Mark Mathabane

Mark Mathabane (http://content.answers.com/main/ content/wp/en/1/10/MarkMathabanePic.JPG)

Have you ever heard of Mark Mathabane? He was a South African man but a great one for he cared for his people. He was born in Alexandra, Gauteng, South Africa on October 18, 1960. He lived a life of poverty with his family in a small shack. While he was young, South Africa was terrorized by racist white people and corrupt police. Mathabane's real first name was Johannes but he later changed it to Mark in 1976. When he was only ten years old he wanted to commit suicide because of his horrible life.

The shack that his family lived in was 15 feet by 15 feet. Mark Mathabane and his siblings would sleep on pieces of cardboard under their kitchen table, which was not very big. When Mark Mathabane was five years old, the police broke into their home. They beat Mathabane, and interrogated his Father about his passbook which, by law, all Africans were supposed to have. His father was then arrested. His mother was not arrested because she was hiding in the Wardrobe.

After that, they would be very poor and Mark Mathabane and his brothers and sisters would look for half eaten sandwiches thrown into the garbage by white people. There were many times when they would not have anything to eat and they would just stare at each other. His mother would tell the family stories that made Mathabane love books and literature. His mother took a cheap job as a washerwoman for an Indian family and paid for the schooling of Mathabane.

When he came back from his first day of school, he found out that his father had beaten his mother. His father's reason for this was because he thought that school was unmanly and that school only teaches African kids to be better slaves for whites. Mathabane later learned how to play tennis, which earned him a scholarship to a college in the United States.

He attended to many colleges and graduated from some Universities and he later wrote a book called "Kaffir Boy". It was his autobiography that inspired many people, and it let people know the truth about South Africa. So now he still writes books and lectures students in High schools and Colleges. He is a member of the Department of Education. Mark Mathabane was a hero because he taught many people to treat others fairly and to not let the past control you, that anything is possible and how he overcame the struggles in his life and so that people can try to help Africa.