Alfred Themba Qabula (1942–2002) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, writer and

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the 1980s. He was a fork lift driver and a militant in the Metal and Allied Worker's Union. Qabula is best known as a "worker-poet" who managed the adaptation of traditional Zulu poetic forms to the gritty themes of daily life.

Biography

Early years

Qabula was born in Flagstaff,

Pondoland Pondoland or Mpondoland (Xhosa: ''EmaMpondweni''), is a natural region on the South African shores of the Indian Ocean. It is located in the coastal belt of the Eastern Cape province. Its territory is the former Mpondo Kingdom of the Mpondo peopl ...

(part of today's

in 1942. His father was a migrant mine worker who died when Alfred was very young.Ari Sitas
"SACP Mourns Alfred Themba Qabula,"
South African Communist Party, 11 October 2002. He was a participant in the 1959 Pondoland Rebellion. Following its failure, he fled to the forest, where he joined the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. Qabula moved to the gold-mining town of Carletonville and entered the construction trade, living a meager existence in the

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

s and compounds of the area. He worked as a fork life operator and was active in the Metal and Allied Worker's Union.Jenny Grice
"Alfred Temba Qabula, 1942-2002,"
National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa, 31 October 2002. In 1969 Qabula moved to

, where he initially lived in a shack in Amaouti in Inanda.Ari Sitas
"Qabula RIP (1942 - 2002),"
Third Ear Music. He remained in that city until 1985. From 1985 through 1988, Qabula was forced into hiding due to his outspoken support of the United Democratic Front, an organization which fought the continuation of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

system in South Africa.

Poetry

Qabula was a key leader of the Durban Workers Cultural Local, a group which sparked broad cultural activity in the trade union movement by sponsoring plays, musical performance, and the literary arts. Qabula was himself at the heart of this movement as a revivalist of the Zulu

isibongo Izibongo is a genre of oral literature among various Bantu peoples of Southern Africa, including the Zulu and the Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South ...

poetic tradition. Qabula took these traditional poetic forms and injected themes from daily life and the workplace, dealing with topics of survival and the fight for unionisation of the workplace.

Death and legacy

Qabula suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1998 and a second attack in 2002 before dying in October of that year. At the time of his death, fellow South African poet

Ari Sitas Ari Sitas (born 1952 in Limassol, Cyprus) is a South African sociologist, writer, dramatist and civic activist. Background Sitas studied sociology and political philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and was one of ...

remarked:

"As Qabula has passed on for the 'lands of the high winds,' we must not forget that he died in poverty and that his last words on paper, one finished poem and four unfinished ones, were words marked with bitterness. He was deeply disappointed that 'his' revolution was taken over by a world of cell phones and briefcases. As he also discovered that his talents as an oral person were lost in the winds of change, these disturbing poems preceded his self-imposed exile. "Truly, none of us was spared in these poems — 'The Long Road' is a criticism of all of us on our road to wealth and power, climbing over his back with spiked shoes. His 'Of Land, Bones and Money' is one of the most profound expressions of our negotiated settlement — reminding us of the 'restless dead.' And that 'seasons of drought have no rainbows.'"

Works

"Death,"
Flagstaff, Christmas 1985. * Black Mamba Rising: izinkodolo zabasabenzi base South Africa emzabalatweni. 1986. * ''A Working Life Cruel Beyond Belief.'' Culture and Working Life Project, University of Natal, 1989. —Memoir.

Biography

Early years

Poetry

Death and legacy

Works

Footnotes

Further reading