THESE ARE THE TALES OF OUR LIVES
In his new short-story collection, Niq Mhlongo gives insight into the extraordinary lives of the ordinary people living in townships, writes
Violent, impoverished and gangridden — words often attributed to every favela, “hood” or township. While these spaces and people are often defined by negative images of where they call home, these places become an illuminating canvas for Niq Mhlongo’s For You I’d Steal a Goat. After a long hiatus, in his latest book Mhlongo dives into human nature. While betrayal, jealousy, love, desire and loyalty feature in his 10th offering, Mhlongo seems to want to give readers a window into the extraordinarily ordinary lives of people in SA’s ghettos. A view that gazes beyond the stereotypes.
There is the relatable struggle of the Lebese family who have their house repossessed due to missing payments during the Covid-19 lockdown in “Unwanted Guest”; the harrowing story of a love torn apart by apartheid in “Displaced”, and a rags-to-riches political piece “Fireplace”. The stories are set in different townships, focusing on people who have stayed and people who have left, with twists and turns that give fresh perspectives on SA’s calamitous universe.
The Lebese family resort to unconventional high-jinks to resolve their problems with their money-crazed landlord. This becomes a reflection of how the wild imagination of children can mimic the lengths adults will go to around their fear of the supernatural. This theme is also seen in the book’s eponymous tale, where a South African artist in Germany is possessed by the need to slaughter a goat for good fortune.
In “Displaced”, Madoda Boya is torn from his wife and children, spending months away from them. As the days and weeks pass, he slowly loses hope that they have survived the forced removals and starts developing feelings for another woman. The story sheds light on an all-toofamiliar world of men who have other homes and families.
No story captures greed quite like “Fireplace”, where the petty and childish squabbles among politicians result in skulduggery and games of corruption. The verbose and colourful language that only SA’s finest could muster helps narrate the dog-eat-dog world politicians construct for themselves.
While the tales of SA’s eclectic societies are thrilling to follow, “Joehustleburg Prison Cell” feel less like a necessary addition and more like an offering to fill an already colourful book.
The novel also pressures itself into creating unneeded twists, and by the fourth story it starts to read like a gimmick, as with “Joehustleburg’s” soap-style resolution or the anticlimactic end given to “The In-laws”.
If you are a lover of short stories, Mhlongo’s For You I’d Steal a Goat is a treat. Playing on the loves, lives and betrayals of South Africans, it’s a muchneeded and refreshing retelling of tales we know all too well.