Salute the working class heroes

SELVAN NAIDOO AND KIRU NAIDOO

DO YOU remember the sea of workers thronging the pavement outside SA Clothing in Mobeni craning their necks to catch sight of their buses (going) home before the sunset? Or the tired throngs dashing down the steep stairways of the railway stations at Berea Road, Rossburgh, and Clairwood to feed their children in far off townships?

We must remember them and honour their labour. May Day celebrates the working women and men of the world. One of the versions of the revolutionary worker's anthem, The Internationale, screams:

"Arise ye pris’ners of starvation,

Arise ye wretched of the earth,

For justice thunders condemnation,

A better world’s in birth!"

The struggles and gains made by the trade union movement have changed the face of world history. As children of working-class families, we nail our socialist loyalties to the mast.

It is the workers of the world who drive the engines building economies and societies. Too often, worker stories are shoved to the margins of history or even worse, never recognised. Subaltern studies theorist, Ranajit Guha goes further to note that elite historiography of nationalist or neo-nationalists share the prejudice that the making of nations are exclusively or predominantly elite achievements.

Let's each break that prejudice by recording and telling the stories of the workers closest to us. Two workers of incredible willpower and dogged determination to rise against all odds are the subject of this Worker's Day story.

Thulisiwe Thembisile Kubheka of eShowe was born in 1989, and raised alongside two brothers by their grandparents while their parents worked in the city. Thuli, as she is affectionately called, completed her matric in 2006. Two years later, she obtained an office assistant certificate from Boston College.

She was then employed as a security guard by Marshall Security, being posted at various schools. There she developed a love for young children. Thuli assisted with homework while the children waited for their parents at the secured entrance of the school. She was then promoted to a front gate security guard, stationed at the prestigious boys-only Northwood School in Durban North in 2017, where her life changed dramatically.

Her cheerful disposition and willingness to help saw her being employed by the school as the front office receptionist in 2022. She efficiently managed the daily comings and goings of boys, visitors, teachers, and parents with a warm welcome and meticulous attention to detail.

When Thuli, started at Northwood, she quietly enrolled to study for a Bachelor of Education degree through Unisa, in spite of not having enough funds. She used her child support grant to pay for her studies while a portion of her salary as a security guard was sent to feed her extended family at eShowe.

In October 2022, the government grant stopped. By divine intervention and the kind spirit of prefect master Mrs Nicky Torguis and the schoolboy prefect body of 2022, Thuli was able to pay for her studies. She graduated with 21 distinctions in her Bachelor of Education degree in 2023.

In April this year, Thuli found her true calling when she was employed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education as a Grade 3 teacher at Golden Hours Primary School in Durban North. From security guard to teacher, Thulisiwe Thembisile Kubheka, shines as a beacon of hope for workers striving for a better life for their families and themselves.

Another worker whose life’s journey is just as inspiring is Sathiaseelan Ponnen who began work as a “page boy” at the Durban Club on April 1, 1965, earning R26 as a monthly wage. Eminent scholar on indenture in South Africa, Professor Joy Brain draws constant attention to the role of “special servants” in growing the economy of colonial Natal. The story of waiters like Ponnen is also the subject of a forthcoming book on the Indian waiters who built the tourism industry in Durban.

By 1880, many ‘“special servants” were brought to Durban and indentured to service the needs of colonial-era establishments from the Victoria Embankment to the length of the beachfront promenade. The posh, members-only, Durban Club, with bay views, clad with Edwardian and Renaissance-styled capitals, arches, pilasters, and mouldings was built in 1904.

The club employed a sizeable staff of Indian waiters. The agreement to form the Durban Club was signed by a group of the Town’s "gentlemen" on 14 June 1854. The agreement read, “ We, the Undersigned, hereby agree to form a Club to be called the D’Urban Club for the purpose of playing at Billiards, Chess and as a Reading and News Room…”

“Special Servant” waiters were highly sought after as they spoke English and were trained in specialised skills. Waiters earned better wages than most indentured workers from the plantations with their prized jobs being reserved in a tight network that allowed for generational handover to sons, nephews, or grandchildren.

Sathiaseelan Ponnen was employed by the Durban Club on the recommendations of his uncle and grandfather, Chinsamy Pillay, who managed one of the five bars as head barman. His retirement opened the door for 18-year-old Ponnen.

In his smartly decorated Phoenix home where the floor tiles of the lounge match the grand black and white checkered pattern of the Durban Club floors, Ponnen recalled how the 103 porters, waiters, and barmen were given number tags instead of name tags when he started work at the Club in 1965. He was given the number 7.

This method of recording harks back to how indentured workers were commodified by numbers, with the first indentured worker named Davaram being labeled No.1, and the last worker Mr. PN Murugasam identified as No. 152 184. Those workers arrived on 384 ships between 1860 to 1911 to labour in building the struggling economy of colonial Natal.

Years later, the Durban Club replaced the shameful number identification with name tags. Another irony was that Sathiaseelan Ponnen was given the name Raymond Ponnen because a waiter by the same name had left. Despite the indignity of being robbed of his ancestral identity, Ponnen climbed through the ranks at the Club, excelling at every level.

He struck a handsome pose, charming, disciplined and immaculately turned out with gleaming shoes. He never missed a day's work. Starting as a porter, his diligence saw him being promoted to head barman following in the footsteps of his esteemed grandfather.

Ponnen’s exceptional memory saw him prepare the standing order for Club members from Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys for 15 years as they religiously reached the bar each Friday. Ron Williams, the Mayor of Durban from 1972 to 1974 took a liking to Ponnen, insisting on his service at the Club, even employing him at his residence as a private butler hosting Durban’s (no doubt racially segregated) Who’s Who.

Ponnen’s skill with numbers was recognised by the Club’s bookkeeper Mr. B.E. Chambers, which led to him working in the accounts department where he eventually retired in 2015. Despite his new position, the Club had Ponnen double up, assisting with the bar when the barman was off sick.

When he retired, a grand party was thrown in his honour where he was served his favourite tipple, palm ginger beer. He was awarded a Durban Club tie and lifetime membership. Such was the celebration and contradiction of his working life.

This Worker's Day is against the backdrop of a world bedevilled by conflict, poverty and rising inequality. Patriarchy and unfettered capitalism sees the rich getting unashamedly richer. The heroes building a better world must always be the Thulisiwe Thembisile Kubhekas and Sathiaseelan Ponnens giving hope that the workers have nothing to lose but their chains.

Selvan Naidoo serves as the volunteer curator of the 1860 Heritage Centre and Kiru Naidoo organises the Made in Chatsworth weekend markets at Depot Road Memorial School. Their books are available at www.madeindurban.co.za. The authors may be contacted on 0829408163.