Dearest
I wrote a short resume about my father,Christoff Kelly Mageza. What motivated me to do so was to stave off a challenge to my intentions to name my grand son after him. I felt very strongly about it that I thought I should make my challengers aware who really my father was to me and how much I loved and honoured him. This has now prompted me to start a LEST WE FORGET campaign to have family members to write about their parents and other members of the family whose lives they think we need to know about. This will invoke for us as a family some role models of all kinds whose lives we can emulate and not be afraid to stand up and defend our turf when challenged about our being and our heritage. Our family has contributed quite significantly to the South African national fabric. Yet not much is known about that even among ourselves. For example we've had Adriaan Edison Mageza being a founder member of the CSIR and principal of the then UNIGAZ. Kaiser Mageza, building foreman at the University of the North,now University of Limpopo from inception in 1959 until his retirement in the 2000's. Walter Mageza, community leader,counsellor of the Joburg City Legislature,businessman, founder of the Slovoville township in Soweto, lobbyist for the transfer of the Bottom Primary School from the mines to the department of education for the benefit of the Slvoville community. Peter Nkateko Mageza,former COO of ABSA bank and director of companies. And many others. Surely,you know more. Other resumes may not seem as significant as all that but your parent's resume is the one that gives your life a certain trajectory. Since you cannot choose your parents,all what you receive from them whether material or emotional or both makes you who you become in society. Therefore no parent's contribution is insignificant. Write about your parent,then read what you shall have written to yourself and be amazed at how significant your attitude towards your parent is. How would it be also in this series,if we can write about our mothers as well ,as a way of linking our families to our maternal relatives. For instance in my personal experience, I never knew until now recently in my 60's that Muzwayini's of Pretoria,whom we attended University with,were related to me through my uncle Walter's wife being a sister to their mother. I could never understand why the Phephenyane's of Elim always referred to me as cousin until I learnt that Uncle Kaiser Mageza's wife was a Phephenyane. We are essentially a partriachial society and we tend to overlook the mother side of us,which, for all intents and purposes ,is the one that moulds us into becoming who we are. Perhaps we should start calling our wives by their surnames or clan names as is done in the Nguni and Sotho cultures,eg MaMofokeng Mbeki,Makhuzwayo Mageza. This maintains the ties or link of the female spouse in a marriage to her family. The way we're doing it now,not mentioning the maiden surnames of our spouses in our everyday talk,sort of obliterates their family ties,their being and heritage. This, in my guess,may be the source of the unhappiness and arrogance of some of our partners. Makes you think! I've already done my piece about my father. How about if one of my siblings could write about our mother?How about if you wrote about your Mageza and the mother side of you. My female sides are from backwards Pandeka,Mabirimisi (Nkuna), Mahuntsi(Baloyi),Khosa. Who are yours? I'd be honoured to know. Kitts Mageza