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“I decided to give my stories a bigger meaning than just LOLs and likes” — Melusi Tshabalala on writing Melusi’s Everyday Zulu

What inspired you to write the book?

I’ve worked in advertising for 20 years and it broke my heart how the industry treats indigenous languages with disrespect. I wanted to showcase the beauty and, because I am um’Zulu, I did it with isiZulu.

You have a background in advertising. How are different languages used in this industry? What do you think needs to change?

You can’t talk about how advertising uses languages without bringing marketing into it. This [the disrespect] is starkly evident in radio advertising, where African-language radio ads are not given the same quality control. We need to ... actually care to deliver a quality product.

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