User:Bhekisisa37/sandbox

BHEKISISA MNCUBE is a South African journalist, author and essayist. He was born and raised in the small rural village of eHabeni near the town of Eshowe, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. He says he was born in the apartheid South Africa, ‘black and poor.’ ‘I was a herder despite the fact that my father had no livestock,’ he says ruefully. His life of poverty propelled him into the political life of the nation. At the penultimate stages of the apartheid regime, he served on many anti-apartheid structures, including the African National Congress (ANC).

During the early 90s while undertaking his undergraduate studies at the then Technikon Natal (Durban University of Technology), he immersed himself in student politics. He rose up the ranks in the student movement to serve as the deputy chairperson of the South African Students’ Congress (SASCO), Regional Political Education Officer of the South African Students’ Press Union (SASPU), Public Relations Officer of the South African Technikon Student Union (SASTU) and Deputy President, Media Officer and President of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC). In his adult life, he has been described as a ‘Zulu cultural delinquent’ and ‘part-time darkie’ following his, ‘jumping off the cliff’ stunt to marry a white woman, a one-time ANC activist.

He says he is a journalist by profession, but a media relations specialist and writer by vocation. He has served as a spokesperson to two ANC leaders (current KZN Premier, Willies Mchunu and Peggy Nkonyeni, former MEC for KZN Education) since 2005. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa, and is the director of speechwriting for the minister of basic education.http://alliedpicture.photoshelter.com/image/I0000.Ik1uGYOivM https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/more-teacher-sick-leave-cases-uncovered-1648476 https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/biker-held-after-joyride-467650

In his industrious career in the media and communications industry he has served as a communications consultant to the European Union Delegation to South Africa, PRO for MTN, media liaison officer at the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, senior political reporter and columnist at the Witness just to name a few.

He has been writing and publishing for the last 19 years. He holds a National Diploma as well as a Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree in Journalism from the Durban University of Technology. He is also a recipient of the coveted Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung International Scholarship (Germany) which funded his journalism studies. Currently, he is a Masters (postgraduate) student in the Media and Journalism at the University of Witwatersrand.

His books include, The Love Diary of a Zulu Boy, memoir (Penguin Random House, 2018), Thokozani, Kumnandi Emakhaya, Grade 6 Reader, children’s book, nonfiction, (Macmillan Education South Africa, 2019), FET English First Additional Language Level 4 Student’s Book, edited collection, (Macmillan South Africa, 2014), ‘A Critical Engagement with Society,’ edited collection, (The University of KwaZulu-Natal Press) and ‘Black Tax’, essay, (Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2019). https://www.w24.co.za/PopCulture/Entertainment/Books/book-extract-the-love-diary-of-a-zulu-boy-a-memoir-by-bhekisisa-mncube-20180430

Mncube’s memoir, The Love Diary of a Zulu Boy was published to rave review on digital platforms, newspapers, radio and television. The author was interviewed live on SABC2, Morning Live and eTV, The Morning show. He also had numerous interviews on radio stations such as PowerFM, Radio 702–Cape Talk, Ukhozi FM, Ligwalagwala FM, Radio 2000, Gagasi99.5 FM and Kasie Community Radio. A month after he launched his memoir, he was featured as top five of the, ‘most incredible South African authors’ on W24 magazine. Subsequently, The Love Diary of a Zulu Boy was listed as one of the top ten books to read in 2018 by Drum Magazine. https://www.w24.co.za/PopCulture/Entertainment/Books/10-books-by-african-authors-you-have-to-read-in-2019-20181221 http://www.702.co.za/podcasts/135/late-nights-with-sara-jayne-king/183994/bhekisisa-mncube https://twitter.com/sabcnewsonline/status/990546710928789504

His original and incisive writing has appeared in various publications, including The Witness, Witness/Echo, Sowetan, Sunday Times, Mercury, Sunday Tribune, City Press, Independent on Saturday, Daily News, Sunday World, Politicsweb, Bizcommunity.com and the now defunct - The New Age. He has also published in academic journals at home and abroad. In December 2018, he published an essay on interracial love affairs for the global quarterly magazine, the Index on Censorship, UK. http://www.indexoncensorship.org/magazine

He states: ‘I write to heal the wounds of the past.’ ‘I tell my stories, and my truth no matter how it makes others uncomfortable.’ On big political matters: ‘I am addicted non-racialism.’ As the saying goes, the future is certain; it’s the past that is unpredictable hence, ‘I believe that authors have a moral responsibility to tell uncomfortable truths about themselves and society.’ He lives by the mantra that, good art must, ‘comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.' ‘I believe that all lives matter, but there’s a need to pay more attention to the vulnerable bodies of black women.’ He says if you may, you can call him, ‘a poster boy for a struggle against gender based violence.’ He adds: ‘In all honesty, an injustice here remains an injustice everywhere around the world. We are bound together by a thread of common humanity and collective destiny.’