Literacy rates in South Africa are falling. A story in Daily Maverick in September 2021 quoted World Bank Data shows the country has an 87% adult literacy rate, a decline of around 7% in two years.
“Reading is comforting. It reassures me,” says Thabani Madonsela. A court interpreter turned medical company representative, Thabani spends downtime at home in his flat on Durban’s South Beach. His wife works for a hospital and their daughter is at school.
From his flat Thabani can see the sea through a gap between the buildings. “It’s a nice view. Occasionally, I hear taxis hooting, otherwise, it is quiet.” Thabani takes the family for walks on the beach in the evenings and Thabani reads. He devours books. He started writing his autobiography in between reading. Some of his favourites include Dr Wayne W Dyer’s Wishes Fulfilled (mastering the art of manifesting); A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (about metaphysics).
“As children, we didn’t have toys, but my grandmother subscribed to Reader’s Digest. There were two features I loved: Laughter is the Best Medicine and It Pays to Enrich Your Word Power.
Then one of my uncles got a 21 volume encyclopedia. I dived into those. It opened up the world for me, from Chinua Achebe to Charles Darwin. Reading connects us. We find our common humanity in it.”
