By Abueng Mahape
To whom it may concern, and to those who may care in time,
I write this not only as a father but as a human being who refuses to stay silent while his children’s well-being is made into a battleground for bureaucracy, personal grudges, and institutional prejudice.
On 08 April 2025, I was at home with my children, doing what I have made a priority since 2024: being present, peaceful, and intentional as a father. That peace was disturbed by a call from social worker Dimakatso Moremedi, citing a complaint by their uncle, Moabi Mahape — a man who has played no meaningful or sustained role in their lives. This complaint, which lacked direct knowledge or evidence of harm, was treated as fact. From that moment, the safety and consistency I’ve worked to build with my children became subject to suspicion, disruption, and control.
I have done nothing wrong. I have harmed no one. I have provided, protected, and been present. Yet, the system has positioned me as a danger — not because of evidence, but because of my deviation from conventional schooling and my choice to raise my children with consciousness, truth, and responsibility. For this, I am labeled abusive. For questioning the norms that lead to 40% unemployment among graduates, I am ordered to undergo psychoanalysis.
These are not the actions of a system invested in children’s best interests. These are the reflexes of an institution uncomfortable with difference — even when that difference is based on love, research, and deliberate choice.
I was told by Magistrate R Ingram that my children must return to the formal schooling system. This judgment was passed with less than three minutes of direct engagement with me. No thorough investigation was conducted into our homeschooling environment. No interest was shown in the written documents I provided outlining our education plan. And yet, I was judged, labeled, and restricted from seeing my children — with no proper founding affidavit, no complainant cross-examined, and no opportunity to fairly defend myself.
It has become clear to me that the problem is not my children’s well-being. The problem is that I, as a Black father in South Africa, dared to choose a different path. I dared to heal, to raise, and to resist quietly.
Let it be known:
- I reject violence.
- I reject vengeance.
- But I will not be silent.
I will speak truth. I will write. I will record. I will create archives for my children and for history. I will not curse my enemies, but I will describe them clearly, so that those who come after me know what resistance looked like when it wore a father’s face.
This declaration is not a request for pity. It is not a plea.
It is a record.
My name is Abueng Mahape.
I am a father.
I am present.
And I will not disappear.