Zama Madinana is a Johannesburg-based performer, poet and writer. His work has appeared in Stanzas, Botsotso, Carapace, Poetry Potion, The Thinker, Sunday World, New Coin and other literary publications. His work focuses mainly on love, politics and social issues. In 2018, he was longlisted for the Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award. He holds a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences in Management Accounting and is now pursuing a degree in Creative Writing with the University of South Africa.
The township carries the undying scars of political violence. The roofless and windowless houses that were burnt down narrate our awful past. The terrible smell of burnt tyres still lingers in our memory. The echoes of uqhwasha refuse to divorce our ears as we walk along these wounded township streets.
Today, freedom is strangled by those we put in power to lead us. They betray us in so many ways. They ascend in power to enrich themselves.
They steal while the masses continue to suffocate in shackles of poverty. Burning and dying in shacks.
The silent screams of unemployed youth burn in the wild fires of nyaope and whoonga in parks and street corners.
The state of security in schools is disappointing. Boys stab one another over drugs and alcohol within school premises every day.
Girls are raped by their teachers in staff rooms.
We are led by people who can’t even understand the importance of basic needs. The standard of water and sanitation remains poor in our townships.
Children die in pit toilets.
People spend days with dry taps and too many nights soaked in darkness because of power cuts.
We need to ensure that we move as a collective as we try to better our lives. We need leaders who will put people first. It’s been a very long time since apartheid was ‘defeated’ for us to
be still talking about poor service delivery
