A SON OF the Karoo has featured in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inaugural address at the Union Buildings on 19 June. He was the poet Sandile Dikeni, who was born in Victoria West in 1966 and died in Cape Town in 2019. Towards the end of his address, President Ramaphosa read the following poem by Dikeni:
‘Love Poem for my Country’
My country is for health and wealth
See the blue of the sea
And beneath the jewels of fish
Deep under the bowels of soil
Hear the golden voice of a miner’s praise for my country
My country is for unity
Feel the millions
See their passion
Their hands are joined together
And there is hope in their eyes
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According to South African History Online, Sandile Dikeni was born in Victoria West in the Northern Cape in 1966. He began writing poetry in the 1980s while in detention for anti-apartheid activism. He became sought after for his performances, and rose to prominence in the Western Cape as a major voice against oppression.
Dikeni attended the University of the Western Cape (UWC), and obtained a diploma in journalism through Peninsula Technikon. He was arts editor of the Cape Times, editor of Die Suid-Afrikaan and political editor of This Day South Africa. He also served a stint in government as spokesperson for the ministe of housing, Lindiwe Sisulu.
ikeni was the author of three collections of poems, including the seminal Guava Juice (Mayibuye Books, 1992), followed by Telegraph to the Sky (UKZN Press, 2001) and Planting Water (UKZN Press, 2007). He also published a collection of his articles from the Cape Times, titled Soul Fire: Writing the Transition (UKZN Press, 2002).
In 2005, Dikeni was involved in a car accident that left him in coma, but managed to pull through after a long period of recovery. He suffered from tuberculosis, and died in Cape Town on 9 November 2019, aged 53.
FEATURED IMAGE: The poet and activist Sandile Dikeni. Picture: Elke Kritzinger.