The concept of a hometown has eluded me throughout my life. As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary a hometown is a city or town where one was born or grew up also the place of one’s principal. Growing up in a working-class home in the Eastern Cape placed me into many different situations. The shortlist for the areas I found myself in are East London, King William’s Town, Zwelitsha, Bhisho, Berlin and Phakamisa. The majority being in the former Ciskei homeland and Cape Province. I was born and schooled for the majority of my life in East London. Most of my time was spent in the Selborne suburb of the Slummies. However, my hometown would probably be a forty-five-minute drive away in Zwelitsha.

Zwelistha is a township south of King William’s Town with a population of around nineteen thousand. One is greeted by the Da Gama Textile Factory just outside the township. The smoke from the factory pipes would be visible as the children played in the streets. In my earlier years, the township used to be vibrant with children playing in the streets. The sounds of music playing from cars and homes would set the ambience. Home to jazz legends Slo Foot King Brothers, Zwelitsha is known as the jazz capital of the Eastern Cape. I would learn about the piano and saxophone while visiting the homes of musicians. It would influence me into playing the trumpet. Everything seemed safe and even at the age of four, I would always come home around 20h30 after the ending of Generations. However, like the Buffalo River flowing past Zwelitsha, nothing remained the same.

As I got older reality would catch up. The socio-economic situation of Zwelitsha would intensify in the mid-2000s. Stores began to close down. The once vibrant streets became empty. Things would become unsafe. My first experience with the economic aspect was when my cousins and I were once chased by two old men for a quarter loaf of bread.

The schooling system used to take in students from around the Eastern Cape but now former great schools like Hector Pieterson High School were not performing the same. I grew up with a lot of friends from the streets but my socio-economic situation would change my life. As I got older, I started getting bullied and robbed by my friends because I attended Selborne Primary, a school in the city. I remember vivid images of my running home crying because I just got beaten up by my friend’s brother with a stick with barbwire on it after being unfairly accused of cheating in a game of cricket.

These struggles would introduce drug lord into Zwelitsha. Many old people we used to look up to turn to substances to cope with the situation. Zone three, where the playground was for the children became a place filled with drug lords. When my mother heard about Zone Three, I was banned from going out and introduced to television. Since then, my safe haven has been home in Zwelitsha.