| "I thank you Dlomo" (transcribed and translated by DUMISA MPUPHA) I thank you Dlomo Madiba I say thanks to you Sopitsho Dlomo thanks to you Ngqolomsila You beaded cobra - seen by women The day they went to gather wood You trunk of the mielie plant You old bone with marrow You hot porridge in my mouth Please make the Xhosa porridge you know for me For the Western porridge is very hot Be jealous you children of Ngconde Be jealous you children of Ngqika Be jealous you black people of Africa Today I'm going to talk about Madiba Today I'm going to talk about Rolihlahla He who bent his backbone and made his fist a pillow He signed with his leg and made his thumb a stamp and wrote on his knee And remained isolated on Robben Island Where he met Albert Luthuli Albert Luthuli was given the prize in America Albert Luthuli took the African National Congress And gave it to Oliver Tambo At the Mpondo village in Bizana township Oliver died of high blood pressure The day he called up on the big boys He asked them to come closer to him The sons of Sisulu were there Misters So-and-So were also there Big boys like Hani were also present Oliver Tambo handed over to Rolihlahla Rolihlahla said I call upon you son of De Klerk For I'm saying South Africa is ours, us blacks Return it, for you took it forcefully The son of De Klerk nodded He called Mandela to Codesa One Codesa One failed so they went to Codesa Two Codesa Two failed so they went to the World Trade Centre Where the future of South Africa was discussed There rises, you countrymen, Rolihlahla I heard the son of De Klerk the day he nodded He called Pik Botha saying come son of Pik Botha Give me South Africa and I'll give it to its rightful owners For you took it forcefully and through cheating Today we are free Come Rolihlahla With your head white like there's birdshit on it Old mielie plant with experience Whose long tongue attracts nations When he came, countrymen, Blood of African children flooded Blacks trembled and I asked what is happened Countrymen died There were also Joe Slovos Old men who fought for Africa Zabala, countrymen, was there Those who fought for Africa There were also dignitaries Soldiers who were proud of the bazooka Two bullets that shot each other AK 47's guns of AK Bullets shoot and kill me, my enemy When the son of Hani chaired Sheep-eaters came and sold him Hani dies, countrymen, on the day of the Passover The day I started to hate Passover is the day it killed Hani Hani lay down, countrymen, the big boy lay down The earth shook, countrymen The day Hani lay down The man asked, countrymen, what will happen? There comes the son of Buthelezi He says stop boys, this is too old There comes Madiba of Dlomo of Sopitsho He says, boys, put down the weapons They'll do nothing for you Leave the son of Hani lying in peace Lying dead, maybe he'll be the compost of South Africa Today South Africa is fertilised Today South Africa is rich It is rich in minerals, countrymen It is rich in culture, countrymen It is rich with musicians, countrymen It is rich in technology, countrymen It is rich in artists, countrymen Let's unite, calves of Africa Let's sit down and play cards Let's talk and play bumdance I shake because I am not an igqirha I stamp with my feet because I can't stamp I'm fresh because I eat no medicine I call upon you white men I say come closer to build this Africa For today Madiba takes pension He took the African National Congress from nothing And handed it over to Mbeki Man of Mbeki whose father is Govan He took it We don't know, countrymen, if it will sink I think you Dlomo, I thank you Dlomo I praise you for all your deeds For the day you came to this South Africa We were using candles in our homes Today we have electricity There were many patients in hospitals Today we are treated freely in hospitals When you came we had no education Today we have free education When you came there were plenty of things We hear them when they cry Madiba Saying there's nothing you've done for us Complainers will never stop White man says, countrymen, A human being is never be satisfied That's why I say so even today I hate the killer of the Black nation I hate the destroyer of our nation I want to get married with a white woman Because this is a new South Africa If there's any white woman who likes me She must come come forward now I'm waiting for her Because this is a new South Africa One nation, different cultures Allow me, my people, I'll walk Allow me, boys, to do a gentle walk I walk gently on my forefather's land I'm on top of the tree, small boys I want beer today, I'm supposed to drink For I have seen Apartheid's grave I salute Rini, countrymen I salute Grahamstown, countrymen For today we are here to bury Apartheid We are here to lift up freedom Freedom which swallowed big boys Swallowed martyrs until they died Today we are free I say to you heroes Go and tell your fathers Say you've heard Africa rising Say you've seen the grave of Apartheid Today we have buried Apartheid I eat with the white man from the same dish I live with the white man in the same place I eat with the white man in the same hotel I go to school with the white man in the same school I sit with the white man round the same table There is no change Mandela is doing this Because of Jesus Allow me to do this, boys Allow me to shake my body I shake my body because I love to I dance because I can dance I try to jive because I can't jive I jump even if there's no music I am finished, I am finished |
| Printed by permission of Gecko Poetry, publisher of the anthology 'It All Begins' - poems from postliberation South Africa - in which this poem appeared. |
| ~SINCEDILE MNGOMENI~ |