Late writer extraordinaire Sathiseelan Gurilingam “Ronnie” Govender was described as a key player in the fight for liberation, through the large body of work that he produced.
Guest speakers were sharing their fondest memories of Govender and his work, at a memorial tribute for him on Saturday afternoon, held at the 1860 Heritage Centre in Derby Street, Durban.
Govender was born on May 16, 1934 and died in 2021 due to illness. He was born and raised in Cato Manor, a predominantly Indian community in Durban, to a father who was a bakery van driver and a mother who was a housewife.
He attended Sastri College and thereafter spent a year at the University of Cape Town, before returning to Springfield Training College for Teachers in Asherville, Durban, to become a teacher after failing to pay for his studies.
Govender wore many hats during his working career, including teacher, playwright, a journalist where he tackled racism in sport, novelist, founder of the Shah Theatre Academy, Marketing Manager of the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, recipient of the President’s National Award for Theatre, former Vice-President of the Natal Congress of South African Writers (COSAW).
He was the Resident Director of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville Campus, executive member of the South African Soccer Federation (SASF)- the non-racial soccer body in South Africa and became one of the founding members of the non-racial South African Council on Sport (SASCOS).
Some of his most notable works include The Lanhee’s pleasure-based on characters in a hotel in apartheid South Africa- the country’s longest running play, At the Edge and other Cato Manor stories, Song of the Atman and In the manure.
In his long years of political activism, through the use of writing, theatre and media, Govender won the Order of Ikhamanga, Category II: Silver, conferred unto him by the South African government for his excellent contribution to democracy and justice in South Africa through the genre of theatre, he received a medal by the English Academy of South Africa for his contribution to English Literature, and has also received an Honorary Doctor of Technology in Arts and Design from the Durban University of Technology.
According to the Director of the 1860 Heritage Centre, Selvan Naidoo, the gathering was an important one.
“The event is aimed at honouring one of South Africa’s greatest writers, playwright, author, and someone who has contributed immensely to the struggle for freedom through the expression of his work via the multiple plays that he introduced, and specifically during the dark days of apartheid in educating the masses about the freedoms of our country which we were seeking and searching for.
“He was one of those artists at the forefront and was able to share his work as an expression of protest theatre,” he said.
Naidoo said that this was the first inaugural memorial lecture held, and that they hoped to continue with it on a regular basis to honour Govender and his memory.
Award winning author, poet and storyteller, Gcina Mhlophe described Govender as an amazing playwright, and that she was grateful to have met him.
“He was a hard worker. He was not a slay king that just ticked boxes. He made you feel that you were in his presence. When you asked him questions, he took the time to answer you. He shared with me stories of his upbringing, and just how life was like growing up in Cato Manor. I had never visited but the way he told his stories made you feel like you were there,” she said.
She also described him as a positive role model to her, who ought to be remembered for many more generations to come.
Betty Govinden, academic, writer and teacher who was also a guest speaker, said that it was important to appreciate the work of South African writers and how their writings were themselves memorials and monuments.
She said that Govender, through his work such as At the Edge and Other Cato Manor stories published in 1996 were clearly articulated and appreciated, and that they were a defining monument.
She said that writing about the different areas such as Asherville, Chatsworth and Wentworth, among others, were important components of the South African literary imaginary, if not for the socio-cultural and historical life.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE