By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
Siyabulela Mokebe urges individuals looking to transform their lives to read his book titled ‘Tamanna for Change’.
“Tamanna is a Hindi word which means desire. That means, the title of the book is Desire for change. As someone who reads widely, I once came across the word Tamanna on the Internet and was intrigued by it.
“I then used it to name an organisation I had co-founded and chaired which sought to alleviate the issue of school dropouts in Alexandra.
“When I decided to write the book and had to come up with the name of the book, it was just natural for me to choose Tamanna for change which I had previously used for my NPO but also because my life had always been about seeking change in its many forms and on various facets of my being,” said Mokebe originally from Tembisa (Duduza) but grew up in Alex.
He said the book is a memoir that seeks to show the importance of not giving up in the face of adversity.
“Moreover, it describes the struggles of growing up in a child-headed family and implications thereof. Also, it describes the importance of education and the struggles I had to endure in my pursuit of education.”
The book, available on Amazon, costs R250. This 228-page book was published by Creative Books SA.
Asked how the writing journey began, a high school math and science teacher, a Randburg resident, said when he was in grade 7, his English teacher involved him in a school competition where we had to write short stories for primary schools.
He stated that he wrote a beautiful book, yet it was disqualified from the competition due to its perceived inappropriateness for children.
“My book was centered around infidelity. I was 12 years old when I wrote that book. From then onwards, I was always fascinated by words and using words in ways that can convey a deep meaning in an elegant way.”
Despite not doing well in English during high school, Mokebe’s fascination with words and their power persisted.
“It was however when I was studying towards my B. Ed degree where I realised that I can easily express myself in writing.
“It was people like Dr. Thokozani Mathebula who was my lecturer and Dr. Amos Wilson (African-American, psychologist, Social Worker, Pan-Africanist, Author, Lecturer, Public Speaker) who inspired me immensely and shaped my attitude towards writing.”
His desire to publish more books stems from his belief that there is still much to be said and published.
“Furthermore, I see myself continuing with my studies, part-time, but also continue to shape young minds through teaching maths and science.”
The bookworm also believes that people associate with others for two reasons: politics and economics.
“People associate with you because of your power relative to them or their power relative to you and also because you possess a skill or know-how that is scarce and in demand.
“Therefore, people should continue to grow and develop themselves so that they can enter into relationships as partners or colleagues and not burdens.
“If you are good at what you do, people will come to you not because they love you but because of what you can offer,” he said.
His success was due to his experiences while growing up in the township. He said he made a lot of mistakes and had to pick up himself and soldier on.
“That’s why the subtitle of my book is: How my predispositions and predilections are influenced by ghetto idiosyncrasies.”
He promises to send you the book by courier, but you have to pay extra for it. His Facebook page is Tamanna for change.
