Makhosazana “Makhosi” De wette Dludla, the author of illustrated children’s book Hello! My Name is Bongi, wants to give voice to the stories of African girls.
Hello! My name is Bongi is her first fictional children’s story, and a step towards her vision of reconnecting young South Africans with their heritage and inspiring them to dream their own dreams.
Before De Wette Dludla moved to Cape Town, and then New York with her father at the age of 13, she was raised in a small village in KwaZulu-Natal similar to the setting of her novel. There she immersed herself in adventure with her older cousins on her grandparents’ farm – a time she recalls as being the safest and most beautiful of her life.
Partly autobiographical, the book is a journey of self-discovery, an awakening of self-belief, and a portrait of Zulu culture and life in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
Despite the happy childhood, De Wette Dludla’s journey to becoming a published author was not easy as she suffered a severe bipolar episode in the wake of her mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis in 2000. Six electric shock treatments later, De Wette Dludla had to learn how to speak and walk again, and says writing helped her find her own voice.
She was thrilled when she learnt Ndalo Media Books was interested in publishing her book about the brave little Bongi who adventures her way around her Gogo’s farm.
As a girl who had acquired the skill of carrying a bucket of water on her head at a young age, De Wette Dludla promised her mother that she would free herself from poverty.
And now, as a respected name in the Cape Town media industry and a published author who named her heroine after her late mother and dedicated her first book to her grandmother, De Wette Dludla has more than honoured that promise. She is currently working on a sequel to this book, as well as her memoirs.
Hello! My Name is Bongi is R180, on sale at Wordsworth and Exclusive Books and the websites ethnikids.co.za and takelot.com