Video: The story of a boy, who was helped by a stranger Muslim, when his family had nothing to eat (English, Urdu)

Auto-Generated Transcription in English – The Reunion of Justice R Zondo and Mr. Suleman Bux

This is an auto-generated transcription thus it is prone to errors.

Who are the men and women who make history? Usually, it is neither those born with a silver spoon nor people born into families of chiefs, kings, and the powerful in society. Despite their beginnings and the challenges life throws at them, history is often shaped by anyone determined to make a difference in their own lives or the lives of others.

This episode of Special Assignment commemorates Mandela Day by profiling the story of Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, whose humble beginnings showed no promise of a bright future. However, through hard work and the help of good Samaritans, he has ascended to the second most powerful seat in South Africa’s judiciary.

“But when I finished my 293, I went back to this man—his name was Mr. Moussa—and asked him what arrangements we could make for me to pay back,” Justice Zondo recalls. “I’m sorry, Chief Justice,” he replied. “No, don’t worry. Just do to others what I have done for you.”

In 1960, South Africa was in turmoil. Women protested against pass laws and set fire to cane fields, leading to many arrests in Durban. In January, at Cato Manor, women, frustrated by men spending all their earnings in beer halls, decided to get rid of them. Civil disobedience surged as a response to unjust laws against black people, culminating in the Sharpeville Massacre, where 60 protestors were killed. The country was plunged into a state of emergency.

Two months later, amid the chaos, below the scenic KwaZulu-Natal hills in the southern Midlands of Durban, Judge Raymond Zondo was born. The story of a typical black family at the time was one of poverty, and Judge Zondo’s family was among the poorest of the poor. His mother, through odd jobs, ensured her children attended school and had food to eat.

“Life was difficult. There were times when there was no food at home,” he recalls. “Sometimes, during dinner, we would chop up oats, making sure not to finish everything because we didn’t know if there would be food the next day. At times, all we had was a packet of mealie meal, sugar, and salt. My mother would prepare what we called a cold phuthu, eaten with sugar water. That was our meal.”

We visited Judge Zondo at his office in Johannesburg to learn more about his journey. “At some stage, I considered becoming a priest or a police officer, but eventually, I decided on law,” he says. “In my high school history studies, I noticed that in societies where people were oppressed and struggling for freedom, lawyers played a crucial role. Given the oppression of black people in South Africa, I believed studying law would allow me to contribute meaningfully to the struggle for freedom.”

After graduating with his first degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and working for 13 months at the Legal Resources Centre, he was offered an opportunity to do his legal articles in Durban. The firm was led by struggle icon and human rights lawyer Victoria Mxenge, who primarily handled labor matters.

“I felt privileged to be accepted at that law firm, especially under Victoria Mxenge. She was a great human rights lawyer, deeply committed to the struggle for freedom and helping the poor,” he says. “She accepted me even though there was no vacancy at the firm.”

The law firm handled various cases, and as an articled clerk, he worked on all types of cases. “Even though I was placed in the labor law department, I wasn’t confined to it. The firm handled human rights cases, labor disputes, and eviction cases from townships.”

Victoria Mxenge’s husband, Griffiths, had been politically assassinated in 1981. In 1985, she too was brutally murdered.

“As we arrived near the gate, her son was there,” he recalls. “I told him not to open it, that he could just come outside. He came out, and as she opened the door, they attacked. I heard them say, ‘Come in, come in!’ Then I saw one of them take a tomahawk and strike her. It was a brutal assassination.”

Hearing of her assassination was shocking, but even more disturbing was the brutality involved. “She was my principal, and her death meant the end of my legal articles,” he says. “But more importantly, I understood the political implications of her assassination. People in the townships were outraged because she had helped so many as a lawyer and as a person.”

This is where we used to walk when going to school. For an hour, we walked to our primary school.

“This is the spring where we used to fetch water as children,” he says, retracing his steps in the village he left as a young man, armed only with hope and determination to improve his family’s poverty-stricken circumstances. Special Assignment accompanied him as he revisited his past.

A concerned neighbor once gave him three white shirts because he had no clothes, recognizing his respectful and hard-working nature. Judge Zondo has fond memories of his mother and appreciates her sacrifices to educate him and his siblings under the most challenging circumstances.

“At one point, my mother wasn’t home for a year because she was sick and receiving medical treatment. During that time, Miss Madondo effectively took care of my younger siblings,” he recalls.

“This path here is significant. It’s the same path my mother and I walked when she took me to the bus station on my first day of boarding school in 1976. As we walked, she emphasized why she was sending me to school—she stressed the importance of education.”

He vividly remembers that morning. “She wore a torn pinafore and told me how much she had sacrificed to save enough money for my education.”

There is nothing that you can do without being educated. Today, we need education. A job that we have these days needs people who are well-educated. The state thinks that he is left with a school, and we face dilemmas as well.

It was very cumbersome. If it was different, I would say, from many points, he was not, in most cases, looking after Katie Lucas. I remember that they will now calculate it as his home. But what he used to do was fetch fresh water from the spring, carrying a bucket on his head, collecting firewood from the felt and the forest, having firewood on his head.

Another charmer, boys used to laugh at him as if it was no more. It was not, no matter what I was doing. He was doing a good job, and what I liked about him was that he was very positive about everything he did.

This isn’t Merry Seminary. It used to be the boarding school that Judge Zondra matriculated from. He credits the school with instilling a sense of discipline in him and for being a stepping stone toward a more rigorous academic life.

After Judge Zondra’s emotional testimony, Mr. Bucks, whose name Judge Zondra always thought was Mr. Musa, was located. Judge Zondra had hardly had any contact with him in 40 years, but now he saw his picture in the newspaper.

The much-anticipated meeting between the two men was only one day away. A day before the meeting, the judge stopped over at the house, which held many sad memories for him and his family.

“This is the house that I built in 1989 before I got married in 1990. Two or three years later, there was political violence in the area. At that time, I was working as an attorney in Germany, and my mother and my other siblings were living here. I got a call while I was in the office that there was a plan to attack the Zondra family.

I immediately left Devon and drove here that day. I took my mom and my other brothers—my sister was not here—and I told them to take whatever they could. We had to leave immediately because the information I received was that the family would be attacked that same night. So, I took them, and we left everything behind, never coming back for our belongings.

Indeed, there was an attack on the family that night, but fortunately, there was nobody present.”

Throughout his ups and downs, his family has been his main source of strength.

“We met at the post office. I just saw this guy, and I can’t really say what attracted me to him, but I just loved the guy as he was. He was very supportive. When they were little, he used to play with them. Even though I had to do a lot of work on my own because he was always busy—even as a lawyer—he was supportive, especially financially.”

As captain of the Dolphins, Hesan Kya is a successful cricketer. He took important lessons from his father.

“He’s been very influential in my career and in guiding me as a human being. He has been through quite a lot in his life, and he has helped me get through the little struggles I have had in mine.”

The final stop—the shop where it all started. This is where Judge Zondra took a chance and asked the man he thought was Mr. Musa, a total stranger, for help.

“We were standing here, somewhere around here—that is Mr. Bucks and myself on that Saturday morning when I approached him. I asked him whether he could give me a loan that I would use to support my family for three years while I was studying at university.

He said he would give me a voucher that my mom could use at this shop once a month to get groceries.”

Today, the much-anticipated meeting arrives. Mr. Suleiman Bucks arrives, and the judge’s family is excited to meet the man who played an important role in their father’s life. Mr. Bucks brought some of his family members to witness the moment.

After their arrival, both families meet for the first time and share a generous feast to make the moment last.

“This is something symbolic for this world. When you have it in your house, let it remind you that it was given to you because we believe you are contributing to helping people escape poverty through education and other means. Keep it somewhere in your house as a reminder of us and this occasion.”

“Thank you very much. There’s a saying that goes, ‘If you haven’t thanked creation, you haven’t thanked the Creator.’ Indeed, I feel personally, and my family agrees, that it is your attitude of gratitude that has brought you to where you are today. We thank you, too.”

The journalist who traced Mr. Bucks after hearing the judge’s emotional testimony was there to witness this historic moment.

“Well, it’s quite an interesting story. I belong to a group called the Poor Chips and Business Forum. One of our good friends, Mtu Colombo, posted it on our WhatsApp group. I thought, ‘I know this guy from somewhere,’ so I went back and asked around.

Then another good friend of ours, Dr. Hire Bucks, who is also part of the group, said, ‘Hey, that’s my cousin!’ And that’s where it all started.”

Judge Zondra has achieved great success in his career—holding three master’s degrees, chairing the board that established South Africa’s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration, serving as a judge in the Labor Court and its Appeals Court, and now as the Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa’s Constitutional Court.

Judge Zondra is thankful for the journey he has traveled and recognizes the responsibility ahead, which includes transformation and improving court efficiency.

“The role of the judiciary in post-apartheid South Africa has been to protect, deepen, and strengthen our constitutional democracy and the rule of law. Our courts have been very active in dealing with matters affecting ordinary, poor people, including evictions and socio-economic rights in our Constitution.

I see my role as assisting the Chief Justice in leading the judiciary, reducing unnecessary postponements in courts. There are already systems in place set up by the Chief Justice and other judicial leaders, and I will build on them.”

Despite his achievements, Judge Zondra remains grateful to Mr. Bucks, who insists on not being recognized or celebrated.

“I was just fulfilling my obligation to humanity,” Mr. Bucks says.

His only request to Judge Zondra: “Help others as I have helped you.”

It is a standard that Judge Zondra has lived by, helping others achieve their dreams—making the world a better place.

Looking back at that Saturday morning when he stood before a stranger and made a request, Judge Zondra reflects:

“If I had not found help, I might not have gone to university. If I hadn’t gone to university, who knows? I may never have been able to later, or perhaps I would have started working and never continued my studies, losing my passion for what I wanted to do.

It was crucial—it could have changed the entire course of my life.”

Video: Mr. Suleman Bux

Auto-Generated Transcription in English – Mr. Suleman Bux

This is an auto-generated transcription thus it is prone to errors.

Uh, good day. We’re here—it’s V from the South Coast Herald. We are at the residence of Mr. Su Bux.

Mr. Bux was recently acknowledged by Raymond Zondo, the Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.

Mr. Bux, would you please take us through the day when you helped Mr. Zondo?

“Yeah, Mr. Zondo came to see me about 40 years ago. He was furthering his studies and had the ambition to become an attorney. He needed help for his mother, children, and his brothers and sisters. He asked me for assistance so that he could continue his studies while ensuring that his family’s monthly grocery needs were met.

I managed to help him by providing a voucher every month, allowing them to collect groceries from our business. It was arranged that after completing his studies, he would return to reimburse the amount spent on his family’s upkeep.

After three years of studying, he came back to settle the amount his family owed. I told him that whatever I had done for him, I hoped he would do for someone else in the future—that would make me very happy. And that’s how everything happened.

Thank you.”

Audio / Podcast in English