Lindela was abandoned by his father when he was nine months old and grew up in the Eastern Cape. He was raised by his grandmother after his mother was forced to leave him in Bengu village and seek work in Cape Town. This story is a quintessential South African story about the children, women and old people forgotten in the rural areas - and the pain of being abandoned. “It was not always about money, it was about love, knowing that there are people who care about you as a person”
This lyrical film tells of how at the age of 12 Lindela is taken to Cape Town where he struggles to adapt to township life and the stress of living in a crime-ridden squatter camp, a life tougher than anything encountered in the Eastern Cape. He finds himself in a world where his peers find it hard to stay out of the shebeens, and where, in his words “rape is a common act, robbery is becoming a hobby, drinking and doing drugs is like eating on a Sunday meal”
Lindela’s healing begins when, as a high school student, he climbs Table Mountain, and his life changes forever. “When I came to the mountain for the first time it was wow, it was beyond my expectations” he says. Lindela’s passion for the natural environment is born.
Finally he becomes a Hoerikwaggo Trail guide and his world expands, meeting tourists from all walks of life and having to entertain and guide them for several days at a time. Lindela also meets fellow guide Grabeth, someone he can identify with, a positive male figure in his life, a mentor and a friend.
Sharing their newfound knowledge they start working with youth from the townships, giving them an opportunity to heal in the wilderness of the Spirit of Table Mountain. Join us on this journey of healing with Lindela and Grabeth, a journey through their lives, and through the beauty of the Eastern Cape and Table Mountain. This episode of the "Healing Power of Nature" will be screened on Sunday the 1 October at 6.30pm on SABC3.
This mountain is like gold to my eyes and God to my soul.
Under the lighthouse of the sun I conquer through the variations of paths that lead to my destination.
Through my conquering I am healed by the spirit of the mountain.
Amazed by such tranquillity that I feel obliged to send my devotion to my creator.
Up on the mountain, down in the valley, deep in the hills,
I call my attention by code.
It was that shivering that compelled me to seek for shelter, that typical change of the mood of the mountain.
The flower of love is living in the wilderness.
This magic flower gives me the courage of hope on the dreamtime and the bitter miracle of living.
The hardship is endless in this fate less world of ours.
Tough times never last but tough people do.
Push the passion with pride and pass through the space of pain.
Beat the bitterness and attempt to better the situation, walk tall and proud, maintain your mentality, deal with reality.
The mountain has spoken.
This mountain is my inspiration.
My protection.
My motivation.
Indeed, this mountain had diffused and deleted my diffident.
O mother nature is my tutelage.
Pillar of my strength, cooler of my temper that clearly defines the wealth of the beauty of nature.
I have discovered my purpose of living