There’s nothing that brings Jabulile Mbokazi, commonly known as Jabu, more joy than indigenous storytelling. She becomes part of the tale and gives the best narration of any children’s story. Whether she has to sound like a rabbit, bear, lion or cat, Mbokazi comes with the right sound effects. She does anything she can to highlight events in her story.
The best part is that she is doing it in her native language, isiZulu.
In December 2020, Mbokazi, a librarian at Glenanda Library in Region F, pioneered an indigenous library programme at her workplace. She was inspired to implement the programme after she realised there was a need to teach children in their home languages.
“I noticed children were bored and I presented the idea to my manager. I also realised there’s a need for storytelling in different indigenous languages,” says Mbokazi. Her first book was a Christmas tale. Since inception, the initiative has grown and even spread to other libraries in the region. Mbokazi started with isiZulu, but isiXhosa, Afrikaans, English, and Xitsonga are now also represented in the initiative.
“It has grown so much. People sometimes reach out and ask what the name of the book is so they can buy it for their children,” says Mbokazi
Children are entertained once a week at the library or on Facebook via the Joburg Libraries page. As an avid reader, Mbokazi thrives on seeing others enjoy reading or storytelling. One of her favourite books is uFudu noNogwaja, about a tortoise and a hare.
Mbokazi originates from KwaZulu-Natal. She obtained her information science degree from Unisa and she is currently pursuing an honours. She joined Glenanda Library as a library assistant and was eager and ambitious from the start. She says what she loves most about being a librarian is that you’re also able to teach. “We as librarians are also educators to some extent.”
Mbokazi notes that there are not many indigenous books in libraries. Sometimes she uses of her own resources to either record the digital story or browse books.
As indigenous storytelling in the City of Johannesburg grows, Mbokazi hopes it will eventually have its own centre devoted exclusively to indigenous storytelling. “Africans also have stories that haven’t been written yet.”
Written by Brümilda Swartbooi
10/10/2022