Lynette Johns
AFTER getting his degree in medicine, Randall Ortel could have moved on from Manenberg, but has chosen to stay.
Ortel, 29, lives in Manenberg not because he has to, but because he wants to – so that he can be a voice for his community and to help people empower themselves.
Ortel and his family lived in a wendy house in Marico Street, and a few years ago they bought a house in nearby Nahoon Street. His father Michael works at the docks and his mother used to work at the Rex Trueform factory.
He is very clear about the fact that one of the only ways to work your way out of poverty and to make a better life for yourself, is by being knowledgeable about your rights and how to access them.
“Why would I leave here, everyone knows each other and even though we are exposed to gangsterism, crime is not that bad.
“There is a lot of good happening here, there is no pressure for me to move anywhere,” he said yesterday.
He is concerned about young people who cannot go to school because it is in a territory controlled by rival gangs.
“It does become unsafe for the kids, but what alternatives are there? People don’t have money to go to other schools, that is the daily reality.”
With low education levels, high incidences of drug use, gangsterism and school drop-out rates in Manenberg, Ortel said people battle to see a way out for themselves, often because they don’t know how.
As a child his ambition was to be a dustman, because he said everyone told him he could work his way up and the council offered great benefits.
But thanks to an education policy his father took out for him and a bursary from his father’s employers, he went to Rhodes High. He remembers how he used to bunch up his blazer and force it into his bag as he left home in the morning so that he was not teased by neighbourhood kids.
“You do what is socially acceptable,” he said with a laugh.
He admits that he sometimes bunked classes, tried to smoke and was often in the principal’s office for being disruptive. But his parents kept him on the straight and narrow.
It was at Rhodes that he discovered that there were many other careers he could pursue.
“We had a guidance teacher, and she kept us up to date on careers and opportunities,” he said.
One of the reasons he decided to study medicine was because his father had a friend who was a doctor. He matriculated with four As and two Bs.
With the help of loans and bursaries, he was able to study medicine at Stellenbosch University and graduated in 2010.
He worked at a number of clinics and hospitals in the city, eventually settling at GF Jooste until its closure at the end of last year.
He is now an occupational medical practitioner.
Ortel often engages with organisations and the government when programmes and projects are implemented in Manenberg.
He said no matter how good the intentions are, if an organisation does not understand the needs of the community, then very little would be achieved.
Ortel often finds himself speaking on behalf of the community and sharing his knowledge with residents, telling them how to access services and what their rights are.
He concluded it is important people are empowered; it is the only way they can change their lives. He will always remain an advocate for the rights of people and showing them the way forward.