Dr Tshepo Mvulane Moloi
As part of women’s month celebrations in South Africa, the Amazwi South African Museum of Literature based in Makhanda, continued to strive towards living up to its mandate, of promoting and preserving vital South African literary works. This by hosting a virtual launch about the pioneering black South African woman author of Drawn in Colour (1960) and The Ochre People (1963) – Helen Nontando Jabavu (1919-2008) or Noni Jabavu.
Noni Jabavu’s launch, called Two Worlds Reloaded was a low-key launch, with a sparse 18 who attended and it lasted for barely an hour. Yet this did not impact on the importance of this virtual launch.
It was co-hosted by Amazwi staff members, Crystal Warren (author and manager of the curational division and an author), Zongezile Matshoba (manager of education and public programmes and also an author) and Tom Jeffery (curator of exhibitions an fervent photographer).
Jeffery successfully converted the initial physical exhibition into the virtual version. The director of Amazwi, Beverley Thomas, was thankful to those who attended the symbolic launch on Women’s month.
Amazwi’s raison d’etre to launch on Friday, August 20 as explained by Warren, was part of a symbolic commemoration to coincide with Jabavu’s 102nd birthday. The resident Amazwi Noni Jabavu exhibition, curated by Amazwi’s former researcher, Dr Beth Wyril, was held in August 2019, to mark Noni Jabavu’s centenary year. This milestone was shared with fellow black South African authors, ranging from Peter Abrahams (1919-2017), who pioneered the literary scene, with Mine Boy (1946), Es’kia Mphahlele (1919-2008) popular for his Down 2nd Avenue (1959) and Sibusiso Nyembezi (1919-2000) popular for his novel Inkinsela YaseMgungundlovu (1961).
The University of Witwatersrand organised three interrelated seminars, during May and July 2019 where the works of these four centenarians were discussed.
Two forthcoming books scheduled to be released this year and next year will include some of the subjects presented, at these seminars. Both of Noni Jabavu’s biographers Makhosazana Xaba and Dr Athambile Masola are featured in the books.
Although Noni Jabavu’s Two Worlds Reloaded, is the most recent of Amazwi’s virtual exhibitions, its two preceding virtual exhibitions, featured Es’kia Mphahlele’s Man of Letters (2020) and John Maxwell (JM) Coetzee’s Scenes of the South (2020).
Although all three are equally important, in my opinion the significance of this latest Amazwi virtual exhibition cannot be downplayed. In my view beyond her common name of Jabavu, knowledge about her palpably nomadic life, poignantly expressed in her literary contributions, remains obscure to the broader South African public.
Given the apprehensive socio-political colonial history of South Africa, it is anticipated that the latter sentiment applies for varying reasons, to almost all founding authors, across the racial line in South Africa.
In Jabavu’s case, the reasons for her marginalisation, especially in the context of South Africa, remains her imposed classification as part of the “black“ race and her gender. Others may problematically add her middle ”class“ status, almost as similarly criticised with other black female South African authors, such as in the case of her contemporary Phyllis Ntantala-Jordan (1920-2016).
In Jabavu’s case, the imposed category of an elusive middle “class” resulted, after being born in Middledrift, Eastern Cape into one of the pioneering literate Xhosa families. Origins of Jabavu’s middle class ‘status’, may arguably have commenced predominantly, from the prominence of her missionary educated grandfather John Tengo (JT) Jabavu (1859-1921) and later her own father, Professor Davidson Don Tengo (DDT) Jabavu (1885-1959).
Although these patriarchs of the family were prominent in planting the literary seed for Noni Jabavu, it is curious what the public may discover, from Amazwi’s exhibition, regarding women that may have been influential to Jabavu. For starters, her grandmother’s name was Elda Sakuba-Jabavu (b?-1900) and her mother’s name was Thandiswa Florence Makiwane-Jabavu (1854-1914), who founded Zenzele Women’s Self-Improvement Association.
Let’s also consider Noni Jabavu’s two maternal aunts, namely Cecilia Makiwane (1880-1919), who was the first registered black South African nurse and activist and Daisy Makiwane, the pioneering sole woman and journalist at Imvo Zabantsundu.
To appreciate Noni Jabavu’s middle “class”, it may be helpful to grasp that both her grandfather and father were men of letters, however they were fallible fellows. In JT Jabavu’s case, although on one hand his Methodist education at Healdtown assisted him in becoming the celebrated pioneering founder and editor of Imvo Zabantsundu (translated as The Native/Black Opinion) in 1884, and was also instrumental, in 1916, in founding the University of Fort Hare (UFS).
On the other hand JT Jabavu’s contemporaries, such as the journalist and politician Solomon (Sol) Plaatjie (1876-1932) dismissed him as a political hypocrite. Plaatjie’s view was informed by instances, when JT Jabavu consistently opted to side, with the British (as in their colonisation policy) and with the Boers (for example in their relentless quest, which led to the enactment of the Land Act of 1913).
As for Noni Jabavu’s father, Professor DDT Jabavu (eldest son of JT and Thandiswa Jabavu), was a product of envious global education. He initially studied at Morija in Lesotho, Lovedale College, matriculated in Wales and finally earned a BA degree from the University of London.
The latter training enabled him to become the first black South African lecturer and later Professor of Bantu Languages at UFS. This may begin to explain why Noni Jabavu’s childhood was spent at UFS, prior to departing abroad. Log on and enjoy Noni Jabavu’s Two Worlds Reloaded.
Sunday Independent