Celebrated playwright, Makhubalo Ikaneng says that KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has a lot to offer on the national and international stage when it comes to creative arts, especially story-telling.
Ikaneng, a writer and dramatist, believes that creative artists need to be taken seriously and that government should give them more assistance.
Ikaneng known as Cuba, the story teller, is currently on a mission to get young people across the province to write stories in their localities about their experiences - a move which he calls a continuation of the long-held tradition of story telling and writing with important lessons to pass in the process.
Ikaneng is known for his inspiring and educational messages through film, theatre, books and traditional storytelling.
He has directed 13 shows for South African Broadcasting Corporation, as well as films for Etv.
One of his productions was Ekasi, Our stories which gave a snapshot of life in the townships.
In addition to this, Ikaneng has published 5 books. He is also the co-founder of Young Authors Book Initiative (YABI) that gives writing skills to learners and their first opportunity to be part of a published book. His stage play Be a Better Dog performed at the United Solo Festival in New York in 2018.
His work in promoting literacy, inclusive participation and creativity earned him the Time of The Writer - Literature Champion Award for 2022 from UKZN's Centre For Creative Arts. He is currently touring nationally with his new show GIDA FIRE.
He explained that his love for the performing arts was ignited from an early age when he would listen to tales from the elders coupled with reading books.
“When I was in my teens, my brother would often bring books by African writers varying from Achinua Achebbe, Bessie Head to Wole Soyinka. Growing up in a village in the North West I suddenly started imagining what it was like to be the characters in the books that I had read,” he said. Ikaneng added that his love for books has led to a collection of over a 1000 books collected from a number of places including book fares and his travels.
“You will not find a television at my home because there is simply no space for it,” he said.
Ikaneng said traditional dancers played an important role in social cohesion, adding that the Zulu dance brought the community together. He said young people find their identity through sub-groups based on age and gender.
He said such performances allowed the youth to shine and they learn discipline during rehearsals as lessons in culture and heritage are shared during the process.
One of his productions, Be a better dog is wowing audiences in Russia, and according to Ikaneng this illustrated the appetite from international audiences for stories from the continent.
He said while Johannesburg was seen as the melting pot for cultures, there was no rivalling KZN when it came to story telling.
“That is why I am on this campaign. We need to enable as many young people in particular to know the importance of their stories and their heritage and take pride in telling them,” Ikaneng said.
He believed that the award winning Lion King should not be the only story from the continent presented to the worldwide audience as there were more found in many parts of KwaZulu-Natal.