The Politics of Protest in the Post-Apartheid Poetry of Seitlhamo Motsapi and Mxolisi Nyezwa

Abstract

This paper critically examines the manifestation of protest agitations in post-apartheid South African poetry. The paper considered the insightful reflections of two South African poets on the influence of the apartheid administration and other forms of racial profiling and segregation. It is pertinent to note that the paper does not only record the outburst of these writers against apartheid; the crux of the paper is channeled towards the exposition of the perspectives of the selected poets about the traumatic experience of apartheid and the obnoxious nature of the post-apartheid experience. One collection of poetry from Seitlhamo Motsapi and Mxolisi Nyezwa was selected for critical and literary analysis. The paper considers the expression of disaffection by writers in their portrayal of the struggles for socio-political sanity and socioeconomic equanimity after the dehumanizing apartheid regime. The paper posits that writers should continually engage the thesis of post-apartheid and evoke the consciousness of the masses to the nefarious realities of their circumstances. The paper concludes that Africans need to realize their distinctions and peculiarities by looking inwards and reflecting on new ways to chart a new course for future generations.