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elderly people, allaying their anxieties, promoting self-

sufficiency, and keeping them company until their end

of life”.

Nontando remembers the apartheid era as being both

good and bad for a nurse. “We had no time for white

racists. We grew up during the Black Consciousness

Movement (BCM) when we knew that ‘black is

beautiful’, and didn’t have time to pretend to be

something we were not. We gave all our care and love

to our own people unconditionally and excelled in

what we were doing as nurses,” she said.

Nontando said one of the drawbacks of the time was

that the best jobs were reserved for white people.

“Whites could have senior positions, irrespective of

their qualifications or competence.”

Nontando has been married to Richard Duma since

1968 and they have four children – two sons and two

daughters. She moved to Lamontville when she got

married and the family now lives in Hillcrest, west of

Durban.

From humble beginnings to an academic in the nursing

profession – the story of Dr Phumelele Jabulisiwe Kunene

For some black people growing up during apartheid,

having a Junior Certificate (JC) was one of the major

achievements. Times were tough; the powers that be

were not comfortable with blacks obtaining better

education. They were seen as a threat to the order.

Because education was a light with which black

people could illuminate their future, it was in the

interests of the apartheid government to limit their

educational progress as much as possible.

For a black girl born in 1939 in a remote rural area

called EsakwaBiyela, near Melmoth in what used to

be called Zululand, life was surely going to be tough.

The colour bar system, and then apartheid from 1948,

ensured that black people started life on the back foot.

Like most of her peers, Phumelele Jabulisiwe Kunene

did obtain her JC. However, for the go-getter that

she was, this was not enough. She only left school

because of a lack of funds. Phumelele enrolled for

nursing at KwaCeza, a mission hospital, while she

continued to work towards her matric through private

studies.

Nursing was one of the few professions that black

women could turn to in those days. But for Phumelele,

it was more than that: she ‘loved’ it.

“I grew up in a home very close to a mission hospital.

Nurses were my good role models. I longed to be

part of the caring profession of nursing. Nurses were

smartly dressed in their uniform, and disciplined.

Good Christian values impressed me as l was born

and brought up in a Christian family where caring was

emphasised,” she said.

For a young black woman, nursing was a God-

sent profession. “It also helped for us people with

financial constraints in that as a student, one got a

stipend instead of paying for the tuition fees,” she

remembered.

Back then marriage for nurses was seen as a next

step; nursing and being married was a nice package

indeed! Phumelele moved to Durban when she got

married, and it was here that she got employment.

Nontando Duma, left, with a colleague