Eastern Cape car guard publishes first book

When a young Simbongile Mvundlela took up a job as a car guard at one of the busiest shopping malls in Mthatha in 2012, little did he  imagine that five years later he would be celebrating his first published book as an accomplished author.

Now 31, the Ngqeleni-born author’s first book, Bendilindele Okuhle, a Xhosa Drama Play, was published in March.

Mvundlela’s book touches on many subjects that the country is currently grappling with, including domestic violence, child trafficking and the treatment of people living with disabilities.

Speaking to the Dispatch recently, Mvundlela, who now resides in Ikwezi township in Mthatha, said these were the things that he saw on a daily basis in addition to others he had observed growing up.

The book’s heroine, Thandeka, grows up and gets married.

But things start to sour for her after she and her husband are blessed with a child who is born blind.

The husband becomes abusive while going as far as trying to sell the infant to child traffickers.

“Most of the things I write about are things I have experienced.

“I never knew my own father and was born out of wedlock.

“My mother married a guy who beat her up so much that she ran away from that marriage,” said Mvundlela.

He believes an author’s job is not only to entertain but also to teach and warn.

“A message in a book never rots. It stays there and can be read by future generations as well,” he said.

He decided to write in isiXhosa because he saw many young Xhosa children struggling to speak their home language.

“Those who live in cities and towns find it difficult to communicate with their relatives when they come home to rural areas for holidays.”

He hopes the book will help to preserve the language.

“There is a saying that if you want to hide something from a black person, you must hide it in a book.

“I believe that it is important to communicate with your readers in their own language if you want to put your message across.”

After initially struggling to find a publisher, Mvundlela’s book was published by Komani-based At 40 Publishers which was founded by Mzukisi Silandela, who himself has published several books in isiXhosa and English.

Silandela described Mvundlela as an “eagle-eyed” author saying he was taken aback when he first read the manuscript.

“Its rare to find a young person with the courage to tackle issues like gender-based violence,” Silandela said.

Interestingly, Mvundlela – who still works as a guard at the Plaza Shopping Mall – preferred drawing to writing while growing up in Nzwakazi village in Ngqeleni.

But his big dream was to be a lawyer.

After completing his matric at Dimanda Senior Secondary School in 2006 he was unable to further his studies.

However he was able to gather enough money to enrol for a security guard course.

In 2012, a friend suggested that he try out as a car guard at the mall.

However, one day he found himself buying a newspaper and read about an art centre in Flagstaff which was looking for writers and people skilled in craftwork.

Mvundlela the writer was born as he penned his first poem, which was about young people.

After sending it to the centre, he was encouraged to continue writing and in 2015, he started working on his book.

He has sold around 25 copies of the book himself to some of his clients at the mall.

“One day a guy even came up to me and shook my hand saying I saved his marriage when he and his wife read the book.” — sikhon@dispatch.co.za