Sandile Dikeni
SEK Mqhayi. Do you know him? He is the person who popularised Enoch Sontonga’s song Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. He is also one of my favourite South African poets. He ranks in Xhosa literature with the likes of JJR Jolobe, who published Umyezo, an unforgettable poetry collection. But the point now is Mqhayi waseNtabozuko (Mqhayi from a place called Ntabozuko).
He has, in Xhosa poetry circles, been reputed as Imbongi yeSizwe (poet of the nation).
It is Mqhayi who made us conscious of the song Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and its author Sontonga. I am not conscious of what the deal contained between the two of them, but I also have not heard anything sonorous about it. I am rather impressed that the ANC adopted it as some kinda anthem during the Struggle days when I learnt it.
I also noticed Azapo and the PAC using another version of it with Makube Njalo– Let it Be – indicating the end of that version.
The other day in Khayelitsha I encountered a citizen who greeted me with some kinda generous voice “Hello, Dikeni”. To which I replied that I would also call his surname had I known it. Then he told me the surname, “Mqhayi”. Mind my surprise. I asked if he was related to the Mqhayi in whose writing the sinking of that ship Mendi was recorded in a poem titled Ukutshona kukaMendi(The sinking of Mendi).
On an aside the ship, Mendi, was the carrier of the many South Africans who joined the world war. Unfortunately the ship sank on the way to battle and Mqhayi bemoaned them in a Xhosa poem, “The sinking of Mendi”, a Xhosa classic in my opinion! Imagine then the pleasant surprise of meeting a relative of the poet in Khayelitsha, nogal!
I did not ask him if he wrote poetry. It might not be too cool. Mqhayi was not a fair writer. He was awesome. Observe my modesty when I say I feel our new dispensation needs to help us honour these icons. What about some statue symbolising the likes of Sontonga and Mqhayi? Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika is a cool song because it does not narrow itself to the confines of the nation state. It begs us to open our eyes to the concept of a continent.
I like that. It is people like Mqhayi that I feel broaden our understanding of the complexities of the human being.
On an aside, it is for me a great relief to meet relatives of Sek Mqhayi not in Gugulethu, Nyanga, Langa, Khayamandi or Mbekweni, but in Khayelitsha. In a way, I hope this will tell the world that this township is not limited to an apartheid babelas. Think about the fact that the relatives of Mqhayi are staying there and let them be recognised by this beautiful nation. In other words it is possible that more greater human beings are hidden under the cruel symbolisms of history boasted by Khayelitsha.
I cannot wait to share social spaces with the likes of Breyten Breytenbach or the majesties of those kin to the likes of Herman Charles Bosman (another beautiful symbol of SA awkward complexities). I am sometimes embarrassed that I can speak six South African languages and therefore can read the dynamisms of Mqhayi while some more intelligent South Africans are not capable. I know it is apartheid’s issue but I don't want to keep on going back to that sombre, sad memory. So why don’t I see the other ethnicities trying to access the majesties of the many interesting languages of this place. I mean more people than Juluka star Johnny Clegg. We are too scared of being individuals and prefer the safeties of the narrow ethnic corners.
It is my challenge to the nation that we, outside the formal (normal) political sphere, begin to play with the complexities that affect our lives directly. I know that while it sometimes can be strenuous, with creative insistence we are likely to walk into the beautiful walls of this essence called mense– humans. It is a beautiful essence I learnt in the Karoo, but I know it is available all over the country. That is, I think, the depth of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Not even once does the anthem limit us to the notion of a nation state. It is general knowledge that our people in South Africa are not comfortable with the discussion that touches on the narrow corners of nationalism.
It is also general knowledge that not all of us whose lips nullify the nation are really on the same pages in the discourse. Let me share a feeling that speaks of cautiousness when we enter this discourse.
I am sure that the majority of people do not understand it because of the intellectual depths of our political moments. Heyta da!