Meet the Langrug Working Team
Alfred
Age: 40
Family: Alfred is single. He has two boys from a previous marriage, ages 8 and 11.
Background: Before starting a home in Langrug, Alfred lived in Groot Drakenstein where his father worked for Rhodes Fruit Farm Company.
Life in Langrug: He moved to Langrug 17 years ago when his father lost his job due to company closure. He currently lives with his mother and three younger brothers in F section.
Community involvement: Alfred originally worked for ANC as an assistant secretary. He decided to leave politics because that field of work doesn’t allow for growth or advancement. He then joined ISN and became secretary two years ago. His portfolio includes social issues, especially focused around the youth of the community.
Interests: Alfred is glad to be in Langrug. He likes to randomly dance and sing throughout the work day.
Dreams for the future: He wants to see the projects we’ve been working on really happen. He is excited to see some implementation happening on the ground.
Amanda
Age: 24
Family: Amanda is single and has a 6-year-old son who lives with her mother in the Eastern Cape.
Background: Amanda was born and raised in the Eastern Cape. She lived in Johannesburg for two years during fifth and sixth grade. She stopped attending school in 2008 and moved to the Cape Town area to look for a job for a few years. She eventually settled on joining a youth forum in Franschhoek where she was offered training in different areas. The ward councillor saw Amanda’s creativity and offered her a job. While working for the councillor, Amanda saw the good work of the Langrug working team and decided to join them.
Life in Langrug: Amanda moved to Langrug for the working team job. She originally lived in J section with her older sister, but she currently lives in H section.
Community involvement: Amanda joined the working team at the end of the enumeration process. She received from training from CORC and worked as an architect on behalf of CORC for the reblocking process. She then worked as a community architect and designer for reblocking.
Interests: Amanda likes to hang out with her friends and eat food.
Dreams for the future: Amanda is particularly interested in hospitality and hotel management. Therefore, she would love to get a job in this field in the future.
Kholeka
Age: 22
Family: Kholeka has three brothers and three sisters. She also has a three and a half year old son who lives with her parents in the Eastern Cape. She visits him at least once a year during Easter time.
Background: Before moving to Langrug, Kholeka stayed in Groot Drakenstein and worked on Rhodes Fruit Farm with her father while also attending school. Her family wasn’t happy with the living conditions, so they moved to Langrug in 2002 to build a shack. She continued school at Dalubuhle until grade 11 when she became pregnant. She started looking for a job after dropping school.
Life in Langrug: Kholeka joined the working group in 2010 when she was living in Zwelitsha in A section. She currently lives in N section with her cousin.
Community involvement: She attended a workshop with CORC and ISN to plan the enumeration and mapping of the community. She initially helped measure and number the shacks before focusing on the mapping and savings scheme aspects of the enumeration of the settlement. She was part of the group of community leaders who presented the findings of the enumeration to the Municipality of Stellenbosch in Langrug, at CORC’s office and in Stellenbosch. Kholeka and Amanda also collected the information of community members who were starting businesses and shops in Langrug. Kholeka also held meetings with the people who need to be relocated from Zwelitsha. She was very familiar with and passionate about the problems of that particular section of the settlement having lived there previously.
Interests: Kholeka has been to Norway and Uganda and has loved those travelling experiences. She also enjoys watching the TV shows Generations, Popeye, iCarly and cartoons in general.
Dreams for the future: Kholeka wants to finish her schooling and perhaps study to become a town planner. She would also love to sing in New York.
Khungeka
Age: 31
Family: Khungeka is married with two sons and one daughter.
Background: Khungeka moved to Langrug in 1996 but then moved to Cape Town when she got married in 2004. She has known she is HIV positive for 12 years and has been taking ARVs since 2010.
Life in Langrug: Khungeka moved back to Langrug in 2008. She currently lives in F section with her husband and children.
Community involvement: In March of this year, Khungeka joined Uncedo Loluntu, the HIV support group in Langrug. Shortly after, Siyanda, the leader of the support group, chose Khungeka to serve as her assistant in ISN (Informal Settlement Network). Khungeka expanded her portfolio to include children’s education. She organises a group of 26 children who practice and perform traditional dances as well as short stories.
Interests: Khungeka really enjoys her job because she likes the children. She particularly likes funny things. She is also proud to be a Christian.
Dreams for the future: She would like to see the 26 children she’s working with stay away from drugs and alcohol abuse, grow up to become professional dancers and travel the world.
Phumelisa
Age: 19
Family: She has a three-year-old son who lives in the Eastern Cape with her father and stepmother.
Background: She grew up with her step mother and father in the Eastern Cape. She stopped school when she was 11 years old. She first visited Langrug to see her aunt during Christmas holiday in 2007 and then started staying in Langrug in 2008.
Life in Langrug: She currently lives in J section with her aunt.
Community involvement: Phumelisa saw Kholeka performing some of her working group duties and expressed interest in the joining the team. She visited other settlements in Cape Town to learn more about mapping, profiling and verification of data. She ended up working on mapping with six other people. With her knowledge, she went to Durban to teach people how to do mapping, enumerations and design of cluster reblocking.
Interests: In her spare time, Phumelisa enjoys singing Gospel music and playing netball.
Dreams for the future: Phumelisa wants to see Langrug make changes. She would like to go back to school and get a better job. She is also determined to take care of her child. She would like to educate others about teen pregnancy in the respect that it isn’t the end of your life if you have a child when you’re young.
Siyanda
Age: 33
Family: Siyanda is married and has two children, a six year old son and a one year old daughter.
Background: Siyanda has known she is HIV positive for about 15 years.
Life in Langrug: Siyanda lives with her family in F section.
Community involvement: Siyanda volunteered to help work on the enumeration report in 2010 and 2011. Since she was pregnant during this time, she did not continue to work on the reblocking plan after the enumeration was completed. During the enumeration, she sympathised with the many community members that were affected by illnesses, so she became more involved in the health aspects of the community. She opened a support group for HIV in the community called Oncedu Loluntu on 16 June 2012. The group currently has 30 members, six of which are children.
Interests: Siyanda is really interested in the health issues within the community, especially HIV/AIDS.
Dreams for the future: Siyanda would like to see Langrug become a nicer place. She wants to be seen as a role model for people who are HIV positive as well as teach those affected by the disease that it is not a death sentence. She would like to work with NGOs and travel to educate people around the world about HIV. Siyanda would love to improve her support group with the goal of making it a recognised, sustainable program. Lastly, Siyanda would like to be around to experience a cure for HIV and see her children grow up.
Trevor
Age: 33
Family: Trevor has a wife and two sons ages 3 and 5.
Background: Trevor grew up in the Eastern Cape before attending high school in Cape Town. His parents lived in Langrug, and he moved to the settlement in 1996. Before his duties in Langrug, Trevor held many jobs. He worked on farms and in shops. He moved on to landscaping work and carpentry/construction. He then spent some time working for a lumberjack as a chain saw operation. His last job outside of his duties in Langrug was as a private contractor for his own building business.
Life in Langrug: Trevor lives in E section and has been living in Langrug for about 16 years.
Community involvement: Through public vote, Trevor was elected chairperson of Langrug two and a half years ago. He basically serves as the leader and public representative for the community, a position that has proven to be stressful and somewhat dangerous. He is also a leader in ISN due to his position.
Interests: Fuelled by some of his prior jobs, Trevor has a great interest in business. In his spare time, he enjoys watching soccer and the soaps. He also likes to “chill with the dudes” and play with his kids whenever he gets a chance to visit them.
Dreams for the future: Next year, Trevor hopes to return to working as his own private contracting company, a business he hopes to see grow in the future. He also has a huge desire to see development and improvement within the Langrug community.
Victoria
Age: 38
Family: Victoria is single. She has a 10 year old daughter who lives in the Eastern Cape with Victoria’s parents.
Background: She previously lived in Ceres before moving to Langrug.
Life in Langrug: Victoria moved to Langrug in 2005. She currently lives in F section.
Community involvement: She joined ISN in 2010 when the Municipality was sued by the owner of the neighbouring land and they needed to move shacks from the road to Dalubuhle, a nearby school. Victoria was made assistant secretary to Alfred. She served as supervisor of the greywater channel building from R to P sections. Her portfolio is based on savings schemes, and she is currently working on mobilising savings throughout the community.
Interests: Victoria likes to drink champagne and enjoys listening to gospel and house music.
Dreams for the future: Victoria has very specific dreams in mind for her future. She wants to own her own silver car, become president of South Africa and see her daughter become an airplane pilot.
Zameka
Age: 39
Family: Zameka had a traditional marriage and has three sons and one daughter.
Background: She lived in Ceres before moving to Langrug.
Life in Langrug: Zameka moved to Langrug in 2008 to look for a job. She currently lives in Langrug with her youngest son, who is four years old. Her husband is sick and lives in the Eastern Cape.
Community involvement: Zameka initially volunteered to help improve and oversee aspects of the greywater channels. She then joined the designing team for reblocking. The current subject of focus in her portfolio is savings.
Interests: Zameka is very enthusiastic about money and therefore loves her job.
Dreams for the future: Zameka would like to go back to school to get a proper education as well as hopefully become more computer literate. Her dream job is to work as a bank teller.
Zodwa
Age: 21
Family: Zodwa has two sisters and three brothers. She also has a six year old daughter who lives with Zodwa’s mother in the Eastern Cape.
Background: Zodwa grew up in the Eastern Cape. She then moved to Khayalitsha and lived there before moving to Langrug in May 2012.
Life in Langrug: She lives with her sister and brother in F section. She likes to visit her other sister who also lives in Langrug.
Community involvement: Zodwa’s sister first took her to volunteer with the working group when she first moved here, and she joined the team shortly after. Her portfolio consists of designing and measuring for reblocking.
Interests: For fun, Zodwa enjoys singing gospel and house music. She also enjoys playing netball.
Dreams for the future: She would love to go back and finish school. After university, Zodwa would ideally want to work in a bank. In her spare time, Zodwa would love to be a DJ.