Buhle Mayekiso now lives in Durban with his wife, two boys and daughter, this goes a long way back to when he was a kid.

He was born in a town named Flagstaff, in a rural area named Mketengeni, in the 19th century, but he grew up at a village named Sixhontweni. He lived with his mother and sister, Tebe. His mother, a single parent, couldn’t afford to take care of two children at the time. Tebe was the first one ever to go to school in the history of their family. Buhle had the same dream of going to school, just like his big sister, but he knew that his mother couldn’t afford it.

His mother sent him to go live with his aunt in the nearby village when the time for him to go to school drew near. This is when his nightmare began. His aunt lived with her two daughters and son, they had a very close relationship. You would think that all her children were born within the same year because of the bond they have as siblings. They treated Buhle like an outsider, no matter how hard he tried to fit in.

They hated him because now they couldn’t have their mother’s attention to themselves. Whenever they had to go fetch water by the river, they would send him to do it, while they played umangqalutye. They laughed at him and made fun of him because he didn’t have decent clothes, and always smelled bad because he had to do all the chores in and around the house. They nicknamed him Mr. Pig, which hurt his feelings.

Buhle only started school when he was 12-years-old, which is way too old for Grade R or 1. He didn’t enjoy it as much as he dreamed and thought that he would, but did all the work that was required of him. He passed really well and advanced to the next grade. His cousins were still repeating the year that they had failed twice before, which made him feel good about his progress. Then one of his teachers enrolled him into a better school than the one where he was, which was situated in the nearby town of Bizana, known as Matshezi P.S.S. Buhle was in his element there, he passed all his grades and reached Grade 10 without failing.

Then he was offered a bursary by the department of education when he was in Grade 12. They paid his fees for the full four year duration of his studies at varsity. He graduated with honors at the end of his course. He got a job as an accountant at the JSE, one of the biggest financial companies in the country after graduation. He then worked there for two years and saved up to build his mother a house in Durban. He did the same for his aunt, as a thank you for raising him. Now he was no longer Mr. Pig or Stinky as he was known as a child.