THE University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) director, David wa Maahlamela, has been named one of 200 Young South Africans by the Mail & Guardian newspaper in the Film and Media category. The newspaper supplement showcases young stars who are shaping the country’s future.
A humble Maahlamela dedicated the recognition from the newspaper to the hard work the entire CCA team puts towards the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF).
“Accolades can sometimes be overrated since they often emphasise the end results exclusive of circumstance. It is for that reason I mainly rely on my personal monitoring indicators. External recognition is secondary. The work of CCA, for instance, cannot be judged without contextualising its staff complement and quantity of activities it runs annually. Over and above, I am grateful that the external world is able to notice the unseen hours the CCA team under my leadership contributed to the entire Media and Film industry,” he said.
Although this is Maahlamela’s second appearance on the list, he is thrilled to now be featured under the Film and Media category for 2017.
“I believe, it is not much about me as the practitioner but rather the platform DIFF creates, and its contribution to the industry at large,” he said.
He said most platforms he had participated in since he assumed office as the Head of the CCA translates into the mecca of the African film industry.
“DIFF is to the continent as large. I have participated in large platforms such as Berlinale (Germany) and Cannes (France) simply because I head this great institution named DIFF,” he added.
Currently, he is completing his PhD research on the kiba poetry within the Zion Christian Church, exploring works of poets such as Petrus Molelemane and Johannes Mohlala. It is a bilingual research, allowing both the Sepedi and English speakers to indulge on this multilayer oral poetry.
Maahlamela, who hails from Limpopo, matriculated at the tender age of 16. Unable to study further due to financial constraints, he immersed himself wholly in his literature for a year after which he earned awards as a top poet, playwright and novelist. He also holds an MA in Creative Writing (cum laude) from Rhodes University. In 2012, he was funded by the University of Colombia (US) to pursue editing and graphic design studies at the Seagull School of Publishing in Calcutta, India. Maahlamela even completed the Public Management and Governance segment under the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Programme.
As the co-founder of the Polokwane Literature Festival, Maahlamela served as a non-executive director of the National Arts Council, and the National English Literature Museum where he chaired various sub-committees.
He authored four award-winning books, including the much acclaimed poetry anthology, Tša Borala. Among others, he is the recipient of the PanSALB Multilingualism Awards and the Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award. Maahlamela even appeared on Muvhango and Voice of Africa series. He is the former Johannesburg Institute of Advance Study Writing Fellow with his literary works published in over 50 literary journals and anthologies.
