Rastafarian vendor, Margaret 'Sister Yellow' Thays (left) and her children, Zebulon (second left) and Philoireen, at their mini sidewalk shop near Cape Point, in Cape Town, South Africa. - Janet Silvera/Freelance Photographer

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

Sun City, South Africa:

It has been 62 years since Cedella Booker gave birth to Robert Nesta Marley and, 26 years following his death, Jamaica's king of reggae, Bob Marley, is still revered by Black South Africans,who survived the cruel apartheid system.

"Bob was the person who kept me sane, especially during the period of oppression," Ngou Nthengeni, a South African porter, who resides in Soweto, the city of contrasts, told The Sunday Gleaner.

Ngou's English name is Patrick, and he is duly branded 'Patrick Marley' by his colleagues at the posh five-star Michaelangelo Hotel where he works, in Joburg (Johannesburg).

"I am constantly preaching the gospel of Rastafarian and one love to those around me, so it was automatic for them to tag me with the name of my hero," he said.

From 1980 to 1991 was an especially difficult time for blacks to make anything of their lives in South Africa, but through the music of Bob Marley, Nthengeni said he was given hope and a chance to see the light.

Segregation

Equal opportunity was a word that Nthengeni heard being bandied about, but at no time did he experience it. "We were not allowed to go to the same toilet as the whites, not allowed to travel on the same buses, even in the shops there were two queues," he said.

During this period, he said he felt like a lost sheep in his own country, and he saw no hope of betterment as blacks were at the bottom of the ladder, having to remain there while the whites stood at the top, coloureds ruled the second rung and Indians on the third.

"Having black skin was such an awful thing. I felt small, but Bob lifted me up spiritually through his songs, One Love, Africa Unite and Redemption Song, and made me big. He was my light, the passageway through which I would find salvation," Nthengeni said.

Ngou 'Patrick Marley' Nthengeni said he is richer today because of the influence of Bob. "I learnt about love, peace and harmony from him," he said.

Like Nthengeni, a young professional, who now owns a number of companies in Johannesburg, was empowered by the Jamaican icon.

Collin Mangena, a Zimbabwean, who has spent the latter part of his adult life in South Africa, said the inspiration drawn from Bob Marley spans his entire life. "I identify him with Zimbabwe's independence, as he gave one of his last performances on our Independence Day. I subsequently grew up to One Love and Is This Love. The latter helped my wife and me through a very difficult time financially," he said.

Today, he lives by the songs Satisfy My Soul and Jammin', which define the state of his life and mindset. Through Bob Marley, Mangena said, God gave him inspiration, hope and a sense of brotherhood as a black person, and with songs like Redemption Song and Buffalo Soldier he was introduced to Jamaica.

"Every man of my generation has gone through their Rastafarian stage, courtesy of Bob Marley and The Wailers. No artiste has done that to the world since," he said.

Jamaica, Bob Marley land

In every city and rural township in South Africa visited by The Sunday Gleaner, as soon as the people knew the newspaper was based in Jamaica, the next words to come out of their mouths were "Jamaica Bob Marley land".

With immense pride and love for their acclaimed idol, one coloured South African, Arthur Arries, who was forced to live with persons of his hue during apartheid, admitted marrying a black woman because he was following in the footsteps of Marley, whose wife, Rita, has dark skin as well.

Arries, a restaurant manager in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, said he was attracted to Marley's humility, and will to fight.

As early as age 17, he had become an ardent fan and today remains one of the biggest. He said Marley achieved a very important milestone before he died. "He said we were to stop the fighting, through his album, Uprising, and it was obvious that he had accepted a lot of things before he died," Arries said.

"I too lost a lot of hatred I had for whites then," he admitted.

Today, Rastafarianism is growing in South Africa, as a number of youngsters embrace the faith and most who look up to Haile Selassie as their God, saying that Bob Marley is their inspiration.

Margaret 'Sister Yellow' Thays, a Rastafarian for more than 20 years, said there was much hypocrisy in the country as theirs were the only belief that was not accepted. "They treat us like castaways. I don't know why they say there is freedom of religion," she lamented.

The mother of two, who is a vegetarian and does not believe in birth control, proudly displays a large piece of cotton material with Bob Marley's face on it. Her head in wrapped in a turban, her children are of the faith and she smokes marijuana daily.

"That is daily sacrifice and I smoke only high-grade marijuana," Thays said.

As she continues to give 'ises', she makes no bones about being the watchwoman, who sits beneath two columns in the hot winter sun at the entrance of Africa (Cape Point). She makes sure to identify her location with "this is where Babylon entered our land to invade our continent. It's where the oceans clash".