uMabhengwaneYesterday, in therapy (because am broken, as should be obvious to anyone reading this) I didn’t start with any negative things or gripes or complaints – but I did end up talking about bridges. No, you idiot. Not the physical structure. It’s a metaphor. In this case, I am a bridge. In fact, I am […]
Ngenkathi ngaqala ukubhala izincwadi zesiZulu, bengingazi ukuthi uhlobo engilubhalayo lubizwa kanjani ngolukaPhunga noMageba. Kade ngazi ngezinkondlo nangezindatshana nezindaba (phecelezi amanoveli), kodwa ikakhulukazi lezo zithanda ukubhalwa (ngesiZulu) ngezinto ezenziwa empilweni yasemhlabeni – hhayi ngezinto zomcabango (phecelezi ze-imagination). Okunye ebengazi ngakho yizinganekwane – ngakho indatshana yami yokuqala yaba yalolo hlobo. Izinganekwane zithanda ukubizwa ngelinye igama – izinsumansumane. […]
Ngakhetha ukungena ngesango elincane, nokuhamba ngendlela eyingcingo. Emva koKhetho, nasemva kokuba kwaphinda kwacweba iziziba, ngizithola ngihlukile. Izwe lethu libukeka sengathi nalo lihlukile – kunenhlasana yethemba, kungaqhutshekwa emva kweminyaka yenkohlakalo. Kodwa sengiqala ukuwuzwa umehluko kimina. Kusengathi ngaba yisiphungumangathi esalenga iminyaka emoyeni, kwaqhamuka esinye isilwane kunalesiya esangena kusona. Kodwa abakwaziyo bathi isiphungumangathi singathatha iminyaka ukuze okungaphakathi kwaso […]
In all the change and chaos this week brought to things in general, what with last-minute about-turns and an 11th-hour resignation, there was one little gem that I choose to pick out. It involves hippopotami, crocodiles, and isaga sesiZulu (a Zulu proverb). You see, just before 18:30 on Wednesday (usuku lwezithandani, futhi) I was on […]
Some ideas marinate for a long time before reaching the right moment to come forth. I had written the words down on an envelope, about 9 months ago. That envelope has travelled with me all over, tucked into the depths of whatever bag I was carrying or floating freely in the back of my car. […]
Umuntu uyakhuluma, kodwa iSilo siyaphefumula. A person speaks, but the ‘Beast’ ‘breathes’. This was just one thing I figured out a little while ago, on the birthday of the current ruling monarch (iSilo) of the amaZulu, uNgangezwe-lakhe, uHlanga-lomhlabathi, uBhejan’ophum’es’qiwini. Out of respect, I shall not refer to this person by his igama. If you are […]
Kade sagcinana! Mehlo madala! It’s been too long since I last wrote anything on here. All that I’ve been able to connect with are a few glances at analytics every now and then, but no writing. And it’s not because I haven’t had things to write about! It’s rather that I haven’t had the headspace […]
caution: this blog contains some swearing / isixwayiso: kunenhlamba kuleli blog I had my fighting shoes on. Tan brown hightops, white t-shirt and jeans. I strode in there demanding justice, and was met with four occupied attendants. So I sat down, and waited, and surveyed the battlefield. Yellow. Everything was yellow. The colour of ubuhlanzo. […]
Unwele olude, more usually heard as nwel’olude, is an expression of a wish for prosperity, and I’ve always understood it as directly relating to a wish for the person to experience a sustained period of happiness. It’s most often said on the occasion of someone’s birthday, along with other lovely phrases such as ‘khul’ukhokhobe’. But why […]
There’s a verb stem that seems, strangely, to be on everyone’s lips. It’s strange because the stem has, up until recently, only been used in religious or political contexts – but now it’s used to talk about a particularly virulent form of intergenerational transactional sex. Here’s a riddle for you – how are State Capture, […]