Anti-apartheid activist, storyteller, poet, director and author Nokugcina “Gcina” Mhlope has managed to keep her youthful appearance and demeanour by taking good care of her health.
Growing up in Hammarsdale, west of eThekwini, Mhlophe’s father taught her to stay true to herself, and represent her family well.
Mhlophe comes from a big family and says she was very outspoken, curious and playful while growing up.
Luckily she had a grandmother who was willing to answer her questions.
“There is not much that people don’t know about me, but I must say I am different from all my eight sisters.
“Surprisingly, all my siblings chose to become teachers but I always knew I wanted to become a writer.”
Her love for languages began when she went to Eastern Cape to live with her maternal family. She then learnt to speak Xhosa and attended a Xhosa high school.
“This later led to me writing all my books in isiZulu, isiXhosa and English, which is why I love all three languages very much,” she said.
In her formative years, Mhlophe did not have much knowledge of politics, as her boarding school was isolated.
During the 1976 uprising, her eyes were opened when youth from all over the country ran away from their schools.
“The death of Steve Biko in 1977 opened my eyes, and 1976 and 1977 changed a lot of things. In 1977 I wrote my first story, which was published by the magazine Inqubela phambili.”
The storyteller says she had written the story in Xhosa, which was when she realised that what she had written made sense to many people, and people loved her writing.
After finishing school, Mhlophe moved to Johannesburg where she stayed with her sister. Her parents were worried as it was during apartheid, and she did not have an identity document.
“I was a very sickly child and so I used to go to Joburg General, which is now called the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital. As time went by, I got better and when I moved to Alexandra, I met a lot of people in my line of work, which made me feel at home.”
She was then approached to write for the Learn and Teach magazine.
Mhlophe says she was fortunate to have an excellent editor, who showed her the ropes.
“The publishing of my poems and short stories made people ask who I was, and that was when I got invited to many events.”
At these events she recited her poems about the struggles they faced, and after some time she started being asked to take part in political events.
Mhlophe found herself in a dilemma.
She thought she was just reciting her poems, not realising that she was in politics way deeper than she thought.
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