THE FEMALE SANGOMA

BY OMOSEYE BOLAJI

Strange barmy weather had held sway that day in South Africa. Despite the fact that we were in the heart of summer, the weather had not only been intensely cold, but a chilly wind punctuated the ambience. But life must go on; and people were clad in their overcoats, leatherjackets etc as they went about their usual work.

One of the female workers in my South African office entered my room and there was a stricken, strange expression on her face. “You have a visitor,” she said.

I grinned. “You don’t need to look too haunted about it,” I joked. “You look like Lady Macbeth! What’s so special about this visitor? Is it the weatherman with more dollops of horror?”

She now smiled. “You won’t believe it. You must see for yourself. Do you remember Julia who used to frequent this office, selling assorted meals? The pretty young lady?”

“Of course I remember her,” I said “I haven’t seen her for a few months. So she wants to see me…there’s nothing special about that. Bring her in,”

“Well, don’t be too surprised when you see her now,” she said. “I’ll tell her to enter your office…” In a very short while a woman entered my office. It was the same Julia, yet not quite the same Julia we had known for a long time!

What the hell is this! I found myself thinking, in unseemly fashion, as she entered, face wreathed in smiles. She waited for the customary hug, which I was reluctant to indulge in this time around. With prescience, she said: “Are you afraid of me now?” There was a big smile on her lovely face.

Was I! I knew about sangomas, traditional doctors or healers; but I had never actually gone to their arcane offices. It was clear enough that Julia, incredibly was now a female sangoma! She was fully dressed, and looked like one. How could this metamorphosis have happened? But there was no doubt about it: the girl wore the traditional attire, and had all the intimidating trimmings; to summarise, the numinous imprints on her face and body. Indigo. Camwood. Intriguing casque. Filigreed...beads across her head, wrists, feet. And barefooted to boot in the heart of toropo! (the city)

Seeing how shocked I was, she hugged me, and presently seated she explained: “Yes this is a surprise to so many people. They cannot believe I am now a sangoma, and an authentic one! That’s why I disappeared for a few months. I was undergoing the full traditional training in the bush, the forest. It was not easy. The wild animals were there. We had to be vey disciplined, listen to our ancestors and the spirits. You appreciate I can not go into details. Suffice it to say I am now a rather full-fledged sangoma,” She smiled and I appreciated once again – in my old age - how attractive she was.

She added: “It’s a pity sometimes, when the spirit enters me. I go into intermittent trances. I see visions, let’s say premonitions. Sadly, it might be visions of a tragedy about to befall someone,”

I winced. Had she seen a negative vision as regards me? She laughed, reading my mind again. “Don’t be afraid. I am not here because of any visions. I just came to visit you socially, to invite you out for lunch. I hope you’ll accept,”

How could I refuse? After all, I was sort of creating history for myself – my first ever lunch with a veritable sangoma!!

The Unsung Literary Catalysts

(Above) Ulli Beier

By O BOLAJI

As literature, local, national, and African, grows by leaps and bounds perhaps it is apposite that some sort of tribute should be paid to the unsung heroes, the literary catalysts (who are also often accomplished writers) who have done so much to boost literature in Africa.

We are not referring to established, celebrated writers here; nay, such vibrant literary catalysts often lurk in the background, doing great, coruscating things but remain essentially unknown in the main. They are often exceedingly selfless men and women performing wonders in this niche.

Nor are they exclusively black. Two outstanding examples of whites who did wonders for African creative writing were David Cook and Ulli Beier. Both of them were from European backgrounds but fell in love with Eastern and Western Africa respectively, providing a fillip for Black writing dating from the 60s! Prof Cook was a mentor for a number of now world class African writers who hailed from east Africa, including the illustrious Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

The exploits of Ulli Beier were even more astonishing. From his west African base decades ago he not only nurtured, encouraged and edited the works of many of Africa’s initial key black writers – he actually published their early works in book form. Unbelievably, authors he put on their feet (and published) included Nobel award winner (for literature) Wole Soyinka, J.P Clark (dramatist and poet), Kofi Awoonor (poet, essayist, and novelist), and Gambia's literary great, Lenrie Peters. Beier also published books written by South African greats like Es’kia Mphahlele, Denis Brutus and Alex La Guma.

By the time Ben Mtobwa emerged from East Africa (Tanzania-born), African literature was already ensconced world-wide. Mtobwa was to bring literature even closer to the people in his region, publishing interesting books mainly in the indigenous languages there (especially Swahili), and encouraging others to relish the world of reading and writing. This he did as a director of an important Publishing House, and also via a popular peoples’-oriented newspaper.

His achievements have been mirrored in South Africa here by the indomitable Vonani Bila, who from his Limpopo base has pulled off a string of literary achievements. Apart from the books he has published over the years, he has orchestrated (through his Timbila project) incredibly prolific outlets for many Black poets and writers to get their works published in book form. Bila is a quintessential literary activist who continues to make his mark.

As Tiisetso Thiba, poet and literary commentator says: “We (Black South Africans) have been lucky that despite the fact that we had no guidance before as regards literature, this is no longer the case. For those of us who are poetry lovers in particular, we have witnessed a boon with so many multi-faceted talented poets from the grassroots level. Their works, and exploits, are celebrated via the internet, books, journals, and popular newspapers now,”

In the Free State here, whilst acknowledging impressive progress made in recent times, enough recognition has not been given to such “unsung” literary activists. In fact it is arguable that one or two of such protagonists have not been recognised at all. Happily enough, the literary fraternity already realised the wonderful job a lady like Jacomien Schimper (a Director at Provincial Library Services) has done over the years in putting Free State Black Writing on the map.

Additionally, it is gratifying that in recent times there has been a clarion call among writers, especially literary critics and reviewers, to specifically acknowledge the awesome impact another lady, Alrina Le Roux has had in the literary sphere whilst apparently lurking in the shadows. An experienced Principal librarian for the FS Provincial Library Service, this is a lady who is regarded as a proficient repository of international and African literature, a skilful sympathetic editor, who has always encouraged sundry wordsmiths.

The well known Free State literary critic and essayist, Raphael Mokoena says: “It is about time I acknowledged my great debt to this wonderful lady (Alrina Le Roux). Many years ago in the Free State, I got to know about her regular profiles of authentic African writers…I went into the major libraries, to the Reference section etc and read all the articles she had published over the decades! I made photocopies of them and learnt a lot in the process. Alrina is a prodigious reader and her many profiles (in Free State Libraries journal) of the likes of Dambudzo Marechera, JM Coetzee, Sol Plaatje, Es’kia Mphahlele, Achebe etc, have belonged to the top drawer,”

Paul Lothane, another literary critic, agrees: “Nothing pleases me more than going through, and learning from the top-notch superb literary profiles painstakingly written by Mme Alrina Le Roux. She seems to be a reading machine! Those who have met her in the flesh agree on the same thing: she’s a wonderful, broad minded, kindly woman. No words can express our gratitude for what the so-called ‘unknowns’, like Mme Alrina have done for our writing,”

Kudos to all such unsung literary catalysts!