VITAL SIGNS: How a soldier turned to mending bridges, rather than destroying them
SOUTH Africa’s ambassador to Greece, Zeph Makgetla, spent 27 years in exile where he became an MK soldier and trained as a military engineer, and learnt to blow up, rather than build, bridges. Later, he became a cameraman in Hollywood, working with stars on big-budget movies. He tells Marika Sboros about coping with the pains and pleasures of life’s different journeys.Q: What was your earliest ambition growing up in the small Free State town of Thaba ‘Nchu?A: Those were difficult years in the late 1950s and early 1960s — great depressions. The future looked hard; you didn’t know if you would live long enough to finish your schooling. I came from a very poor family. All I knew was that I wanted to get out of that poverty.Q: What do you think helped you get through those days?A: I befriended Dr James Moroka, a former president of the African National Congress (ANC). His surgery was near where I used to live in Thaba ‘Nchu. After he finished seeing patients in the evenings, we would wa...
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