Sometimes you have to go away to appreciate what was there all along, as comedian Noko Moswete discovered when she went back to her hometown of Tibani
Isn’t it funny how your perception of “home” changes? When you’re young, it’s often the place that shapes you… but it’s also a place that you take for granted, and that you’re desperate to leave. Then, once you’ve flown the nest, home becomes a place you truly value, and love to return to.
That’s how it is for Noko Moswete, anyway. “When I was young I always knew that I was gonna leave this place. I couldn’t wait to get away,” admitted the Pretoria-based comedian, who grew up in Tibani, a small village in Limpopo. “My feelings towards the village have changed. I love it now. I love the people; I love my community. I want to see them do well, and I want to help where I can. Yes, I’ve left – but I haven’t left left,” she laughed.
We’re chatting at her parent’s home in Tibane. Outside, on a wide sandy road, cows sauntered past the two ISUZU D-MAXes that brought us on this journey and at the top of the road, the early morning sunlight caressed the curves of boulders that are clustered on a koppie. It’s beautiful – an unexpected, miniature version of Zimbabwe’s famous Matobo Hills.
“You know,” Noko gets serious for a moment, “when I was young there was a house in the street where a lady sold snacks. I was there buying sweets one day when I noticed some bright sunflowers growing – and the lady told me that they irritated her because she cut them down but they just kept on growing. That night I thought, ‘how can such a beautiful flower grow here in this dusty village?’ – and I was determined to become like that flower, to rise and bloom and shine.”
Rising is a topic that comes up often when Noko speaks: the bold comedian-actress-writer-entrepreneur has tasted success and is determined to bring others on the journey with her. She has chosen to work only with women only in her small cosmetics business, and Noko has established a drama group in Tibani – a long-standing dream. “I believe that the more you share the more you will receive, and that when we rise together, we become a better community. And besides, if everyone is rich, no-one will steal from each other,” she joked.
While her family home is filled with laughter and love, there have been complicated times too as Noko, who went away to boarding school, often felt an outsider in the village… but that’s changed, now.
“It’s such a privilege to come back here, to the place I’ve always called home,” Noko admitted. “Not many people are able to do that, and so many don’t have these deep roots; they have no community. I consider it a privilege to have people beyond the yard of my parents who love me, and I really appreciate it.”
Follow the three journeys in the ISUZU D-MAX and Getaway Ikhaya Lekhaya campaign and you stand a chance to win a spectacular five-night holiday for four people to the Indian Ocean paradise of Seychelles. For more details and to enter, please click here. The competition closes at 15h00 on 2 December 2022.
