Tsakane-based author Bomikazi Ngcube-Gwiliza has just had her fifth book published.
The book will also be added in her list of books that are used as part of the curriculum in Eastern Cape (EC) schools.
“All my books have an educational element and are used for learners from Grade Seven to matric,” says Bomikazi proudly.
Her books are written in Xhosa, and tackle issues of women emotional abuse, resisting peer pressure, and Inkedama which looks at orphans and the choices they have in using education to better their lives.
The 38-year-old EC-born author says she did a lot of courses including nursing, firefighting and paramedic training which she didn’t complete after realising they were not her true passions.
However, on a random day while sitting with a friend in 1996, Bomikazi picked up her pen and paper and started writing and has not stopped since.
Her first breakthrough came in 1998 when she entered and won a writing competition on Umhlobo Wenene FM.
Having made contacts with the radio station, in 2007 Bomikazi approached them with an idea for a radio drama she had written.
Not only has the drama series been brought back twice due to popular demand, it has been published as a novel, titled Intliziyo ngubani na onokuyazi (who understands the heart).
In her busy schedule, Bomikazi also writes a radio soap opera for the station which began in 2010 and is broadcast daily at 1.15pm on 93.2fm.
Although Bomikazi concedes that writing in the vernacular is difficult, especially in Xhosa which has nine different groups.
She suggests that, ‘people focus more on their mother languages, because there is a gap and very little competition’.
