John Pungan - a direct descendant of indentured labourers making life easier for the frail and the aged

By Marimuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)

Growing up on a farm in Tea Estate, Inanda in a large family of four brothers and five sisters had not only been a lesson in self-help and fortitude but also a situation where the values of respect and care of elders was deeply imbedded.
It is this early upbringing that has stimulated Govindsamy "John" Pungan, the direct descendant of indentured labourers, to be still involved in community and social work at the ripe old age of 80.
Mr Pungan, a former educationist and school principal, is today the current chairperson of the Verulam Day and Frail Care Centre, an organisation that he has been involved in for the past 21 years since 1995.
"I have been involved in community work ever since I qualified as a teacher at Springfield Training College in 1952," Mr Pungan told Makhulu News in an interview at the Verulam Day and Frail Centre offices recently.
"I see service to humanity as service to God. We are born to make a difference in the lives of people and I will continue to be involved in social and community work as long as I am alive."
For Mr Pungan the Verulam Day and Frail Care Centre provides a service to the aged and the frail that is invaluable and beyond any price.
"We cater for 50 frail and aged people on a 24 hour basis and then have 89 people on the waiting list. We also have more than 520 elderly people visiting our centre on a daily basis. They are brought to our centre in three buses from all over Verulam and surrounding areas and are provided with breakfast and lunch. They are also encouraged to participate in a number of sporting, social and religious activities.
"We also have a geriatic centre where the elderly are treated. The Verulam Day and Frail Care Centre has become a major success primarily through the initial work by leaders such as Sunny Subban, the late A K Singh, S M Singh, N S Nandan, S R Lal Beharee, and Sister M Ahmed.
"We are a Non-Profit Organisation and rely to a very large extent on public goodwill for our survival. At this stage we need to have R250 000 a month to run the centre as an efficient and productive service."
In addition to the Verulam Day and Frail Care Centre, Mr Pungan has been and is still involved in a number of welfare, civic and sports organisations. They include the Verulam Child and Family Welfare Society, Verulam Blind and Deaf Society, Verulam Civic Association, Verulam Sports Council and the Verulam Bowling Club.
Born in October 1931, Mr Pungan was part of a family of five brothers and five sisters - all direct descendants of indentured parents. His father, Pungan Vellan, and mother, Thoyee, had come to South Africa in the early 1900s from the village of Thirvathiyan in the North Arcott District of Tamil Nadu in south India. They worked as indentured labourers for 10 years at Croonberg Farm and thereafter settled at Tea Estate in Inanda.
It was here that all the Pungan siblings were born. Today all his siblings are late except for an elder sister, Kamla Vayapuri.
"We had to work in the fields every day and do other chores from an early age. We used to sell our vegetables and fruit at the morning market in Durban," he said.
"But at the same time while we were involved in the fields my elder siblings and parents encouraged me to attend school."
The young man attended the Moonsamy Primary School and after completing his standard six in 1946, he attended the Stanger High School because he could not find space at the nearby Tongaat High School.
He stayed with some family members in Stanger and completed his matriculation in 1950.
He obtained his teachers diploma at the Springfield Teachers Training College in 1952 and started his teaching career at the Talwantsingh Primary School in Verulam.
He, thereafter, taught at various schools in and around Durban while at the same time furthering his tertiary education part-time through the former University of Durban-Westville and Unisa. His teaching career spanned 39 years and he retired as principal of the Woodview Primary School in Phoenix in January 1991.
"My involvement in community work began in the 1950s as a member of the Tea Estate Social Club, which assisted in improving conditions and also providing sports facilities at the Moonsamy Primary School," he said.
"At the same time I became active in the Natal Indian Teachers Society, South African Indian Teachers Association, the Teachers Association of South Africa and served in an official poisition at branch level while teaching at the Tongaat Secondary School."
After his retirement, he became active in social and welfare work in Verulam by being involved in the formation of the Verulam Retired Teachers Society, Verulam Historical Society, Verulam Documentation Centre, "Food for Life", Verulam Child and Family Welfare, and in other social, welfare and sporting organisations.
For his unblemished contribution to community work, he has been bestowed with several awards. These included the Community Service Award by the 150 Years Verulam Anniversary Celebrations Committee and the Presidential Award by the Verulam Sports Council.
Mr Pungan married Ms Doreen Samuel in 1959 and they have five children - three girls and two boys - and eight grand-children.
"We were both from different religions and to avoid any problems we had a court marriage. My wife has embraced the Hindu faith and today she knows more about Hindu rituals and practices than I do."
During the 150th anniversary observation of the arrival of indentured labourers to South Africa, the extended Pungan family published their own book to record their family's history.
The book, "The Pungan Family", according to Mr Pungan was written "in memory of all those who have passed on and created a link to the past and a bridge to the future".
Mr Pungan's philosophy in life is "whatever good I can do I must do it now because I will not get another chance again".