Matsemela Manaka
Matsemela Manaka was a South African playwright, poet, and musician, born on June 20, 1956, in Alexandra and later moving to Soweto. He was known for his activism during the 1976 student protests while attending Madibane High School, which led to his brief detention and eventual departure from school without completing his university entrance requirements. Manaka relocated to Pietersburg, where he began to explore his artistic talents, writing poetry and plays, and becoming a key member of the Creative Youth Movement, which established the Soyikwa Institute of African Theater in 1978. His works, including the notable play *The Horn*, often reflected his commitment to cultural identity and the struggle for independence rather than solely focusing on apartheid issues. Despite facing censorship—his play *Egoli: City of Gold* was banned in South Africa—his international reputation grew, particularly after receiving accolades like the Fringe First Award for *Pula* at the Edinburgh Festival in 1983. Manaka's later works increasingly incorporated music and dance, culminating in plays such as *Ekhaya: Coming Home*. He passed away in July 1998, just before his country could fully acknowledge his contributions to the arts, but he was posthumously recognized with the PEN Freedom-to-Write Award in 1987.
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Matsemela Manaka
Playwright
- Born: June 20, 1956
- Birthplace: Alexandria (near Johannesburg), South Africa
- Died: July 25, 1998
Biography
Matsemela Manaka was born June 20, 1956, in Alexandra, South Africa, the son of Gilbert and Nelly Manaka. His family later moved to Soweto. As a student at Madibane High School in 1976, Manaka led protests. After being briefly detained by police, he left the school without attaining the requirement necessary for entrance to a university. Manaka then moved from Johannesburg to the rural town of Pietersburg and began to write poetry and plays, compose and perform music, and paint. He became a member of the Creative Youth Movement that established the Soyikwa Institute of African Theater in 1978.
The theater staged plays (including Manaka’s The Horn, pr. 1977) throughout the country and conducted training programs for actors. Manaka began publishing poems in the influential journal Staffrider in 1978 and soon joined its editorial staff. Manaka espoused his belief that the theater should support his people’s struggle for independence in such articles as “The Theatre of the Dispossessed: James Mthoba and Joe Rahube.” His play Egoli: City of Gold (pr. 1979) was banned as “prejudicial to the safety of the state,” but it was performed in Europe, initiating Manaka’s international reputation. Pula received a Fringe First Award for an Edinburgh Festival production in 1983, though Manaka was unable to attend because he was refused a passport. His passport was restored in 1985 after the United States embassy invited him to visit theaters in the United States. Children of Asazi was staged during the Woza Afrika Festival at New York’s Lincoln Center in 1986.
Manaka saw his plays as being less about apartheid than cultural identity. His later plays relied more and more on music and dance. Ekhaya: Coming Home (pr. 1991), the story of a musician returning to South Africa from exile, incorporates Manaka’s political, cultural, and aesthetic concerns. Manaka directed productions of his plays, as well as those by writers such as Zakes Mda and Wole Soyinka. Manaka married Nomsa in 1984, and they had two sons. Manaka died in July 1998 before his newly independent country had a opportunity to honor his contributions. He received the PEN’s Freedom-to-Write Award in 1987.