Karabo Moses Motsisi (1932–1977), better known as Casey Motsisi or Casey "Kid" Motsisi, was a South African

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Biography

Casey Motsisi was born in Western Native Township (later Westbury) in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

in 1932. He attended Madibane High School along with Stanley Motjuwadi .

Can Themba Daniel Canodoise "Can" Themba (21 June 1924 – 8 September 1967) was a South African short-story writer. Early life Themba was born in Marabastad, near Pretoria, but wrote most of his work in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa. The town was ...

was his History and English teacher and became a life-long mentor. Motsisi attended teaching college at Pretoria Normal. He and Motjuwadi were co-editors of the school magazine, the ''Normalite''. Motsisi was expelled from the college for refusing to reveal the name of the author of a controversial article in the magazine (according to Motjuwadi, the article was written by Basil “Doc” Bikitsha). After leaving teaching college, he worked for at the short lived newspaper Africa (where Can Themba was the editor). Motsisi was a reporter for ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'' magazine until 1962 and then left to work for ''The World'', returning to ''Drum'' in 1974. He wrote the regular "Bugs" column, which was humorous and satirical, featuring discussions and conversations between two bed bugs. He also wrote the "On the Beat" column which centered Motsisi's observations of daily life in

shebeen A shebeen ( ga, síbín) was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, the En ...

s and townships. Motsisi wrote about everyday life for Black South Africans to make cutting social and political commentary about the injustice of apartheid. Motsisi's style borrowed heavily from that of

Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To ...

, using "Americanese" and

Tsotsitaal Tsotsitaal is a vernacular derived from a variety of mixed languages mainly spoken in the townships of Gauteng province (such as Soweto), but also in other agglomerations all over South Africa. ''Tsotsi'' is a Sesotho, Pedi or Tswana slang wor ...

(local

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

slang). The stories he wrote were based on his extensive knowledge of the

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "apart ...

culture, depicting a variety of township types, such as Aunt Peggy, the shebeen queen, and a variety of rogues including Kid Playboy and Kid Hangover. Motsisi also contributed to ''The Classic'', a journal edited by a fellow ''Drum'' journalist

Nat Nakasa Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa (12 May 1937 – 14 July 1965) better known as Nat Nakasa was a South African journalist and short story writer. Early life Nat Nakasa was born in outside Durban on 12 May 1937 to mother Alvina who was a teacher while h ...

. The ''Drum Decade'' contains a number of articles by Motsisi, including: * "If Bugs Were Men" * "Johburg Jailbugs" * "On the Beat" id Hangover* "On the Beat" id Playboy* "On the Beat" id Newspapers

Books

* ''Casey & Co: Selected Writings of Casey "Kid" Motsisi'', edited by Mothobi Mutloatse, Ravan Press, 1978, *''Riot :writings of Casey "Kid" Motsisi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motsisi, Casey 1932 births 1977 deaths South African journalists South African male short story writers South African short story writers Writers from Johannesburg 20th-century journalists

Biography

Books

See also

References