TokisoM Writes

Brenda Fassie was untouchable. She was like a Phoenix – she’d be consumed by her own flames, but rise from her ashes. I grew up reading everything written about her, watching and listening to all interviews.  She was a subject in most of my speeches throughout primary and high school. I loved her energy – and mostly envied her ability to get away with saying the craziest things. When news reports announced her coma – I took it lightly – it was Brenda Fassie, she’d rise from this. Her demonic relationship with drugs didn't bother me. I always believed she’d kick the habit and live to tell the world how bad drugs were.  For me that coma  in April/May 2004 would be her final wake up call. But my Brenda Fassie didn't wake up . She didn't rise to tell us about her near death experience. My heart was broken. A collection of essays on an epic life.  Bongani Madondo’s I’m Not Your Weekend Special brought to surface all the emotions, good and bad, I ...

"I am the village idiot you love to hate" reads Mzilikazi Wa Afrika's twitter bio. A very misleading bio considering Wa Afrika is a multi-award winning journalist working for the Sunday Times' investigations unit. He is also a reigning chairperson of the Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR) - an investigative journalism organisation with members from 36 different African countries.  His book, Nothing left to steal - goes behind the scenes of his breaking-story unlawful arrest in 2010 after he exposed the R1.7 billion lease scandal between police commissioner Bheki Cele and property tycoon Roux Shabangu.  All images provided by Mzilikazi Wa Afrika Q: What influenced your decision to sit down and start writing your tell-all memoir? Mzilikazi : Many people, over the past years, wanted to know who I am, where I come from and what makes me tick. I did a lot of soul searching before making the decision to enter the confession box and write t...

“You know that small table where we keep the family Bible, nne ? Your father broke it on my belly”. That line deep into Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ’s Purple Hibiscus , her debut novel, broke my heart in so many ways. Powerful book indeed.  Purple Hibiscus is told through the eyes of a child, 15-year-old Kambile. She’s a quiet, nervous teenager. Her Catholic father, a religious and fanatical tyrant, is physically and extremely emotionally abusive. Interesting enough the word “abuse” is never used in the story – Adichie like the skilled story teller she is – shows us the abuse and doesn't spell it out for the reader. I don’t know how Adichie managed to capture abuse the way she did via Kambile. Through Kambile’s eyes I saw a loving family man, a solid Christian, a community leader, a giver and a strict man. She doesn't over-emphasize the abuse. She doesn't openly voice out how wrong it is. She loves her father and even protects him. Yet once you read between...

May 19 would have been Malcolm X ’s 89 th birthday. I decided to use this date as a deadline to post this book review that I'd been holding on for way too long. The Autobigraphy of MalcolmX as told to Alex Haley – by X himself is a compelling read. X’s life theme was reinvention, not slight but extreme, intense reinvention of mind, body and soul. I read with admiration as X allowed himself to adapt to new spaces he found himself in – not just adapt his lifestyle but his mindset and put in 101% to newness. An example of this reinvention is that when he died his name was, Malik El-Shabazz, he was born Malcolm Little.  At the age of 21, Malcolm X (still Malcolm Little at the time), was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison. By that age, X was a drug addict, drug dealer, robber and pimp. Malcolm Little Mug Shot While in prison, X was inspired by a fellow inmate to read and he fell in love with the knowledge that comes with reading books. It was in prison that hi...

I tend to get lost in myself Forgetting my ambitions My goals and dreams I tend to get lost in myself Living to cushion others in their lives Mesmerized by everybody smiling - but me I tend to get lost in myself Never hearing the inner laugh Dazed from the inside out I need to find myself again Stop being ungrateful for the simple things in my life! Move in my time, smile for more than a while I need to stop missing in action! And live my life the way I want to live it With a smile, laughter and joy from within With so much of the physical happening We sometimes leave the inner to gather dust I want the dust off, and let in shine My inner that is left alone I tend to get lost in myself sometimes. (19 September 2006)

Half Of a Yellow Sun written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a heartbreaking, thought provoking novel. There are five main protagonists (although the blurb tells us about three) whose lives intertwine to bring this story to life; Alonna: The beautiful twin, educated in London, from a wealthy family in Lagos. She goes off to shack up with her professor lover – much to her parents’ disappointment; they wanted her to date within their elite circle. Kainene: She is the not so pretty twin and she knows it. She comes across as someone who couldn’t be bothered about the opinion of others. She smokes, doesn’t smile much and runs the family businesses. Richard: The token white guy in the story. He falls in love with Kainene. He is odd and at some point irritatingly needy.   Odenigbo: He is Alonna’s professor lover. He is a pan-Africanist with loads to say about the state of current affairs in Africa for the black man and especially Nigeria. Ugwu (13-year-old): Is the rural boy s...

I sometimes wonder when plays like The Colored Museum – that highlight societal issues such as race and identity – come to an end; do people’s souls shake them into an intense introspection or do they walk away and get back to their usual living of life. The Colored Museum written by George C Wolfe on at the Market Theatre now, directed by James Ngcobo ; is a 90 minutes dissecting of what it means to be black in America using humour and song. It runs until the 23 rd of February, Black History month in the United States. Black History month is an annual period when important people and events in the history of African Americans are remembered. This has been happening since 1926.  It was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson , He took it upon himself to write Black Americans into the American history when he realised that the black population was ignored or when mentioned it was of an inferior nature. Hence the importance of a play like The Colored Museum which features...

There was once a Tokoloshe, her name was Pinky Pinky – she lived in the girls’ school toilets, sang a song that introduced her and told you about her parents. She’d then end the song by demanding you give her something. Thanks to Pinky Pinky, her choice of location and her singing – I've yet to feel completely comfortable using public toilets. I first heard about Pinky Pinky when I was in Sub A (now known as Grade 1). She terrorized girls my age, demanding money or (as I recently heard) stole their panties. I think she’d also want whatever pink item you had on you. If you couldn't give in to Pinky Pinky’s demands – you were in big trouble. I don’t remember the details of what she’d do to you but what I knew is that it would be painful. Pinky Pinky was so dangerous she even made it into a national newspaper – although they used a blurry picture. There were different stories told about how she looked – none mentioned a beautiful creature. Her looks were things horror mo...

I love stories that don’t have the predictable happy endings – that’s mainly because they are rare to find. Animal Farm , a classic written by George Orwell , is one such story. First published in 1945 this satirical tale remains a worth while read in 2014, especially if you follow South African politics. It’s my second read of the book (the first being in high school), and I couldn't  help but make comparisons with the happenings on Animal Farm with modern day South Africa. The gist of the story is; after years of abuse from humans, the animals of Manor Farm (as it is initially named) stage a rebellion that sees Jones (the farmer), his wife and workers kicked out of the farm. What gave the animals courage to take matters into their own hands? Well, firstly they were not blind to their under fed, over worked conditions. Secondly, an aged pig, Old Major, prophesised the rebellion and shared it with the animals just before he died – even teaching them a song th...