In love at first sight
THERE is not much that the Magwevana children from Sherwood can get away with – mom and dad are experienced police officers!
Andile, 48, his wife, Lungiswa, 44, and their three children Lwando, 21, Akhona, 20, and Aphiwe, 15, have lived in Sherwood since 2002.
The couple met while they were both working at the New Brighton police station in 1986 and instantly hit it off.
"I am from Tsomo in the Transkei and came to Port Elizabeth in 1985. I was a Warrant Officer at New Brighton and that is where I met Lungiswa,” said Andile.
Lungiswa, who is a captain at the Mount Road Police Station, said: "We were very young. He is very humble, and not bad looking either. I could not resist him. In a way you can say it was love at first sight.”
Four years after they met, they got married in KwaMagxaki. In 1993 they moved to Bridgemead but following a house-breaking decided to relocate to Sherwood.
"We are a close family. We are very attached to our children because we are always with them. We want them to be independent and build their own families.
"Children tend to be involved in crime, but we have been lucky,” said the Kwazakhele-born Lungiswa.
Lwando is a third-year psychology student at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Akhona is taking a gap year after matriculating at Westering High, while the baby of the family, Aphiwe, is in Grade 9 at Tahilla Christian Academy in Kabega Park.
Lungiswa said that like any marriage, they had their own problems, but "never fight in front of the kids”.
"I am from an abusive background. My mother was murdered in 1982 when I was 15. I do not want my children go through the same thing.
"I am lucky to have a husband who is not abusive. Our disagreements end at the end of the day,” she said.
"Open communication, love, trust and support are the things that keep the family together.”
Akhona said her parents were good role models.
"They support each other in everything they do. The communication between them is very good because if I tell one of them something, the other will know about it also,” she said.