My Father Died for This. Lukhanyo Calata
us, “What if all of us came first? What would Tatou do if we all [obtained] first place? Would those sheep come? So, let’s try it.” That year, myself, Fort, and Ntutu came first in our respective classes and three sheep were slaughtered. We knew then we could take Tatou at his word.’
Peggy also mentioned that Mamou’s strict rules did not bother Fort too much. Being an introvert, he didn’t care to socialise outside of the house. This lack of interest in the outside world and people was not something he shared with his cousins and siblings, who very much longed to be part of the world beyond the four walls of their home. ‘There used to be what was called an afternoon spend [a dance for young people] in the [church] hall. We wanted to go there to show off our beautiful dresses, but we were not allowed to. Fort would be in the [bed]room reading. If he was not reading the Bible, he was reading his school books. We would try to convince Mamou [to let us go] because now we have finished our housework, but Mamou would hand us the Bible, saying we would never be finished with it. Fort would then laugh at us and say, “Come join me.” We were not impressed with him. If he wanted to be alone and close himself off in a room, let him be. We wanted to mingle with other children.’
Over the years, Tatou acquired several musical instruments and encouraged his grandchildren not only to learn to play them, but also to form a family band. Fort of course took this wish – and his interest in music – quite seriously.
‘Fort would never get out of the garage, where the instruments were,’ said Bangi. ‘If he was not on the keyboard, he was playing the guitar. When he was not playing the guitar, he was on the bass or the drums. He was teaching himself [to play]. There were some guys who at a later stage were helping him, but for most parts he taught himself.’
‘We mostly taught ourselves to play the instruments,’ added Peggy. ‘Fort was solitary. He liked spending time by himself. Sometimes Mamou would just decide, “Let us bring him food right there,” because it was useless to try and get him out of the garage.’
Bangi remembered that, though Fort was proficient on all the instruments, the keyboard remained his favourite. ‘Fort and Bhut’ Gangumzi were gifted singers. Sometimes they would fight about who would sing. Peggy also sang. Patutu and myself used to buy LPs on an almost weekly basis. American soul was popular back then – the kind of music you’ll hear these days on Saturdays and Sundays on [Radio] 702.’
Michael Allens, better known as Oom Kallie, was among those who played with Fort in the late Seventies and early Eighties. The band was called The Survivors. Oom Kallie was the lead vocalist with Fort on the piano. He recalled, ‘Fort, in most cases, was a better singer and player than other band members. He didn’t lord that over us, though, and was content to play whatever instrument he was required to play.’
The band that preceded The Survivors was The Heartbreakers, which was made up of musicians from the black township, whom Fort auditioned before they could join. According to a former band member Zolile Kota, also known as Zorro, the band practised quite religiously every afternoon after school.
Fort ended up becoming Tatou’s right-hand man. All the boys in the family were expected to serve as altar boys in the church, with Fort being the only one who stuck with it even after all his cousins and brother, Roy, had bowed out. Bangi elaborated, ‘He knew at which farm Tatou was going to preach this Sunday and the next. He was like Tatou’s PA. That was his focus and his music. He was a very orderly person.’
Fort even exhibited a tolerance for the white archdeacon who served with them, which his fellow altar boys did not share. ‘We had this attitude toward whites, and the archdeacon was a white person, [called] Heath. Now Fort was the only one who understood Heath, and sometimes we would just rebel and say, “No, we are not going to perform our service as choir boys. We are not going to dress up and help him in the altar.” It would be only Fort who was always willing to be there with Heath,’ said Bangi.
LUKHANYO
The relationship between grandfather and grandson grew stronger as Fort got older. He was a willing and receptive student, learning everything he could from the old man – be it music, politics, religion, or Xhosa culture and tradition. It didn’t matter; he soaked up everything. Everyone I spoke to agreed that Tatou was more a father than grandfather to Fort.
Bhut’ Mbu confirmed that Tatou and Fort were close. He said by the time he and Fort were teenagers, they had some sense of Tatou’s prominence in the ANC and that he was under constant surveillance from the police. So they, the young men of iLingelihle – and Fort in particular – were constantly at Tatou’s side. They believed nobody would harm Tatou in their presence. He chuckled softly when he recalled that they would have been unable to offer any physical resistance were there to have been an attempt on Tatou’s life in their presence. He added that as Fort grew up he became Tatou’s bodyguard.
Bhut’ Mbu was also convinced that these years at Tatou’s side served as my father’s political education, when he was groomed by Tatou to take over the political leadership in the community. He described Fort as being very secretive about politics. He believed this stemmed from my father’s understanding that the ANC was a banned organisation and therefore conversations about the movement or politics were only allowed under specific conditions.
Fort’s close relationship with his grandfather also had a rather undesirable consequence. On numerous occasions, he witnessed the brutality of the South African Police. As a former secretary-general of the ANC, Tatou, as you can imagine, was a rather high-profile target, particularly for the conservative or verkrampte whites in a small Karoo town like Cradock. Tatou had run-ins with the police on an almost daily basis and Fort was, more often than not, the only witness to this constant harassment over a long period.
Despite this, I think, it must have been wonderful for the young Fort to receive his political education and moorings from his grandfather, a man who would later be described as ‘one of the greatest sons of Africa’3. I often wonder if it was a conscious decision by both my father and his grandfather, or if it was fate that led to Fort’s being the one who would be handed the baton by his grandfather.
I’ve come to learn so much more about my father in the last few months. For instance, that he liked to suck his thumb as a young boy. That as a teenager he preferred to spend time with his grandfather than his friends. I’ve learnt that, much like me, he too never really had a relationship with his own father, but unlike me, he at least had a tremendous father figure in his grandfather.
As I learn and discover more about my father, I realise that in order for me to understand his character (his motivations, his ambitions, his fears, and shortcomings), in order to tell his story completely, I have to take a step back and tell the story of his grandparents James Arthur and Miltha Mary Calata.
Tatou and Mamou were the foundations upon which the family – not just Fort – built their political activism. This is their story.
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