U Mandela uza ku Liya

IsiZulu

Mamodiehi Gwala

Wathi ‘cha’, inkululeko ayisoze yaba nom’bandela

Namaketanga aboshelwe eqhaweni lansolo lase siqiwini sase Robben Island

Yathi ‘cha’ , ulwazi alikuvumeli ukucwaswa – 

Bunezibazi, kepha bungenakho ukwesaba, ubuso bencekukazi yase Pakistani.

Yathi ‘cha’, ‘ukukholwa akuphoqelekile’ – 

Izwi lokuthunjwa , elinamahloni kepha nesibindi e Daphishi

Isibani sayo asoze safiphala nasemhumeni wabashiseleki.

Ngakho ke, ngokuhamba kwesikhathi, izwi lesivumelwano liyakuphindaphinda

UMandela, uMalala, uLiya Sharibhu – isibani sase…

‘Cha’ kusho u Promethiyasi, ilangabi nehubo,

 lifumana uklebe, kuqhuma ilangabi elikhazimulayo 

ku Shiboki no Daphishi, likhanyisa umhlaba kabusha.

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Read the English translation – Mandela Comes to Leah by Prof. Wole Soyinka 

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Mamodiehi Gwala is a writer, poet, indigenous healer and researcher based in South Africa – Johannesburg. Her work places itself in the spaces of poetry and music. Her works and performance style house strands of poetry fused with song, they explore lived and imaginative experiences ordinary and celestial beings, mostly through jazz and ethereal poetry forms. Mamodiehi has recently released a celestial spoken word single titled “ICILONGO” under her indigenous healer name – Makhosi Metsi, the single is also a fusion of poetry and song. She is currently working on her EP which is due to be released in 2024.