Born in Chains by Clinton Chauke

Author:Clinton Chauke [9781868428779]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781868428779
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Published: 2018-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Saulridge: Mr President

In 2012, I finally reached matric and changed uniform, just as my sisters had done before me. I no longer wore grey flannel trousers and a maroon-and-white tie. Instead, I wore navy-blue trousers, a white buttoned shirt and the same tie my sisters had worn. In fact, Akani had given me her tie. Those who could afford to buy the maroon school blazer were advised to do so. A new cardigan jersey was introduced for the matriculants to replace the maroon-and-white machine-knitted jersey.

Our school was very crowded. On average, there were forty learners in a class. In March, after waiting through a long process, we got four mobile classrooms, which were containers. The mobile classes were very hot – they were more like shacks. But we didn’t care, because they really set us apart from the other learners. Our science class was room 26. They placed us very close to the administration building – next to Mr Mangena’s office to be more precise. This meant we had a different uniform and brand-new single desks, and we were treated differently from the other learners.

Our class was star-studded. We had every cool kid in our class, from rappers to dancers to pastors. We even had a soccer player who was playing for Orlando Pirates’ development side. Senzo Sethole was his name. Nelson Ndhima was also a promising player. He used to play for good teams in town.

I was extremely popular among our peers and educators. Subsequently, I was elected as the boy class rep by my peers, and Precious Modiba was elected as the girl class rep.

Mr Mangena believed in us. Even though he never taught me any subjects, he made me feel like I could do it. He would frequently single me out at assembly in front of over a thousand learners: ‘Clinton Chauke and Precious Modiba, by the end of this year I want to see you shaking the hand of the minister of education, Angie Motshekga.’ He said this statement on the first day of school. ‘The General’ as we nicknamed him, believed in all of us. Like Mr Mathibela, Mr Mangena not only gave us education, but hope. Sometimes, we did not need much – just knowing that someone believed in us was enough. Seeing Mr Mangena’s compassion made me realise that being a good person was hard – it involves being a good teacher, a good brother, a good son, a good father, a good uncle, a good spouse, a good citizen. These things are not easy. At Saulridge, I learnt that my greatness was inside me.

Because of pressure from Mr Mangena, I spent most of my time in the library. I was forced to study in the library, because at home I didn’t have a desk and it was always noisy. There was a tavern just across from our shack, so the conditions were always bad. I realised that the library silently contained the books that contained hidden truths.

I had also cut off watching too much television.

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