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Volume 11 Nos 1,2,3,4 1993 Volume 11 Nos 1,2,3,4 1993 th Anniversary Edition N C C N N 0 0 Southern Africa R35.00 (Incl. VAT) Issn 0258-7211 ~d1®E3 Voum 11 No,,3419 Contents M CommentAWOliphant Stories MGoing to See Mr BV Shimmer Chinodya =Nhamiwa's Magic Stick Maria Munsaka MThe Jungle Peacemaker Blessing Museki TheStory of how the Tortoise Shell Became Patterned Lackson Chibanga EM The Return of the dead One Suleimen Cassamo MBehind God's Back Sandra Braude MIn to the Death Zone Lesego Rampolokeng MA Bundle of Joy Lance Nawa =The Russian Princess Mia Couto Ml The Pythons are Dying Ruben Mowszowski =The Turtle Egg Louis Sterling IM Christmas at Central Park West Mbulelo Mzamane M Dog Training Steve Jacobs E AmanCalledJB Dede Kamkondo K=Don't Dehorn Rhinos Rade Apani M Dairyofa StudentTeacher Isaac Zita MU Rosa and the Pots Cynthia Callard K= The Scar Taurai Hlekisane Essays The Role of the writer in a Time of Transition Kelwyn Sole David Goldblatt and the Iconography of Apartheid David Wise Poetry MPumpkin Hour Lilian Masitera M Two Poems Dambudzo Marachera STwo Poems Essop Patel lIM Night in Town Amon Olisi SMella Bella Mafika Pascal Gwala M ShotbyCamera Steve Brimelow M Two Poems Noemia De Sousa MPlayground of Echoes Najmunisa Gaffoor Two Poems Reinaldo Ferreira MThree Poems Fikile Magadlela M Landmarks Kelwyn Sole MThe Man Seitlamo Motsapi 1M Movement Mafika Pascal Gwala .; Dog Thoughts Nhamo Mhiripiri SOkombahe Elizabeth Khaxas MThree Poems Stephen Gray f Two Poems Morakabe Seakhoa 0 CR m M DieGeskakel Mafika Pascal Gwala M Four Poems Gloria De Sant'Anna M Two Poems Dorian Haarhof M Two Poems Sipho Sepamla MFive Poems Jose Craveirinha Four Indian Ocean Poets Brentpark Antjie Krog N= Life in Limbo Maritso Makhunga IM Lucifer on War Bryan Sanzilla [ Four Poems Luis Carlos Patraquim M This Long Road We MustTravel Jenny Robson M Two Poems Rui Knopfli I Two Poems Sergio Viera [ Two Poems Hergen Junge I Transactions Keith Gottschalk Two Poems Marius Schoon |M Arrival Jackie Botha iM Two Poems Mandla Mathebula FM Towards a Declaration of Poets' Rights Chris Mann Art FM Resting Fist: A Series of Lithographs Paola Beck Photographs MFaces of Hluphekani Ralph Griinder New Photographs from the Market Photography Workshop STAFFRIDER EDITORIAL COLLECTIVE General Editor: Andries Walter Oliphant REGIONAL EDITORS AND DISTRIBUTORS Transvaal: Lance Nawa, Raks Seakhoa, Sandra Braude Natal: Ari Sitas, Pearl Jean Gorrie, Jabu Mkhize Western Cape: Hein Willemse, Mario Pissarra, Donald Parenzee, Anette Horn Free State: Cingani Phaku, Patrick Nyezi, Grant Tsimatsima Eastern Cape: Susie Mabie, Michael Barry EDITORIAL ADVISORS: Njabulo Ndebele, Nadine Gordimer, Mongane Serote, Kelwyn Sole, Paul Weinberg, Gary Rathbone, Achmat Dangor, Christopher van Wyk, Gcina Mhlophe, David Koloane, Nise Malange, Luli Callinicos. Design and Illustration: Andrew Lord Marketing and Distribution: Amien Samsoodien Subscriptions: John Duarte Proofreader: Sandra Braude Staffrider is published by the Congress of South African Writers, P.O. Box 421007, Fordsburg 2033. Copyright is held by the individual contributors of all material, including the visual, photographic and graphic material published in the magazine. Anyone wishing to reproduce material from the magazine should approach the individual contributors c/o the publishers. Contributions and correspondence should be sent to The Editorial Collective, Staffrider P.O. Box 421007, Fordsburg, 2033. All contributions should be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope and a short two-line biography. Printed by Creda Press Repro by Graphco Front cover: Palatsina Hungwani Staffrider is fifteen years old. What a ride it has been! At times dangerous and daunting, but always exciting. From the time of fire and ash in 1978, through the turbulent eighties, and right into the urgent nineties it has always been a ride into the future: a ride away from the status quo towards something new. Now with the social and cultural order against which it boldly pitted itself at its terminal point, it is time to branch out and reconnect South African literature and culture with that of the region. For this reason this special anniversary edition is devoted to Literature and Art from Southern Africa. The idea for this project has been dormant for some time. In 1989 at a seminar hosted by the Southern African Development and Co-ordination Conference, the editor of this journal was asked to speak about 'The Role of Staffrider in Southern Africa in the Year 2000'. This is perhaps an indication of the ultimate lifespan anticipated for apartheid by our neighbours at that time. It's demise came sooner. On 27 April 1994 we will see the end of the racist Parliament and of white domination in South Africa. This amongst other things will normalize our relationship with the region. Staffrider has, of course, always had ties with the region. The journal is well-known all over Southern Africa and writers from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia have been published in it. It was also closely involved in exile activities in the region. With this anniversary edition we wish to expand the regional participation of the magazine. This development is important. The years of isolation imposed on South Africa by an inward looking mind- set are over. We therefore foresee closer interaction between South Africa and its neighbours. This will result from the inevitable move towards greater economic integration and exchange, along with freer movement of people. In the process the shared linguistic and cultural fabric of the region, torn and tattered by colonialism and war, will be mended. Writers and artists will play an important role in this. It is only when people are able to see themselves fully in relation to the wider world that their distinctiveness is apprehended. This edition highlights the shared narratives of countries like Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and South Africa in the stories wrought from indigenous oral tradition and rendered in English or Portuguese. The stories, we feel, constitute a rich repository from which contemporary writers should be encouraged to draw in the process of literary innovation and renewal. This issue comes at a time when artists in South Africa are working to establish their autonomy from political parties and the state. If the policy proposals accepted by the Convention of the National Arts Initiative in December 1993 are effectively implemented by the National Arts Coalition, we will see fundamental changes in the way the arts are funded in this country. These proposals make provision for the establishment of a National Arts Council constituted in a publicly transparent manner and operating free from government control. A campaign aimed at reducing bureaucracy and enlarging public and private sector funding for the arts is also planned. Furthermore a series of reports focusing on the various arts disciplines such as literature, the visual arts, theater, dance, film, music, community arts and art in education contain far-reaching proposals for change. In the course of 1994 there will also be a series of festivals related to a campaign to enhance freedom of expression. So, 1994 promises to be an eventful and challenging year. Staffrider thanks all the contributors, and is especially greatful to Hugh Lewin for co-editing this edition. Andries Walter Oliphant & Hugh Lewin see The day his father sent him to see Mr B.V. he put on his cream coloured long sleeved shirt, his flared grey 'Something Else' trousers and his black moccasin shoes. His mother had suggested he put on a tie and insisted on his having a solid lunch. His father had of course dropped hints about him needing to have a haircut, but he had quietly decided on a smart but halfcasual look. In form three, he was learning to get his way. He compromised by putting a comb in his back pocket and eating a slice of bread, just in case. It was a hot, dusty afternoon and he soon began to hate himself for sweating. He sniffed under his armpits and began to smell the perspiration washing off the soap he had glazed over his armpits after the shower and realised he should have taken the bus to save himself the dust and heat of this long tramp through the bush and round the backyards of the industrial Staffrider Vol. 11 Nos.1,2,3,4 1993 Shimmer Chinodya, Zimbabwe sites, going to Mr B.V. 's Wholesales. He had brushed his teeth carefully, and to keep his breath sweet he had bought - with the money he could have used for the bus ticket - a packet of 'Mint Imperials' to suck on - but now he found himself chomping nervously through the medium-sized box. Just before he got to the market place he stopped in front of a shop window and ran the comb through his hair once more. He brought out a dab of Vaseline he had rolled up in a twist of khaki paper and smoothed it onto his lips,then he noticed the owner of the shop, a tall white man, pointing to him and approaching and he ran on. He stopped to wipe off his shoes with an old newspaper just before he crossed over into the market place. The big watch in Main Street said five-past-two and he thought Mr B.V. would have returned from lunch by now, so he crossed over to Mr B.V.'s Wholesales. He walked past the yard packed full with rows and rows of ploughs, scotch-carts, hoes, door-frames, timber and cement bags to the front of the wholesale where the offices were. In the yard there was a man in a green dustjacket taking stock. The man was a cousin or a nephew or something to them but he did not want to be held up on his arrival and he walked on as if he did not see him.