Storm in a tea cup

“I'm going to enjoy every drop of my Cecil John Rhodes-sponsored tea,” Lesego Rampolokeng said while making himself a nice big cup in the Institute for the Study of English in Africa (ISEA ) tea room. “I'm taking something back from him, brilliant!”


A visitor to Rhodes University, this Mellon fellow is bringing a plethora of experience to the Masters in Creative Writing students as well as collaborating with the English and Drama departments. It is no wonder that staff and students everywhere are trying to milk Rampolokeng for all he is worth. His latest book launch and lecture have caused quite the stir with academics, students and Grahamstonians alike.


“I learnt more during that lecture than I had during my four years at Rhodes,” said performance poet and Rhodes student Bruce Haynes. “One gets a sense of integrity in his content and performance style. He's not acting, but rather speaking his experience of truth as a poet.”


Everyone is not as pro-Rampolokeng as Haynes, though. The author of 10 published books divulged how leading businessman and politician Cyril Ramaphosa once called him “a rabid dog that needs to have a leash put on”. He's adamant he doesn't fear addressing "oppressive" forces of power and will not allow his opinions to be silenced. 


Rampolokeng is a highly politicised poet who, brought up in Soweto, was driven at an early age to speak up for social change. Almost two decades after the birth of democratic South Africa, Rampolokeng is still fighting for the same causes. When asked about his thoughts on Youth Day, the poet replied: “The kids who died that day were not 'heroes' or 'revolutionaries'. They were normal kids who were trying to gain their humanity back.”
He should know. Although only 11 years old, he was at the Soweto uprising.


“We should not be celebrating Youth Day, only commemorating it. To see some teenager singing and gyrating on stage in a mini skirt in front of the president with his tongue hanging out just sickens me.”


A memorable line which had Rampolokeng's audience in nervous giggles at his lecture last Tuesday was his declaration to commit “linguisticide” against the English language. Clarifying this statement in a recent interview, Rampolokeng said he doesn't “hate English", but he feels it contributed to apartheid.


"I just hate what people used it for," he said. "It took the manipulation of words to make these bloody events happen. It was used for the total dehumanisation of an entire population.”
English, Christianity, apartheid, academics, politicians, "the cosmetic surgery of crap”. Such issues dominate Rampolokeng's poems, which he delivers with emotion, energy and mesmerising musicality. All is carefully thought out, though, and delivered from a place of understanding.


Grahamstown resident, published poet and poet laureate of Cheshire, England, Harry Owen had a great deal to say about this internationally acclaimed South African.
“What is undoubtedly true is that his work is thoroughly crafted; it is never just an amorphous fuming rant. He is a poet, and a profoundly intelligent one at that, not a political posturer.”


Rampolokeng has one more month at Rhodes, and it's guaranteed that the waves he started making when he arrived will continue gaining momentum in these coming four weeks.
“Lesego is causing the kind of trouble we need to confront. Making us face the abnormality our society represents,” said Dean of Humanities, Professor Fred Hendricks, at Rampolokeng's lecture. “I salute the work you're doing, and I hope the trouble you're causing spills over into other disciplines.”


Story courtesy of Grocott’s Mail

Written by Desiree Schirlinger