Dr Lebogang Nawa, editor.
LIMPOPO LAUNCH OF CULTURE AND LIBERATION BOOK
Human Rights Day, Sharpeville Day or Heroes Day, depending on where you stand in the country’s polarised political spectrum, saw the launch of the book, Culture and Liberation Struggle in South Africa: From Colonialism to Post-Apartheid, at the UNISA Polokwane campus.
Edited by the Secretary General of the National Writers Association of South Africa, Dr Lebogang Lance Nawa, the well-nigh six hundred pages tome is an anthology of about forty essays on the role of culture in the liberation struggle.
Nawa put together a constellation of contributors from all walks of culture.
Among the contributors to this seminal work are Nawa himself, Dr Mongane Wally Serote, Nakedi Ribane, Vusi Mahlasela, Styles Lucas Ledwaba, Thabang Chiloane, Vonani Bila, Ndwamato George Mugovhani, Sandile Memela, Sam Mathe, Motsumi Makgale Makhene, Ismail Mahomed, Fhumulani Kenneth Mathivha, Eugene Skeef and more luminaries on culture.
Subjects covered in the book are wide ranging, from cultural hegemony in the beauty industry, people literature, film, King Kong the Musical, cultural boycott, how music fanned the flames of liberation, Staffrider magazine, evolution of the national cultural policy, folk music…
The list covered by the book goes on and on.
In his introductory remarks on the occasion of the Limpopo launch, the editor Dr Nawa said the improved aesthetics of the book and venerating reviews make the book a must get, especially for educational purposes. He quoted the review by leading novelist Zakes Mda when he said, “The richness of this tome is in the diversity of the writers and their subjects.” Author Frank Mentjies had this to say about the book, “The book is a proper affirmation and the most far-reaching documentation of the role played by the arts practitioners in the struggle for justice, human rights and democracy in South Africa.”
Four of the five Limpopo contributors the book were at hand to reflect on their pieces. Fhumulani Kenneth Mathivha wrote on the politics of the apolitical hit musical King Kong, that created waves here and abroad. The renowned poet Vonani Bila reflected on the living history and motifs behind Samson Mthombeni’s folk music as culture capital. Professor Ndwamato George Mugovhani wrote on choral music, whereas Dr Thabang Chiloane contributed on how music fanned the flames of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid.
The fifth Limpopo contributor, ace reporter and author Styles Lucas Ledwaba was on his journalism work. Ledwaba wrote on how Diturupa expose the hidden history of African soldiers the world wars through song and dance.
Among those in attendance were the Director General of the Province, Nape Nchabeleng, and authors like Dr Martin Sehlapelo, Mr David Nkoana, Sello Lediga and various book clubs from in Polokwane and around the Province.
Molebatsi Masedi who is the coordinator of Timbuktu Book Club and deputy secretary general of NWASA, facilitated the proceedings.
By popular demand the second volume will be released later in the year. With the two volumes, the contributions of culture in the liberation struggle will have been adequately catalogued, for the current generation and for posterity. What will be left to be done, will be mopping operations to tie up loose ends in various genres and to cover unfolding cultural trends and developments in post-apartheid South Africa.
This is a book every library and household must have.
Dr Nawa sign a copy of the book for fellow scribe David Nkoana.