One golden baobab for a truly strong woman

To most of us in East Africa, the name Dube evokes that rasta-haired reggae crooner, South African Lucky Dube, best remembered for his emblematic poem, “Different colours, one people”.

So, when I saw the news item about a Dube being awarded a major South African national decoration, I assumed that it was this worthy artist being posthumously recognised by his country.

But I was wrong. The Dube in the news item had a lot to do with music all right, as we shall see presently. But she was a woman, and from an era more than a century before Lucky Dube. She is also a lot more significant to South Africa and the world than the dear departed reggae artiste. Indeed, I felt thoroughly embarrassed that I had never heard of Nokutela Mdima Dube until last week.

You probably know her story. After all, there is quite a lot about her, even online, including an endearing “docuvideo” called ukukhumbula uNokutela Dube. That sounds much like Kiswahili “kukumbuka Nokutela” (remembering Nokutela), and that is what it actually is, a good illustration of the linguists’ claim that isiZulu and Kiswahili come from one common stock called “Protobantu”, or Bantu mame, as the Swahili scholars call it.

Anyway, Nokutela Dube, this year’s winner of South Africa’s highest civic honour, the Order of the Golden Baobab, was one of the founding parents of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa.

She was one of the first black South African women to travel, study and live abroad and she was one of the founders of the famous Ohlange Educational Institute in Natal, where she taught the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Albert Luthuli.

AMERICAN FRIENDS

Nokutela also worked on the first African language newspaper, Ilanga laseNatali (The Sun of Natal), first published in 1903. She was also the person most responsible for the popularisation of the iconic “African” anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrica (God bless Africa), commonly attributed to her husband, John Langalibalele Dube.

So, Nokutela had an astounding record of activity and achievement to her name. Indeed, the main surprise about her winning South Africa’s most distinguished honour was that it had taken so long for her to be publicly recognised.

The other surprise, for me as I have already admitted, was that I had remained totally ignorant of her and her inspiration. With my love of and admiration for strong, assertive women, I should have been on intimate terms with her.

But I found several other particularly heart-warming and mind-opening nuances in the lady’s story. One of these was, obviously, her far-sightedness and, especially, her emphasis on education as the primary tool of empowerment of the African and, especially, the African woman.

More relevant to me, however, was the internationality and, shall we say, the “Africanity” of  Nokutela Dube’s story.

Born in Indala in the Zulu Natal area of South Africa in 1873, she had her formal education at an American-run Christian mission station, understandably the only outlet available to a girl of her background. What struck me particularly about this arrangement, however, was the lifelong and extremely close bond that developed between the Dubes and their American educators and partners.

It was through the Americans that Nokutela and John were able to travel to the US and take advantage of the opportunities there to study, live, work and alert American society to the problems of the black people in South Africa. Even after their return to South Africa, the Dubes continued to receive unwavering moral and material support from their American friends.

Thus, a generous donation from an American friend enabled them to construct modern structures at their school in 1907. The collaboration culminated in the deportation from South Africa and eventual bankruptcy of the Wilcox family. The American Wilcoxes had advocated land rights for John and Nokutela, against the White government’s systematic policy of dispossessing the natives, or “Kaffirs” as they called them.

I find this an inspiring tale of human and international solidarity, against today’s disturbing trend towards narrow, chauvinistic “nationalisms”, in the name of making this or that great, or “France for the French”, pace Marine le Pen.

Regarding Nokutela’s African relevance, the story struck me in two main ways. The first is how the Dubes went about their work. Despite the precolonial differences among the indigenous South Africans, and the colonial settlers’ emphasis and exploitation of these for their own benefit, Nokutela and John always had an all-embracing view of their compatriots as one people.

METICULOUS HISTORY

Their newspaper, for example, published articles in the Sesotho, Xhosa and Zulu languages. Their school had the same policy, welcoming young learners from all the surrounding communities. Can South Africans, or any other Africans, afford the xenophobia that we witness every now and then, in view of this broad and golden vision of our founding fathers and mothers?

The other side of the Nokutela African story is that she was dug up from obscurity by the Malian scholar, Chérif Keita, who actually adopted South Africa as his homeland. It is Keita’s meticulous historical research that played a key role in rediscovering and rehabilitating this fascinating woman.

Another heart-warming little discovery I made as I chased Nokutela Dube was that my long-time friend and orature colleague, Jeff Opland of Rhodes University, was also on the honours list of this year’s recipients. His award, an “Ikhamanga” silver, was mostly in recognition of his monumental work in Xhosa orature and Literature. Jeff Opland and I are founding members of the International Society for Oral Literature in Africa (ISOLA).

Interestingly, one of Professor Opland’s prized achievements is the popularisation of the work of the most admired female poet writing in isiXhosa, Nontsizi Mgqwetho. (I am sure I got the spelling right, but, please, don’t ask me to pronounce the name). Nontsizi’s verse, I understand, is a strong assertion of the woman’s struggle in the face of patriarchal domination, indifferent leadership and racist malice.

Anyway, I also feel honoured through my association with Jeff Opland. Sivuyisana, umfundisi (congratulations, Prof)!