Mandla Langa

Last updated

Mandla Langa
Born1950 (age 72–73)
Stanger, Durban, South Africa
OccupationWriter and cultural activist
Education University of Fort Hare
Notable worksThe Lost Colours of the Chameleon (2008)
The Memory of Stories (2000)
Notable awards2009 Commonwealth Writer's Prize
1991 Arts Council of Great Britain’s Bursary for Creative Writing
Relatives Pius Langa (brother); Bheki Langa (brother); Ben Langa (brother).

Mandla Langa (born 1950 in Stanger, Durban) is a South African poet, short-story writer, novelist, and cultural activist. He grew up in the KwaMashu township of Kwazulu Natal. [1] His novel The Lost Colours of the Chameleon won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa region). [2] [3] Langa enrolled for a degree in English and Philosophy at the University of Fort Hare, but was expelled in 1973 as a result of his involvement in the activities of the South African Student Organisation. In 1976, he went into exile and has lived in different countries of Southern Africa as well as in Hungary and the United Kingdom. [4]

Contents

Langa was brought in to complete the second volume of Nelson Mandela's autobiography, left in an unfinished draft when Mandela died in 2013, and published in 2017 as Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years . [5]

Early life and education

Mandla Langa was born in Stanger, Durban, South Africa, in 1950 and grew up in the KwaMashu township 20 miles north of Durban, [6] during the implementation of the apartheid system. He is one of nine children. His brother Pius Langa served as Chief Justice in South Africa. Another brother, Bheki Langa, served as South Africa's ambassador to Russia and China. Mandla Langa attended Gardner Memorial School, Sibonelo High School in Durban, and then the University of Fort Hare. He taught at a high school in KwaMashu in 1973–74. [7]

In 1974, he became actively involved as a director of the South African Students' Organization (SASO), maintaining this position until his arrest in 1976 for attempting to leave the country without a permit. As a result he served 101 days in jail. [8] According to Charles Larson (editor of Under African Skies), Langa himself said that his arrest was due to sedition.

While imprisoned, Langa continued to improve his writing skills. After serving his sentence, he fled to Botswana, marking the start of his life in exile. He also spent time in Lesotho, Angola, where he participated in military training in the camps of MK, also known as Umkhonto we Sizwe. [9] In addition to Lesotho, Langa spent time in Mozambique, Zambia, Hungary and the UK. [6] He held various ANC posts abroad, including deputy chief representative of the ANC and its cultural attaché in the UK and Western Europe. [10]

Career

Literary work

Among Langa’s early published work are poems such as "Pension Jives" and "They No Longer Speak to Us in Song". In addition to writing poetry, he began writing prose. His story "The Dead Men Who Lost Their Bones" was his first to be published in Drum Magazine in 1980, winning a prize. [8] Langa's success prompted his literary evolution to novel writing. In 1991, he became the first South African to be awarded an Arts Council of Great Britain Bursary for Creative Writing. [8] Langa's diverse work includes penning an opera, Milestones, with music composed by jazz musician Hugh Masekela. In 1999, Milestones was featured at the Standard Bank Festival in Grahamstown. [6] [11]

His published books are Tenderness of Blood (1987), A Rainbow on a Paper Sky (1989), The Naked Song and Other Stories (1997), The Memory of Stones (2000), and The Lost Colours of the Chameleon (2008), which won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best Book in Africa). [12] [13] Head judge Elinor Sisulu said: "Langa deconstructs the inner workings of a mythical African state, laying bare the frailties of leaders too blinded by power to effectively confront the major challenges of their times." [10] . Langa appeared at the 2011 Paris Book Fair. [14] He also be participated in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty-Six Books with a piece based upon a book of the King James Bible. [15]

Langa was brought in to complete the follow-up volume to Nelson Mandela's 1994 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom . Based on Mandela's handwritten notes and a draft left unfinished when Mandela died in 2013, as well as archive material and interviews, Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa, with a prologue by Graça Machel, was published in 2017, its title taken from the closing sentence of Long Walk to Freedom: "But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended." [5] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Administrative positions

Currently Langa is serving on the following boards:

Media positions

Personal life

Langa has two daughters with his wife June Josephs. [25] He has two brothers, Pius Langa who served as South African Chief justice and Bheki W. J. Langa who is a diplomat.

Awards and honours

In 2007, Langa received South Africa’s National Order of Ikhamanga (Silver) for literary, journalistic and cultural achievements, the citation specifying his "excellent contribution to the struggle against apartheid, achievements in the field of literature and journalism and contributing to post-apartheid South Africa through serving in different institutions". [8] In February 2003, the Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA) featured Langa in an event promoting him as a distinguished South African writer: "An Evening with Mandla Langa". [9]

Works

Fiction

Non-fiction

Collaborative works

Collections

Other

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnie Madikizela-Mandela</span> South African activist and politician (1936–2018)

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and Politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003, and from 2009 until her death, and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996. A member of the African National Congress (ANC) political party, she served on the ANC's National Executive Committee and headed its Women's League. Madikizela-Mandela was known to her supporters as the "Mother of the Nation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadine Gordimer</span> South African writer (1923–2014)

Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great benefit to humanity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Leon</span> South African politician

Anthony James Leon is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He led the DA from its inception in 2000, until his retirement from leadership in 2007. Before that, he led the Democratic Party from 1994. He is the longest serving leader of the official opposition in parliament since the advent of democracy in 1994. Although still a member of the DA, he served as the South African Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay under the ANC government from 2009 to 2012.

<i>Long Walk to Freedom</i> Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography by South Africa's first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela, and it was first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years spent in prison. Under the apartheid government, Mandela was regarded as a terrorist and jailed on Robben Island for his role as a leader of the then-outlawed African National Congress (ANC) and its armed wing the Umkhonto We Sizwe. He later achieved international recognition for his leadership as president in rebuilding the country's once segregationist society. The last chapters of the book describe his political ascension and his belief that the struggle still continued against apartheid in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis Nkosi</span> South African writer and literary critic (1936–2010)

Lewis Nkosi was a South African writer, who spent 30 years in exile as a consequence of restrictions placed on him and his writing by the Suppression of Communism Act and the Publications and Entertainment Act passed in the 1950s and 1960s. A multifaceted personality, he attempted multiple genre for his writing, including literary criticism, poetry, drama, novels, short stories, essays, as well as journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterford Kamhlaba</span> School in Eswatini

Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa (WKUWCSA), one of 18 international schools and colleges in the UWC educational movement, is located outside of Mbabane, Eswatini.

Benjamin Pogrund is a South African-born Israeli author.

Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela, MP is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He graduated from Rhodes University with a degree in Politics in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KwaMashu</span> Place in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

KwaMashu is a township 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of Durban, South Africa. The name is in honour of Sir Marshall Campbell and means Place of Marshall. KwaMashu is bordered by Newlands East to the south, Newlands West to the west, Ntuzuma to the north, Phoenix to the north-east, Mount Edgecombe to the east and Durban North to the south-east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pius Langa</span> South African judge and activist (1939–2013)

Pius Nkonzo Langa SCOB was Chief Justice of South Africa, serving on the Constitutional Court. He was appointed to the bench in 1994 by Nelson Mandela, he became Deputy Chief Justice in 2001 and was elevated as Chief Justice in 2005 by Thabo Mbeki. He retired in October 2009. He served as the Chancellor of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University from 2006 to 2010. He died in 2013, aged 74, following a long illness.

Willem Petrus "Willie" Esterhuyse, OLS is an emeritus professor of philosophy and business ethics at the University of Stellenbosch, a columnist and critic of the system of apartheid.

Charlene Leonora Smith is a South African journalist, published author of 14 books, and is an authorized biographer of Nobel Peace Prize winner, and former South African President, Nelson Mandela. She is a communications and marketing consultant, and writing teacher, who lives and works in the United States.

<i>Otelo Burning</i> 2011 South African film

Otelo Burning is a 2011 South African drama film directed and produced by Sara Blecher. The screenplay was written by James Whyle, Sara Blecher and The Cast Workshop. The film is in Zulu with English subtitles. It stars Jafta Mamabolo (Generations), Thomas Gumede, and Tshepang Mohlomi.

Colours of a New Day: Writing for South Africa is an anthology first published in 1990, edited by Sarah LeFanu and Stephen Hayward, inspired by an international tribute concert to imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela on his 70th birthday in 1988. As described by The New Internationalist magazine: "This is the literary equivalent of the Free Mandela concert: a collection of prose and poetry by 34 writers from around the world who have pledged their profits to an ANC cultural project inside South Africa." Taking the title from an optimistic phrase used by a character in Lewis Nkosi's story "Under the Shadow of the Guns", the editors aimed to publish a book that would give writers the opportunity to express their opposition to apartheid and also to provide material assistance for the cultural work of the African National Congress (ANC), to which the writers' royalties and publishers' profits were donated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bheki W. J. Langa</span> South African diplomat and administrator

Bheki Winston Joshua Langa is a South African diplomat and administrator. He formerly served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of South Africa to Russia from July 2005 to August 2010 and to China from September 2010 to December 2014. He also served as the head of the domestic branch of the State Security Agency (SSA) from August 2015 to March 2017. He is currently managing director of a music production company Econoculture Pty Ltd.

Mandla is a South African name that may refer to

<i>Dare Not Linger</i> 2017 book by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa

Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years is a book by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa describing Mandela's term as President of South Africa. It was published in 2017, four years after Mandela's death, and is based on an unfinished memoir that Mandela had worked on after his term as president, as well as archive material and interviews, and has a prologue by Graça Machel. The book's title comes from the closing sentence of Mandela's previous autobiography Long Walk to Freedom: "But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jafta Masemola</span>

Jafta Kgalabi Masemola, also known as The Tiger of Azania and Bra Jeff, was a South African anti-apartheid activist, teacher, and founder of the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). He spent 27 years in South African prison during the apartheid era in South Africa, and was released in October 1989, shortly before the legalization of the PAC and the African National Congress by F. W. de Klerk. He served the longest sentence of any political prisoner in Robben Island prison in South Africa.

Benjamin Johnson Langa was a South African activist, poet and brother of Pius Langa, Bheki Langa and Mandla Langa. Ben was assassinated in 1984 as part of the apartheid regime's destabilisation of the ANC; an Mkhonto WeSizwe (MK) commander who was also an apartheid agent instructed two operatives to kill Langa, saying that he had betrayed the movement. The operatives were later hanged for murder by the apartheid regime. Langa's killing and its aftermath have been used to illustrate the danger of accepting without due process accusations of treachery, and by implication, of organisations which enable or condone this.

The Mandela family is a South African political dynasty and chiefly family. Its most prominent member was Nelson Mandela, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

References

  1. ↑ Mandla Langa profile, The Guardian (London), 24 June 2008.
  2. ↑ "Mandla Langa and Uwem Akpan Win the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes – Africa Region", Books Live, 11 March 2009.
  3. ↑ "Mandla Langa wins Commonwealth Writers' Prize", Artsmart, 19 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Mandla Langa" Archived 2 October 2014 at archive.today , PEN America.
  5. 1 2 Gillian Slovo (22 October 2017). "Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa review – an impossible act to follow". The Guardian.
  6. 1 2 3 "Mandla Langa (South Africa)". www.cca.ukzn.ac.za. Centre for Creative Arts. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. ↑ Tymon Smith, "The Fiction Prize – The Judges", Times Live, 6 May 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Mandla Langa (1950– )" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine , The Presidency, Republic of South Africa.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "PAWA to Host Mandla Langa", Modern Ghana, 18 February 2003.
  10. 1 2 Khanyi Magubane, "Commonwealth nod to SA writer", Media Club South Africa, 17 March 2009.
  11. ↑ John Matshikiza, "Milestone for the new South Africa", Mail & Guardian, 11 June 1999.
  12. ↑ List of overall and regional winning authors of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize#1990s
  13. ↑ Katie Allen, "Commonwealth regional winners announced" Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine , The Bookseller, 23 March 2009.
  14. ↑ "Into French". Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Sixty six books – to October 29" (2011), ReviewsGate.
  16. ↑ Prakash Naidoo, "BOOKS: Mandla Langa completes Madiba’s work", Financial Mail, Business Live, 17 October 2017.
  17. ↑ Alet Janse van Rensburg (18 October 2017). "Dare not Linger: Mandela's 'new' memoir offers unique insights". News24.
  18. ↑ "Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years". Pan Macmillan. 19 October 2017.
  19. ↑ Mandla Langa, "Book Extract: The Presidency and the Constitution, from Mandla Langa’s Dare Not Linger", Daily Maverick , 27 October 2017.
  20. ↑ "Leadership Changes At Multichoice South Africa Holdings", Multichoice press release.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Tourism, KZN Literary. "Mandla Langa". www.literarytourism.co.za. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  22. ↑ "Global Dialogue Foundation | Illuminating the World | Celebrating Life". www.globaldialoguefoundation.org. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  23. ↑ "Institute for the Advancement of Journalism | Leading-edge-mid-career journalism and communications training across Africa". www.iaj.org.za. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  24. 1 2 3 "損することなく宝石の買取に出す方法｜お店選びが肝心". www.intofrench.org (in Japanese). Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  25. ↑ "Multichoice | Biographies". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.