Ikwezi: A Town Lacking In Dreams

The desires the people hold are simple: Better education, basic amenities and healthcare, but many of these are out of reach. Time will tell.

A typical street in Ikwezi.

By Bracey Harris

The mayor of Ikwezi does not live

NAMIBIA BOTSWANA ZIMBABWE in this small town on the Eastern Cape. Instead, he commutes nearly an hour — an indication that those who seek careers NAMIBIA BOTSWANA ZIMBABWE NAMIBIA BOTSWANA ZIMBABWE and higher education must go elsewhere. Johannesburg Inside the mayor’s office a line of women JohannesburgJohannesburg

SOUTH AFRICA stand, waiting to fill out paperwork. Some SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH AFRICA carry babies on their hips in hopes of Cape Town I N D I A N O C E A N Port Elizabeth getting powdered milk. Others seek answers on how to provide for their growing families. Ikwezi is a town lacking in dreams. The I N D I A N O C E A N I N D I A N O C E A N Cape Town Port Elizabeth

Ikwezi desires that the people hold are simple: Port ElizabethCape Town Better education for their children, basic amenities and health care.

With many of these out of reach, dreams are an afterthought.

Although the name translates as “morning star” in Xhosa, one feels that the warmness of its people is artificial. One wonders if their smiles reflect contentment or reluctance to accept an inevitable fate.

Ikwezi is a municipality of fewer than 12,000 residents fewer than 230 kilometers (a little more than 140 miles) inland from Port Elizabeth. Its economy is stagnant, and unemployment is high. ZIMBABWE It is midday in Klipplaat, one of the ZIMBABWE NAMIBIA BOTSWANA NAMIBIA four towns that make up the municipality. Goats mill about in search of food. They come across growing trees that have been BOTSWANA Johannesburg planted inside tires in a futile attempt Johannesburg

SOUTH AFRICA to keep the animals from reaching their SOUTH AFRICA leaves. A farmer quickly chases them Cape Bradley Levack Port Elizabeth Cape away. Green, grassy hills nearby provide Port Elizabeth Town I N D I A N O C E A N Town grazing for many livestock. Farming is one of the few occupations available. I N D I A N O C E A N One group hopes to change

Nieu-Bethesda limitations facing these towns. Karoo The Youth Forum is a simple name. No clever acronyms or fancy monikers. Under direction of Bradley Levack, the forum is named for those who it is trying to reach. Levack is a developmental practitioner for Ikwezi. Thandeka Mduna, the

Thandeka Mduna secretary for the forum, speaks

Bradley Levack talks to a classroom of students at a local school.

with a soft, steady voice of her hopes for the future. At the age of 25, her life has been rife with disappointments and missed opportunities. Yet, she still has faith that God has a plan for her life.

She is determined to be a nurse, but many obstacles are in her path.

Year after year, she learns the details of application too late to apply for nursing school. However, knowing in advance is not enough. The complications seem endless. The application is online, and her town has no Internet access. The nearest place to make photocopies of requested documents is at a police station more than an hour and a half away. This is not to mention financial difficulty.

As she speaks, the tears in her eyes are just as visible as the determination in her voice.

“I don’t let my circumstances determine my future,” she says. “Even if takes 20 years,” her voice trails off.

She fears that many in her village lack determination.

“It’s not always about money. Sometimes when there’s an opportunity, you grab it with both hands,” Mduna says of the tendency of the town’s youth to be interested only in quick-paying jobs such as brick laying, rather than seeking higher education.

This has presented a problem for the Youth Forum. For many, the hours spent with the Youth Forum are seen as lost wages. Several members have quit in an attempt to gain financial security.

Mduna loves the youth council because it is non-political. This is quite a feat in South Africa, a place where loyalty to political parties runs deep. Perhaps political loyalty is no more prominently displayed than in the African National Congress. Its influence is felt throughout Ikwezi. A garbage can in the distance is painted with ANC colors — yellow, black and green stripes. It is a solemn reminder that even if politics does not dictate the forum, politics cannot be escaped.

“People around here are more political than anything,” Mduna says. This is a hindrance to the Youth Forum. Johannes, 29, is chairman of the forum and cites its neutrality as a factor in the lack of participation. Many argued that the leader of the forum should be picked on the basis of political allegiance, not ideals. The Youth Forum intends for every underage young person to be in school. While Mduna blames the disinterest in higher education

Johannes Olifant on discouragement, Johannes

believes the problem is a lack of discipline. “Not everyone can stand against the bad influences of life,” Mduna says. Ikwezi is a peaceful place, but teenage pregnancies and dropouts are a problem. She shakes her head when recalling the stir that was caused by an 11-year-old’s pregnancy.

Johannes is worried about a dark influence. He says that youth as young as 12 have begun experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Although the violence and crime that often is associated with South Africa does not exist in Ikwezi, gangs are gradually having a presence. He worries that there soon will be trouble.

Charmain, 30, often tells her life story as a cautionary tale. She tries to warn youth of the mistakes she made in the taverns, but most do not listen. As she talks, she fidgets with zippers on both sides of her jacket. Up and down she pulls them as she pauses to collect her thoughts.

Being a rebellious teenager is almost considered a rite of passage in the West. Here, the stakes are higher. A lack of commitment to education is not a barrier to college in the West, but in South Africa it means no admittance. So commitment to education is vital. Mduna considers it a victory that the town saved two children who were considered troublemakers. The forum fought for them to be reinstated, and the principal reluctantly agreed.

The policies of the schools are a point of tension in Ikwezi. Required courses often are not offered and students are ill-prepared.

Last year at the Klipplaat Secondary School, no student passed the required exams. However, the forum believes the outcome can be different. They have hopes for a 100 percent pass rate.

Levack deserves credit for the forum. As an activist against apartheid, he has been pained by the condition of many black South Africans.

Several classrooms are lacking teachers as funding has been reduced. Instructors rotate from classroom to classroom while students wait without supervision until the teacher arrives from another classroom.

Levack walks into a classroom of waiting students and compels them to have respect and pride in their school. He urges students to not let those who fought for their freedom to have done so in vain.

The students listen in silence. Occasionally eyes roll, no doubt from hearing a history lesson that they feel has been shared too often. Others look on with interest; some simply just look tired.

He tells them God led his footsteps there and that maybe his speech was for only one person’s ears. This is OK, he says.

As we listen, we become aware that only time will tell whether Levack’s commitment will mean that the young people of Ikwezi do not have to go elsewhere to prosper.