Soweto: Under the Apricot Tree

Mhlongo’s stories revive Soweto’s trendsetter status, writes Sam Mathe

IN A different time, journalist Nomavenda Mathiane wrote about how Soweto was a trendsetter for black South Africa in fashion, politics and literature. Aggrey Klaaste, another scribe and famous editor who spent most of his life in Soweto, used to write both glowingly and unflatteringly about the world’s famous township. “I know the phoney magic of the shebeens. I know the heart-stopping crazy driving of black taxis. I know the drums of the Zion Church and have been dazzled by the incredible drumming of the sangoma. I know the love and the laughter and have lived through some of the worst tragedies and the greatest sadness,” Klaaste wrote in (Penguin Books, 2004).

The June 16, 1976 student uprisings that Klaaste alludes to were the catalyst for the literature that flourished from the pens of black literary luminaries such as Sipho Sipamla, Mongane Serote, Lefifi Tladi, Njabulo Ndebele, Mbulelo Mzamane, Gibson Kente, Miriam Tlali, Ingoapele Madingoane, Mothobi Mutloatse, Maishe Maponya and Mtutuzeli Matshoba.

Matshoba, a member of the Staffrider generation of writers, was a seminal influence on the next generation of authors – notably Niq Mhlongo.

Having achieved global literary acclaim following the publication of groundbreaking novels such as (2004), (2007) and

(2013), in recent times Mhlongo has added the short story form to his literary repertoire. It’s a genre that still has to reclaim centre stage in contemporary South African fiction, but with anthologies such as (2016) and

(2018) the short story is likely to regain popularity among young aspiring writers and readers.In this collection, Mhlongo uses the family and community stories of his childhood as the basis for his contemporary anecdotes on the legendary township.

The apricot tree that has been on the Mhlongo family’s property since the