Mayibuye: 25 Years of Democracy in South Africa

“I started thinking about my work when I started thinking more seriously about the 25th anniversary of our democracy in 2019,” said Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu speaking about his new book, Mayibuye, 25 Years of Democracy In South Africa.

The book styles itself as a collection of poetry that is a useful addition to the body of literature that is helping our nation critically reflect on its past, whilst pondering the future.

According to him, some of the poetry in the book was written around 2012 when the Marikana massacre took place.

Compiled of 44 poems, Mayibuye explores different reflections of what South Africans were feeling in 1994. The first section of the book highlights the hope that many were feeling. He writes in one of his opening poems, “We try call them back. Each time we affirm that they wouldn’t have been tolerated this lawlessness…”

Speaking about his body of work, Ndlovu said there is a lot of historical poetry in his work, inspired by his experiences growing up, and more.

“There was some historical poetry because there, I am driven by what I think happened, and what did happen during the first elections, the first elections, the first democratic parliament, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC),” he said.       

He shared that he thought there would be serious platforms to commemorate 25 years of this project in 2019. And it quickly occurred to him that he was being very ambitious. 

“I really thought there would be serious platforms to commemorate 25 years of this project.”

Ndlovu then began to ask himself, what he thinks. He began to ask himself what were some of the salient moments that have defined this 25 years of democracy.

And there he lays it all out in Mayibuye. Ndlovu who does not write poetry which he doesn’t feel strongly about, forces us to think about how far we’ve come in the liberation of this country.

Speaking about a poem which didn’t necessarily come easily to him, but was always there, Ndlovu shared that is certainly one where he speaks about the TRC.

“Every time we got to the TRC, I firstly felt like it was terribly tiled because there was no truth that we got there – we didn’t get the full truth, and there was mass trauma. People are still looking for answers,” he said.

Mayibuye is certainly one that will leave eyes opened after reading. The book is available at all major bookstores.

Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu is a poet, speaker, lecturer, radio show host, Catholic cleric and arts enthusiast. He has contributed to several publications through his columns in Spotlight Africa and The Daily Maverick. He has also written for The Thinker, The Huffington Post, News 24, The Southern Cross and The South African.  Lawrence read philosophy and theology at St John Vianney Seminary Pretoria, Heythrop College, University of London and the Bellarmine Institute in London. He is the founding director of the Centre for Ethical Business Leadership and Chairman of the St Augustine Education Foundation Trust.  

He serves as an Advisory Council Member of the Southern Cross Weekly and host of Arts Edition, a show on Radio Veritas. He was listed by the Mail and Guardian as South Africa’s top 200 young South Africans for 2016, and is the recipient of the 2016 Youth Trailblazer Award for his outstanding contribution to youth development from the Gauteng Provincial Government.