By: Onalenna Jantjie
Kabelo Duncan Kgatea is an award winning author who writes
captivating and enthralling stories in Setswana. As a motswana elderly person
in the church, his style of writing is aligned with the gospel doctrines and
truthfulness of Setswana proverbs. He has more than 20 unpublished books
written in Setswana. “Setswana is my identity, my dignity and my pride hence my
dream is to preserve Setswana and be remembered as a lover of my language,”
said Kgatea. He describes himself as a nation builder who loves South Africans
and children. Hailing from Madibogo village in the Motsitlane section in the
North West province, Kgatea was born on the 31 January 1961.He is a
descendant of the Bakwena tribe of king Sechele son of king Motswasele of the
great Batswana nation. He currently resides in Rusternburg with his wife
Caroline. And they were blessed with three children.
“I was born in a family and community of story tellers. My own
parents were great story tellers. We used to sit around the fire at night and
listen to elders telling stories. When I became a teenager I could also repeat
the same stories to my peers and they would be very impressed by my story
telling technique and in the absence of elders they would ask me to repeat
stories again and again. In 1979 I joined the mining industry and I happened to
stay at the mine hostel with a colleague who could not read or write. One of
the old men asked me to write him a letter to his wife. And when the wife wrote
back, he asked me to read the letter to him. He was impressed with my writing
and reading skills and he referred more colleagues to me and I became the
hostel writer,” explains Kgatea. However, Kgatea says he needed more than just
talent to polish his creative writing skills.
“After discovering my creative writing talent I realized that
my level of education was too low, my grammar and spelling was very poor so I
decided to do a correspondence course with Damelin correspondent college and
Lyceum college to obtain my (JC) Junior and senior certificates. I have also
done a Comprehensive Writing Course with The Writing School in Durban, South
Africa. A Diploma in Business Communication with Stanford College, Basic
Principle of Public Relations with PROVOX (PRISA),Public Relations Writing with
PROVOX (PRISA), Journalism and Media Studies with INTEC college. I also believe
that my membership to writer’s organizations, attending local and international
writers’ conferences, book fairs and writers festivals has prepared me better,”
he said.
Once he had equipped himself with knowledge Kgatea says he was
able to write as broadly as he could. “As part of my assignments at the
Writing School of South Africa I managed to write 14 radio dramas for Radio
Setswana (South African Broadcasting corporation) SABC and two for Radio
Mmabatho (Bophuthatswana broadcasting corporation) BBC respectively. In 2000 my
first Setswana novel (Njeng manong fa ke sule) won the Sanlam Prize for youth
Literature and the MNET Book prize in 2001. Because of that achievement the
head of corporate communications at Anglo Platinum mines, the late Mike Mtakati
convinced human resource department to take me from underground to
communications department. I was appointed as an assistant communications
officer in Rustenburg. The company paid for both my Basic to Public Relations
Writing courses and I was appointed as a communications officer and the
Setswana editor of one of our in-house newspapers called Morongwa which was
published in English, Setswana and Isixhosa.
However, the journey to getting published hasn’t been without
any challenges. “My challenge as an author was to find a publisher who could
pay good royalties. Publishing houses in South Africa pay 10-15% royalties and
you cannot make a living from your God given writing talent. When you go the
self publishing route, traditional publishers become gatekeeper. That is why I
worked at the mines for 37 years to be self-reliant. It is also the reason why
so many African writers are now writing in English and other colonial languages
for the broader market,” he explains.
On a lighter note, Kgatea says his favourite author is the
late Tshekisho Solomon Plaatje. “Without any formal education he managed to be
the first and best South African to be a journalist, author, researcher,
politician, interpreter who believed so much in his people and his language
enough to translate the work by the great William Shakespeare into Setswana. He
is not only the first Motswana to write an English novel he also collected over
200 Setswana Proverbs. I am highly inspired by his selfless life. And my second
favourite author is Sabata-Mpho Mokae for following in the footsteps of the
great Sol Plaatje,” he said.
All my novels are outstanding. They are from my heart to my
people, but this one is the best seller. Leba seipone is a novel with
self-acceptance as its main theme. It is the story of MotswaGauteng (The one
from Johannesburg) who is born of a white man and a black woman. He was brought
up by his grandparents in a village where he was constantly mocked because of
the colour of his skin, the people in the village consider him inferior to themselves.
To them he was not black enough to call himself Motswana.
His grandmother however comforts him by encouraging him to
look into the mirror and to accept, honour and respect the person who he sees
reflecting therein. In that way she encouraged him to believe in himself. When
the main character went in search of his identity, he met coloured people who
also rejected him because he could not speak their language.
When he met white people to them he was not white enough to be
a white man. When things become difficult for Motswagauteng he would take out a
piece of a mirror look at it and recall his grandmother’s words of wisdom. “Only
be the person that you see in the mirror.” or “Leba seipone, o rate, o tlotle
le go amogela mosimane yo o mmonang mo go sona gore batho ba tle ba mo rate, ba
mo tlotle le go mo amogela.”
This book deepens the understanding of the hurt one may
experience when not accepted by others in society because of factors not under
his control. However, in the end it is only through self-acceptance and
self-esteem that one can live with honour. The book is nationally prescribed
for grade 12 and is also used at the University of North West.
Where are your books sold?
To get my first five prize winning Setswana novels contact:
The book distributor at: orders@onthedot.co.za or get ebook at
www.tafelberpublishers.com
For my latest novel contact the publisher at:
segachris@gmail.com cell: 083 575 0277
Awards
Sanlam Prize for youth Literature: (silver (2000)- Njeng
Manong fa ke sule
M-Net prize: Sotho category (2001) Njeng Manong fa ke sule
Sanlam Prize for Youth literature (2002) – Leba Seipone
M-net literary award (2006) Ntshware ka letsogo
Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature: silver (2008) – monwana wa
bosupa.
PANSALB 2009 Setswana Multilingualism Nation building writer
of the year
South African literary award 2009
List of Titles written by Kgatea
Prose
2000 Njeng manong fa ke sule: Tafelberg
2002 Leba Seipone, Tafelberg
2006 Ntshware ka letsogo, Tafelberg
2008 Monwana wa bosupa, Tafelberg
2012 Mmudubudu, Tafelberg
2003 Re tswa Ga Lowe (poetry) Stimela publishers
2003 Di sa itsangeng (drama) Stimela publishers
