Mafika Pascal Gwala (5 October 1946 – 5 September 2014) was a contemporary

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, writing in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and Zulu.

Early life and education

Mafika Gwala was born and grew up in Verulam, north of

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

. He completed an M.Phil. in Politics from the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

and was a researcher at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

.Far from forgotten
by Niren Tolsi (ZA@PLAY) October 6, 2006

Work and activism

Gwala spent most of his adult life in Mpumalanga Township, west of Durban. He worked in a factory, as a legal clerk, an industrial relations officer, a high school teacher, and a guest university lecturer, aside from writing and editing. Gwala was active in the struggle against

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

and a leading light of the 1970s

Black Consciousness The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Af ...

movement, of which he says:

Writing

In 1982, Gwala published a book of Black Consciousness poetry in a collection called ''No More Lullabies''. His work is characterised by a rhythmic musicality he attributes to the Zulu language. In 1991, he edited and translated into English a collection of Zulu writing entitled ''Musho! Zulu Popular Praises''.

Works

Poetry *''Jol'iinkomo'' (1977) *''No More Lullabies'' (1982) Edited *''Black Review'' (1973) *''Musho! Zulu Popular Praises'', with

Liz Gunner Liz Gunner (born 1941) is an academic who specializes in South African literature and culture, and particularly radio. She is a visiting research professor at the University of Johannesburg and a professorial research associate at the School of O ...

(Michigan State University, 1991)

External links

The jive
poem
Interview
at Chimurenga Online

at Mail & Guardian Online

References

1946 births Living people People from KwaZulu-Natal Zulu people 20th-century South African poets South African male poets 20th-century South African male writers Zulu-language poets {{SouthAfrica-poet-stub