Daily Sun (March 25 2014) - AS LONG AGO as 1944, 26-year-old Nsukuzonke was reported killed in an underground accident at a mine. But Nsukuzonke didn't die that day. . . and even today he is still alive!
SEVENTY YEARS LATER, THE PROUD MADALA IS BACK IN HIS OWN HOME VILLAGE.
On Saturday, an old man with a walking stick was welcomed back to Masondo, Tafelberg outside Paulpietersburg in KZN.
Madala Nsukuzonke Masondo, now 96 years old, was reported killed in a rock fall at a mine in Jozi. Because his family couldn't be found, a man thought to be the madala was buried in a pauper's grave.
Madala Masondo had left the mine two days before the rock fall to join the army as a labourer.
But he wasn't happy so he left and for many years he worked in mines, factories and construction sites all around the country.
Tired of roaming around the country, the old man finally settled at Pienaar, near Mbombela in Mpumalanga.
He took a wife and had a son named Petros, who is now 42.
One of his two surviving cousins, Sonile Masondo (86), remembers how they mourned when they heard of the death of the young man, Nsukuzonke.
"I was only 10 years old but I remember that we all cried bitterly," she said.
"His father had already paid lobola for him to get married and his bride was ready to start a family but then he vanished. Two years later we heard that he was dead."
The family was not given Nsukuzonke's body and they couldn't locate the grave so they performed a ritual to hand him over to the ancestors and buried his personal belongings.
"The grave with his belongings is alongside that of his parents in the family cemetery," said Sonile.
At the time his bride-to-be married his younger brother, as is customary. The couple had four kids, the oldest of whom is now 60. Nsukuzonke's brother died 12 years ago and his grave is next to Nsukuzonke's and his parents' graves.
It was a chance meeting between Nsukuzonke's son Petros and a pump attendant, Phumzeni Masondo (35), at a filling station in Piet Retief that united the madala with his family.
Petros said: "As we spoke, I realised we were family but Phumzeni was shocked when I told him Nsukuzonke was still alive," he said.
Phumzeni spoke to the old man on the phone.
"He told me about the hills and his family and I knew he was our lost uncle," Phumzeni said.
On Saturday, a ceremony was held to re-introduce Nsukuzonke to the ancestors. The family also built him a shack near the family cemetery.
The old man told Daily Sun: "I believe I lived this long because the angel of death had been deceived into believing I was dead. I want to find peace with the ones I love, both living and dead. Coming home is the first step."
He would not reveal if he had any other kids during his days of roving.
"There are very few towns in this country I haven't lived in. I have been in all the provinces," he said.
"I was very young. Let's leave it at that."
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
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