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Mntanami! Mntanami! (Sibusiso Nyembesi, 1950)

Ce premier roman de l'écrivain zulu Cyril Lincoln Sibusiso Nyembesi (première édition en 1950, ensuite renommé Ushicilelo lwesithathu pour sa troisième édition en 1965) raconte la destinée tragique d'un jeune villageois venu vivre à Johannesbourg .

Sibusiso Nyembezi (Ibalwe ngu), Mntanami! Mntanami!, Johannesburg, Afrikaanse Pers Boekhandel, 1950, p. 48-49.	CLS Nyembezi, My Child! My Child!, translated by Professor Daniel Kunene, Cape Town, Maskew Liller Longman (Pty) Ltd, 2010, p. 60-61
IGoli leli yidoloba elikhulu labelungu eliphesheya kweGwa. Laqala kancane-nje kungumzana ongathe lutho. Nakhoke sekutholwa igolide, sekuduma abelungu kuzo zonke izinkalo beqonde uluyizithaphela lomcebo. Baquamuka ngezinkalo zonke, baze bayoqhamuka ngishi phesheya, okwacanula amaBunu ayeyizakhamuzi zakhona. Pho sebebone umthapo, bangena-nje abaphesheya noma begafunwa. Abantu abansundu bona babengazi lutho ngegolide, Baqashwa ukuba bazosebenza kulemigodi, kwathiwa abazovukuza bazokhipha inkomo yomlungu etsheni. Ukusebenza emgodini kwakungesiyo into abayiqabukayo abantu, ngoba base bejwayele ngemigodi yaseDayimane. Abantu babeqhamuka kuzo zonke izinkalo, ngisho kwaZulu imbala, beyofuna umcebo eDayimane. Kwathi lapho beswa ukuthi sekuqanjwe eminye imigodi eGoli, abanye bathi bu baqonda khona. Kepha nangalesosikhathi babengebaningi abakwaZulu abangena emgodini, ngoba uZulu uthi kwake kwenzekaphi ukuba umuntu angcwatshwe ezwa na? Ngishi namhlanje umsebenzi wasemgodini uZulu uwubukela phansi, uthi umsebenzi wamaMpondo. Ngenxa yokuba igolide leli ngumcebo, idoloba laseGoli laqala ukukhula, lafudumala, lanotha, kwakhanya ukuthi lizosheshe liledlule idoloba laseKipi elalilidala kakhulu kunalo. ANgisakhulumi phelangamanye amancane kuneKipi. Likhula-nje idoloba laseGoli libisa abantu abaningi. Futhi kwalaluka ukuthi igolide leli lining. Imigodi yaqalwa ngapha nangapha. Iqalwa njeke ifuna abokuyisebenza. Kephale uma idoloba likhula, likhula nobuhle nobubi. Ligcwalisa zonke izinhlobo ezinhle nezimbi. Mhlawumbe kuke kubamangalise abaningi ukuthi lobugwala obungaka Phakathi kwabantu bavelaphi. Ngisho ukuhlabana ngemimese. Kufanele kubamangalise ngoba isizwe esimnyama situswa kakhulu ngobuqhawe baso, ikakhulu yena uZulu. KesekwaZulu uma weyiswa yinsizwa wawungathathi Umkhonto sengathi uyobulala isitha. Wawuthatha ezakho izinduku, nishayane ngazo. Ula wehluliwe, kuphelile. Akusenjalo manje. Ubeka libe linye bese umuntu ekubokoda ngommese. Ngempela kuliqiniso ukuthi imimese isetshenziswa ngamagwala esaba ukubekana nabanye ngezikhwepha.	Johannesburg is a large city established by the white people, and is situated on the other side of the Vaal River. It started as a minor settlement, but as soon as gold was discovered there, white people rushed towards it from all corners with the intention of grabbing this wealth for themselves. I tell you, they even came from overseas, much to the annoyance of the Boers who were the first people to settle in that area. However, with their eyes on the loot, these newcomers simply crashed in even though they were not welcome. The black people, for their part, knew nothing about the gold. They were simply hired to go and work these mines, to burrow through the soil to take out the white man’s cow from a rock. This was not the first time black people had worked in the mines. They had worked in the diamond mines of Kimberley. And when they heard that other mines had been opened in Johannesburg, they rushed there in large numbers. But even at that time there were not too many Zulus who went to work there, because they asked how it was possible for a person to be buried alive. I’m telling you, even to this day the amaZulu look down upon mine work which they say is fit only for the amaMpondo. Since gold is so valuable, the town of Johannesburg began to grow, and it became prosperous and happily settled, and it was clear that it would soon surpass Cape Town in size even though the latter was so much older, to say nothing about those towns smaller than Cape Town; in its growth, Johannesburg was attracting many people. Since there was a lot of gold, mines sprang up here, there, and everywhere, and workers were in great demand. But then, obviously as a town grows in size, the good and the bad also grow with it, just as it attracts both good and bad people. Today Johannesburg has grown to become the largest of all the towns and cities of our country. Its wealth has also increased. All types of people have congregated there, both from overseas and from within the continent itself. In the rural areas and the small towns those who come from Johannesburg are looked upon with much admiration and curiosity, because it is as if they came from a little heaven. This is reinforced by the fact that those who left home to work in Johannesburg, came back with lots of stories regarding the wonders of that city, and talked endlessly, even adding their own exaggerations that left the people at hole simply gaping with wonder.

Sibusiso Nyembezi (Ibalwe ngu), Mntanami! Mntanami!, Johannesburg, Afrikaanse Pers Boekhandel, 1950, p. 48-49.

CLS Nyembezi, My Child! My Child!, translated by Professor Daniel Kunene, Cape Town, Maskew Liller Longman (Pty) Ltd, 2010, p. 60-61

IGoli leli yidoloba elikhulu labelungu eliphesheya kweGwa. Laqala kancane-nje kungumzana ongathe lutho. Nakhoke sekutholwa igolide, sekuduma abelungu kuzo zonke izinkalo beqonde uluyizithaphela lomcebo. Baquamuka ngezinkalo zonke, baze bayoqhamuka ngishi phesheya, okwacanula amaBunu ayeyizakhamuzi zakhona. Pho sebebone umthapo, bangena-nje abaphesheya noma begafunwa. Abantu abansundu bona babengazi lutho ngegolide, Baqashwa ukuba bazosebenza kulemigodi, kwathiwa abazovukuza bazokhipha inkomo yomlungu etsheni. Ukusebenza emgodini kwakungesiyo into abayiqabukayo abantu, ngoba base bejwayele ngemigodi yaseDayimane. Abantu babeqhamuka kuzo zonke izinkalo, ngisho kwaZulu imbala, beyofuna umcebo eDayimane. Kwathi lapho beswa ukuthi sekuqanjwe eminye imigodi eGoli, abanye bathi bu baqonda khona. Kepha nangalesosikhathi babengebaningi abakwaZulu abangena emgodini, ngoba uZulu uthi kwake kwenzekaphi ukuba umuntu angcwatshwe ezwa na? Ngishi namhlanje umsebenzi wasemgodini uZulu uwubukela phansi, uthi umsebenzi wamaMpondo.
Ngenxa yokuba igolide leli ngumcebo, idoloba laseGoli laqala ukukhula, lafudumala, lanotha, kwakhanya ukuthi lizosheshe liledlule idoloba laseKipi elalilidala kakhulu kunalo. ANgisakhulumi phelangamanye amancane kuneKipi. Likhula-nje idoloba laseGoli libisa abantu abaningi. Futhi kwalaluka ukuthi igolide leli lining. Imigodi yaqalwa ngapha nangapha. Iqalwa njeke ifuna abokuyisebenza.
Kephale uma idoloba likhula, likhula nobuhle nobubi. Ligcwalisa zonke izinhlobo ezinhle nezimbi. Mhlawumbe kuke kubamangalise abaningi ukuthi lobugwala obungaka Phakathi kwabantu bavelaphi. Ngisho ukuhlabana ngemimese. Kufanele kubamangalise ngoba isizwe esimnyama situswa kakhulu ngobuqhawe baso, ikakhulu yena uZulu. KesekwaZulu uma weyiswa yinsizwa wawungathathi Umkhonto sengathi uyobulala isitha. Wawuthatha ezakho izinduku, nishayane ngazo. Ula wehluliwe, kuphelile. Akusenjalo manje. Ubeka libe linye bese umuntu ekubokoda ngommese. Ngempela kuliqiniso ukuthi imimese isetshenziswa ngamagwala esaba ukubekana nabanye ngezikhwepha.

Johannesburg is a large city established by the white people, and is situated on the other side of the Vaal River. It started as a minor settlement, but as soon as gold was discovered there, white people rushed towards it from all corners with the intention of grabbing this wealth for themselves. I tell you, they even came from overseas, much to the annoyance of the Boers who were the first people to settle in that area. However, with their eyes on the loot, these newcomers simply crashed in even though they were not welcome. The black people, for their part, knew nothing about the gold. They were simply hired to go and work these mines, to burrow through the soil to take out the white man’s cow from a rock. This was not the first time black people had worked in the mines. They had worked in the diamond mines of Kimberley. And when they heard that other mines had been opened in Johannesburg, they rushed there in large numbers. But even at that time there were not too many Zulus who went to work there, because they asked how it was possible for a person to be buried alive. I’m telling you, even to this day the amaZulu look down upon mine work which they say is fit only for the amaMpondo.
Since gold is so valuable, the town of Johannesburg began to grow, and it became prosperous and happily settled, and it was clear that it would soon surpass Cape Town in size even though the latter was so much older, to say nothing about those towns smaller than Cape Town; in its growth, Johannesburg was attracting many people. Since there was a lot of gold, mines sprang up here, there, and everywhere, and workers were in great demand. But then, obviously as a town grows in size, the good and the bad also grow with it, just as it attracts both good and bad people.
Today Johannesburg has grown to become the largest of all the towns and cities of our country. Its wealth has also increased. All types of people have congregated there, both from overseas and from within the continent itself. In the rural areas and the small towns those who come from Johannesburg are looked upon with much admiration and curiosity, because it is as if they came from a little heaven. This is reinforced by the fact that those who left home to work in Johannesburg, came back with lots of stories regarding the wonders of that city, and talked endlessly, even adding their own exaggerations that left the people at hole simply gaping with wonder.

ENJEU CONCERNÉ

Exploitation minière à Johannesbourg

AUTRES CRÉATIONS MOBILISÉES

Chant de mineurs sotho (Ngoan’atooane Motsoafi)

“City Johannesburg” (Mongane Wally Serote, 1971)

« In the Gold Mines » (B. W. Vilakazi)

Mine: A Litany of Loss Movement (Uhuru Portia Phalafala, 2023)

State of Mine: Deeds (Uhuru Portia Phalafala, 2023)

Unyiukimo Lomhlaba-E-Rautini (Nontsizi Mgqwetho)

William Kentridge, « Mine » (1991)