Thapelo Mokoatsi
Godfrey Kuzwayo was an entertainment writer of note. Born in 1909 in Bloemfontein he would become a well-known South African owing to his extra-ordinary accomplishments.
He was the grandson of Chief Christian Luthayi of George District, Maritzburg, Natal, and the youngest son to Aaron and Lydia Kuzwayo. Back in the late 1940s he met writer, teacher and social activist – the late Ellen Kuzwayo who was at the time preparing for a role as the beer brewing queen in the film Cry The Beloved Country. The two were later married.
Kuzwayo would become a distinguished business man and journalist. The latter would play a major role in shaping his professional life.
On the lighter side of life
Christopher Ballantine, in Journal of South African Studies (1991) recorded the fact that Kuzwayo, at the time an Umteteleli wa Bantu critic and columnist first drew attention to the cultural climate which was changing from an endorsement of European concerts to celebrating African culture. Writing under nom de plume Gossip Pen for his regular column, in 1936 he declared that “he had been struck by a tendency in the productions of vaudeville companies – that staged Concert-and-dance travelling shows made up of comedians, singers, plate-spinners etc. In the past the productions had had strongly ‘European Flavour’ but he said – ‘there has been a noticeable change in this regard, the shows and dramatics are now being put forward with more and more African background in them.”(Ballantine: 1991) He went on to critique the Western –styled choirs for not making an attempt to show their interpretative ability of real Africa music.
Although his column was on the lighter side of life he used the mighty pen to earn himself followers as his pieces of writing addressed day to day issues – penned hilarious headlined works such as “So and so was at the wedding of such-and-such” or “Nurse Jane Maplank has just returned from holiday.” (Couzens: 1975).
A creative soul
Godfrey Rosenbaum Zibuse Peteni Kuzwayo received his primary education in Bloemfontein and went on to finish high school at Wilberforce Institute in Evaton, Transvaal (now Gauteng). He was a trained journalist under the International Correspondence Schools and also studied Advertising with the Herbert N. Casson System.
For many years he penned regular weekly feature articles for Umteteli wa Bantu based in Natal from the 1920s through to the 1930s. His work was also published in broadly distributed publications such as Mochochonono in Basotuland (now Lesotho), Um-Afrika in Natal (now Kwa-Zulu Natal) Drum magazine Johannesburg and African Leader. He wrote for a variety of English and vernacular papers, and later established a printing business and a real estate company in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. Kuzwayo was a founding member of the African Democratic Party in 1943.
In the Printing Industry
In a partnership with the Reverend N.B. Tantsi through the help of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church he became a printer, publisher and editor of the South African Christian Reader. In 1942 he joined up with his friends to set up a printing and publishing company – Africa’s Own Printing and Publishing Company. Like many blacks, he was later compelled to sell his businesses against his will, following the implementation of the Group Areas Act which denied black people the right to trade in the city of Johannesburg (Arosi:2013). He became a founding member of the board of directors of the Liberty Printing and Publishing Company in Pretoria.
Serving the Community
He served on the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce Institute as well as the Board of Education of the AME Church. He became the first layman to be elected financial secretary of the Transvaal Conference of the AME Church. In his capacity as the organising secretary of the Wilberforce Alumni he raised funds which helped to improve his alma mater.
On 15 June 1965 after a life-long dedication and contribution to the then Black press, Kuzwayo passed on.
Additional research: Phindile Xaba
Simply wish to say your article is as amazing.
The clearness in your post is just excellent
and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission let me to grab your feed
to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the rewarding work.
Amazing! Its really amazing paragraph, I have got much clear idea about from this piece of writing.
Appreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.
Right now it seems like WordPress is the preferred blogging
platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
The heavy concentrate on promos is 1 of the factors
Bet365 Maryland is 1 of the world’s most respected sportsbooks.
Here is my website :: 토토사이트
Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this site. It’s simple,
yet effective. A lot of times it’s difficult to get that “perfect balance” between user
friendliness and visual appearance. I must say that you’ve done a awesome
job with this. Also, the blog loads extremely fast
for me on Chrome. Outstanding Blog!
This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have
found something which helped me. Thank you!
I am sure this piece of writing has touched all the internet people, its really
really good post on building up new website.
It’s amazing in favor of me to have a web site, which is helpful in favor
of my knowledge. thanks admin
After looking at a few of the blog articles on your website, I honestly like your technique of writing a blog. I bookmarked it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back soon. Please check out my website too and let me know your opinion.
Have you ever thought about writing an e-book or guest authoring on other blogs?
I have a blog based upon on the same information you discuss and would love
to have you share some stories/information. I know my readers would
enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e mail.
Good day! This post could not be written any better!
Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this.
I will forward this article to him. Fairly certain he will
have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
Legos was a childhood favorite of mine and my mom. discover quality lego building kits It
was almost like painting with LEGOs. Van Gogh was
jealous of my artistic talent! YouTube is an incredible source
of Lego inspiration. I find myself watching hours of creative
builds.
I think this is one of the most vital info for me. And i’m glad reading your article.
But want to remark on few general things, The site style is ideal, the articles is really nice
: D. Good job, cheers
It’s very trouble-free to find out any matter on net as compared to books, as
I found this piece of writing at this site.
This is a topic that’s near to my heart… Take care! Where are your contact details though?
If you would like to obtain a good deal from this article then you have to apply these techniques to your won blog.
Can you tell us more about this? I’d love to find out more details.
We’re a bunch of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community.
Your site offered us with helpful information to work on. You’ve performed an impressive task and
our entire neighborhood shall be grateful to you.
We absolutely love your blog and find nearly all of
your post’s to be what precisely I’m looking for.
Does one offer guest writers to write content to suit your needs?
I wouldn’t mind composing a post or elaborating on a lot of
the subjects you write in relation to here. Again, awesome
web log!
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The words in your content seem to be running off the screen in Chrome.
I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to
do with web browser compatibility but I figured
I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though!
Hope you get the problem resolved soon. Kudos
We are a gaggle of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your website provided us with helpful info
to work on. You’ve performed an impressive job and our entire neighborhood will likely be
thankful to you.
A motivating discussion is worth comment. I think that you should publish more about this subject matter, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people don’t speak about such topics. To the next! Kind regards!!
This design is spectacular! You obviously know how to keep a reader amused.
Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well,
almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really loved what you had to say, and more
than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
Hi there to every one, since I am genuinely eager of reading this weblog’s post to
be updated regularly. It contains fastidious data.
Admiring the time and energy you put into your
website and detailed information you provide. It’s awesome to come across a blog
every once in a while that isn’t the same out of date rehashed material.
Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m including your RSS
feeds to my Google account.