FREDDIE GOVENDER FAMILY – OTTAWA DRIVING SCHOOL PIONEERS OF THE NATAL NORTH COAST

 

     

(Driving School pioneer, Mr Freddy Govender, and his wife, Athima.)                             

THE RICH HISTORY OF A PIONEER FAMILY WHO HAVE THEIR ROOTS TO INDENTURED LABOURERS WHO WORKED AT THE OTTAWA SUGAR ESTATE

By Subry Govender

 

One of the pioneer Ottawa families, who made a significant contribution to the promotion of Indian culture, also became well-known in the village because of their driving school business.

The business, known as “Freddie’s Driving School”, was owned and operated by Mr Freddie Govender, who lived with his large family of wife, Athima, and nine children in a house right opposite the old North Coast main road in the Uplands area of the village.

Mr Govender ran the driving school in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s at a time when driving school operators were few and far between.

Mr Govender and his wife moved to Ottawa in the early 1940s from the Ottawa Sugar Estate.

Both of them were born in the Ottawa estate to parents who were indentured labourers. Their parents were from villages in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Mr Freddie Govender and his wife also worked as labourers in a number of nearby sugar estates in the early days.

Life was not easy and Mrs Govender also worked at Pakco in the 1960s and 1970s.

Mrs Govender used to walk from Ottawa to the Pakco factory in Verulam because they not only could not afford the transport fees but also because of the lack of transport at that time.

 

Before starting his driving school business, Mr Govender used to do market gardening and was also involved in picking coal from the nearby railway line for survival.

(Mr Freddy Govender with his eldest son, Sharkie, who became the talk of the town in the 1980s after he left the village and travelled to Cape Town. Here he met and married a local girl.)

Mr Freddie Govender, who was passionate about the Indian culture, taught Tamil to children in Ottawa at his house in the Uplands area. The whole of Ottawa used to attend Tamil classes he conducted at his home. He also taught children and adults the Kolaatam, Gomie, and six-foot dances.

“My dad was very passionate about promoting the Tamil culture and he used to involve himself and the people of Ottawa in Tamil Eistefodds held in Durban in the early years,” said one of his daughters, Grace, who also became an educationist and Tamil School teacher.

 

 

Some of the senior Govender children were born in the Ottawa Sugar Estate while others were born in Ottawa village.

The nine children in order of their births are Sharkie, Ronnie, Dan, Raj, Jaya, Radha, Logie, Grace and Vallerie.

 
                

According to Grace, all the brothers and sisters attended the old and new Jhugroo primary schools and high schools in Verulam and Mount Edgecombe.    

She says her father and mother worked very hard for the children to complete their primary and high schools and tertiary education.

The eldest brother, Sharkie, became the “talk of the town” in the 1980s when he left Ottawa and travelled to Cape Town. Here he met and married one of the local girls.

Sharkie is now late.

All the brothers and sisters, except for Sharkie, settled in Verulam after they became of age or started their own married lives.

One of the brothers, Ronnie, worked at Checkers supermarket as a manager; and another brother, Dan, worked for Motor and General. One sister, Vallerie, is a Captain in the South African Police Services (SAPS).

(Captain Valerie)

Ronnie and Dan are now late along with Radha, Jaya and Sharkie.

Grace herself became an educator after completing her studies. She was in the teaching profession for 25 years and also taught Tamil and became fully involved in the promotion of the Tamil language and culture.

Grace, who married local lad Paul Jhugroo, participated in the 6^th Tamil World Conference attended by 18 countries in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, in 1987.

She was presented with the Aman Awards and received accolades from a former KZN Education Minister, Ina Cronje, for her commitment to her work.

Grace and her husband, Paul Jhugroo, who passed away in 2023, had four children – daughters Michelle, Mandy, and Trisha and son, Dean.

                                                                                                              (Paul Jhugroo and wife, Grace.)                                      

According to Grace, growing up in Ottawa  and attending the local schools were values that will be entrenched in their lives for ever.

“Ottawa was a beautiful village with all residents being very close to one another,” said Grace.

She said she still had fond memories of a number of families and individuals in Ottawa who made their contributions to the development of the village.

She recalled the Govender family of Park Lane; teacher and musician D S Maharaj; Reddy family of School Road and Mr Phirnee Munsamy, who lived with his mother, brothers and sisters near the new school in Tin Town.

“We were very poor and life for our nine brothers and sisters became difficult when we lost both our parents in October 1971,” she said.

“But our neighbours and the people of the village provided us moral support.  We all were treated very lovingly and we became members of a larger family of Ottawa.”

She paid tribute to her parents for working “very hard” to ensure that all the children had attained a decent education to take care of themselves.

“I would consider my father, Mr Freddy Govender, as being one of the leaders of the village before his death in 1971 because of his commitment in promoting the Tamil language and Indian culture.

“Despite the circumstances of our livelihood, he sacrificed his time to ensure that our customs, traditions and languages were never forgotten.”

According to Grace, the Freddy Govender family has now reached four generations and all the descendants have become involved in education, public service, and private businesses.

She was the only one who visited India – the home of their ancestors.

“But sadly I have not been able to make any contact with relatives of our ancestors.” Ends – Oct 18 2024 subrygovender@gmail.com

NB:

(This article on the Freddie Govender Driving School Rich History family was written and published with information and photos provided by one of the daughters, Grace Jhugroo. The author appreciates the co-operation by Grace.) 

MORE PHOTOS:

(Paul Jhugroo with daughters - Mandy, and Trisha and son, Dean.)