Sifiso Mzobe writes for FunDza

Award-winning author of Young Blood Sifiso Mzobe has shown his support for FunDza’s initiative of getting young South Africans reading by writing a hard-hitting short story for FunDza’s mobi network.

Along with stories and novels by some of South Africa’s best writers, as well as by upcoming talent, Sifiso’s story, Searching for Simphiwe, will have a potential reach of FunDza’s 350,000+ young readers ages, 14 -25 via their cellphones, either on FunDza’s Mxit portal or mobi site.

Sifiso says of Fundza:

“FunDza is a brilliant initiative because it is getting our young people reading. The more a person gets used to reading, the easier it is to grasp concepts.  Every writer started out as a reader, so FunDza will definitely produce writers from their readership. I had never thought of writing short stories until I was involved with FunDza. Now I can imagine a book of short stories in my body of work. In promoting reading they are also helping us writers to grow.’

Searching for Simphiwe or Ukuthungatha uSimphiwe goes live on FunDza’s mobi network on Friday 22March in both English and isiZulu. Sifiso supplied both language versions of the story which will be released in serial format – a new chapter each day.

It is a vivid and powerfully written story of a student in Umlazi township who is searching for his brother who has gone missing. The search takes him to the wunga merchants in Umlazi, to traditional healers, and eventually to the truth.

It is a story of the devastation that the drug wunga – a mixture of crushed anti-retro virals, rat poison and marijuana  – is wreaking on young people in South Africa. The story of Simphiwe is tragic, but it also holds the seeds of hope in the character of his brother, the narrator, who is flying in his work and life.

Asked what inspired Sifiso to write this story about a drug addict addicted to ‘wunga’, his brother who is searching for him, and his family who are affected, Sifiso says:

“This drug is destroying lives; that is known. It has reached epidemic proportions in the townships. I told the story ‘Searching for Simphiwe’ from the brother’s point of view, to show that one person may get addicted to wunga, but it ends up affecting the whole family.”

Reading for pleasure has huge benefits as it develops critical and creative thinking, empathy, vocabulary and a whole lot more. To get young people reading, the ‘right’ content needs to be accessible, just like Sifiso’s story.

In a country where there are more SIM cards than people, and where nearly everyone has a cellphone, or access to one, FunDza’s mobi site has a vast reach. Where there are no libraries, or access to books, Fundza’s ‘mobi library’ provides free, exciting, relevant and popular reads, from short stories, to novels and non-fiction. There is also a FunDza Fanz section where talented young writers can showcase their work.

The response to FunDza’s mobi stories has been overwhelming, demonstrating, that there is a great desire to read, and that we can build a culture of reading in South Africa.

Readers can comment directly on stories and content. This feedback is showing how readers relate to the stories and how the stories are positively impacting on their lives. Here’s a small selection:

This is a touching story teaches us to stand up and say no 2 the abuse of woman and children.