12/06/2026
Rest in peace my Teacher of English Language 🙏
When we got to Tshegetsang Junior Secondary School, we were introduced to a system we were never familiar with. We had teachers for every subject! Mr Mthunzi Ndaba became our English teacher. He loved our class so much that he decided to turn our classroom into his English center. He decorated the entire classroom with definitions of big words.
He developed my love for reading the Dictionary. I still remember how he had defined the library. He said, "A Library is an oasis of quietness, leisure and a store of knowledge and culture." At that time we were just form 1 students fresh from Boribamo, Kutlwano, Phuthadikobo and Suping Primary Schools.
I loved how he pronounced library as 'laebrwarwi'. I struggled with the new pronunciation at the University of Botswana where now students from all over, especially English Medium Schools, pronounced it 'laebri' but I later changed to the latter with a pinch of salt. As our English teacher, he introduced us to the library and to reading books. He turned us into bookworms.
He also had passion for music. He started the school choir, which I joined after our karate teachers literally burnt our knuckles with pavement. I got to discover that his passion didn't mean he knew how to read music well when we met with Dithejwane Junior Secondary School at the Molepolole Community Hall for the Music Competitions. Dithejwane was singing a song that we didn't know, but with similar words to the one we were singing. It turned out that my English teacher had read the notes differently making us get a zero at that Competition.
But I still rank him high on people who helped me develop interest in singing. As a Pastor one needs to know how to lead a hymn, and what Mthunzi did was to prepare me for the task that laid ahead. I'll forever be grateful for his contribution to my early life. We loved him so much that we even walked like him (re ne re tsamaya re kôkôrôga, bo teacher ebile ba botsa gore a re dulwe ke dintho mo magwafeng. Re ne rele bana ba ga Mthunzi ka Ndaba!)
Rest in peace Mr Ndaba, our Teacher of English Language 🙏
