Night Of Love And Political Poetry
Thalefang Charles | Monday October 26, 2015 12:17
iDle started the love spread with his cheeky, but beautiful Setswana piece titled ‘Nkine’. In the poem, iDle begs his ‘moroba’ to deep him in love. He says, “Nkine leratong, ke utwe bothitho ja selo”.
Kefilwe ‘Princess’ Mathake singing together with a pianist, took the audience in a journey of her three loves. The first love was to her “heavenly father” titled, ‘Masterpiece’. The second, titled ‘We’re Family’, was a dedication to her father who she says taught her everything she knows. She ended with ‘I love You’, which is a passionate love declaration for her husband.
Tshipa came on and recited his ‘Monthapisa Pelo’. With his unique style of brilliant flow of perfect rhymes, Tshipa spoke only sweet things about his love, - ‘motsweledisa tshika yoo-ra Tshipa’ - the one who warms and washes his heart.
Sereetsi & The Natives of Robete fame sang on forbidden love about a gay son who shocks his folks by bringing home to marry the love of is life called Robete. Sereetsi performed alongside Mbinganyi Kula playing saxophone and Alex Pullin on guitars.
The highlight of the night’s love stories came from Leshie Lovesong performing alongside guitarist, Maru Raditladi and vocalist Kefhentse ‘KK’ Kefhentse. Leshie performed a fresh love song titled, ‘As Long As Sunday Newspaper’. In the song, she is asking her lover to write a love letter ‘as long as a Sunday paper’.
On the night, Leshie was wearing a headgear, obviously inspired by the incoming Wits Student Representative Council member, Nompendulo Mkhatshwa – one of the inspiring female leaders of the South African students’ march against university fees in the #feesmustfall campaign that trended last week.
But Leshie did not just make a political statement with a scarf, she brought along one of her rare political poems. “Section 12 of the Constitution gives us the right to Freedom of Expression.
I refuse to be part of a generation that grooms silence as an official language,”she stated before performing a hauntingly powerful poem on war and conflict.
Tshireletso Motlogelwa, editor of The Business Weekly & Review, brought the highlight of political poetry with his “Fong Kong Poem”.Motlogelwa started his performance with a tribute to folk music’s greats like; Stika Sola (Makhapentara), Speech Madimabi and Ditiro Loero.
Fong Kong Poem is a politically charged piece that commented on the country’s “fong kong condition, fong kong leaders, fong kong presidency, with his fong kong philanthropy, fong kong prophets, fong kong healings, and fong kong everything.”
South African Richard Quaz Roodt read a number of poems that covered various topics on love, death, relationships and politics.
Other performers were the typical ‘angry black girl’ Morongwa Mosetlhi who recited the medley of her poems on relationships and identity.
Gomolemo Motsamai gave two impassionate pieces mostly on identity titled ‘The Graduate and Children of the Fence’, which he said he wrote on the backseat of a taxi.
Setswana poet, Moroka Moreri, in his trademark flowing animal furs read ‘Lesutlha’ from his book Matlhaolosa. Moreri finished off with his Setswana poetry freestyle that is about everything. He recited about the organisers, Sauti Arts, its director TJ Dema, the director of Proceedings Petula Kuhlman, the white people in the audience, the Fong Kong Poem and himself too.