Nokwakha Ndlangalavu has been a weaver on the streets of Stellenbosch for 23 years. She spoke to SMF News’ Reid Donson about the process of weaving and the role it has played in her life, her family, and her identity.
Nokwakha Ndlangalavu found her life’s passion at the foot of a loom over two decades ago. PHOTO: Reid Donson
“When I am weaving, I am using this,” says Nokwakha Ndlangalavu (55), and raises what appears to be a wooden stick wrapped in plastic. “We call it a shuttle.”
Nokwakha uses the shuttle to grip the material and thread it through the strings while she weaves.
“Then we call this a comb.”
She gestures to the movable wooden part of the loom. When she closes it, it keeps the material in place.
Nokwakha places a thread of material between the strings of the loom. Her fingers move with such ease and familiarity that it is as if they are an extension of the loom itself.
“It’s easy! Especially when you are young,” she says.
Nokwakha Ndlangalavu’s loom, which she shares a very close bond with. “This is my best friend,” she says. PHOTO: Reid Donson
We find ourselves at Africa Silks, a local silk and textiles store on the corner of Church and Andringa Street in Stellenbosch.
Nokwakha walks to a table full of wool and woven materials. She seems excited. For Nokwakha, to understand the process of weaving, you first need to understand where it all begins.
“It starts from the silk,” she says.
Nokwakha picks a bunch of silk from a large jar on the table.
For many, the closest they will come to interacting with a silkworm is through the processed material produced from their silk. For a weaver, however, silkworms themselves are special creatures, at the very centre of their work and life.
“This is the silk from the silkworms,” she says. “Before [Covid], we used to have the silkworms live.”
The silkworms would be fed mulberry leaves for 30 days, after which they would begin to produce silk in the form of a cocoon.
Local weaver Nokwakha Ndlangalavu points to the silkworm cocoons that Africa Silks displays on a table inside the store. PHOTO: Reid Donson
“And then, after two weeks, while they are inside, they change from a silkworm and become the pupae,” she says. “Then, from a pupa, after one week, they become the moth inside the cocoon. Then the moth opens up a hole [and goes] out.
Now, Africa Silks gets its silk from a silk farm in Graskop, Mpumalanga.
Nokwakha’s cocoon
Much like a silkworm, Nokwakha’s story is one of transformation. Born 55 years ago in Butterworth in the former Transkei, she had no idea she would end up being a popular weaver in Stellenbosch.
“We grew up with one parent,” she says. “I think my father died when I was seven years old.”
When Nokwakha was 16, her mother also passed away. It became Nokwakha’s responsibility to look after her five siblings, having to look for work to support her family.
It was only in the year 2000 when Nokwakha moved to Stellenbosch. Her sister, Zoli, had been working as a car guard there and spoke to her bosses about giving Nokwakha a job as well.
“I came. It was Wednesday morning,” she says. “I couldn’t even rest. I came with her to work. We worked as car guards – I think for three or four years.”
While working as a car guard, Zoli showed interest in Africa Silks. When the manager of the store noticed her interest, she offered Zoli a job.
Two months later, a spot opened, and Nokwakha joined her sister at Africa Silks, where she has worked ever since.
Nokwakha Ndlangalavu’s sister, Zoli, passed away in 2017. A portrait of Zoli is framed and displayed in Africa Silks, where she used to work. “They [drew] while she was spinning,” says Nokwakha. “I don’t think she [saw] them.” Nokwakha has experienced much loss in her life but refuses to dwell on it. “I just let them rest,” she says. PHOTO: Reid Donson
From spinner to weaver
Nokwakha began at Africa Silks as a spinner. She would spin material on a spinning wheel. However, it was the store’s big loom that really intrigued her.
One day, when the person who worked the loom was not there, Nokwakha’s curiosity got the better of her: she went to sit at the loom and began to weave.
“It was very easy,” she says. “To start to learn how to spin… I think it took me two weeks. It was not easy, yes. But to weave – it was not even a day.”
Finding weaving was Nokwakha’s moment of emerging from her cocoon: she had finally found her passion in life.
“I didn’t know that I’ve got a talent,” she says. “I didn’t know that, up until I came here.”
Nokwakha Ndlangalavu illustrates the weaving process. First, she uses the shuttle to grip the material as she weaves. She then closes the comb on her loom to hold the material in place. Finally, she weaves a strand of material through the strings of her loom. PHOTO: Reid Donson
‘The star of the place’
Weaving provides Nokwakha a sense of peace.
“[I get] peace of mind when I am weaving because I enjoy what I’m doing,” she says. “There is no stress.”
It is clear that weaving has become part of the very essence of who Nokwakha is.
“Even sometimes, I am at home and sleeping… I weave,” she says. “I dream about weaving. The following day, I come and say [to] my manager, ‘I want these colours’.”
Rene Ferreira, who has been the manager at Africa Silks in Stellenbosch since 2007, says that Nokwakha’s popularity brings in many customers.
“She’s the star of the place,” he says. “She’s got a very big personality and people see that immediately. We even have people that will, after a couple of years, come back just to come and say hello to her.”
Fernando*, a security guard who works nearby Africa Silks, has known, and loved, Nokwakha for years.
“We are like brother and sister,” he says.
Fernando says that Nokwakha is always smiling and always in a good mood.
“The thing is, when I am [coming] from home to work, I know I’m going to work, I’m going to meet people,” she says. “So, I can’t mix my mood from home and the mood from here.”
When asked how long she would want to continue weaving for, she responds with a chuckle:
“Till Jesus comes back!”
Nokwakha Ndlangalavu laughs often while speaking. Even when talking about the loss of loved ones, she still has a joy about her. PHOTO: Reid Donson
*Fernando requested his surname not be included due to the nature of his job.