There was a time back in the 1980s when seven-year-old Ayanda Nqeketo refused to go to school because he was embarrassed about his torn trousers and worn-out shoes.
But instead of sympathy from his parents, who could not afford his uniform, he used to get beatings as they tried to force him to get an education.
Even his adult neighbours in Mqwangqweni village, Ngqeleni, beat him until he had no choice but to go to school.
And now, more than three decades later, he has embarked on his own mission to ensure that no young child in Mqwangqweni goes to school in an old uniform or without proper school shoes.
On Friday, the married father of two, now 45, visited Mphathiswa Senior Primary School in Mqwangqeni, armed with brand new school uniforms and shoes for the school’s 218 pupils.
“I was once rebellious a young boy because I did not have a school uniform.
“I was in Grade 1 and contemplated going to find a job instead. But my parents were passionate about education and beat the hell out of me.
“The neighbours were told to do the same until I liked school,” he recalled.
He joked that the donation was his own way of getting his revenge by targeting the children of the very same villagers who helped raise him, albeit through beatings for dodging school.
“I am what I am today because of people of this village, and I want these children to know that education is not for the rich only. Even people like us who come from humble beginnings can make it in life.”
Interestingly, one of the people who was instrumental in the establishment of Mphathiswa in 1988 was Nqeketo’s grandfather, Elliot Nqeketo, who he, and his late grandfather Mayoyo, described as his role models.
After passing matric with an exemption, a younger Nqeketo wanted to become a soldier, but his grandmother would have none of that.
In fact, she told him that he had to go to university. And today he boasts a masters degree in medical anthropology.
The Tshwane-based Nqeketo also runs a successful consultancy firm called Ikamva Lesizwe, which he co-founded in 2016.
But he says he never forgot the beatings for refusing to go to school.
However, most importantly, he wants to inculcate a culture of giving among the children of Mphathiswa.
School principal Phathiwe Velembo, whose own father helped establish the school, said they were extremely excited with the donation of school shoes as they were sometimes even embarrassed to send children to school choir competitions which required them to wear uniforms.
Some of the children even wore gumboots to school because their parents could not afford to buy them shoes.
“This led to a low attendance which also impacted negatively on school results. This donation will bring a huge change.”
School governing body chairman, Mthulana Raxoti, praised Nqeketo, saying most villagers relied on social grants to make ends meet.
He said some Mqwangqweni villagers had previously worked in the mines but were retrenched.
He said no child would now be able to come up with an excuse not to go to school. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za..