Thumakele Gosa Thumakele Gosa
Carlo Petersen
KAYAMANDI in Stellenbosch has become the subject of a research project to celebrate the township’s narratives and spur investment in the community, and to “unlock many untold narratives, beautiful stories, sad stories, but also hopeful and celebratory stories”.
The project is a joint venture between non-profit organisation Imbadu Ma-Afrika Development Consortium (IMDC), Solms-Delta Wine Estate and Stellenbosch University (SU).
The initiative’s creator, Imbadu executive director Thumakele Gosa, said the project would go beyond an envisaged publication documenting the history of Kayamandi.
“The official spelling is Kayamandi, but we write it with an ‘h’ (Khayamandi Oral History Research Project) because in isiXhosa ‘khaya’ means home, and ‘mandi’ means pleasant, sweet or nice. This place is a sweet home to us,” said Gosa, who is from Kayamandi.
“The hope is to break the mindset that poverty begets poverty, and we do this by making people proud of their heritage.
“We want to establish a heritage centre to preserve and celebrate local narratives. This should stimulate investment for the arts, tourism and entrepreneurship.”
Gosa said the first people moved into Kayamandi in 1941, making it the second oldest township in the province next to Langa, which was established in 1927.
“Ultimately we want to restore confidence and enhance community development. This project is also aimed at creating cohesion between all residents of the greater Stellenbosch (area),” Gosa said.
Gosa established IMDC – which promotes cultural heritage and economic development in Kayamandi – in 2010 before approaching Solms-Delta owner Mark Solms for assistance. Gosa had been busy with a history project in Kayamandi similar to the one which has been done at the Solms-Delta estate, which houses a museum telling the story of the farm. As a result of the Solms-Delta research project, workers and their families who live on the land now own a large section of the estate.
Solms has hired researchers to help Gosa find out more about the people of Kayamandi.
“So just like we did on my farm, where we brought in historians to help us understand how we got here, now we are starting this project in Kayamandi.
“I encourage the people to take this process very seriously and give of your own history and your own stories as honestly and as fully as you can,” Solms said.
“This is the beginning of a very important process.”
SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor Wim de Villiers said: “The vision is to unlock many hopeful and celebratory stories in order to build a new future for all.”
De Villiers said SU’s History Department and Division for Social Impact would be co-ordinating the research. “As a university, our strength is academic research. We want to help unlock knowledge that the people of Kayamandi already have. South Africa has a divided past, but I would like to think we are building a united future. And to do that, we need to get to know each other better.”
Deputy mayor of Stellenbosch Martin Smuts said the municipality supported the initiative.
“I ask that the community actively participate in local government and co-produce the future possibilities of Kayamandi as part of the greater Stellenbosch that the people want to see,” he said.