Writers

UKenneth Bhengu

UKenneth Bhengu wazalwa ngonyaka ka-1916’wakhulela eNdwendwe Mission Station, ngaseThekwini eNatali. Imfundo yababanga aphezulu wayenza e-Taylor Street Secondary School (eThekwini) ngemuva kwalapho wayoqeqeshelwa ukuba nguthisha e-Nuttal Training Institute eMgungundlovu. UKenneth Bhengu, owaziwa ngokuthi i- ‘sage of Ndwendwe’, wayehlala e-Cato Manor lapho abeka khona amanoveli akhe amathathu, onke athinta abalingiswa abahlala khona. Ubuye wasebenza njengomlimi engadini e-Morningside, … Read more

Mazisi Kunene

Mazisi Raymond Fakazi Mngoni Kunene was an epic poet who lived in KwaZulu-Natal. Kunene studied at the University of Natal, and won the Bantu Literary Competition Award in 1956. He left South Africa in 1959, taught in Lesotho, and years later gained the distinction of becoming Professor of African Literature and Language at the University of … Read more

Durban Living Legend – Mandla Langa

Mandla Langa was born in Stanger (now known as KwaDukuza) in 1950, and grew up at KwaMashu. After his arrest for political activism and spending 101 days in prison, he went into exile, first to Botswana in 1976, then to Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Hungary and the UK. He is the well-known author of five … Read more

Durban Living Legend – Gcina Mhlophe-Becker

Nokugcina Elsie ‘Gcina’ Mhlophe born in Hammersdale in 1959 is a well-known South African freedom fighter, activist, actor, storyteller, poet, playwright, director and author. after completing her matric at in 1979 at Mfundisweni High School. She did a Cadet Journalism course at the Rhodes University, 6 months Film Making Course as part of Interchurch Media … Read more

Cato Manor Writers – Mi S’dumo Hlatshwayo

Mi S’dumo Hlatshwayo (1951) grew up as an “illegitimate” child in a working-class household in Cato Manor, Mkhumbane – a sprawling shack settlement in Durban. His family’s poverty caused him to leave school by Standard 7 and search for a job. As he said all his dreams were sunk: “…I wanted to be a poet, … Read more

Cato Manor Writers – Lewis Nkosi

Born in Chesterville a black township in Durban in 1936, Lewis Nkosi came from a working class female-headed family and became one of a group of writers from the Cato Manor area.  He was educated in various local schools most notably an English medium mission school in Eshowe.  After his first job as a labourer, Nkosi became … Read more