Bongani Mthembu, curator of the Gandhi Settlement in Bhambayi, next to a bust of Kasturba Gandhi just outside her historic home.
"When I knock on the door of Sarvodaya in the morning, I hear their voices," whispers Bongani Mthembu, the curator of the Gandhi's Phoenix Settlement in Bhambayi, adding: "I then greet 'Namaste Kasturba'."
Mthembu is a spiritual man of commanding height and regal bearing, accentuated by the specks of grey in his beard and a demeanour that pays homage to his faith in the Prophet Isaiah Shembe. The historic settlement was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1906. It was razed to the ground in apartheid-inspired race violence in 1985 which within a matter of days drove the long-settled Indian community out of Inanda.
Patient efforts over the next decade and a half in working with those who had invaded the land by among others, Struggle stalwarts Mewa Ramgobin and Ela Gandhi, restored just over one acre of the original 100-acre expanse as a monument to peace and non-violence. Ela Gandhi remains at the helm of volunteers that ensure that the settlement is of service to the local community and keeps alive its founding principles.
Mthembu is omnipresent as the daily face and voice of the settlement to visitors who come from all corners of the planet. His guest book shows inscriptions from those originating in France, Denmark, India and the UK, among others. Sadly, there are far fewer visitors from just across the road in the township of Phoenix.
