Local Poet

“Zabalaza Republic reiterates the need for my people to find value in our blackness. For my generation, the battle against white supremacy culture has taken on psychological implications echoing sentiments of what Du Bois referred to as double consciousness. My poetry comes from the wreck left behind after ethnic and racial collisions. For me, this book represents an optimistic step forward towards healing and a return of black self-love.’’

As Sihle Ntuli describes the essence of his collection, the poems encompass numerous aspects of black alienation resulting from collisions with the white world, which despite the ‘zabalaza’ seemingly having been won in 1994, still remains the ruling environment.