Ubuntu in the City: Raising Children in Soweto

Umntu ngumntu ngabantu: a person is a person through other people. In the village, a whole community helped raise a child. In Soweto, with busy parents, long commutes, screens and peer pressure, how do we keep that spirit alive?

The village in the township

Soweto has always been a place of neighbours. Gogos watched children on the street, any adult could correct a misbehaving child, and families shared food at funerals and weddings. That network still exists; we just need to use it on purpose.

Practical ways to raise children with ubuntu

• Teach greetings. A child who greets elders properly (“Molo Tata”, “Molweni”) learns respect from the first word.
• Teach the clan name early. Let children recite Khwalo, Mzangwa, Ncuthu, Mlanjana with pride. Knowing who you are protects you from becoming anyone the world wants.
• Speak isiXhosa at home. Children will learn English at school; home is where the mother tongue survives.
• Share chores. Washing dishes, fetching for elders and caring for younger siblings teach responsibility.
• Eat together. The family table is where stories, values and correction are passed on.
• Visit home. Trips to the Eastern Cape connect children to land, relatives and roots.
• Involve uncles and aunts. Traditionally, the extended family shares in raising a child. Invite them in.

Discipline with love

Our elders were strict, and many of us are grateful. Today we can keep firm boundaries while explaining the reasons, listening to children and never humiliating them. Respect is learned best when it is also shown.

Facing modern pressures

Phones, social media, substance abuse and crime are real dangers. Know your children’s friends, set screen rules, keep them busy with sport, church, music or cultural groups, and talk openly about difficult topics before the street does.

Faith and family

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Prayer, church and family devotion give children a moral anchor that complements ubuntu.

When we raise children who know their God, their family and their name, Soweto’s future is in good hands.

Khwalo! Mzangwa! Ncuthu! Mlanjana!