LLOYD GOVINDSAMY

THE MEMORIES of growing up during apartheid are dark, says Paddy Govindsamy, of Mount Edgecombe.

“I remember walking along the Durban beach with my family – but only as far as the colour of my skin would allow.

“I remember that my husband and I took turns to carry our one-year-old baby boy, while we stood in a queue for almost two hours to cast our first vote at the Stonebridge Community Hall in Phoenix.

“I waited for a long time to vote for a black, democratic president and I am proud to say I was not disappointed with the way he ran the country and how he united people.”

Govindsamy believes the ANC today is nothing like the ANC of Mandela’s era.

“For someone like me, who grew up during apartheid, it was hard to accept that the ANC that freed us is the same ANC that got us into junk status. But I have faith that one day we will be the best again.”

Govindsamy, who is a teacher in a primary school in Phoenix, said she hoped to see the government invest more in education.

“At school level and at university level, education should be the government’s priority. As a teacher, I see children with so much potential but they have to fight through the challenges of poverty to realise it. It should not be that way.”

Govindsamy said a lot more needed to be done in public health care.

“I have relatives, some of whom are old ladies who have to wake up before the break of dawn on cold winter mornings to queue for their medicine and only return, at times, by late afternoon.”

She would also like to see the government improve the economy as the cost of basic living was “far too expensive” for the average South African.