Our FunDza Fanz writer interview this month is with Ayanda Makomfana (born 1990) who started writing when he was 16 years old in Grade 10.
Ayanda explains what inpires him to write:
I just wake up then think of writing. I write when I’m hurt. When I’m happy. Depends on the mood that I am in on that day. But mostly I write poems and short stories. But I can write poetry every day.I just open my head and start writing.
He explains his unusual writing process. A heading pops into his head. He then writes the heading in his diary. The next time he looks at the heading, he is then able to just open himself up to what it means to him. He shows me an example of a heading. ‘He is my brother.’ This heading came to him during the recent Xenophobic flare-ups. The title reveals how Ayanda feels that we can not seperate ourselves from a person simply because he/she comes from further away than us.‘Samora made me’ is another heading that stands out.
This is a story about when I’m coming back home. Samora is in Philippi. It is where I grew up, though I was born in the Eastern Cape. I moved to Samora when I was in Grade 7 and that is where, as a teenager, everything came about. As teenagers, we take bad choices. So my writing is sometimes about the good things that I have done and sometimes I write about the bad things. And the good things that I see happening to people. And the bad things that I see. And I write about what we can do to make that change. Just to get the mindset of the people straight. Now, perhaps they can think outside of the box before doing bad things. This is the writing that inspires me.
In 2009 Ayanda and friends, then teenagers, formed a group, Malumi (meaning ‘uncle’) in Samora. They recited poetry in all sorts of locations like Mfuleni on weekends. They’d go to libraries where access was granted and showed people that they can also express themselves. They’re still in contact and last year with Afrika Tikkun, they did poetry bash with learners from Mfuleni High School.
When I ask Ayanda whether he sees himself as a writer he shocks me with the revelation that he is a chef by training. A pastry chef, no less! But he admits, that writing is like his second option.
It is one of the best things in my life like if I’m upset, writing calms me. I forget about all my challenges.
Our interview took place in the AVA offices where Ayanda started as a volunteer before becoming an intern. I’m not surprised to see him working with an organisation whose focus is on encouraging young South Africans to become vibrant, involved citizens and to take responsibility for their own development. This is in many ways the path that Ayanda has set for himself in life. A man of many talents whose advise for the youth is:
If your heart tells you something, you should follow it. You can follow your heart with your mind. But the heart can change how you feel.
We have received and edited one of Ayanda’s essays to date, Wishes and Dreams with more stories in the pipeline. Keep an eye on this FunDza Fanz writer!