OK Matsepe Lecture focuses on Sepedi language as Identity

By: Emmaculate Cindi

The Limpopo Provincial Government in partnership with University of South Africa (UNISA) has held the 2^nd OK Matsepe Memorial Lecture at Meropa Casino on Friday night. The lecture celebrated the life and time of the renowned author and poet who in death is still celebrated.

This year’s lecture intended to promote African culture with language identity by honouring Sepedi which was known as Sesotho sa Lebowa.

Matsepe was known for his philosophical views on God and Gods, Gender issues and Ubuntu.  With the lecture’s theme of standing against gender based violence, Professor Mandla Makhaya from UNISA shared with the audience that the university has developed Sexual Policy which will work closely with the Gender Commission. That the university  has reviewed all policies on Gender Based Violence (GBV).

The university has established a directorate based in the Rector’s office and this is one of the work the university will do to uphold the Matsepe legacy as he, Matsepe was raised and lived in the polygamy environment where he experienced faults in it and wished to bring unity in the society and tradition as he recognised GBV.  Even after recognising the GBV he still struggled to resolve it in the era that patriarchy was commended and used his books to talk about it.

Taking to stage to address the audience, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba reminded those in attendance that language is an important element of identity and culture that needs to be preserved. Matsepe’s books were written in Sepedi and had identified himself as Mopedi even when Sepedi was not the only language that he was exposed to given the history of segregation by the apartheid government.

He used his writings to keep his language alive and acknowledged that culture needs to evolve to keep up with the global  trends and most importantly, to keep it alive.

“OK was an exceptional author who was ahead of his time. He brought things to perspective, he wrote about GBV. He was a philosopher how believed that things could be resolved if men could recognise and respect each other and respect women”. Prof Makgoba

Even when Matsepe has written many books in Sepedi, those who want to get their hands on them struggles as they are not available in book stores nation wide. With the 4^th Industrial Revolution awareness, none of the books are available online and this pose a threat to preserving the Sepedi books written by the giant like Matsepe and many others of his time.

To remind audience of his melody flow of his writings, Puleng Nkomo and Fridah Legodi read extracts from his novels which kept the audience mesmerised by how African language, particularly Sepedi can be used to narrate issues affecting South Africa and the globe.