‘The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’

‘The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’. This, is subject to interpretation. To me, it speaks of a mother’s love and the tears she shed to save her child.

In November 1980 on a quiet Saturday morning , one young women heavily pregnant with a girl child, embarked on a trip by taxi to a town called Umtata, the then capital town of the Transkei. She lived in kuTsolo, on the outskirts of Umtata, at a village called Ngcele. Going to Umtata every month end was part of her routine, therefore even as pregnant as she was, with two months to go before the arrival of her child, she needed to get there to run some errands. Public transport was her only mode of transportation.

She caught a taxi thinking that it was just another ordinary day for her to travel. Unbeknown to her, there would be surprises that would lead to a sequence of events that would change both her life and the life of the unborn child.

On arrival in Umtata, she managed to run all errands and was ready for her return trip rather early in the day, thus she took another taxi heading home. The taxi driver needed to first take a detour to Ngangelizwe township to collect some items before driving off to Tsolo.

At about nine o’clock the taxi was finally ready to go, however as they were leaving Umtata one of the tyres burst, causing the taxi to overturn. The expectant woman was rushed to the hospital, and fortunately had not sustained any major injuries thus was allowed to continue with her trip. She got into another taxi homeward bound, but this time, as they were driving past the Ntywenka cuttings, the driver lost control of the vehicle causing the taxi to roll down the mountain. Again the mother-to-be was rushed to the hospital where she was deemed alright and was told she could continue her journey. It was roughly eleven in the morning. She eventually managed to reach Ngcele, her village, where her husband joined her to go shopping at a nearby town of Maclear, this time traveling by car.

It was a rainy afternoon the roads were wet, and precarious. The journey continued. The shopping was finished, and it was time to return home but on leaving Maclear, the car experienced trouble and veered off the road down a valley. For the third time the expectant mother was rushed to yet another hospital in Maclear, where she was admitted immediately but was now experiencing stomach cramps. This was a sign that she was going through premature labour, the baby was to be two months early if it survived.

Fortunately both mother and child survived the ordeal, and a beautiful daughter was welcomed into the world. She was named Amkelwa.

‘The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world’

I bless my mother for surviving all three accidents and bringing me into this world. that day indeed changed our lives.