Groblersdal Library manager Christa Steyn was surprised to get a call from Limpopo premier Chupu Stan Mathabatha offering to donate some of his book collection to the facility.
“He requested to see me and offered to donate books that he has and doesn’t see them in the library. We are overwhelmed that today [ 05 September 2023] those books are here,” said Steyn.
Mathabatha donated over 300 books to the library which is located in the farming town of Groblersdal which is one of the few urban centres built around more than 50 rural villages and settlements.
The donation came just a few days shy of World Literacy Day which is celebrated every year on 8 September by Unesco. The day also marks the anniversary of South African literary giant journalist Can Themba who passed away in exile in Swaziland on 8 September 1967.
Mathabatha, described the Groblersdal Library as the architecture of knowledge and heritage. Mathabatha revealed he has collected the books over a periof more than 45 years from 1976 when he actively joined the struggle for liberation.
“The kind of books I have donated are from history to business books from the likes of Richard Branson, JB Landbarke and others. Anybody, even those who want to study for a secondary school or doctoral studies, will be able to make use of these books to get information,” Mathabatha said.
Mathabatha became a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the then banned ANC in 1977. Spurred on by events after the Soweto 1976 Uprising Mathabatha rose to prominence as a renowned MK cadre in the Motetema area of the Northern Transvaal, now Limpopo.
Mathabatha became a prominent leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 80s and after the unbanning of political parties in 1990, he became one of the key activists to rebuild the structure of the ANC internally and the treasurer of the Northern Transvaal Region of the ANC in 1992. He has since served the ANC in various capacities in Limpopo.
Mathabatha’s book collection includes a wide range of titles, such as ‘Shining the Searchlight Inwards’ – Speeches and Articles by Letlapa Mphahlele, ‘Fezile Dabi’, ‘Moses Mabhida’, ‘Albertina Sisulu’ (all in the Learning African History – Freedom Fighters Series), ‘Plato’ Dialogues of Plato, ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison, Steve Jobs, Es’kia Mphahlele, and the Bible of King James Version.
He said he read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations while incarcerated during the apartheid era.
Mathabatha attributed his passion for reading to the influence of his parents during his formative
years.
He was also a member of book reading clubs during his high school years and as he became politically
active in his late teens, he delved into banned literature, enriching his mind with his fellow
comrades like Thabang Makwetla and the late Ephraim Mogale.
“It will be a lot of work cataloguing them but it is nice. Some of the books we don’t have and the community will benefit a lot from them,” Steyn said. – news@mukurukuru.co.za
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