Defying the Laws of Nature is Detrimental

By Sonny Lucas Sekwakwa

The principle of sowing and reaping underpins the way the world functions. Without this principle in operation, life will cease to exist. Everything that sustains man comes from the ground after a seed has been planted. The principle of sowing and reaping underpins the way the world functions. Without this principle in operation, life will

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rowanvale Books Ltd
• Release date: Apr 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781911569879

Sonny Lucas Sekwakwa

Sonny Lucas Sekwakwa is also the author of: -Kgomo tšešo, published by Dinkwe Productions ISBN 9780620508780 -Abominations in Secunda, published by Publishing World SA ISBN 9780994664686

Book preview

ACT I

SCENE 1

NARRATOR: In the cool atmosphere, a couple was relaxing. They no longer trusted one another. One was contemplating when the other would leave. The woman of the house was small in stature, and she was happy that she could still attract younger men. Her husband was huge in stature, and he also liked women. They had the same attitudes towards life—they liked things.

They had two children, a boy and a girl. They had two cars and their house was very big. What else could they want? The man was the foreman in the Sasol mine, and the woman was a nurse at a faraway place in Standerton. Why was the woman working so far from Secunda, when there were clinics and hospitals nearby? So that when she did her staff, nobody could see.

MPHO: Douglas Zulu! Can you see how this house is? How are you going to cope when I start working in Standerton on Monday?

DOUGLAS ZULU: Nothing will stop me.

MPHO: You cannot even wash your underwear after bathing yourself; how are you to cope with the house?

DOUGLAS ZULU: Do not think that if you shy away from your house, I will kneel down and do all the dirty jobs for you. All your used cooking utensils will be left as they are. I am not talking about clothes. On the floor, you are going to find grass growing.

MPHO: Maybe it would be better if I looked for someone who could take care of this house.

DOUGLAS ZULU: Are you going to pay him?

MPHO: Why can’t you pay him? You are a working man.

DOUGLAS ZULU: Honestly, why are you working? To tell the truth, I do not see what you are working for. (With eyes wide open) Or are you still taking your money to your mum?

MPHO: Hey, Douglas Zulu! Never mention my mother in our conversations.

DOUGLAS ZULU: Good. I will leave your mother out of this. What will my mother say? I mean the person who brought me into this world. I married a woman for the perpetual growth of the Zulu clan, and the woman of the house goes all the way to look for another woman to take care of the house. This is an abomination in Secunda.

MPHO: There is a nanny I know, she will look after my children.

DOUGLAS ZULU: There is no nanny who is going to stay here while you are gone. (With eyes wide open) I will look for a person myself. Even I do not trust the people of Secunda. They are Ndebeles.

MPHO: Then where will you find this person?

DOUGLAS ZULU: This week I am going home. I will look for a person I can trust. Somebody who would never steal from me.

MPHO: That is fine by me, as long as you trust the person.

DOUGLAS ZULU: She is going to live here. She is going to sleep here. My house is not to be frequented by granny Ndebele witches. Mnqh! (Sighs) What do you take me for?

(He stands up and goes outside. He puts the children into the car.)

MPHO: (At the door) Where are you going?

DOUGLAS ZULU: We are going to the butchers. Have you forgotten that we are to roast meat in the evening?

MPHO: (Surprised) Ooh! Take these (She gives him fifty rand). Bring me some sour milk from the cows at Standerton. The milk from that dairy is very nice.

DOUGLAS ZULU: Milk is the same all over the world. What is the difference?

(He reverses the car and leaves.)

ACT I

SCENE 2

NARRATOR: When Douglas Zulu left, Mpho went to her car. She left in a different direction and went to the police station. When she arrived at the gate, she found a policeman she knew.

MPHO: Mango! Where is Metja?

MANGO: I left him at his usual shebeen, at Sangoma’s place.

(He points.)

MPHO: Thank you.

(She leaves.)

MANGO: (To Makalla) Did you notice the lady I was talking to?

MAKALLA: No. Who is she?

MANGO: She is the wife of Douglas Zulu.

MAKALLA: Hey, man! How do you know other people’s wives?

MANGO: From around the shebeens.

MAKALLA: (Surprised) Is she drinking? Because her man does not drink.

MANGO: That woman is having an affair with Metja. Even now, she is looking for him.

MAKALLA: Are you Metja’s guardian angel?

MANGO: She was merely asking.

MAKALLA: Douglas Zulu is going to kill you. As for that woman, she does not know what she is doing. She should ask her clever counterparts at the hostels.

MANGO: I play snooker with Douglas Zulu every day. I do not know what to say. I’m afraid to tell him.

MAKALLA: Tell him.

MANGO: Where will I start?

MAKALLA: Start an unnecessary fight, then assault him with words. Tell him that it’s because his wife is chowed by Metja. I’m telling you, he’s going to wake up. He has been sleeping for too long.

MANGO: It’s like that man from ext. seven. His neighbour, Tim, is heavily involved with his wife.

MAKALLA: Are you referring to Tank? That guy is useless. Douglas Zulu is too clever; he is not the same as Tank. We wrote a letter to Tank, informing him about his wife’s involvement with Tim. We made him worse. I saw him another day, driving Tim’s car.

MANGO: A letter? Now you are coming up with a good plan. We should write him a letter from one of the people he fears the most…like Mayisela.

MAKALLA: Hey! You would cause friction between Mayisela and Douglas Zulu.

MANGO: He would come spitting at Mayisela, and Mayisela would never leave him alone.

ACT I

SCENE 3

NARRATOR: The miracles began at Sangoma’s shebeen. Mpho was sitting on her man’s lap, and she was kissing him.

METJA: Why are you doing this in front of people?

MPHO: They do this daily in my presence, and I’ve never complained. Let them endure. This has nothing to do with them.

METJA: Where is your husband?

MPHO: He went to the farms to buy milk. I am here to inform you that tomorrow you must come to sleep at my place.

METJA: Where will your husband be?

MPHO: That man is from the bundu—he likes his homestead. He will be going home with the children.

METJA: Can I get you something to drink?

MPHO: Hey. Let me relax for the last time. I told you that this is my last week in Secunda. On Monday, I begin work in Standerton.

METJA: You told me.

MPHO: That stupid husband thinks that I will be living in the nurses’ home. I’ll find myself a room elsewhere. I am not mad, I cannot live in a nurses’ home anymore.

(She is brought a bottle of wine.)

MPHO: This will be our daily bread. Will you pay me a visit at Standerton, my love?

METJA: What could stop me? When you are thinking of me, just call. There are many vehicles in our company.

MPHO: I wish I could be married to you. Look how controlling and jealous Douglas Zulu has become. He also wants to build a house in his homestead.

METJA: Tell him he is mad. You’re not going there. Imagine doing the house chores with such beautiful nails.

(Mpho looks at her nails.)

METJA: You ladies like to agree with anything that comes your way.

MPHO: How would I know, Metja? I thought I was only chowing money, and he stuck like glue. Look now, he has given me two children.

METJA: Children are not an issue. You can leave them with him.

MPHO: Should I leave him with the children? No way.

METJA: That means you still love him. Leave him with his children. We will make ours.

MPHO: Do you mean there is still time?

METJA: You make your own time. If you do not make time for yourself, nobody will. We can make our own child while you’re still married to him.

MPHO: Now you are talking like a man, Metja. Let us teach him Mpumalanga.

METJA: This Pedi guy is troublesome. He left his girlfriends in Pudiakgopa and came to mess with our women in Mpumalanga. Where did you meet him?

MPHO: He was introduced by Mokgaetši. The guy promised Heaven and Earth. Look at the mess I am in now.

METJA: You like things.

NARRTOR: When Douglas Zulu arrived at his home, the woman of the house was nowhere to be found.

DOUGLAS ZULU: Your mother is gone.

PALESA: She must have gone to Sangoma’s place. That is where she has friends. We were there with her last time.

JAN: Palesa!

(He hits her with an elbow.)

NARRATOR: What on Earth was going on? The son was on the mother’s side. Even when his mother could be on the wrong side, she was still his mother. The boy could know his mother’s lover, just keep quiet and not tell his father. But the girl knew that her father needed to know her mother’s secret. To tell the truth, the son was up to no good.

PALESA: It is true. It was me, my mum, Aunty Dikeledi and other men of the police force. (She counts them on her fingers.)

DOUGLAS ZULU: Is there a shebeen at Sangoma’s place?

PALESA: Yes! They bought me a drink. My mum and Dikeledi were drinking green liquor like staff.

JAN: Palesa! I am going to tell Mother that you said she is drinking.

PALESA: It is the truth! Jo! My mum is drinking.

DOUGLAS ZULU: It means things are messy when I am at work.

(Mpho’s car enters the gate. Douglas Zulu makes a fire. They all sit outside and relax.)

DOUGLAS ZULU: Where have you been during the day?

MPHO: I went to see my friend, Dikeledi.

DOUGLAS ZULU: The one you were spotted with at Sangoma’s place?

MPHO: Who told you that? You like to listen to nonsense.

ACT I

SCENE 4

NARRATOR: Mango and Makalla arrived for the second time at Sangoma’s place. They joined the drinking congregation.

METJA: What were you doing in barracks?

MANGO: We went for lunch. Did you think we were going to eat here? We are here to see you. Has she found you? The person who was looking for you?

METJA: Who?

MANGO: Who else could it be? The wife of Douglas Zulu. You made another man stupid. There are so many women, they even outnumber us, but you are busy with another man’s wife.

MAKALLA: You are going to get yourself killed. Do you know what the Shangaan say? ‘You will taste your own medicine.’ They are referring to a person like you.

MANGO: Right now, we saw Douglas Zulu with