MQANDULI ADVICE OFFICE Gender

Mqanduli is a small rural town in the picturesque region of the , which is 30km south of and 22km north-east of . The town is named after a nearby hill called Mqanduli which means ‘grindstone-maker’.1

According to the 2011 Census, Mqanduli has a population of 2,647, 99% of whom are isiXhosa speakers.2 Mqanduli and Mthatha are part of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality which was established before the 2000 local government elections when the Mthatha and Mqanduli transitional and rural areas were merged.3 This is a beautiful rural area comprising about 44 villages. The municipality was named after King Sabata Dalindyebo because he was seen as a unifying figure to the people of both Mthatha and Mqanduli, a hero who fought for the freedom of and . The main economic activities of the town are community services (48%), finance (21%) and trade (18%).4

The Mqanduli Advice Office was initially started to assist retiring mine workers access their pension funds. Their success in assisting mine workers has resulted in funding support from the Department of Labour. The Advice Office deals with cases related to late birth certificate registrations, injury on duty, conflict resolution, consumer rights, service delivery issues such access to roads, water and electricity problems.

1. raper, P. (1987). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Vol. 46). https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2015.1113434 2. Frith, A. (n.d.). Census 2011: Main Place: Mqanduli. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from census2011.adrianfrith.com website: https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/294242 3. King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality - Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://municipalities.co.za/ overview/1032/king-sabata-dalindyebo-local-municipality 4. King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality - Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://municipalities.co.za/ overview/1032/king-sabata-dalindyebo-local-municipality

FAST FACTS

NAME: Mqanduli Advice Office LED BY: Clarence Mtutuzeli Xiniwe MAIN CHALLENGES FACED BY THE COMMUNITY: unemployment, late birth registrations, gender based violence, lack of political education and power struggles MAIN ACTIVITIES: Labour rights and learnership programmes for ex-mine workers; counselling; paralegal support; youth development ,promoting women and children’s rights; lobbying of stakeholders; assisting in the establishment of income generating projects such as early child hood development centres, poultry projects, vegetable and crop growing projects; assisting the community with access to social grants and community outreach on human rights and taking parliament to the people. ADDRESS: C/o Main Street (behind Post Office), Department of Agriculture premises, Private Bag X 569, Mqanduli, 5080 Rural Voice II: 35 stories for 35 years 85 CONTACT: Phone: 047 573 1041, Cell: 082 340 4944 FROM MINER TO COMMUNITY MEDIATOR

Gender

Computer centre run for youth in Mqanduli. Ezile Sahlulo the Computer Facilitator in a computer centre Clients in Mqanduli waiting in the Advice Office. run for youth in Mqanduli.

Clarence Xiniwe was a miner who joined the National Union of Mineworkers to fight against inhumane treatment of workers in the mines. He returned home to his rural village in the Eastern Cape to use the skills he learnt in the mines, to campaign for human rights through an advice office he set up in Mqanduli.

I am born to a royal family through my father who is a member of Amanqabe Clan. He is a member of the Amanqabe Traditional Council. Clarence Xiniwe I left Mqanduli as a young man to work in the mines in Rustenburg, in the former homeland of Bophuthatswana. The conditions were not good nor safe on the mines as rocks could fall at any time and your life could be endangered. We were crammed in the mine hostel, thirty men in the same room. Food that we were served was of poor quality. We were given amarhewu5 and some porridge which was not properly cooked. There was no meat or vegetables. Workers were not protected by labour laws and rights. You could be fired at the blink of an eye without a fair hearing. Our contracts did not allow us to go home without finishing the term of a contract even if you had problems at home. The Group Areas Act prevented women from visiting us.

These terrible conditions on the mine led me to join the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). We had to fight for better working conditions. In retaliation, the mine management dismissed all who were union members. It was this experience of injustice that made me realise I wanted to spend my life helping others.

There were many incidents of injustices such as ukuthwala6, a form of gender based violence using tradition as an excuse, that were taking place in Mqanduli. Rural women

5. A drink made of thin, slightly fermented maize-meal porridge. 6. ukuthwala is a form of abduction that involves kidnapping a girl or a young woman by a man and his friends or peers with the intention of compelling the girl or young woman’s family to agree to marriage (.Justice/Resources/Publications/Ukuthwala. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2019, from http://www.justice.gov.za/brochure/ukuthwala/ukuthwala.html)

86 Rural Voice II: 35 stories for 35 years were not respected by officials at government offices and they were shouted at for no particular reason. These are some of the factors that prompted me to do something by establishing a community advice centre. The experience of seeing young girls forced to marry older people was too much to bear. I remember a case of a young 14 year old girl in Grade 8 who was thwalad7 through a deal made by her biological father. The girl was abducted for ukuthwala while she was walking to school. Her father had made this Gender deal yet he never supported his daughter and chased away her mother. The child was living with her grandparents. A family member reported the incident to us at the Advice Office. We first communicated with the parents in the hope that they would listen but they insisted that it was their right to arrange this marriage. We then reported this matter to a local social worker who rescued the girl and took her away from the parents.

The issuing of birth certificates is another big issue we have to deal with. There isa crisis of children who do not have birth certificates. The Department of Home Affairs officials give parents and children who don’t have birth certificates a hard time. Without birth certificates the children cannot be registered to attend school and parents cannot receive child support grants. The children are an extra burden to grandmothers who have to foot the bill for food, clothing and school needs on their meagre pensions.

We tried to address this problem of birth certificates with the department of Home Affairs but they were not interested. We then approached pro bono lawyers who were willing to plough back into the community. The lawyers have drafted letters of demand and we are seeing progress. The Department is scared of court cases and have changed their attitudes. We have also targeted traditional leaders, churches and councillors through awareness campaigns and meetings.

Our Advice Office started off helping mineworkers and now serves the whole community. I was born to a royal family, but my belief in fighting for justice for all, has made my community my family too.

7. A colloquial verb for saying a girl was abducted through ukuthwala

Anam Kayise field worker in MqanduliRu Adviceral Voice Office. II: 35 stories for 35 years 87 Florina Farmer- in front of her new house. Emma Goliath, Fransiena van Rooyen, Naomi Betana, Colleen Alexander Julies.