WRITER’S CORNER

By

Vannesa Y Moosa

Benjamin Sibanda is one of Zimbabwe’s most prolific writers well known for writing reality-based fiction novels that speak not only to Zimbabweans but to all Africans. He is the award-winning author of When Freedom Came, an account of a young man’s experience of independence, and Whose Land Is It Anyway about land reform in Zimbabwe. In 2017, the latter won a national award for outstanding fiction in Zimbabwe and is on the curriculum for the master’s program on literature and land at the University of Zimbabwe. Benjamin’s beginnings and life experiences that span both the pre- and post-independence era serve as a backdrop to his journey into literature. He is the youngest of five children, though only three remain alive, and his parents divorced when he was a young child. As a result, he lived with his grandparents, initially in Zimuto, Masvingo Province and then Marirangwe, one of the so-called Native Purchase Areas; these were areas that under the Land Apportionment Act of 1930 were set aside for purchase by the ‘natives’ – the Africans to whom the land belonged to anyway. He grew up facing ridicule from his peers mainly because of what he calls a ‘comical mixed dialect’. His grandparents, originally from Lower Gweru spoke isiNdebele but having lived and pastored in Masvingo, also spoke Chikaranga. “Speaking a language that was a mixture of the two among the Zezurus of Marirangwe must have sounded quite strange and funny too!” Talking to him now, one would wonder where the comical dialect disappeared to. One of his earliest memories is of a misplaced and uninformed fear of albinos. “Around 1956 whilst travelling by train as we moved from Masvingo I came face to face with John White, an albino who used to play the guitar and sing on trains - what in England they would call this busking. I was terrified of the man and for a long time after that I was completely scared of white people!” Another memory is of spending lonely periods on the farm writing to pass the time. For him, these early times and memories are when his story-telling skills began to take root, although back then he thought writing was just for the very intelligent. “I always saw writing as nothing more than a bit of fun. I started writing seriously when I realised that I had something important to say.” After completing his studies at Nyatsime College and a brief stint in a radio factory in Bulawayo, he went on to study economics at University College in Cardiff, now known as University of Wales. After six years, he returned to an independent Zimbabwe served a stint in government – an experience from which he would later draw from for his work.

Today he is a farmer and husband and finds balance by focusing on his duties and chores during the day and then working on his reading and writing in the middle of the night, “when it’s at its most quiet and there is no wife to give advice.” He laughs. Having said that, she has given him the best advice so far which is ‘If something is not working, try something different.’ “I cannot say that I’ve always taken the advice but in my saner moments, I believe it to be very good advice.”

Now that he is in a position to also give advice, what would he say to his younger self? “Have more confidence in your abilities, trust yourself; I think I still need that advice even today. The other thing I would tell myself is to bath more often. Fortunately, I outgrew my fear of water!”

Ben is soon to publish his third book, Escape From Freedom, a book he dedicates to victims of all forms of political violence in Africa, and to the many Africans who perish as they flee from the ‘freedom’ they fought so hard for. In addition, he has already started his fourth book, a sequel to When Freedom Came and has also been commissioned to write the history of Marirangwe. To cap it all, talks are underway to write a screenplay based on Whose Land Is It Anyway. With writers like Ben penning stories about life, history and heritage what does he see as the future of the reading culture in Zimbabwe? “I think a major drawback is that we’ve never really had a culture of reading without an end in mind. In school, colleges, and universities, people read to pass exams without necessarily gaining knowledge. Reading for leisure and, per chance, to relieve some of the stresses that people face, is therefore at the bottom of the pile. Of course, the advent of the internet and social media means that most people do not really have to read. I don’t know how that can be changed.’

Follow Ben here:

IG: bensibanda Facebook: Ben Sibanda Website: www.benjaminsibanda.net LinkedIn: Benjamin Sibanda 3rd

“Urban Ancestors”