By Palesa Mofoti
The emotional farewell celebration of Nontobeko Ngobeni which was held over the cause of two days, one at Masiza Primary School and the final day at Batsumi Guest House was nothing sort of amazing.
From very vibrant and energentic cultural performances by her learners to guests draped in their beautiful traditional attire to celebrate a woman who many who spoke called her an exceptional leader and phenomenal woman. Department heads, former colleagues and her predecessor Maam Bango were amongst the esteemed guest who spoke highly of her.
Maam Ngobeni as many called her was an educator who began her schooling at Montshiwa Primary School and after completing her grade 12 at Tshireleco High School she enrolled in Nursing, due to the loss of her father she had to which took a heavy emotional toll on her and her mental health she had to quit.
She picked herself up and decided to enroll at Phatshimang Teaching College which is now known as Norther Cape Urban TVET College for a teaching cause and by the year 1989 she had completed her teaching qualification.
She began teaching at Dleportshoop Combined School, proceeded to teach at DR E.P Lekgela High School for one year and the next year she was the Mathematics and English educator at Masiza Primary School in 1992.
Like many professionals, the journey is not easy. It is filled with ups and downs especially teaching in township schools where you are faced with children from different backgrounds. But because her love for the teaching career runs very deep, she made it her mission to become a mother to her learners. Nkosinathi Yaso a former student of Ngobeni noted that ‘ma’am had a way of making lessons comer alive, she never just taught us about lessons from the book. She taught us about life also’.
Palesa Nqumashe a former colleague at Masiza and current Provincial Secretary for South African Teachers Union (SADTU) highlighted the amazing work ethic Ngobeni possessed stating that she left at a noticeable legacy at Masiza moving it a level up to from where it was.
Ngobeni noted that there is noticeable change in the education system from the time of her inception of being an educator to the current years. Expressing that it becomes overwhelming for principals, further adding that it became very difficult to teach children in this generation.
Ngobeni became principle in 2013 until her retirement in 2023. Her seat at Masiza Primary School was occupied by Lady Hadio Mei.
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