adminThupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Beitbridge-born author, Brenda Mashudu Muleya (35) gradually broke new ground in South Africa after one of her latest offerings ‘‘Thorn of Life’’ has been made a set book at a private school in Limpopo Province.
The book is being used for the senior phase from Grade 7 to 9.
Muleya, who is a teacher by profession, says she has always had a passion to write about life issues and has been an avid reader and writer since primary school.
Her latest book is set on a story about the misfortunes of a teenager, Rudzani (not a real-life character) who was raped and impregnated by her biological father.
“Her mother failed to see she was hurting until she got into labour and the father committed suicide upon the discovery of the pregnancy. The mother later died of depression,” said Muleya.
“Rudzani was blessed with a baby boy whom she left in the custody of her aunt in the village.
She then moved to live with her teacher but was raped again by the teacher’s husband and she ran to South Africa where she started a new life with an adopted parent”.
The story got nasty when Rudzani met her son twenty years later and they fell in love unknowingly.
The relationship resulted in another pregnancy and things git to head when her son took her to Zimbabwe to meet his parents.
Rudzani was shocked to discover that she had been impregnated by her own child and as a result, she ran away.
“Along the way, she was hit by a car, while crossing the road and died instantly,” said Muleya.
The youthful author said she started writing around 2018 and that she chose the plot based on some social events she was witnessing in society.
So far, she has written two more IsiNdebele novels, Soneni Mntanami and Enhle Ngumakhothwa Ngunina, published in 2018.
Muleya said she joined a writers’ platform in 2017 via WhatsApp.
“As I read their books it triggered my passion. I decided to pen my own book. It was published in 2018. The title of my 1st book is ‘Soneni Mntanami,’” she said.
“The following year I penned my second book ‘Enhle Ngumakhothwa Ngunina’ which was published that very same year.
In 2021, I penned my third book and that became my first English edition, ‘‘Thorns of Life’’. Currently, I am writing poems using 3 different languages, IsiNdebele, Venda, and English”.
Muleya says her long-time dream is to have all her novels translated into Tshivenda, so that they may be used as set books for children around the Beitbridge District.
“I’m inspired by daily lives. I normally write about what is happening in our African society. Mostly I tackle issues of gender-based violence, ill-treatment of orphans in African society,” she added.
Muleya said she got her first book published with minimal challenges since she was linked to other authors, through the WhatsApp platform initiated by Mihla Sitsha.
She only had challenges with marketing, which she says is improving with each day as a result of continued networking.
According to the author, writing should come from the heart of one to come up with a good and complete product for the market.
“I feel like writers aren’t given the recognition and honour they deserve. Most writers don’t sell their work and yet a lot of readers benefit from it. This happens in cases where the products are shared in PDF formats to several groups without the authors’ knowledge,” she added.
Muleya said it was important for budding writers to face their challenges head-on and take these as motivation to do more.
“It took me almost a year to complete my 1st book, but now I can produce a book in less than six months,” she added.
Online Reporter