Impepho
By MK Kunene
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0kaMdabuli, uMazisi w'e Kunene, ushaya emhlolweni lapho ethi izisho nezaga kazibona nje ubugagu benkulumo kepha ziyinjululwazi (noma ifilosofi) yesizwe. Abalondolozi balo mnotho, uthi yilezo zalukuzi namakhehla esivame ukuwabukele phansi thina esithi sifundisiwe.
Kuleli qoqo uyasimema ukuba sizibhekisise lezo zisho nezaga ezintsha ngoba yizona ezikhombisa ukuthuthuka kwesizwe.
The descendant of Mdabuli, Mazisi Kunene, is quite right in his claim that idioms and proverbs are not simply verbal art, but also reflect the philosophy of a people. The custodians of this wealth, so he asserts, are those old men and women, whom we often look down upon, as we consider ourselves to be better enlightened.
In this collection, the author is inviting us to pay special attention to the emerging idioms and proverbs since these are a manifestation of a nation's development.
MK Kunene
Mazisi Raymond Fakazi Mngoni Kunene was born in 1930, in Durban and raised in Amahlongwa. He earned a teaching certificate at Maphumulo Teachers’ Training College and a Master of Arts (MA) at the University of Natal and continued his study of iSiZulu poetry at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He later earned a Doctorate of Literature from the University of KwaZulu- Natal in 2000 upon his return from exile.After leaving South Africa in 1959, he went to live in London. Together with fellow exiled writers, such as Es'kia Mphahlele, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Cosmo Pieterse and Dennis Brutus, they played a pivotal role in exposing the injustices of Apartheid. In 1962, he became the Chief Representative of the African National Congress (ANC) in Europe and the United States of America (USA). A founding member of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Britain, Prof Kunene worked closely with ANC figures Moses Mabhida, Oliver Tambo and Robert Resha. It was during his life in exile that he published numerous works including epic poems such as Anthem of the Decades, Emperor Shaka the Great, and poetry anthologies, The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain and Zulu Poems.In 1966, the South African government banned his work which meant that he was then not able to publish his work in the land of his birth. In 1972, he organized the South African Exhibition Appeal, which saw a number of prominent artists supporting this initiative.Professor Kunene had in his lifetime written more than 10 000 epics, poems, essays, short stories, nursery rhymes and Zulu proverbs and published many of them. There are still many of his works as yet unpublished such as the original iSiZulu manuscript, UNodomehlezi KaMenzi (Emperor Shaka the Great) or Inklokomo Inyimenaka (Anthem of the Decades). Unlike many of his peers, he wrote primarily in iSiZulu and would himself translate some into English as he did with Emperor Shaka the Great (published first in 1979). Many of his books are available only in Zulu, such as Igudu lika Somcabeko (1997) and iSibusiso Sikamhawu (1994). Other work in English includes Echoes from the Mountain: New and Selected Poems (2007) and Anthem of the Decades. Prof Kunene had also edited and published anthologies in Zulu Poems (1970) and The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain (1982).He was Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he lectured for more than 19 years, while living in the USA with his family. Kunene also taught at the National University of Lesotho and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). He returned to South Africa in 1993, towards the end of the Apartheid era.In 2005, he was appraised as the first South African Poet Laureate and later in 2015 was posthumously awarded the South African Traditional Music Award (SATMA) Lasting Legacy Award. Prof Kunene received many accolades and awards during his lifetime.Professor Kunene passed away in 2006 in Durban after an extended illness and was laid to rest in his village homestead of Amahlongwa on the South Coast of Durban.
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Impepho - MK Kunene
Egameni labadaladala, egameni labakhona nabangasekho, egameni lezizukulwane, siyabonga thina esiyizinkubela zemiphefumulo. Egameni lethu esasalayo, sasala ukuba siliphakamise igama lenu, nina enasala emahlathini, nina enasala ezintabeni, nina enasala emihlabathini yasezizweni, naze nawunonisa, siyathakazela kinina. Sithi halala! halala! kini enafela inkululeko. Sisho kini Mabhida omuhle, sisho kini Magwinyimbuzi, sisho kini Resha waseThenjini, sisho kini mntakaMakathini, sisho kini Nola, sisho kini mntaka Hani, sisho kini esingayukuniqeda ngamagama. Sithi sesilapha sizonimbela umhlaba, sizolahla ilitshe esivivaneni ukuze amaThongo angasisoli. Sithi nize nisiphelezele-ke kulo mthemelezo, sesikhwela intaba, intaba yezazi intaba ebomvu. Sesiyakulikha ikhambi lezazi ezinkulu zamandulo. Sithi, oluhle uhambo, sithi, leligabade lenkululeko lingelenu.
Ke mina kaMhawu, kaMpophoma kaZikodze kaLusibalubomvu sengibonga unyawo olude olungihlangabeze ezindleleni. Lolo lunyawo ngoluka Linda ohlele lolu hlalwane. Sengibonga uMathabo wakwaKunene nomuzi wakhe yena ongibelethele lo mntwana, ega meni lawobabamkhulu, egameni lezalukazi. Sengibonga yonke imihlaba yethu ekhulumayo, ethi ikhuluma ibe ihlabelela, ethi ihlabelela ibe igiya, ethi igiya ibe ikhomba phezulu ezinkanyezini lapho nathi siyobambelela khona.
ISETHULO SAMAZWI
Kuvamile ukuba abantu ababuswayo bagcine bekholiwe wukuthi awabo amasiko nezenzo zabo zingezokulahleka futhi ababusi baphikelela ngayo leyo nhlamba yikhona ababuswayo baze bakholwe ukuthi abalutho. Uma sekufike kulelo banga kusuke sekuphelile, ababusayo batshala ezabo izinhlamvu umuntu obeyindoda noma umfazi oqinile, ozaziyo, oziqhenyayo, aphenduke imfabanga. Ingani akaseyedwa usenekhambi leli abamfake lona abambusayo usengumlandeli akasaboni lutho ngendlela yesiko lakhe. Lokhu-ke kwenzeke kwabaningi lapha kwelakithi, kakhulu laba okuthiwa yizifundiswa. Ungezwa sebelokhu bevimbanisa ngesiNgisi, nawo Shekisipiye, umangale nje ukuthi labantu abanazo yini izazi zabo, abanakho yini ukuhlakanipha okungokwabo na?
Ke, muvana nje kuzovuka isizukulwane esisha esizobe sibuza umbuzo ofanele sithi: bathini ogogo, bathini obabamkhulu. Uma sesivuleke kanje, impendulo iyovela. Futhi iyobe ivela kusona ngoba ikhona, siyobe sigcizelela ngokucacile, nokusobala sithi: Thina sizalwa yilo mhlaba, ulwazi lwethu luqhibuka kulo mhlaba. Zisho i-Afrika le enkulu kangaka enezinkulu izenzo zayo. Ongisho nazo izenzo zamaGibidi, ongisho nazo zako Topiya ongisho nazo zabaShanti, ongisho nazo zaseGhana yandulo, ongisho nazo zalo mhlaba wethu woMzansi wawokhokho. Ngingabala ngithini. Ifa lethu lama Afrika linonile lifuna kuphela uluthi lwezinyosi nokusisa kwezinye izizwe. Lelo yisiko lethu. Ndulo kwakwenanelwana na base Shayina nabaseNdiya, nabomdabu baseMelika.
Ke, izisho nezaga lezi abazithathi kalula abase Afrika nabase Shayina nabaseNdiya ngoba yindlela leyo yabo yokubeka ubuhlakani nokubenza bande nasebantwini bakwetshise nsuku zonke. Futhi baze bathi noma bekhuluma babophe ngazo izisho lezo izinkulumo zabo ezishubile, empeleni izisho lezi zazaziswa kakhulu yizazi. Bekuthi abadala uma bekhuluma banandise ngazo, kuze kuthi nabo impela abangompetha bokukhuluma baqhudelane ngazo kube ubunikiniki. Kusenjalo-ke kwezinye izizwe zama Afrika ezisenhla kwethu njengaba Kongo. Lapho isaziwayo esaziwa kakhulu wumfazi osengathi usekhulile, nokuhlakanipha kwakhe kunokubona okunzulu. Ezindaweni eziningi zaseNtshonalanga ne Afrika kumaYoriba, amaHausa, ama-Ibho amaMandingo, ama-Khabhili ama-Amhara, namaGibuthi yikho lokho. Kuya-ke ngezizwe, ezinye zisaqhuba ngale ndlela yokwazi, ezinye ulwazi sezilubeka ngenye indlela nangemibhalo (scripts) eyaqanjwa ngabaseAfrika.
Nathi ngapha ngaseMzansi ne-Afrika izisho kwakuyinto yethu enkulu. Nanamuhla le kwaNgwane abadala basabopha ulwazi ngazo izisho. Ngisho nakwaZulu kusenjalo. Abantu abaningi badidekile, beduke nezisho ezindala kuphela ababoni ukuthi izisho lezi nanamuhla zisalukwa. Ngokuba empeleni izisho akuzona nje izisho zokushiwo uma umuntu edlalisa noma efuna ukubukisa. Izisho