UCT lecturer and Pinelands resident Simphiwe Ali Nolutshungu won first prize for his poem, Emaxhoseni, in the isiXhosa category in the 2019 AVBOB poetry competition.
The winners of the best poem in each of the 11 official languages were announced on Thursday July 25 at a gala event in Pretoria.
Mr Nolutshungu has previously won a South African Literacy Awards poetry award in 2017 for his anthology, Iingcango Zentliziyo, and took third place in the first AVBOB Poetry Competition held in 2017.
Emaxhoseni (Xhosaland) is translated here into English by Mr Nolutshungu:
AmaXhosa adore peace
They abhor wars and mistrust
They are always content with any situation
Always willing to forgive
When clouds gather they tell no lies
They fear segregation and conflict
AmaXhosa gather greater strength from worshipping their ancestors,
Elders are peacemakers,
AmaXhosa only fight to protect themselves,
Arms confuse their being.
Welcome to Xhosaland, don’t worry!!