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Protest against social inequalities in B.W. Vilakazi's poem "Ngoba ... sewuthi" ("Because ... you now say") : research article

2005; AOSIS; Volume: 26; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Africâner

2219-8237

Nompumelelo Zondi, N. N. Canonici,

South African History and Culture

Protes teen sosiale ongelykheid in B.W. Vilakazi se gedig Ngoba ... sewuthi ... nou se jy) Lank voor die Nasionale Party apartheid na 1948 geinstitusionaliseer het, het individue en organisasies probeer om die onregverdighedevan die koloniale kapitalistiese sisteem in Suid-Afrika na vore te bring, maar soos Lodge (1983-1986) dit stel, it all ended in speeches. Hierdie artikel toon aan hoe Benedict Wallet Vilakazi die stilte doeltreffend verbreek het deur die lot van die swart massas onder die aandag van die wereld te bring. Hy het heftig protes aangeteken omdat swart arbeiders soos slawe behandel is in veral die goud- en diamantmyne, wat hy uitbeeld as die instansies wat verantwoordelik was vir die menslike, sielkundige en fisieke vernietiging van die swart werkersklas. As 'n selfaangestelde woordvoerder van die onder-druktes het hy deur medium van sy poesie beswaar gemaak teen die onregverdighede. Een van die dinge waaroor hy veral besorgd was, was die feit dat swart werkers gereduseer is tot 'n klas sonder naam, sonder regte - 'n klas wat prakties geen lewe en siel gehad het nie. Die gekose gedig Ngoba ... Sewuthi (Want ... nou see jy) is dus verteenwoordigend van die gedigte waarin B.W Vilakazi sy be-trokkenheid by die welsyn van die swart werkers en sy protes teen die ongevoeligheid van wit werkgewers uitgedruk het. Long before the National Party institutionalised apartheid in 1948, individuals and organisations tried to highlight the injustices of the colonial capitalist system in South Africa, but, as Lodge (1983:6) puts it, it all ended in speeches. This article seeks to demonstrate how Benedict Wallet Vilakazi effectively broke the silence by bringing the plight of the black masses to the attention of the world. He strongly protested against the enslavement of black labourers, especially in the gold and diamond mines, that he depicts as responsible for the human, psychological and physical destruction of the black working classes. As a self-appointed spokesperson of the oppressed, he protested against the injustices through the medium of his poetry. One of his grave concerns was the fact that black workers had been reduced to a class with no name, no rights, practically with no life and no soul. The chosen poem Ngoba ... sewuthi (Because ... you now say) is thus representative of the poems in which B.W Vilakazi externalised his commitment to the well-being of the black workers, and his protest against the insensitivity of white employers.