteridgeville housing was of relatively high quality.

Vlakfontein (Mamelodi) was the newest and largest of the townships. The first houses were built in the early 1950s, but it grew rapidly as its population was swollen by the displaced inhabitants of squatter camps and older locations. Fourteen miles from the city centre, it was located at the edge of its Eastern industrial district. Its population was divided between those who lived in and could afford to rent one of the 1, 400 houses, also available on thirty-year leasehold, and those who constructed their own shelter on site and service plots.

All these African residential areas had their origin and genesis from the cool hand of Sefako Makgatho. They were not perfect settlement and reflected the arrogant oppressive hands of whites. In the time that Sefako Makgatho lived you could do so much and then go no further. But it was a remarkable effort for Sefako Makgatho to have done what he did.

Between 1915/16 the number of industrial establishments in the Gauteng area increased from 862 to 1 763, while the Black working class engaged in non-mining activities swelled from 67 111.

Equally important was the growth of the Black elite. There were self-employed small businessmen, professional craftsmen. The majority of government workers were involved in the construction of roads and railways.

This was the market that Sefako Makgatho segmented. But he was also a person that helped people throughout his business activities. He intervened in many cases. For example, Johannes Mashao was prosecuted for starting a business without a licence, despite the fact that he had applied to the Pretoria Town Council on numerous occasions for a licence without no response.

John Storom and Annanias Makuoe were arrested under the location bye-laws for subletting rooms in Hoves Ground to African tenants; others like Lydia Mosuoe were evicted from their homes in Marabstad because they had been convicted of being possession of African beer.

Sefako Makgatho also fought with the police.

He complained to the Pretoria Town Council as follows:

“In the night time, when people are asleep these police will come in. They even enter bedrooms when people are asleep and they have to get up just as they are. They ransack the room and on the whole the proceedings are improper”.

As described by Professor Michelle Friedman of University of South Africa: “In the first decade of the century, Marabastad was a hive of political activity, and many of the dominant political figures, such as S.M. Makgatho, came to play a central role in emerging national politics”.

Here is a statement made by Sefako Makgatho in Marabastad:

We are sick and tired of black people being treated as second class citizens.

We are sick and tired of our children being left uneducated.

We are sick and tired of seeing our babies shot dead in the street. We are sick and tired of black people not advancing.

We are sick and tired of the world believing that we are somehow!

Though his business interests Sefako Makgatho was a leader of the people; providing support systems, ranging from providing information on starting businesses or buying of stands, providing legal advice and assisting those arrested with bail, and looking after the children of those arrested.

Michelle Friedman writes in her Master’s dissertation (University of South Africa):

“Attempts to contain the Black population of Pretoria geographically were at best haphazard and inconsistent. Any effective control was limited by the division of each Black settlement into separate areas of jurisdiction”.

Sefako Makgatho exploited these contradictions and defined himself the spatial boundaries for African settlements. He resisted various attempts to restrict and limit the lives of Africans by defying the regulations, exploring legal loopholes and creating an urban environment that is difficult to control.

Sefako Makgatho was the dominant voice and force that moved things. Bit by bit he forged ways to see that the lives of his people are improved.

The work of Sefako Makgatho in improving the living conditions of Africans was decisive in Schoolplaats.

To which Michelle Friedman writes:

“The housing at Schoolplaats was usually of a better quality than those in Marabastad, comprising mostly of brick buildings with some iron buildings. The stands were larger and each house had a little garden and some trees”.

Sefako Makgatho was a person who developed healthy positive esteem in the midst of utter discouragement. People with positive self-image work to improve the self-image of other people; they realize that the condition of living makes people doubt their worth and thus they do whatever they can to help generate positive self-regard in people.

“The question in my mind is what we are going to do to change this terrible situation in Africans. We have to figure out a way to encourage Africans, to build up their self-confidence and make them like themselves and like each other.” We have to figure out a way to change the way Africans think and behave and make them behave like self-loving and self-respecting people..--- Sefako Makgatho

It is now time good come out of Africa. Africa cannot forever be a place where only bad and human suffering comes from!

KEY PERSONAL LESSONS

We have dealt with the life of Sefako Makgatho as a leader in our society.

With this review of his life, what are the essential key lessons we can learn from his life?

Each of us is capable of performing leadership role in an area of the activities of this world.

Each individual has to sit down and observe self and see what he is doing to contribute to the good of this world and ask his self if he is a leader in that area.

There is a huge pull to behave like everybody else. Be who you are. That is what is called being authentic. Authenticity is about knowing who you are, what you stand for, and then having the courage to be yourself – in every situation rather than when it is only convenient. Authenticity is about being consistent and congruent so who you are on the inside reflected by the way you perform on the external world.

To be your exact self in a world that apply pressure to make you something else, is in itself the greatest accomplishment.

The African American Michael Jordan, arguably the best and greatest basketball star, once wrote a book called Driven from Within.

In Driven from Within Michael Jordan preaches the need for you to be authentic. He writes: Authenticity is about being true to who you are, even when everyone around you wants you to be someone else.

He makes an important point: Stay committed to your mission, values, and the full expression of your inner leader even when people doubt you. When people say you will fail or suggest that you are not good enough, stand strong in your own skin and don’t let them tear you down; because leadership has a lot to do with believing in yourself when no one else believes in you.

Being you is powerful, but it takes courage; because many people don’t want to break free from their past. And so rather than applauding you when you make new efforts to improve your life, they will condemn you.

What this mean is that the best way to succeed, the best way to get to the next level of excellence isn’t by some revolutionary idea or some radical initiative. Great careers and great businesses are built by evolution. By slow and steady improvements that actually don’t look like much when you view them in isolation. But over time, these small, incremental, evolutionary improvements amount to massive gains. Daily ripples of superior performance add up over time to a tidal wave of outrageous success. What all these means is that success is about simply doing a few smart moves each day that stack up to unimaginable achievement over a period of time.

All you need to do is to start off small. And then just do little improvements every day. Anyone can do that, no matter what their area of operation.

Dream big yet start small. That is the key. And start now exactly where you are. Small steps over time generate big results. And failure on the other hand comes from a few daily acts of neglect that over time lead to disaster, disappointments, sorrow and sadness.

It takes those small steps each day to eventually get to success. Without a doubt success eventually follows automatically when following this process. Just by performing simple acts with consistency. Small daily improvements – over some time – lead to stunning staggering success and achievements.

This is what is called the Multiplier Effect. Doing intelligent little acts each and every day accelerates with time to unimaginable state of success. It is south of like compound interest. Even when you are young, you go down to your every day and make little tiny, seemingly insignificant deposits, by the magic of compounding, over time you will become rich.

The powerful idea is to just dedicate yourself to being consistent, focused, and never ending improvement.

The important thing to do is to start. Starting is really the toughest work, the hardest part. By merely starting you have won half of the battle.

Pain and adversity are powerful vehicles to promote personal growth. Nothing offers you a big opportunity to reclaim more of your authentic power as a person as pain and adversity. Suffering serves to deepen us. Suffering comes to help us and causes us to know who we are truly are within, beyond the external mask we project. Suffering cracks you open, forcing us to let go and surrender all that we have known and clung to. It is truth that in our darkest and most sorrowful times we are willing to go the deepest.

What it really means is you having a raw drive and the superior ability to block out the noise in this age of too many distractions.

Persistence and Patience: These are two extraordinary leadership virtues to get you through challenging times. It is astounding how far you can get when you decide that you simply will not give up – that failure is not an option. That you are a person who simply refuses to quit. Most people give up as soon as they hit a brick wall. That is the mark of weakness and lack of character. You cannot lead anyone if you fail to lead yourself.

People lack the courage to go beyond the familiar territory. They are frightened to leave the familiar. They are afraid to leave the crowd. They want to fit in and are afraid to stand out. They think like everyone else and behave like everyone else, even if doing so doesn’t feel right to them. They are reluctant to listen to the call of their inner hearts and try new things. They refuse to leave that shore of safety. So they do what everybody else does. In so doing, their once-shinning souls begin to darken and wrinkle.

Clinging to safe shores in your life is nothing more than making a choice to remain imprisoned by your fears. There may be the illusion that you are free when you keep living within the box that your life may have become but, believe me, it is just that: an illusion - a lie you tell yourself. When you leave the box for new vistas - new fresh avenues and stop following the crowd or what other people say about you there will be some kind of fear. But developing courage requires that you feel these fears and then move ahead anyway. Courage is not the absence of fear but the willingness to walk through your fear in pursuit of a goal that is important to you.

When you trust in yourself, you are trusting in the wisdom that created you.

Being a leader involves being inspirational and uplifting in a world that all too often celebrates grudges and all worst things. You lead when you shine wisdom on the path of others and make them walk tall. You do things that exalt people and not diminish people. Look what is good in people and who applauds even the smallest positive act that they do.

Your wounds must be turned into your wisdom. Your setbacks and tragedies can become your stepping stones if you choose.

You are far greater than you ever dreamed of being. And no matter what you are feeling in your life right now, believe that all is good and unfolding in your best interests. It may not look pretty, but it is exactly what you need to learn for you to grow into the person you have been destined to become. Things at this moment may seem to be hard, but they are not hard, they just seem so. Everything happening in your life has been perfectly made to drive you and lead you to your greater destiny.

ANNEXURES

This section present a select portion of the vast information resources about the life of Sefako Makgatho that is in the public domain.

ANNEXURE 1

AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS CENTENARY MEMORIAL LECTURE ON SECOND ANC

PRESIDENT SEFAKO MAPOGO MAKGATHO DELIVERED BY ANC PRESIDENT COMRADE

JACOB ZUMA, GOOD HOPE CENTRE WESTERN CAPE, February 23 2012

National Chairperson Comrade Baleka Mbete,

Western Cape Chairperson Comrade Marius Fransman and leadership of the province,

Members of the ANC National Executive Committee,

Leadership of the Tripartite Alliance;

The Makgatho family,

Comrades and friends,

Fellow South Africans,

Thank you for joining us for this lecture on the second President-General of the ANC, forming part of the celebration of the centenary of our glorious movement.

We are honoured to discuss the life and times of President Sefako Mapogo Makgatho, a gallant fighter who led the South African Native National Congress from 1917 to 1924.

It is a fitting tribute to hold this Lecture in the Western Cape, as President Makgatho gave his important and first address in the Cape on 6 May 1919.

It was at that annual conference that President Makgatho uttered his immortal words, saying; "We ask for no special favours from the government. This is the land of our fathers'''.

A renowned teacher, Methodist lay preacher, journalist, estate agent, unionist and a celebrated political leader, President Makgatho, was born at Ga-Mphahlele, in the Pietersburg District in the Northern Transvaal, now Limpopo Province in 1861.

He was the son of Chief Kgorutlhe Josiah Makgatho under the paramountcy of the legendary Kgosi Sekhukhune of the baPedi kingdom that fought fearlessly against the Transvaal boers.

President Makgatho attended school in Pretoria, and later went to study education and theology in Middlesex, England.

He became a teacher for 20 years at the Kilnerton Training Institute in Pretoria, a school that produced prominent South Africans such as Joe Nhlanhla, Miriam Makeba, Lillian Ngoyi, Nthato Motlana and others.

A dedicated activist and human rights campaigner, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Transvaal African Teachers Association in 1906.

President Makgatho was also a keen media activist, and helped establish a newspaper, "The Native Advocate", co-owned with Advocate Alfred Mangena. It folded after two years due to lack of funds. He also founded The Good Shepherd, as the journal for the Transvaal Africa Teachers Association.

President Makgatho also formed one of the earliest Black political organisations, the African Political Union, which later changed its name to the Transvaal Native Congress (TNC).

He remained president of this organisation from 1906 until 1908. The TNC later joined the South African Native National Congress when it was formed in 1912 in Bloemfontein, becoming its Transvaal branch.

President Makgatho was therefore active in the ANC since its inception in 1912.

Three people had been in the running for founding President at the Bloemfontein inaugural conference of the ANC, John Dube in absentia, Edward Tsewu and Sefako Makgatho.

Comrade Makgatho asked the Transvaal Native Congress to vote for Comrade Dube to promote unity. President Makgatho was among the four Vice-presidents that were elected, others being Alfred Mangena, Meshack Pellem and Walter Rubusana.

The election outcome indicates that from its founding congress, the ANC already emphasised unity and that it already had many leaders to choose from, all who were equally capable.

What is remarkable about the founding congress as well is that it indicated that the ANC was pan-African in outlook from inception, looking for solutions to the problems of the continent over and above domestic challenges.

President Makgatho outlined this vision in 1919 as follows:

"The ANC aims to unite Africans, not just in South Africa but also in Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland in particular.''

Compatriots,

All ANC Presidential terms have proven to be difficult, because every period has its own unique challenges, throughout But President Makgatho, like President Dube, led the organisation during the formative years while it was still finding its feet and focus. It was also the period when oppression was deepening, which required a formidable response from the organisation.

The organisation had to respond to the aggression of the white regime which was riding rough-shod on the human rights of the African people, and taking away as much of their land as possible.

Fortunately, in President Makgatho, the ANC had a man who led from the front. While he acted collectively with the masses, he also earned his stripes as a bold leader in his own right.

Earlier, in 1912, he protested actively against the colour bar, the racial segregation that preceded apartheid. To highlight racism in the railways, he boarded a train coach reserved for white people only and was attacked by a white passenger JP Wolmarans.

In court, President Makgatho, admitted that he deliberately provoked a confrontation on the coach in order to draw attention to the genuine African grievances against the racism of South African railways.

The racist regime spent 200 000 pounds afterwards on blacks-only coaches to stop the African people from using the exclusively white coaches, so as to further entrench racism. President Makgatho also led successfully what was called the pavement struggle in Pretoria.

According to one of the many bizarre discriminatory practices of the time, Africans were not allowed to walk on street pavements in some towns, including Pretoria.

On numerous occasions, President Makgatho also used the law courts to challenge ordinances that affected the movement of Africans in Johannesburg. He won a number of such law suits.

President Makgatho also led a struggle to assist the Indian community, whom the Pretoria local authorities sought to deny facilities at the local market .

His determination, bravery and courage so impressed former President Nelson Mandela that he named his son Makgatho, after him. In his book Long Walk to Freedom, President Mandela described President Makgatho as "an emblem of indomitability and courage."

In addition to the protest actions, President Makgatho also engaged the white supremacists directly.

As he outlined in his 1919 political report, he attended meetings at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and other offices, talking to the settler regime's ministers and officials about the impact of their racist policies on the African people.

Out of all racist laws that the ANC was fighting at that time, nothing was as shockingly aggressive as the Natives Land Act of 1913, later amended in 1936. The law confronted the ANC leadership just few months after the formation of the organisation.

The law was crafted in response to the demands of White farmers in the Cape Province, the Transvaal and the Free State.

Its aim was to destroy and dismember a successful African peasantry who, despite numerous political difficulties, offered effective competition to White farmers.

The law prohibited Africans from owning or tilling land in any part of the country outside the so-called Native Reserves, which at the time accounted for less than 10% of the land area of South Africa.

The effect of the law was the dispossession of the African people of the few pieces of their ancestral land that they still owned and controlled.

Founding ANC secretary Sol Plaatje writing in his book, "Native Life in South Africa", eloquently outlined the impact of the Act.

"Awaking on Friday morning, June 20, 1913, the South African native found himself not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birth''.

In 1914, the leadership sent a delegation of five, led by President John Dube, to the British crown to ask them to withhold the royal assent to the law.

Many other deputations followed to the British crown but did not yield any fruit. Responding to debates within the movement about the effectiveness or lack thereof, of the deputation strategy, President Makga'I cannot understand how anyone could call it a crime to send a delegation to the headquarters of the Empire. What sort of king have we, that we should never go to see him? ‘'

Another historically trying period for the movement and the leadership at that time, was the outbreak of the First World War.

Like virtually all the movements in British and French-governed colonies, the ANC leadership believed that a demonstration of loyalty to the imperial government would be repaid by a more sympathetic hearing of their grievances when the war ended.

Shortly after the deputation's return home from protesting against the Land Act in London, the First World War broke out in August 1914.

The ANC resolved that the war must be supported, due to the belief that the loyalty would be rewarded with concessions.

The ANC leadership resolved to put all public agitation against the Natives Land Act on hold until after the war, and mobilised people to join the war effort.

The noble and patriotic gesture of participating in the war as soldiers was rebuffed by the regime.

General Smuts, then defence minister, arrogantly said no Africans would be trained as soldiers or armed with modern weapons, but could enlist in a "Native Labour Corps", to undertake the digging of trenches, ambulance duty and other menial work.

Comrades and compatriots, you will recall that many African volunteers died in parts of Europe during the war.

We are still trying to locate them in France and other parts of Europe so that they can be correctly acknowledged.

The biggest tragedy was the sinking of the SS Mendi ship on 21 February 1917, killing more than 600 black volunteer soldiers. This was indeed a most painful period. It reminds us of the fact that our freedom was not free, it came at a huge price.

Our people went through untold humiliation and loss of dignity and freedom for centuries before they could walk as free men and women after casting their votes on 27 April 1994.

Comrades and compatriots,

When the First World War ended, the ANC realised that the tactical decision to suspend protest action during the war had been ill-advised.

The white regime was going ahead with implementing racist and oppressive laws. The eviction of people from their land as a result of the Natives Land Act was continuing. Pain and suffering continued.

The foundation of the system that was later called "apartheid" was being laid down by the Botha-Smuts government around the period of the First World War.

The country was systematically moving towards a segregationist direction in which Whites and Blacks would be governed by different norms, standards and laws.

Other than the Land Act, the regime passed many other laws, such as the notorious Natives Urban Areas Act of 1923 which statutorily defined all Africans in the urban areas as "temporary sojourners" who were admitted to the cities and towns to "minister to the needs of the Whites".

In addition, the Natives Administration Act established an entire separate body of laws and procedures for governing the Africans.

Compatriots,

We would like to single out for praise, the ANC Women's League, then called the Bantu Women's League and its President Charlotte Maxeke, for the tireless national campaigns against pass laws, starting as early as 1913 in the Free State.

The ANC waged campaigns against the pass laws taking its cue from the Women's League which had started earlier.

Indeed, the centenary of the ANC and the lectures on our former Presidents, provide an opportunity to remember and appreciate the hard won freedom we enjoy today. Our freedom came at a huge price.

Our forebears sacrificed a lot so that we can today live in peace and dignity, in a free, non-racial, democratic South Africa

Comrades and friends,

On this special occasion we are pleased to highlight a few of the many achievements that summarise President Makgatho's legacy.

Firstly, President Makgatho revitalised the ANC, taking it beyond deputations to active protest action. The deputationsorganisation nowhere and the oppression was intensifying

Described as an "urban president'' as he worked around Johannesburg and Pretoria mainly, he mobilised the African urban working class, which made the ANC militant and responsive.

It was he mainly, with the Transvaal Branch, who championed the ANC's radical shift. His deputy, Sol Plaatjie, had indicated that they wanted a "much more virile and representative organisation..." at the beginning of their term in 1917.

The organisation adopted new methods, riding on the wave of the impact made through the joint activism with labour, as shown by numerous strikes, as well as against the passes.

The leadership threw its support behind the African municipal workers during the Bucket Strike of 1918, and a second wave of strikes, this time affecting workers on the mines in 1920 to name a few strikes.

Secondly, it can be safely argued that President Makgatho laid the seeds for the Congress Alliance and Tripartite Alliances.

It was during his presidency that the Industrial Commercial Workers Union (ICU) was established in 1919 and workers struggles were prioritised by the ANC. He was also willing to seek alliances with white radical movements such as the International Socialist League to advance the struggle for freedom.

Thirdly, an outstanding achievement of President Makgatho's presidency organisationally, is that the ANC finalised its Constitution in 1919.

There was thus a framework within which to operate as well as procedures for the membership to follow.

The constitution was aimed at addressing a number of issues, primary amongst them being the unity of the African people in the four republics.

In addition to language differences, the reality is that before 1910, the African communities were governed by very different White regimes in the four republics which also meant that their political experience differed to some degree.

Fourthly, President Makgatho achieved phenomenal growth for the ANC. The ANC grew its membership to a paid membership of 3000! It was not an easy achievement those days.

He would be very happy to hear that his organisation has grown to more than a million members. He grew the ANC despite challenges such as lack funds and other logistical difficulties.

Fifthly, the ANC's human rights tradition has its roots in the historic 1923 Bill of Rights which emphasized the rights to equal citizenship, access to land, equality before the law, as well as equal representation. The 1923 congress adopted the Bill of Rights which formed part of the Constitution.

We boast of a Bill of Rights today in our Constitution. We have to thank our forebears who had such remarkable foresight, to know that a progressive South Africa would need a Bill of Rights

More importantly, President Makgatho always emphasised the need to build a better Africa.

We recall the words in a petition sent to King George dated 16 December 1918, where he raised sharply the ANC's displeasure at how Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland were treated.

He said on behalf of the organisation

"We desire to appraise Your Majesty of the fact that when the Protectorates called Basutoland, Swaziland and Bechuanaland sought protection of Her Majesty queen Victoria, they never surrendered their tribal land and their sovereign rights. They remain this day integral independent nations.

"Particularly the independence of Swaziland was recognised under the London Convention of 1884 in the Transvaal. They were never conquered and they never at any time waived or surrendered their sovereign rights''.

We learn from this direction that the ANC must never abandon its responsibility to the continent.

That is why we continue to this day to advance the African agenda, in memory of President Makgatho and all founding fathers and mothers of the movement who demonstrated that this should be done.

Also important to learn from President Makgatho's legacy, is the need to remain rooted in our communities and to respond to broader societal challenges. Though he was based in the urban areas, President Makgatho never forgot his roots in GaMphahlele and built a school and a church in the area. A deeper analysis of most ANC leaders in the 20th century reveals individuals rooted in their communities. They never allowed their education to barricade and separate them from the rest of the community.

President Makgatho stepped down in 1924 as President-General, but continued to lead the Transvaal ANC branch of the ANC until 1933.

He returned to the national executive as treasurer during the presidency of Pixley ka Isaka Seme in 1930, an indication of his dedication to the African National Congress.

President Makgatho lived with his wife Priscilla in Eastwood Pretoria until he passed away at the age of 90 in May 1951.

We are happy that finally today, we are able to share his remarkable story of patriotism, dedication and selflessness as well as his undying quest for freedom, justice and human rights for all.

It fills us with pride to be able to name the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria as the SM Makgatho Presidential Guest House in his honour.

We hold high level international and domestic summits and meetings in that State house. Each time we do so, we will remember this great man, who loved this country and its people, and wanted only the best for Africa and the world.

President Makgatho made a pledge in 1919 that we must continue to implement in his honour and in his memory.

He said; ''We pledge ourselves to continue this lifelong struggle for a South Africa that is legitimate, non-racial, non-exploitative, free, independent, democratic, and playing its proper role amongst the nations of the world''.

Indeed we continue to strive towards this goal.

Long live the spirit of President Sefako Mapogo Makgatho.

I thank you!

Issued by the African National Congress, February 23 2012

ANNEXURES 2

Address by President Jacob Zuma during the official launch of the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Garankuwa, Pretoria

Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande,

Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla,

Chairperson of the Interim Council, Professor Olive Shisana,

Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Mr Mduduzi Manana

Academics and students,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen

I am delighted to form part of the launch of the third new university in South Africa, the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.

In the State of the Nation Address on 17 June 2014, I indicated that education remains an apex priority of this government.

Government will continue to invest in education and skills as the key to economic growth and development. Today’s event is another example of the fulfilment of that commitment.

South Africa today is faced with an extensive shortage and an inadequate distribution of health professionals. We have an undersupply of new and appropriately trained health science graduates which is why we need to focus intensively on producing this important health professional core.

The establishment of Sefako Makgatho University therefore provides an excellent opportunity for the development and training of a new generation of health professionals who will make a positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of the many South Africans still marginalised by poverty and lack of access to health services.

We are making history today because this is the first stand-alone health sciences university to be established in the country.

The university will go beyond only training medical doctors which was done by MEDUNSA. It will also produce other health professionals such as dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, medical technologists, radiographers, and so on.

The establishment of this university is but one indication that we are determined to bring education to all the people.

The establishment also supplements current initiatives to increase and expand the capacity of higher education institutions, and to substantially increase access to higher learning over the next 15 to 20 years to reach the expected participation rate of 25% by 2030.

The university has currently enrolled five thousand and thirty four (5034) students.

The projected growth for this institution is seven thousand students by 2019, and ten thousand students by 2024.

The university will recruit students from communities with the greatest health care needs, and provide innovative training programmes, including distance programmes which will provide students from all over the country with access to quality health care education.

Funding has been made available for this university to take off.

For 2015/16 financial year an amount of more than two hundred and ninety eight million rand (R298m) has been allocated in the form of a university subsidy to support the operations of the institution.

In addition, government has also allocated R210 million to support the establishment of this new university.

We are pleased to be adding this new expanded institution to our higher education sector.

Last year we established Sol Plaatje University in the Northern Cape and the University of Mpumalanga to expand access to education to all provinces. The two provinces had not had any university before.

We are really forging ahead in providing more opportunities and a better future for our youth and our people in general.

Government is committed to ensure that the large numbers of youth are given post school education and training opportunities that will improve their employability.

Alongside the focus on infrastructure must be a drive to improve teaching and learning.

This must translate into improved success rates and graduate outputs that should be at the forefront of all activities of our institutions.

Closely linked to this is the need to ensure that the range of courses and programmes offered by the universities meet the needs of the economy.

We also encourage our learners to take up mathematics and science as more opportunities are now available for further study for them in this field. We are also investing in teacher training so that we can produce students for Sefako Makgatho from our high schools.

Ladies and gentlemen

It is not a coincidence that this university is named after former ANC President, Mr Sefako Mapogo Makgatho.

Sefako Makgatho was a teacher, politician and journalist born at Ga-Mphahlele, in the then Pietersburg district in Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo).

President Sefako Makgatho dedicated his entire life to improving the human condition of the African masses in our country, in a noble, altruistic and gallant manner.

It was under his leadership that the Transvaal ANC exerted the pressure necessary for the introduction of a uniform tax for Africans across South Africa.

He together with other teachers in the Transvaal formed one of the first teacher unions, the Transvaal African Teachers ‘Association, so education was in his blood.

He was also the key figure in the formation of the African Political Union (APU) and the Transvaal Native Organisation.

He also promoted ideas and information dissemination and engaged in the battle of ideas at the time. During his period as a journalist he teamed up with Alfred Mangena to establish a political journal, “The Native Advocate” and also collaborated with Pixley ka Seme in launching the South African Native National Congress (now the ANC) publication Abantu Batho in 1912 which was funded by the Swazi queen regent.

As a Transvaal President of the ANC, he also successfully challenged the law providing for segregation on Pretoria’s pavements. He therefore made a sterling contribution to fighting segregation and racism in Pretoria. We are truly proud to name this university after him.

Ladies and gentlemen

I sincerely applaud the work done by the Interim Council of Sefako Makgatho University together with the Council of the University of Limpopo, under whom the erstwhile MEDUNSA fell, in making sure that this university opens its doors in January 2015.

In celebrating the birth of this new university, we also celebrate the promise, hope and aspirations of our country.

The Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University will set a new course for training of health professionals in the country.

The university is named after a gallant son of the South African soil. It must promote the legacy of Sefako Makgatho by producing appropriately qualified, highly skilled, and patriotic Human Resources for Health.

These are professionals who will never taint the image of their professions, and who will treat our people like diamonds, with utmost care and dedication.

These must be professionals who will carry forward the proposals made during the recent Operation Phakisa Delivery Laboratory, to ensure that our people receive quality health care in a caring manner.

I wish the new university all the best in this new journey ahead.

Congratulations to the Minister and all who have made this establishment possible in such a short space of time.

I thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency

Pretoria

ANNEXURE 3

Address by his President Jacob Zuma, on the occasion of the naming of the Presidential Guest House to Sefako Mapogo Makgatho Presidential Guest House, Pretoria

12 July 2012

Esteemed Makgatho Family,

Deputy President of the Republic Mr Kgalema Motlanthe

The Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Paul Mashatile and all Ministers present,

Honourable Premier of Limpopo,

Honourable Deputy Ministers and MECs,

Tshwane Executive Mayor, Councillor Ramokgopa

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Presidency Stakeholders and Special Guests,

Fellow South Africans,

In the State of the Nation Address in February this year, we announced that we would prioritise the promotion of an inclusive heritage in our country.

The symbols, geographic names and other features of the country need to reflect the diversity of our nation, our history and our future.

We are here to honour that commitment and to continue to immortalize and preserve our struggle heritage and history. We are doing so during an important year, when we mark the centenary of the oldest liberation movement in the African continent, the ANC.

We thank you for joining us therefore, to witness this historic occasion.

Today we are celebrating yet again, the legacy of an outstanding South African, the Limpopo-born teacher, politician and journalist - Sefako Mapogo Makgatho.

His contribution to the freedom and democracy we enjoy today, in the early years of our struggle for freedom, is being recognised through the naming of the Presidential Guest House in his honour. In April this year, we had the privilege of bestowing the National Order of Luthuli on President Makgatho, recognising his sterling contribution to the struggle for liberation.

In May this year we renamed Kings House, the Presidential Residence in Durban, after the first President-General of the ANC, John Langalibalele Dube.

This Presidential Guest residence is a meeting place of people from all walks of life. We host Heads of State and Government from all over the world.

We receive members of the national executive and all spheres of government, representatives of business, non-governmental organisations and people from all walks of life.

When they visit this residence, we want them to be inspired by the legacy of a man who decided to dedicate his life to making South Africa a better place for us all.

Compatriots,

With the important dialogue on social cohesion just a few days past and Madiba`s 94th birthday just a few days before us, this moment could not have been timelier. Once more we wish Madiba well on his birthday!

The naming of this residence is also timely given the fact that our Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality has recently renamed a number of streets after heroes and heroines of our liberation struggle and other distinguished South Africans.

Among the changes, Zambezi Drive in the north-east of the city has also been renamed Sefako Makgatho Drive.

As the democratic government, we are giving this city a new face, capturing the rich political heritage of our country and the selfless and heroic struggle against colonial oppression and apartheid.

Such transformation is most appropriate for this city because Tshwane is the seat of government.

We have a responsibility to reflect a free South Africa accurately, boldly and proudly. As a nation we must together continuously pay tribute to men and women who committed their lives to fighting for human dignity, equality and freedom and must enshrine the values that they represented.

Compatriots and friends,

We are truly proud to name this Residence after President Makgatho. He knew the Brynterion Estate precinct including the Union Buildings very well, and appears to have been a regular visitor!

He said in his 1919 address to the national conference of the ANC in the Cape Province;

I must apologise to the Free State delegates for my inability to visit them during this time of trouble.

I hope they will understand when I say that in recent months these manifold troubles have increased my work in Pretoria.

I have been in constant attendance at the Union Buildings and other offices, where I have had numerous conferences with heads of departments, and at various times with General Botha, before he left, and with other Ministers such as Mr Malan, Mr de Wet and Mr Burton on various questions more or less serious``.

President Makgatho believed in direct engagement with the oppressors who were sitting in the Union Buildings, in efforts to make them realise that they were destroying the country.

It is befitting that a residence linked to the Union Buildings be named after him.

President Makgatho also so inspired President Nelson Mandela that he named his only son, Makgatho Mandela, after him in 1951. That was the year in which President Makgatho passed on, here in Pretoria.

Born in then Pietersburg and now Polokwane, President Makgatho led the South African Native National Congress from 1917 to 1924.

He made his contribution to our country as a teacher, a trade unionist, journalist and political activist of note. He established the Transvaal African Teachers Association to fight for improvement of conditions in education.

Before leading the ANC, he also played a key role in the formation of the African Political Union and the Transvaal Native Congress, experiences which prepared him for his subsequent role of leadership in the organisation.

Most importantly, he was a fearless activist who defied authorities in many campaigns, decades before the Defiance Campaign was even conceptualised.

In 1912 for example, he boarded a train carriage reserved for white people to make a point against racial discrimination.

Another campaign he undertook was an effort to end other racially-based absurdities, such as the prohibition of Africans to walk on the pavements in Pretoria.

The bizarre prohibition of walking on the pavements and other racist laws was best captured by former ANC secretary general, RV Selope Thema in an article on 25 July 1953. He said;

In those days the black man was treated as a beast of burden. He was knocked and kicked about with impunity.

In the magistrate`s courts his voice was hardly heard and his evidence hardly believed.

He was stopped at street corners by policemen demanding the production of his pass and his tax receipt. He was not allowed to walk on the pavements and had to dodge motor cars in the streets. He was not allowed to travel first, second or third class on the trains.

He travelled in trucks almost similar to those used for cattle and horses.... Politically he had no voice in the making and administration of the laws. Economically he was kept in a state of abject poverty``.

These are the conditions that President Makgatho and many of our illustrious leaders fought against.

We also remember his passionate fight against pass laws.

He spoke eloquently about the evils of pass laws in his 1919 presidential address. He said;

The authorities insist that they cannot abolish passes which are a great help to the natives, as they serve to identify dead ones and stop living ones from committing crimes.

But, chiefs ladies and gentlemen, you will understand how illogical is this allegation when I say there were no passes in Johannesburg before 1893 and there was less crime proportionately in those days; but since the multiplication of passes, Johannesburg has been known as the University of Crime.

Again like the Cape Natives who carry no passes, white men also die in Johannesburg and it has never been suggested that they too, should carry identification passes.

What is so difficult for us Natives to understand, is that a form of help should be forced upon us against our wish, that we should be fined, imprisoned, and ridden to death by mounted policemen, with our women also under horses`s hoofs, and shot at, simply because we say we are not in need of the help that is offered. What kind of protection is so compulsory?

This is a rich history, a history that many adults do not know, let alone our children! We have to teach ourselves the history of our country, all of us black and white, so that we can appreciate the freedom we enjoy today.

Even though our history is painful and uncomfortable, we cannot wish it away. We must learn from it and build one united nation from the ruins of the divisions of the past.

We were given the direction by our leaders such President Makgatho, who preached unity and a non-racialism as early as 1919.

He said; “The ANC aims to unite Africans, to spearhead a common struggle for freedom and determination; to destroy racism and to create on its ruins a non-racial South Africa with traditional democratic rights that would be available to all, irrespective of race, colour, religion, sex, possessions, formal education and so on``.

This is the foundation of the work that the ANC is doing, as it works together with all parties, to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.

Compatriots and friends,

It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to the Sefako M. Makgatho Presidential Guest House.

I thank You!