Pain of apartheid always stays

Humble Beginnings: 'We used gravel and peaches to play soccer and athletics'

- Marizka Coetzer

From playing soccer on gravel in Mabopane to marching with Chris Hani to the Union Buildings, the city of Tshwane's deputy mayor Eugene Modise was fulfilling the promise he made to himself to fight for freedom.

Modise is also the city's MMC for finance and the ANC Tshwane chair. He was born in Atteridgeville and grew up in Mabopane during apartheid.

"Growing up in Mabopane was a cocktail of many things. The regime was brutal and from time to time we would see those yellow police bakkies.

"We were not allowed to congregate as young people; it was difficult for us to entertain ourselves because the atmosphere and environment did have a conducive environment for playing. We used gravel and peaches to play soccer and athletics."

"We ran and played with bare feet, but it made us strong. Instead of crying about it, it made us love each other. We spent a lot of time on the street rather than at home because at home it was congested and dense.

"We couldn't sleep appropriately, we slept on the floor in the living room, that's how we grew up."

Modise ventured into business at a young age as a hawker before his matric year.

"I was selling different stuff, because some things were seasonal like fruit at the trains. In matric, on Fridays, we went to Soshanguve station to sell.