South Africa 51

Listen to South Africa 51, a 40-year-old woman from Queenstown, Eastern Cape, and Cape Town, South Africa. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 40

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 07/07/1977

PLACE OF BIRTH: Queenstown, Eastern Cape

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Xhosa

OCCUPATION: domestic and home-based child care worker

EDUCATION: national higher education — Standard 9

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject was born and raised in the Eastern Cape but relocated to the Western Cape to continue schooling as an adolescent.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Nadia Barnard

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 10/05/2018

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

So I was born in Eastern Cape, Queenstown. I was born in July 1977 — 7 July, so I’m triple seven! I grew up with my grandmother; I hardly knew my mother, so we don’t really have a, a good relationship, so, I also don’t know my father, and, uhm, it’s hard, but anyway, what can we do? It’s life, it’s part of life, ja.

So, uhm, I’m a very strong woman; I’m very independent, and, er, I look forward to anything that comes my way. I can handle anything that comes my way. Sometimes you – y-you – there is, er, a weakness in anyone, but you have to wake up and continue with the life.

I love loving people, knowing people, talking, making jokes, meeting new people, and all that stuff. I’m a hard worker as well.

The reason why I moved from the Eastern Cape to Western Cape? I came here because my grandmother couldn’t afford me, so I thought, let me … When I finished my standard eight, so I thought that I could come to Cape Town and then my aunts will look after me, but it didn’t happen, so it was very difficult. I only went to school for – from January and then until April, so after April I couldn’t go back to school because I still didn’t have the uniform, and I couldn’t ask my grandmother, because she already did so much for me, so … I thought that, OK, let me go and look for work. So I started working; so I was doing domestic work, looking after kids, and cleaning the houses, and sleeping over; only go to my aunt’s house at the month end, which is Friday, Saturday, Sunday; then on Monday, then I have to go back.

So I was very bright at school. I really wanted to go to school, but I didn’t have the opportunity, so, ja…

My dream is to — you know there are so many kids without parents. And, er, there are people who are raising kids that doesn’t belong to them, and they are still giving them whatever it is that they need. So I would like to volunteer to stuff like those, just encouraging, and thanking the people that are doing the good job. Because raising someone else’s child is not an easy job.

Ja, my grandmother: She was my friend, anything; she was everything to me.

OK, my grandmother used to [subject continues to speak in isiXhosa.] So she was saying, she was always saying to me: “In order for you to live like a queen, you need to work like a slave.”

TRANSCRIBED BY: Nadia Barnard

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/05/2018

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

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