Dr Maelekanyo Christopher Tshilongamulenzhe with his mother, Makhulu Vho-Munzhedzi, and Prof Barney Erasmus… this is proof that dreams come true
Munzhedzi has seen thousands of Wednesdays, but not one as important as today. Today her dream comes true. Today she celebrates because she has conquered her archenemy – poverty.
For the third child of Mr Munyadziwa Nevhutanda (who headed the Nevhutanda Royal Family in Duthuni Village) and his wife Mrs Tshikalange Nyamuofhe Mashau from the Mashau Royal Family, from the village of Mashau situated about 30km south west of Thohoyandou, this is the big day.
For the first time in 70 years, she is leaving her village Duthuni, 15km west of Thohoyandou in Venda, to travel 600km to the big city, because her grandson, Maelekanyo Christopher Tshilongamulenzhe, is receiving his doctorate at Unisa – the first in the family. She is his guest of honour.
She can hardly wait. She has been looking forward to this day for years, hardly allowing herself to believe her dream can come true. She looks at her shining new clothes and shoes. He has made her proud and today he will also be proud of her. She is going to look very smart. This is what she was born for more than 101 years ago on 5 April 1911.
The last time she travelled more than 50km from her home was early in the 1940s when she travelled with their first born, Tshibalo, to visit her late husband, Frans, in Alexandra where he stayed while working in Johannesburg.
She married Frans Radzilani Tshilongamulenzhe in 1939, just before World War II. They had four children, but the first-born, Tshibalo, died in 1978 leaving behind a daughter and a son. In 1981, Frans also died leaving her a small pension. In the same year her grandson, Maelekanyo Christopher Tshilongamulenzhe, also came to stay after the death of his father.
She never attended school, but that doesn’t mean that she is ignorant of the value of education. During the 1950s and 1960s, she tried to motivate her own children to focus on education, but her family was so poor that her sons had to leave school and seek employment in Johannesburg instead.
She firmly believed there was only one way of getting out of this vicious cycle of poverty. When her three grandchildren became her responsibility, Munzhedzi vowed to educate them to secure a decent and stable future for them.
She became the main pillar of support for them, being both a mother and a father to them. She sacrificed her small pension to provide food, clothing, school uniforms and school fees for the trio. She was determined to educate her three grandchildren to save them from the spiralling scourge of poverty in the family.
All three grandchildren successfully passed matric in the early 1990s. But she did not stop. Instead, she gave up the last of her pension savings to pay for their university education. Unfortunately, one of them dropped out of a university at second year, but the second completed her degree in education, and is currently a school teacher and pursuing an honours degree.
Today, she is beyond joyful. This is the trip of a lifetime. She has lived to see her dream come true. She can’t wait to see the beauty of modern cities and facilities. She can’t wait to see her grandson graduate with a doctoral degree. She still can’t believe that she has lived to see this day.
“I dreamt but never thought this achievement was possible in my poor family, thanks to God who protected me all these years I can see this day. I can now die peacefully whenever God decides on me.”
*Dr Maelekanyo Christopher Tshilongamulenzhe, Acting Chairperson of the Department of Human Resource Management in the College of Economic and Management Sciences, received his doctoral degree on Wednesday 3 October 2012. In his thesis entitled “An integrated learning programme management and evaluation model for the South African skills development context”, he unconditionally acknowledges the important role his grandmother played in this achievement – the first in his family. He strongly believes she has, through her sacrifices, “averted a potential loss of a valuable skill and a possibility of participation in criminal activities for the country.” He is a senior lecturer in Human Resource Development.
**Story written by Ilze Crous
