After the service his daughter Ndembiseng aged 12 came to ask me over to the rectory. We spent a good hour and a half chatting and I was invited to lunch. The discussion was far ranging, covering African politics, economy, apartheid history as well as church. We had an interesting discussion about being thankful. He talked about his ministry history and his testimony is worth writing up. Lunch was spent getting to know Rachel his wife who still works at Dundee. They have been here since December.
I asked about my experiences the previous day when I met the guys who had multiple wives and the different opinions between the two about it being cultural. Tsietse said the second guy was right that it was not cultural and had been a practice allowed by concession which had become abused. There is no history in Zulu culture going back of men taking multiple wives. He supported the view that culture is being used as an excuse by men to have multiple partners and it sounded like the second guy was wrestling with his conscience about what he has done, realising the wrongfulness of it not only for himself but also the impact it will have on the future of his children. He felt the practice came down to sin and this guy knows from the perspective of knowing right and wrong that he is doing the wrong thing. He also indicated that my experience with these guys yesterday is not uncommon and there are many men who use privilege and status as men to do as they will.
After lunch a walk around town past the hospital. He mentioned the road the hospital is in is used by young girls to prostitute themselves, getting into cars of unknown men. He commented on the risks this posed and what they must be coming from to take the risk of getting into car. We then drove some 20-30 kms out of town to two townships Madadeni and Nidamba The history of these places was interesting. Over 20kms from Newcastle an industrial area was between the two. This was so blacks in the apartheid era had no reason to come to Newcastle apart from major shopping. The townships were massive. Population estimates were not provided but seemed to be in the tens of thousands. Most lived in modest western style houses with the occasional rondavels which Tsietse explained were used by people who were Spirit and Ancestor worshippers.
We called into the Anglican church here and I met Tony the minister and his wife and two kids. Tony explained the church here gets about 300 each Sunday. They support 500 orphans in their community in various ways and have plans to build a new orphanage. Many of the orphans are cared for in granny headed households. It appears the death rates from AIDS is increasing and there are more and more orphans.
As we drove back to Newcastle discussion continued and I saw for myself the massive industrial area that bisected the city of Newcastle and the Townships. The township had its own hospitals. However schools and places of technical education had closed down to accommodate government offices. The decay of South Africa was evident. A new sign near a road newly built was pointed out and I was told a minor road was recently opened with a massive celebration for locals which is supposed to have cost over R1M ($160,000). Tsietse has no faith in the current government having the capacity to improve services. Poor governance and corruption are taking its toll on the country.
We ended up back at his place. It was a longer day than I had expected. It answered a lot of yesterday’s queries about the Zulu culture and its abuse of women by men. HIV will continue if men do not change their practices. It was as though I had spent a day with a guy I had known for many years. A day I will remember for a long time. A beautiful view of the Drakesbergs as I drove home on sunset
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