MKHULU MAPHIKISA
On What Colonises
I know there is Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and a heated debate on language.
Ngiyazi kukhona uNgũgĩ wa Thiong’o kanye nenkulumo mpikiswano evuthayo ngolwimi.
I still prefer to write in English because I am a slave.
Ngikhetha ukubhala ngesiNgisi ngoba ngiyisigqila.
There is no link between national land and language in “South Africa”, which is a luxury that I have as a Zulu subject in Zululand speaking isiZulu.
Akukho ukuxhumana phakathi kwezwe kanye nolwimi lwesizwe e’Ningizimu Afrika’, okuyinto engiyithakaselayo njengomuntu ongumZulu, ezweni lakwaZulu ngikhuluma isiZulu.
So I am still in my natural habitat.
Singathi nje angikagudluki empilweni engiyibekelwe imvelo.
It makes me want others to claim the same but they cannot.
Kungenza ngifise sengathi nabanye bangakwazi ukusho njengami kudwa angeke.
In this way we are more a monarchy than a democracy in Zululand.
Ngalendlela sisabuswa ubukhosi kakhulu kune’ntandoyeningi'(democracy) ezweni lakwaZulu.
I am happy about that.
Lokho kuyangijabulisa.
And development makes me want natural, ethnically homogenous nations to demand freedom at all costs.
Intuthuko yenza ngifise sengathi izizwe zemvelo, nezizwe ezingabuthwanga ingcindezelo zingafuna inkululeko ngazo zonke izindlela.
I agree with the principle that English has become the door to the Father.
Ngiyavuma ukuthi ulwimi lwesiNgisi seluphenduke umnyango oya kuBaba.
And still I choose to use English as a conquered being.
Yize kunjalo ngikhetha ukusebenzisa isiNgisi njengomuntu onqotshiwe.
It is pain then that colonises.
Ubuhlungu ke obusicindezelayo.