Comrade Sibeko I'm happy for you and your wife, and hope that you realise your wishes and all that comes with it. Family is an important block for nation building. It gives one a sense of belonging: the history and your place in the family tree, and the sense of purpose that becomes the driving force for every direction you take in your life. Enjoy. Peter Raboroko presented a research report to the PAC Mission in Exile in the early sixties and recommended the name Azania for purposes of mass mobilisation and the building of a new society. Communication experts suggest positive myth-making, such as the biblical Canaan land of milk and honey, to be the rallying point of mass mobilisation for national liberation movements. Not individuals. You wouldn't know it when individuals have secretly made deals with the enemy if you are blinkered and brainwashed in following them. The name Azania was unanimously approved at home and abroad, and it reached a crescendo almost similar in mass-based popularity to the counter-revolutionary "new South Africa" that was promoted by PW De Klerk and his fellow travellers in 1989 when they drove the grand reforms of settler colonialism and apartheid into a new political dispensation. Ironically, Raboroko was attacked vehemently and was even side-lined by threatened individuals within the PAC who mistook the positive response to his input as a platform for special recognition of his talents. The Charterists on the other hand said South Africa was just fine, and that Azania was a fictitious country in the literature of some white woman writer who's name now escapes me. For us and all other revolutionary Pan Africanists, the Azanian Civilisation is recorded by renown historians as the land of black folks with its riches in material wealth, the civilisation of humanity, culture and the practise of fair trade, especially with the Arab world, on the eastern coast line of the African continent before the advent of slavery and colonialism. It is not specific for south of Africa - because the PAC's brand of African Nationalism does not recognise colonial borders. It also does not belong to any one language group of the indigenous people here. Motsoko Pheko (using the names David Dube and Ethel Kopung) wrote extensively about this in the seventies. Bessie Head was a PAC activist and went into exile after the Sharpeville massacre. As a writer she stood out for her special gift and her creative skills. She went through hard knocks and was even committed to a psychiatric ward for some time. Bra Wallace (Mongane Serote) from Alex where I grew up, took me to her place in Serowe, Botswana, for interviews I was doing for Staffrider in 1979. The interview was confiscated by the security police along with other documents I had with me when I was raided at home when I came back. She belonged to a fraternity of African Resistance Movement members, which slowly fizzled out after finding themselves in limbo when the PAC leadership could not engage them seriously into an alliance. There is a book by Patrick Cullinan highlighting some aspects of Bessie Head's life. It was published three years ago or so, but I have not had the opportunity to buy and read it. I was not with the Congress of South African Writers (COSAW). It was a UDF affiliate and diametrically opposed to the African Writers Association to which I belonged. There is a recorded history of the dichotomy (The Literature Police - Censorship in Apartheid SA, 2007). After Medupe writers association was banned in October 1977, we established International PEN for all writers in Southern Africa. PEN was later disbanded in a resolution that said it was no longer feasible at the time to belong to the same structure, and yet face different realities of oppression and suppression in the townships while others enjoyed the comfort and luxury of the northern suburbs. AWA was backed by the likes of Es'kia Mphahlele, Sipho Sepamla, Mothobi Mutloatse, Miriam Tlali, Bob Leshoai, etc., and driven by the likes of Ingoapele Madingoane, Maishe Maponya, Matsiks Manaka, myself and others. Essentially it was an ideological rupture. My point however would be that the intellectual contributions of many gifted Africanists are mostly side-lined in the main framework of the production of knowledge and information in South Africa. The dominant perspective is that of hacks doing government duty, conservative neo-liberalism, pseudo-left garble, and the traditional Afro-pessimism from the right. The middle ground views are shouted out by the Zuma brigade whose moral and political values are suspect. What you then have as an opposing view is newspaper editors who are, for me, sucked in through pretentions of constitutionalism and have come to be the Trojan horse representatives of big business. Independent writers such as Zakes Mda offer an honest, fresh outlook that is not constrained by the search for favours and tenders. We must encourage similar and even better voices to come out and write. Jaki
From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [PAYCO] SOMETIMES THERE IS A VOID Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:21:28 +0000 Cde Seroke: I first got acquainted with the name Zakes Mda some time ago, most probably from your writings, when you were writing about South African writers. Some months ago, in a shopping center at Benoni, where I live, I saw the book. They made separate collection of Zakes’s books. To me, I had an impression that Zakes was a late author, I don’t know where did I get that impression.. Lately, I have been googling about him, and I have established that he was and is an illustrious writer. I understand that currently he’s lecturing in the US. I will definitely get myself a copy very soon. The other writer that become an unsung figure was Bessie Head, a South African native, who went to live in Botswana. Her masterpiece work, Maru was a textbook for English in Matric for many years in South Africa. I was befuddled at University, in the department of African Politics, when we were doing comparative politics in Southern African that that the name of Bessie Head appeared. Looking back at your contribution to this circulation on a host of issues, I must admit that your writings are second to no one, that is, they are unsurpassed nor unsurpassable. I certainly believe that maybe writers such as Zakes had an indelible impression on your pen. Where you a member of the COSAW, what was the role of this organization in the eighties ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jaki Seroke Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 1:26 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [PAYCO] SOMETIMES THERE IS A VOID Mduduzi Zakes Mda's new book, Sometimes There is a Void - Memoirs of an Outsider, Penguin 2011, is an interesting insight into the author's development and growth as an artist and writer, and an academic teaching creative writing. It is also very revealing on aspects of the life of AP Mda, the author's father. Zakes has done tremendous work in the literary sphere with his output of fiction and drama such that he now commands serious respect and a good profile of readership internationally. In other words he is not a tickey-line author confined to sympathetic followers of like minded uncritical readers. This point has to be said so that the uninitiated understand the impact of his comments to the world of book readers, and to celebrate his achievements after many years of dedication, discipline and devotion to his craft. In the light of your recent unravelling of the Gerhardt interview with AP Mda in the company of struggle stalwarts such as Oom Gqobs and Mfaxa in January 1970, I hurriedly read Zakes Mda's memoirs and would now recommend that you also make the time to read the book. Zakes Mda and I have been friends (within the fraternity of poets, novelists, painters, and musicians in Southern Africa) since the mid seventies. We were advocates of Black Consciousness and revolutionary struggle. We were also non-sectarian and criss-crossed into all schools of thought and examined the ideas of all leaders. Zakes never really wanted to discuss the contributions of his father in the Azanian Revolution, and he was all the time reticent about such things. Arrogant young people disregarded the older generation as meek and ineffective opponents of the regime. Zakes however wanted to be his own man - not to be seen under the shadow of his father. He has had an interesting upbringing alright, worthy of being penned down into a book. I his experiences with the PAC and the BCP in Lesotho in the 60s and 70s quite revealing. The void he writes about is symbolically presented as unfulfilled expectations, unintended outcomes and gaps in the journey of his personal life in very tough circumstances. It is also an honest assessment of charlatans masquerading as leaders and public representatives, when they are in fact exploiting the ignorance and trust of the people for selfish reasons. This void is currently in political parties. We cannot begin to compare AP and Lembede with the numbskulls in the youth leagues presently. The book reveals important titbits such as, for example, that Sabelo Phama lived in the Mda household and spent long evenings until dawn with the old man discussing the maelstroms of the revolution. AP was closer to Chris Hani's parents in Lesotho and he took Sabelo there on regular visits. Sabs, as he always was, even did chores in the Hani parents' home at the time when he was Secretary for Defence in the PAC Central Committee and Chris Hani was commissar in MK. Today Sabelo Phama is a forgotten hero and unknown even within the ranks of the Africanists. Read the book and let's talk. Jaki -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.comThis email and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential and proprietary information. This information is private and protected by law and, accordingly, if you are not the intended recipient, you are requested to delete this entire communication immediately and are notified that any disclosure, copying or distribution of or taking any action based on this information is prohibited. Emails cannot be guaranteed to be secure or free of errors or viruses. The sender does not accept any liability or responsibility for any interception, corruption, destruction, loss, late arrival or incompleteness of or tampering or interference with any of the information contained in this email or for its incorrect delivery or non-delivery for whatsoever reason or for its effect on any electronic device of the recipient. Views and opinions expressed or implied in this email are those of the sender unless clearly stated as being that of Rand Water. If verification of this email or any attachment is required, please request a hard-copy version. -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com
