The roaming town

You get the first inkling as you turn into the tree-lined Main Street from the direction of Maclear and Mount Fletcher: Matatiele is an exceptional town. An early clue comes when you glance left at the Roman Catholic church and spot a young woman wearing a robe walking along the pavement. A clutch bag on a long gold chain hangs over her one shoulder, while in the other hand she holds a bright-red lollipop. She glides like an angel, slow and proud and upright, white veil billowing behind her in the morning breeze.

It’s pension payout day and people are streaming into the CBD from the township, Area C. But 15-year-old Dimpho Puling is not on her way to the shops. Today, she will join her fellow members of The Group of Holy Mary to visit people who are ill. The group will sing and pray for them.

Main Street seems tranquil. And, yes, green and lush too, although the residents say it is dry. Apart from the Pick n Pay and a petrol station, there aren’t really any other businesses on this street. It’s this peacefulness that travellers first notice when they take the R56 – “the shortest and most scenic route between Durban and Cape Town”. But if you want to see the heart of Matat, turn north and aim for one of the five streets running parallel to Main Street.

Here, you will be greeted by shops and advertising signs and cars and taxis and trailers and hawkers and diesel generators (oh, Eskom…). Meat sizzles over hot coals in braai drums. And crowds of people of all shades throng the pavements and the streets in unison, even though the sun is starting to burn and the queues are