ZIM POET BLASTS NYATSI

Victress Mathuthu

 ARE YOU CONSCIOUS THAT THAT: When everyone was out there enjoying every minute of the Women Day , Victress Mathuthu –a poet from Zimbabwe was caught sitting at the Joburt park. However our leisure team instantly noted that she is the very same madam speaker who ‘rose on a point of order’ at Bayethe Women Festival show with her poem entitled‘Isililo sikamakhwapheni’ (The lamentation of a mistress).

When most people took to Hillbrow theatre expecting the usually performances of poetry, dance and music , the poet changed the whole complexion of the theatre with her own acoustic prowess. She blasted all Mistresses with each and every morpheme she ejected from stanza to stanza .

“Mhla ngiq’ ukukubona ,wathi wen’ulenking’ emshadweni wakh’ eding’ ukucazululwa”(when I first met you, you said you have a problem in your marriage that needs a resolution ) is one of the recurring line that ultimately turned out to be her reliable acoustic greened ejected from her mouth .

It was not verbosity, or verbal diarrhoea as others would like to state ,but just hard facts pointed at ‘Omakhwapheni.’

The poem itself speaks of a disappointed Mistress who finds herself caught in a web of a love triangle, in which she has allowed herself to have two kids with a conjugal border jumper married to somebody else. The Mistress had been promised Heavens and Earths , and had been eagerly waiting to hear the news of divorce from the other side which never materialised but because she was love intoxicated, she eventually overstayed her entertainment contract by hanging on for such long. One day when she meets the man strolling with his pregnant house wife at a shopping mall, destiny then triumphs over adversity in this love affair scenario and what happens after that is like watching an accident happening in a slow motion. Find your copy and read yourself!

As a team we watched and marvel at how the philosophy of Bayethe was being exemplified on stage , that of “ refining rough diamonds”, indeed this is one of unpolished diamonds who has just begun that refining process. She is still rough and raw but ready to rock and roll.

Coming on stage many thought she was going to speak on Abalobi Bakithi especially judging from her dress code. Sure if you were one of the so called “Nyatsi” also referred to as ” uMakhwapheni” you could not have stayed for her to finish, you could have either shipped out or booked a pastor for some later Nichodimus chat .

As reliable artists publication we interviewed the poet who was not slow at pouring out her heart, part of the conversation was as follows:

Linkundla: Tell us more, who is Victress Mathuthu?

Victress: I am Victress Mathuthu born in Nkayi on 3 December 1982 in Matabeleland North rural areas-Nkayi-‘ Komnyam’ ubambile’.I am an intelligent Hompane secondary school graduate. In arts I am more of a writer than performing artists. Infact I started performing recently at Abalobi activities but for the sake of entertaining.

Linkundla: As a writer have you published any book so far?

Victress: I have not published anything so far but I have penned two Ndebele novels, one in English, one bilingual version and a few poems of which some are really tongue twisters.

Linkundla: So far what major challenges have you encountered in your career?

Victress: I am still new in performing arts and people have not yet recognised me. So I am usually side-lined in many events, but however I also know that it takes time hey..

Linkundla: So at Abalobi bakithi what is your role?

Victress: I am an editor and I always work tirelessly to ensure the publication of Nguni languages literary works.

Linkundla: who inspires you from the artists you have seen here so far?

Victress: I can name a few like : Bongani Mncube , Ntuthuko Nyathi, Thabo J. Nkomo-‘Tshitshi nana’

Linkundla: Your word to fellow artists?

Victress: I would like to beg established artists who are already half way up the ladder to look down upon us who are still at bottom of it and give us support, I am not referring to money but I mean they can just empower us with knowledge.

So far I have been assisted by other fellows and would like to thank them for making me get this chance to be known through the media. Thank you Abalobi Bakithi (NGO), Hopane legends group, Madabudabu ka Tshabalala, Delisani Maqhoba, Mathambo Xakalala, Brains Tshuma, Sithole Malaba,Midlred Sethusiwe and last but not least Nkosini Tshuma for all your encouragement.

LINKUNDLA: your word for your fans
Victress: To all my fans who follow my stories on Facebook I have Mega love for them.

Linkundla: It’s a women’s day today, anything for women from another mother?
Victress: As a proud mother of two and I would like to say to my fellows out there that they must stay strong. Yes in arts women may seem few but it is not because of lack of talent but it because of our triple burden in terms of predefined roles at homes. Then to the upcoming mothers I say being single doesn’t mean u are not a marriage material and being married doesn’t mean u are dependent on somebody’. I always talk about it and they can check my Facebook page is ‘ Prison my wake-up call’ follow my stories on Makhox.

Linkundla: your vision or dream as an artist’s?
Victress: I want to brand myself, most people think that residents of Nkayi ‘emaguswini amnyama komnyama ubambile’arebackward so I want to bring light there.

Linkundla: Your role model in arts?
Victress: My role models in Ndebele are Phathisa Nyathi and Ndabezibhle S. Sigogo, in English I am inspired by Jodi Picolt, you will not believe if I tell you now that I have a copy of every novel of hers.

Linkundla: Thank you for your time and happy mother’s day!

Victress: Thank you.

For those who would like to read a full version of the controversial poem please check on her Facebook page mentioned above and the audio will be uploaded soon in multilingual format.

Author : LINKUNDLA

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