South Africa’s leading anti-apartheid poet, Mzwakhe Mbuli, is gearing up for his induction into the Soweto Theatre’s Wall of Fame, where he and other leading SA icons will be honoured later this month.
The event is part of the Joburg Theatre’s Legends of Soweto in the City of Gold gala event set for September 29.
Mbuli, also known as The People’s Poet, told “The Star”: “For me, this is a humbling honour to be recognised, especially in the country that is experiencing so much. I am happy, as a People’s Poet, that there are people who appreciate the role I have played in this country.
“When it comes to the plight of the artists in this country, people are contemptuously ignored or treated, and, sometimes, when they die, to them it is good riddance. I have seen fellow artists go to the grave with broken hearts.”
The Soweto Theatre, the organisers of the event, said there would be a gala dinner and production to be presided over by Joburg Theatre’s artistic director, James Ngcobo, among the event’s star attraction features.
Mbuli, who recently expressed that he was against the Government of National Unity, said things had not changed for the better for most South Africans.
“As you know, it not yet Uhuru for most of us and I have spoken out openly about GNU … This country has everything and we are not in a desert. We have all kinds of minerals but citizens are not benefiting from the minerals of this country,” he said.
The Star
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za