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J;.J; e- MOILOA _. THE DRAMATIS·T
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,:.. €ILAR:ENCE. FlELD· EMSLIE,/
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" . A' thesis, submitted: to' meet the requirements
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. E)'octor~':Litteranum
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Southern Sotho
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Department of Bantu: Languages.
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..... : . University ofthe Orange Free State .. .. .'
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Supervisor: Professor J.G. Gildenhuys,. D.Litt.
Co-supervisor: Professor F .R~ Muller; D.Litt.
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CONTENTS'
'k€K,NOWLEDGEMENTS,
P.REFACE. (i)
. . . CHA:P~ER 1: THE STRUCTURE OF THE DRAMA. 1"_',
CHAPTER 2: CHARACTERIZATION: 65
CHA,PTER J: DIALOGUE, t 121
: r • ' CNAJ?TER 4, EXTRINSIC CONVENTIONS, 183
• :'", ,,'~' C' . , Bm~LI'OGR_iAPH~Y. 2.17
. ABS;Y,RACT.
22.1
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',''. BTO@RAPHY OF J.J. MOILOA ( i)
JAA:.O SIELE MOTSWALLE (iv)
MOLOMO WA BADIMO (x)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The completion of this thesis would have been impossible had it
not been for the assistance received from various persons. It
is therefore imperative that I express my sincere thanks and
appreciation to:
* Professor J.G. Gildenhuys, head of the department of Bantu
languages at the U.O.F.S., my supervisor, for.his·guidance
< ~_ ••
and encouragement, and many hours of discussion; as well as
making invaluable,~uggestions and corrections in this thesis;
Professor F.R. Muller, professor of English at the U.O.F.S.
my co-supervisor, for the advice, immaculate correction of
and guidance while writing this thesis;
* Mr J.J. Moiloa, speech. assistant in the d~partment of Bantu
Lanquaqe s at the U.O.F.S., for checking the many translations
from Southern Sotho into English and his willingness at all
times to help with the translation of extremely, difficult
passages in the text;
* Mr S.M. Moletsane, inspector of schools in.the O.F.S. for his
time given tQ l~ngthy discussions regarding the two dramas;
* Mrs G. MacLeod for checkirig.~he quotations in this thesis;
* Mrs J.C.J. Carstens, for the mammoth task of typing this
thesis, in such a neat and pro·fessional manner;
* My Mother, for·her constant encouragement;
* My wife, Edith. She will best understand that my depth of
gratitude for her wise and loving encouragement is beyond
expression, throughout my years of study;
* My childr~n, Karin, Vanessa ánd Adrian for their patience,
consideration, understanding and moral support throughout my
years of study;
* God, for strength, guidance and in$ight.
"To Him be the glory."
1982-05-15
(i)
PREFACE
(i) Introduction
"The meaning of a text can never be demonstrated with the same
objectivity as the mode of existence of objects of the natural
sciences. We cannot compare our understanding of a work to an
objectively demonstrable intention of the author - we can only
approach the meaning of a text in the int?~subjective game of
reading and interpreting texts in which the reader and the critic
are J.Ustt'as essen laI a part as the wrl.ter. "1
With the above in mind it has been· attempted in this thesis to
analyse Moiloa's dramas, remembering also that "criticism which
.attempts to impose norms of understanding outside any form of'
communicative consensus, is authoritarian and presumptious.
Cr~ticism, however, which. is based on an anticipation of truth
as free consensus, despite the fact that it cannot escape· the
present horizon of trádition w~thin which we all find ourselves,_
can attain a standard tif reference within which it is able to
reflect its own norms in relation to a possible, if perhaps
utopian future.,,2
(ii) The aim and .method of study
This thesis is an analytical approach to the dramas,-JAA 0 SIELE
MOTSWALLE and MOLOMO WA BADIMO by J.J. MOILOA, on the basis of
contemporary insights into the literary science. Therefore the
outcomé of this study (interpretation) must be seen as an hypothesis
and at present-to the researcher's satis£action a.tenable one and
not as a final answer and/or insight into the dramas themselves.
In order to analyse and interpret the literary texts, the dramas
have been dissected into constituent elements and then meaning
has been allocated to each element. This analytical study of the
'dramas makes special reference to their structures, techniques
used by the dramatist, characterization and the dialogue used .
.:..~./'
(ii)
A chapter on éxtrinsic conventions concludes the thesis and in-
cludes the following: what holds an audience's attention and
how Moiloa has attempted to hold his .audience's attention in
both dramas is discussed. Para-textual influences that in-
fluence the understanding of both dramas include: working on
the mines, Bantu marriage customs, bride abduction, child
discipline, medicinal practice and beliefs, the witchdoctor,
initiation "schools", the anCestors and traditional wedding
proceedings. Two minor para-textual infLuences discussed are
spitting and the new surname of a bride.
The last chapter ends with. a gen~ral conclusion regarding the
essential merits and demerits of the dramas in question.
~here is no lon~-standing tradition regarding Sesotho dramatic
structure and th~refore there are no accepted standards.
This thesis has attempted to test Moiloa's dramas against ack-
nowledged criteria for European , theatre.
In each chapter, the merits and demerits of the two dramas in
question have been .mentioned whilst suitable 'passages from the
dramas have been quoted in order to 'support the requirementé
necessary for a drama. These Sesotho passages have all been
translated into English, but i~ must be remembered that the trans-
lations have been kept extremely literal in an attempt to preserve
the flavour of the Sesotho.
(iii)
FOOTNOTES
1. Horn, P.R.G., The literary text as an open-ended structure,
p. 7.
2 . Ibid., p. 11.
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r.. 'EH:E' STR'UCTURE OF THE DRAMA
I,
, LI, Definition 1
.'," •. z . ~. ' •• 1.2. Introduction 2
, ';
1.3 The: beginning 4,
1.4·, The exposition 6
, . :,' 1.4', 1 The. exposition, and' feeling 8
_.,'-~.'_ .. 1'.4';2. The. exposition and the' pro blem of. the play ic
,,' 15 Theme: Il
, 1.6, The-complication 22
. .l.T The" develo prnent 25:
'_.':. ' , 1.8 The. crisis 31 .
1.9 The: climax 3'4
1.10 The: dérrouement 37
, . , 1.11 Action-complexes 39
'. .• ,0< J,~~l ..l-l.l Action-complexes. and their function in Jaa ... 4'·1
':,' ,:' : '.' '.'" 1.1-1.2: Action-complexes: and their. function' in Molomo ... 51
\. ',.- I.J2 General remarks 60
F00TNOTES, 64',
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1. THE STRUCTURE OF THE DRAMA
1.1 Definition
A drama is "a prose or poetical composition telling a story of
conflicting interests in human life by means of the speech and
action of the characters: usually intended to be acted upon the
stage".1
conradie,2 maintains that a drama is meant to be performed. In
otder to be app~eciated, a drama must not merely be' read but a
per£ormance must be seen. It must be interpreted by the actor,
producer and stage manager .. In theory then, a drama should not
be criticised without its also having been seen in performance ..
One derives a great deal. of pleasure from a performance on a
stage accompanied by speech and action as could be the case in
Jaa 0 siele motswalle on page 63. In performance the action
adds so much to the mere dialogue one has to absorb when reading
the drama.
THABO: . Jo! Disene a mpolaya. Ke tla' ... ke .... ti l:a ...
o thonaka majwe, 0 ntsa bile a hlwephetsa mamina.
THAKANE: . Ka bohale. He ïri eene I Hase ~~gwana mmao eno.
Ha 0 mpatla o·mpolelle. o maketse ka thoto ke a
'0 bpna ntho towe.
DISENE: Ka ho thohothelwa. o bua le mang Thakane? Ke
tl a 0 i-i p i t la . Ka nnete bosa! 0 a ikana.
Ke tla 0 ntsha kotsi e tshabehang.
THABO: Oh! Disene is kiZling me. I will .. I will ..
He picks up stones and is even sneezing.
THAKANE: Angrily. Hey Di8ene~ That ~s not you~ mother's
child. if you are looking for me you must tell me.
Evidently you don't know what to do you siZly thing.
\.1
2
DISENE: Very harshly. To whom are you talking Thakane?
I will smash you. Honestly, by ioodness.
I will injure you terribly.
How can the following bit of action be appreciated to the full if
it is not seen on the stage? This comes from Molomo wa badimo.
... moya wa ka 0 kgaoha dikoto, ke utlwa ke senyaha (sic.)
maikutlo. Jo! itjhu! Hlaba la lerato. Mme ntshware!
(0 a wa ha a tswa). (p , 11)
... my soul breaks into pieces. I feel confused. Oh!
ouch! The pain of love. Mother~ catch hold of me!
(He falls down whilst going out).
1.2 Introduction
"Reading a script", says Hayman,3 "can be all the more e~joyable
if we remember that it waSn't intended for reading. We see words;
we imagine sounds and pictures. When we go to the theatre, we
hear words and sounds, but we see people and backg~ounds; when
we read, we use our eyes on the element that is invisiblé in per-
formance" .
"when we read a play or a novel, we cannot take in more than one
impression at a time. As our eyes move laterally across the
printed lines, our.brain receives each impact separately. The
information comes in a éingle jet, like water passing through a
narrow hole. In performance, several taps can be turned on at
the same time. Words, silences, sound effects, background music,
facial expressions, gestures, movements across the stage, lighting,
groupings, shadows, shapes and colours in the costume and décor -
all these may be telling us something: At the same time we are
emotionally involved by the appearance, the voice, the personality
of the actors. We may feel in sympathy with one, hostile to
another. The words are all filtered to us through a mesh.,,4
In addition, in performance, one sees more than one character
one has a global impress~on of what is happening whereás when orte
3
reads a drama, one ~s boncentrating on dialogue primarily and in
the second instance trying to picture in one's minds eye what is
happening. The success of vivid and correct imagination at all
times depends on so many extra-textual factors (even textual
,factors) that this process can only be unsatisfactory most of the
time.
It must be remembered that many dramas seldom reach the stage,
although a good drama can also make interesting reading. The two
dramas in question, Jaa 0 siele motswalli-and Molomo wa Badimo
have not reached the stage as yet, but provide interesting reading.
In this work they will be referred to as Jaa ..., and Molomo ...,
respectively.
It must be borne in ~ind that the two dramas under discussion have
not been produced on stage, as has been mentioned. To discuss
drama as literature one has certain tools which one app~ies to the
text. To discuss drama on the stage one must also have tools,
but ones applying to the stage. Now one is limited. One dis-
cusses drama as literature (the text) as if it were being staged
and this must obviously have Ltirnt.aitLons and lead to assumptions
in which one's imagination is stretched;· one therefore pretends,
which one in any case does, and this fact must be taken into
account throughoQt this study.
As regards the structure of a drama, which will be dealt with now,
the dra~atist hás to pay attention to these practical aspects
which he will use to convey the central idea of his play in a_
.clear, vivid, concentrated way to his audience. This literary
art really needs pre-planning on the part of the dramatist. The
success of a drama depends largely on the ability of the drama-
tist to arrange the actions in his drama in such a way as to hold
the attention of his audience until the final curtain falls.
In Molomo ..., Moiloa has ar~anged the actions in h~s drama to
make his audience realise that Thuntshane means business when he
says the following:
4
manna 0 hlakana hlooho ha a mo tadima, kelello ya
hae e sale e eme ntsi! Empa ke a ikana ka Makgobotlwane
a ntswetse, ho nna (0 ikotla sefuba) 0 ke~e manneng, ho
tla kgaoha moa ho kgwehlang, ha ke Mosotho mmotwana.
( p , 9)
... a man becomes quite mad when he looks at her, his mind
comes to an absolute stand still! But I can assure you
in the name of 'Makgobotlwane who begot me, in me (he
strikes his chest) she will meet a man, come what may, I
am not a so-called half-Mosotho.
The whole problem, background and period is stated in Thuntshane's
opening speech and one' immediately zeaLi.z es what the drama is all
about and with what intention everythirig is going to take place.
One Lmmed i.at.e Ly knows which para-textual influences will have to
be borne in mind.
We follow·this action right to the final words of the play where
Thuntshane's father has the last word about everything that has
taken place in this drama proving that his son,was correct in his
choice of the woman who caused him to become quite mad when admiring
her.
o a utlwa he; malauwakoto ' Ke moloma wa badimo.
(p , 51)
Do you hear now, that'~ it! It is the mouthpiece of the
ancestors.
1~3 The beginning
The opening scenes of a play are of paramount importance, since
they define the situation from which the whole action will grow,
and establish the central concerns of the play by focusing our
attention. The beginning creates the ,situation which stimulateS(
the curiosity of the audience and can even make them part of the '
situation in which the actors are placed before the 'audience.
5
The aim here is to introduce the characters to the audience
through dialogue and action.
In Jaa ..., Act I, scenes i, ii and iii the audience meets only
two of the many characters in this play, namely Petlane and Disene.
Petlane is still the dominant character throughout Act II, scenes
i, ii and iii, although minor characters are introduced to the
audience. It is oDly in Act III, scene ii that Thakane appears
on the scene for the first time. This is rather odd as she is
one of the main characters. If one takes the length of this drama
into cons~deration, however, it seems that Moiloa probably felt
that there is still plenty of time to introduce her to the audience
at this rather late stage in the drama."
In Molomo' ..., the a~dience listens intently to the thoughts
expressed in the soliloquy spoken by Thuntshane in the opening
scene whereby the audience's attention and curiosity are captured.
In Molomo ..., the first three scenes are taken up by incidents
revolving around the one main character Thuntshane and his family
and the audience meets Motshedisi, the other main actor in scene
iv for the first time.
Moiloa therefore does not conform to this desirable 'beginning'
of introducing his main characters to the audience right at the '
beginning of his drama~. It is quite aparent in Molomo ...,
that he wishes to emphasise a traditional family set up before
introducing this family to the more modern Basotho people.
In the end he portrays a clash between these two opposite poles
for dramatic effect, and for it t~ be convincing, the audience
"has to grasp this distinction clearly.
In both Moiloa's dramas he has succeeded in capturing our atten-
tion and curiosity in the opening scenes as in Jaa ..., the two
main actors meet each other and it appears that they are truly
bosom-friends by their salutations.
6
HeleIe mphato; hai bo ntja-mme. (p. 1)
Greetings to you mate; hallo my mother's dog (bosom-friend).
In Jaa ..., Act I, scene i the two bosom-friends appear to be very
surprised and gushy but we are very wary of their attitude as the
title of the drama translated is "Beware of friends".
In Malomo ..., Act I, scene i the main character, Thuntshane opens
the play with a soliloquy forcing us to li~~en to his problem.
Ke Thuntshane, ha ke Thuntshane wa jwale. Motho 0 tla
ntseba~ ba duletse ho nna ba ntsheba ba leka ho ntshenya
ngwananeng eo ke mo rat0ng hakaale, ka hore ke mpara ha
ke tsebe ho. bala? Bona ba mpheta ka~g? Ba ntjhebela
maotong a dikgoho! Ya itseng motho wa maemo a ka'a ke ke
a nyala ne se (mooki) ke mang? Ba ipolella lehahla hoba
ke a mo rata ngwanana eno. Moditjho! (p..9)
I am Thuntshane, not merely Thuntshane who was born yester-
day. A person will *now me, they pre busy speakini behind
my back and talking ill of me ~n the presence of that girl
whom I love so much, by saying I am a stupid fool because
I can.'t read. In what way do they surpass me? They
look down on me! Who said a person of my status cannot
marry a nurSe? They are wasting their breath because I
love that girl. Gosh!
The way in which Thuntshane introduces himself is a challenge ~
it arouses expectation. Throughout the drama this man sticks
to his 9uns and his ideals are fulfilled. The dramatist has
succeeded in writing this drama in such a way that it forms a
perfect circle/whole.
1.4 The exposition
"The exposition is a very real test of the playwright's ability
to build a sound foundation for the dramatic structure he hopes
to raise."5
7
In Jaa ..., Act I, scene ii Petlane tells his friend, Disene why
he is going to Johannesburg to make some money so that he and
Thakane can get married when he returns. He even asks Disene
to keep an eye on her while he is away.
Ke teng, ntja-mme, 0 sale hantle le wena, 0 bone soothwana
eo ya ka bo wamma, mathakd a se ke a sala a mpota mehlala
ka moraa, 0 nngolle ha 0 bona mafokotsane a ntse a.oka-
oke la a rata ho hahe la teng. (p. 5)
Good enough, my friend, stay ~ell and look after thai girl-
friend (browny) ~f mine, my mother's child, beware that
folks don't undermine me, write to me when you see that
swallows are hovering and attempting to .build there (boys
are wooing her)~
In Jaa ... , Act I, scenes i and ii are so short, and to'eradicate
unnecessary curtain falls, Moiloa could have combined these two
scenes to form one. In scene i Petlane and Disene are sitting
and in scene ii they start walking towards the station. Although
_.)
there is movement taking place, from one location to another this
does not justify another scene and they·could have'merely got up
and 'continued their conversation whilst beginning to walk to the
station.
If Act I, scenes i and ii formed one scene then this would have
been a very good introduction packed with intentions which could
have materialised in Act I, scene iii. Anyhow these intentions
are revealed to Disene by Petlane and although .Disene appears to
be Petlane's bosom-friend, he intends undermining him. The more
information Disene can get, the better, so that he can reveal his
intentions to the audience in the next scene.
In Molomo ..., Act I, scenes i and ii are so short that they both
play a part in the exposition of this drama. Because Thuntshane
is found by his mother talking to himself and is accused by her of
being mad, he discusses the girl with his mother and then faints
from a terrible pain, which he calls
Hlaba la lerato. ( p . 11)
A pain of love.
8
The audience's interest has been aroused at this very early
stage of the play by this unexpected action and one wonders what
is going to happen to this man who is so in love with the nurse.
In scene ii, the witchdoctor arrives and after reviving Thuntshane,
carries him into the hut.
Moiloa now arranges it so that a crowd watches the witchdoctor
while he attends to Thuntshane in the open space in front of his
parent's home. Within seconds a crowd of onlookers gathers
around and expresses its s~rprise at Matsetsela's strange garb.
Moiloa does not give a name to the character who sp~aks in the
second scene, commenting on what is happening since nei.ther he,
nor the crowd appears again later in the drama.· The functio~ of
this anonymous character is to interpret the feelings of the
onlookers whilst the crowd also has the function of deepening thê
suspense and/or the bewild~rm~nt of the family regardt~g what i~
happening to Thuntshane. Their function of being curious in this
scene is accomplished as well as the remarks p~ssed by one of them
regarding Mrnantete's interference with the witchdoctor.
1.4. 1 The exposition and feeling
"The question of the interest that can be aroused and stimulated
in an audience is not a simple onei indeed, it embraces the whole
relationship of the audience of the play. Although the
feeling of interest is by no means the same for all plays, the
interest aroused by exposition will usually be found to consist
of four elements in various proportions: attentiveness in the
broadest and vaguest sense, curiosity, suspense, and sympathetic
or unsympathetic feeling.,,6
In Jaa ... , the audience knows how much Petlane lo~es Thakane and
now they have to listen to how Disene intends betraying his friend
to try to woo Thakane. On his way home, the opening lines of his
monologue in Act I, scene iii rouse feelings of contempt for
Disene and .also sympathy for Petlane who in his absence does not
know what will happen back home.
9
Ekaba ngwanana eo'Thakane ha a le motle hakaale, 0 ne a
hlile a bonang hlahlaneng e kang Petlane tjee banna? Haeba
ke nnete ba a ratana, 0 a ikana supang le nna ke tla kena.
Xe se ke bile ke ntse ke bona tsela eo ke tla mo kgwaphela
ka yona. (p • 6)
I wonder what that girl, Thakane, who is so beautiful saw
in such an ugly person such as Petlane, my word? If it is
true that they are in love he swears then I will also be
accepted. I already see a way in which to woo her.
. .
Moiloa also arouses feelings of sympathy for Thuntshane in
Moloma ..., at the end of scene i when Mmantete, Thuntshane's
mother calls for the witchdoctor to cure her son.
Jowee! Mpitsetseng Matsetsela. (p. 11)
Goodness!
Curiosity is one of the strongest forward-looking feelings on
which the playwright can count to hold the audience's attention.
In both Mailaa' s drama s he has managed to ma i.ntaé.n curiosity very
well. Curiosity, like the attention attracted by the very
opening. of a play, may also be stimulated by the ,appearance of a
problem early in the play. In Jaa ..., this problem is expressed
i~ Act I, scene'iii, where the audience is informed to what
lengths Disene intends going in order to betray his friend,
Petlane and mariy Thakane. In Jaa ..., when Petlane and Disene
part, the audience wonders whether Disene will carry out Petlane's
wish and in Moloma ... , the audience is curious to know whether
Thuntshane's love for the nurse is so great that it will triumph
despite his father's refusal of marriage as well as the girl's
father's refusal, at first, of his daughter's hand in marriage to
such an illiterate as Thuntshane.
What creates suspense? Bentley7 maintains that it is "not merely
ignorance as to what will happen next, but an active desire to
know it, a desire that has been aroused by a previous stimulus".
10
As will be seen later on the dramatist keeps the audience in
suspense in both dramas written, especially Molomo ..., where
this element of suspense keeps the audience so curious as to
whether the forefathers will be able to manipulate the people so
that they, the forefathers, will eventually achieve their own
intentions. This element of suspense is found throughout the
play and lasts until the final curtain falls. We don't know
whether the nurse, Motshedisi, will cleave to her illiterate
husband or rather prefer to be clqssed as a member of an upper
modern elite. Although.there is suspense throughout Jaa .•. ,
it is more obvious in Acts III, and V in their entirety in the
main plot. Act VI, scenes v, vi and vii are especially suspense-
filled scenes in the sub-plot.
1.4.2 The exposition and the problem of the play
"But whether the problem is that of attainment of a goal, of con-
flict between opposing forces, without or within, or of the con-
sequences of an act, it is the function of the exposition to
indicate clearly the problem 'with which the play is to deal."8
Since in Jaa ..., there are two plots, it naturally follows that
there must be two problems in the expositions. The one plot
,
deals with Petlane's work on the mines and his fr~ends' treacherous
attempts to undermine him by placing illegal goods like dagga and
diamonds in his ±oom in order to have him dismissed because they
are jealous of his success and rapid promotion.
The other plot takes place in Lesotno where Petlane's bosom-friend,
Disene, wcios Petlane's-bride-to-be and marries her while he is
wqrking on the mines in Johannesburg. The problem in the expo-
sition of the sub-plot is found in Act II, scene ii where Petlane,
after much bo'asting about his knowledge of mine work, admits for
the first time that he has never been to a mine before and that up
to now he had been a great pretender. A further problem here is
whether Petlane, a novice, will make a success of his career on
the mine, or not.
1 1
In the main'plot the problem centres on Disene's deceitful attempt
to oust Petlane as Thakane's lover.
In Molomo ... , the problem starts with Thuntshane who is illiterate
and who wishes to marry the educated Motshedisi. This problem is
intensified by the will of the forefathers on people still living.
This problem is thus one of traditional versus non-traditional or
modern. Furthermore the problem of the play is clearly spelt out
in scene iii where the witchdoctor tells Makgobotlwane that his
·son is in love with a girl and when her father's name is revealed,
Makgobotlwane reprimands Thuntshane for making decis~ons about
marriage without first·consulting him. This is in keeping with
Basotho tradition. He,truly reprimand~ h~s son by angrily saying:
Kgele! o se 0 ena le mokgwa 0 mobe hakaakang wa ho ithera.
Ke a le bolella nna ha ke lehlanya le jang [iaa n q , Nna ke
Makgobotlwane ke nyallane le maqai a kang ao .' Ka bakwena
ba ntswetse e ka ba le a na. Batho ba sa itsebeng le hore
na ke bakae! 0 ka re motho ke Mosotho ha a sa hiole a
tseba. le seboko sa hae? Tjhe! tjhe! tjhe! tjhe! le ho
leka, 0 sd 0 tlohile ka leoto lesele. ( p , 18)
Gosh! You have a· bad habit of making decisions on your
own. I am telling you I am not a lunatic who eats grass.
Should I, Makgobotlwane, negotiate a marriage with such un-
circumcised people! In the name of Bakwena who gave birth
ta me I will never. People who da no~ even knbw their
lineage .' Can, yau say a person is a Masotha who does nat
even know his clan? Na! na.' na.' no I ' never; yau have
I
already started off on the wrong foot.
1.5 Theme
"The soul of a play is its theme, and the body of a play is its
story.,,9
Styan 10 says: "A theme involves the real purpose for which a
play is written, as well as the tenor and meaning pervading the
12
whole. Because drama'makes its points only in terms of human
behaviour, it must of course use the actions of human beings, but
it is usually a mistake to think that these actions are more than
a means to a greater end. In most plays we are compelled to
remember the feelings and ideas accentuated by the way the story
is treated. It is often this dramatic quality which is under-
estimated in reading, but which contributes essentially to the
play's meaning in performance ..."
The themes of Moiloa's dramas are clearly stated throughout the
plays. So, for instance, in Jaa ... , the title implies: never
trust a friend. This summarises what happens in this drama:
one is constantly confronted with incidents of deceit and treachery.
The various characters pretend to be what they are not. Tt is a
case of each man for himself. They do not openly admit this how-
I ever, but slyly and underhandedly gain confidential informationfrom friends and whilst pretending to be concerned about their
friends' interests, they stealthily use this information to plan
their friends' downfall and feather their own nests .
.Disene deceives Petlane by deciding to court Thakane during Pet-
lane's absence on the mines. He persuades the half-wit Teleko
to'assist him in his mean plans. They in turn persuade Sisinya~a.
She in turn deceives and misleads Thakane because (as it eventually
turns out) she (Sisinyana) herself has secretly had an eye on
Petlane all along.Si~inyana pretends not to know about Disene's
intention to abduct Thakane - yet a further example of her deceit,
Thakane deceives Petlane by agreeing to a flirtation with Disene.
And so the story of deceit, treachery, underhandedness, and
pretence goes o~.
On the mines a similar patte~n develops where one is again con-
fronted with incidents of deceit and treachery. Here too, the
various characters pret~nd to be what they are not. Shuushu
gathers information from the other mine workers and although he
is on Petlane's side until he (Petlane) leaves the mine, and then
feathers his own nest, by accepting Petlane's position on the mine.
13
In Molomo ..., Moiloa poses the theme of traditionalism,versus
modernism. The first signs of this clash are obvious in
Thuntshane's opening soliloquy (scene i) where he laments the fact
that people backbite him and speak with contempt of him to
Motshedisi.
Ba ntjhebela maotong a dikgoho! Ya itseng motho wa
maemo a ka a ke ke a nyala nese (mooki) ke mang? Ba
ipolella l~hah2a hoba ke a mo rata ngwanana eno.
i p , 9)
They look down upon me! Who said a person of my status
cannot marry a nurse? They are wasting their breath,
because I love that girl.
Thuntshane does not look down on modernism as such - hence his
respect and love for Motshedisi - an educated modernist - but he
despises those mod~rnists ~who wear ties" and despise him as tra-
ditionalist. The theme again comes out in the same scene where
,Thuntshane complains to his mother (Mmantete) that his father
,(Makgobotlw~ne) despises modernists because ,they spoil Sotho
customs. This contempt of his father for the modernists becomes
evident when, after Thuntshane has been revived after having
fainted' because of his love for Motshedisi and Matsetsela has re-
vealed Thuntshane's love secret, Makgobotlwane swears to have
nothing to do witl:tsuch "uninitiated persons".
Nna Makgobot~wane ke nyallane le maqai a kang ao!
Ka bakwena ba ntswetse e ka ba le a na. ( p , 18)
Should I, Makgobotlwane negotiate a marriage with
such uncircumcised 'people! Honestly in the name of the
bakwena who begot me, I will never.
It is here that Matsetsela points out that it is the decision of
the ancestors that Thuntshane and Motshedisi should marry. It
is here that the fierce clash and incompatibility between the two
groups becomes apparent (p. 19). Makgobotlwane, as traditionalist,
14
has great respect for the medicine man whom it is believed gets
his power to look into the future from the ancestors, yet despite
this reverence, he cannot persuade himself to accept Matsetsela's
prophecy that the forefathers have declared that his son is to
marry a modernist's daughter and so he leaves in disgust.
The very next scene (iv) takes up the theme of the clash again
when Moeletsi and Thuntshane meet at the hospital and Moeletsi
(the evangelist) immediately begins to 'pass disparaging remarks
about Thuntshane in an attempt to get him to change his ~ind about
Mo~shedisi. When both Motshedisi and Thuntshane refuse to heed
Moeletsi's advice the latter's contempt 'knows no bound~.
He banna! utLwa ntho eo ngwanana enwa a e buang!
sis! sii! Cp • 25)
By jove gentLemen! just Listen to what this girL is
saying! sis! gosh!
Scene v' continues this theme when Reverend Lekgwaba(Motshedisi's
father), hears about his daughter's refusal to heed Moeletsi's
advice, both he and his wife are furious and dispara~ing. Lekgwaba
is so infuriated that he threatens to murder the equally infuriated
Motshedisi.
LEKGWABA: Ngwananyana enwa ke tLa mmoLaya ka sebeLe.
( p , 29)
LEKGWABA: !onestLy I wiLL kiLL this LittLe girL.
Scene vi continues the theme. Makgobotlwane's ~nner conflict is
clearly visible when despite Matsetsela's assurance that it is the
ancestors' desire that the two children should marry, Makgobotlwane
cannot bring himself around to accepting it.
Ke mpa ke tsietswa ke taba ya hore wena MatsetseZa 0 re
ke moLomo wa badimo, ha e Le nna majakaneny~na a kang ano a
ikentseng bokgowanatshwana ke utLwa ke a nyonya ka maya wa
15
ka kao f e la . t p , 30)
I am merely baffled by this that you, Matsetsela, say it ~s
the mouthpiece of the ancestors, with me Christians such as
those who plqy white I feel I detest them with all my soul.
After yet further proof from Matsetsela, Makgobotlwane accepts
the fact that it is the ancestors' wish rather reluctantly,
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Ao ! badimo ba nkgo Ta ka sebe le, ka maqai
a kang boLekgwaba . (p. 31)
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Gosh! the ancest6rs have really con-
strained me with unéircumcised people like Lekwaba
and company
but l~ter iealizing the danger he e~poses himself to, he requests
Matsetsela to crave the ancestors' pardon for him.
In scene vii this clash is brought out still clearer when the tra-
ditionalists led by Matsetsela come to negotiate about the dowry
with Lekgwaba and.company and their greeting is completely mis-
interpreted by the modernists.
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Kgwaba la methati le ba 0 potileng.
Cp • 34)
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Crow of.the precipices and to those around
you ..
The traditionalists on the other hand are shocked at being given
tea instead of beer to drink.
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Na ho ka ba thwe re nwe tee banna!
(p. 34)
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Can you say we must drink tea gentlemen!
16
The gap widens when once again the modernists misinterpret the
traditionalists' idiomatic language when they announce that they
r
have come to request a calabash of water (mohope wa metsi)
I' meaning a bride. Not only are the customs of the traditionalists
foreign to the modernist but even their language.
Moiloa succeeds in sketching this ever-widening gap between the
two groups and creates uncertainty within the reader as to whether
the ancestors, in the light of these ever accumulating misinter-
pietations and misunderstandings will ever succeed in their effort
in reconciling these opposing groups. They also. tend to evoke
tension.
When eventually Lekgwaba hears what the request' of these two ne-
gotiators are, he is infuriated and orders them off h.is property.
The situation is saved by Mmamoruti who asks for time so that·she
and her husband might consider the proposal.
It is at this stage that I1oiloa sketches Mmamoruti's character
and one realizes that her.motives, like those of her daughter are
not pure. Both appe~r to esteem riches higher than principles.
Her attitude must be. seen as the first step of the forefathers in
solving the problem of the modernists who would not accept the
intended marriage - once she is brought over to accepting their
will it is only the minister and evangelist left to be dealt with.
MOTSHEDISI: ... haese feela 0 rata ho hlohlelletsa moya
o mobe ho batswadi ba ka, ka ho honohela le ho ba
le pelo emona ya ho bona hore ke tla kena hara
matlotlo ao 0 se nang ona. (p. 28)·
MOTSHEDISI: lest you just want to instigate a bad
spirit to my parents, of being jealous and envious
in your heart when seeing that I will be amidst
riches which you don't have.
MMAMOBUTI: Butle ntata Tshidi, batho ke batho; etswe
ba ha Makgobotlwane ke barui hase dikgoba tseo
ho .ka thweng ngwana rona 0 t la be a I.ahleh i. le,
17
hoba mohlomong e ka nna ba ho fetisa ngwana rona
mejo. (p. 36)
MMAMORUTI: Wait a bit Tshidi's father, people are people;
moreover Makgobotlwane's people are rich, they are
not lazy that we can think that our child will be
lost, because perhaps we may let our child miss a
fortune.
This appears to her to be what makes "(ordina~y) people to be
(civilized) people". Moeletsi and Lekgwaba, however, de~ide to
stick to principles arid reject riches as a norm by which to
measure people's (civilized) state or not .. To them traditionalism
in ,totality is objectionable. This climax causes the reader to
wonder how Moiloa intends to save the situation and turn the
tables in favour of the ancestors. Perhaps by using the minister I. s
wife to convince her husband as the path has already been .laid out
for such an assumption by the audience. By not solving the pro-
blem this way, Moiloa shocks the audience and leaves them without
any doubt regarding the minister's acceptance of what is to hap~en
to his daughter. He'does this by getting Motshedisi to threaten
to commit suicide if her father continues his inexorable attitude .
... ho seng jwalo nka mpa ka ipolaya. H•1.- •, hi! . hi.' h-1i.- •,
(0 alla ..)
... Ruri ke a tiya le tla ntlhoka lefatsheng la ba phelang,
haeba, le.tla ya ka mora dipuo tsa fuduwane enwa.
(p. 3?)
otherwise I would rather commit suicide. H•1.- •, h i1.- •,
h-i , h . ,1.- • 1.-. (She cries.)
Honestly, I am telling you, you will not find me in
the world of living souls, if you are going to listen to
the talk of this damn instigator.
This threat proves too much for Lekqwabe who appears to love his
daughter very dearly and he unwillingly zeLerrt s . Immediately
this happens, there is a relaxation of relationships between the
traditionalists and Mmamoruti.
18
MATSETSELA: Ho fapana ha maemo hase se ka thibelang hore
bana ba kopanngwe hammóho, hobane batho ba ke ke
I
I ba tshwana ka maemo le ka mohla 0 le mong.
MMAMORUTI: Ke nnete batho ha ba lekane e se meno, feela
jwalekaha menwana ya maoto le matsoho e sa lekane.
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Nna maemo a bona ke bona a hlile a tshwana,
hoba mohlankana ke morui wa tse tsamayang: anthe
morwetsana ke morui wa tsa thuto, mme hana moa ha
ke bone sesoma sa letho se ka llelw~ng.
(p. 38)
MATSETSELA: To be of different status is not a matter that
can stop the children from marrying each other,
because people will never be of the same status.
MMAMORUTI: It is true people can never' be of, equal sta~us,
just as w~ have toes and fingers that aren't the
same.
MMAKGOBOTLWANE: I find their status the same, because the
young man is rich in his possession of animals;
whereas the young woman is rich in her possession
of education, and just there I see no bluff that
can make u~ doubt.
The clash of ideas, however, still continues as shown by the sur-
prise of both-groups when Makgobotlwane requests Matsetsela
(according to custom) to anoint the flabbergasted Lekgwaba and
Mmamoruti as a sign that they have accepted the negotiations.
Thus Moiloa ends this scene with a truimph for traditionalism over
modernism and truimphant victory for the ancestors.
In scene viii the clash of ideas continues yet again during the
traditional wedding feast. The disparaging remarks which create
an internal conflict within Lekgwaba are significant.
LEKGWABA: (Ka kgalefo) .Le renq na banna.' le r'e le ba t l:a
mosadi le nyetse neng, ha le esa tiise lenyalo
kerekeng? Ke hore le t la bo le l:a hore. l-e se le
qetile ha le entse tjee, ebe banyadi ha ba hlahe
19
kerekeng ho ya hlohonolofatsa lenyalo la bona?
Ke mehlolo ya eng yona eo? Ke itse ke sa lebella
~ seo le tla se etsa; anthe le nkenya manyaleng a
tshwanang le aa? (p. 41)
LEKGWABA: (Angrily) What do you say gen t lemen.' you say
you want a wife when did you marry, if you have not
signed at church? Witl you maintain you have
finished when you have done this, and the bridal
couple will not appear in church to have their
marriage blessed? What miracles are thpse? I was
watohing what ybu were going to do; and yet you
have landed us in this terrible predicament.
Even Motshedisi is dumbfounded to h~ar that the ceremony of-pouring
bile over her and Thuntshane's heads is sufficient to consummate
their marriage. This ceremony al~o infuiiates Lekgwaba and his
wife who demand that their daughter be properly married in church
- a wish.deni'ed them by the traditionalists resulting in a further
victory for them ..
Scene ix continues the clash of philosophies of life. Thuntshane
appears to compromise slightly and defends his wife's desire to
invite some of her friends along to her wedding ;eception again~t
his father's and. Matsetsela's wills, much tO,his father's
annoyance who upbraids Motshedisi accusing her of commanding her
husband. Once. again it is Moeletsi who is very di,sparaging and
pokes fun at Thuntshane's inability to handle a knife and fork.
Bona ntata lona mane. (0 supa Thuntshane) mahlokwana a mo
h lo la. Ha! ha.' ha.' ha.' (0 a tsheha) Haesale ke bolela
hore ba panne pere le tonki. Cp • 46)
Look at your father over there. (He points at Thuntshane)
he cannot use forks. Ha.' ha.' 'ha.' .ha I (he laughs)
I told y6u they have inspanned a horse a~d a donkey:
20
In scene x it is the traditionalists' turn to b~ dumbfounded at
the modernists' way of amusing themselves by dancing. Thuntshane
becomes quite outspoken when one of the young men contorts his
body while dancing with Motshedisi. The traditionalists regard
this form of entertainment as filth ditshila (p. 48) and take
offence at the traditionalists' objections at such amusement.
It appears from the tone of the play that Moiloa attempts to
ridicule the modernists for looking down on the traditionalists
while at the same time they approve of things which to the tradi-
tionalists are utterly disgusting.
MATSETSELA: . Ke lona ba~uti ba dumellang manyala a tshwanang
le ae? 0 re bolella hore ke mehla·ya tswelopele!
Boruti ba lona ke bo hlokang kgalemelo pela dintho
tse hlabisang dihlong hakaakang! Tse kgohlahetseng
hakaale! Ruri ha e ne e se molomo wa badim0 hona-
jwale, ke re ho najtaale nka be k.e, (p . 48).
MATSETSELA: Are you people as ministers allowing such dirty
things such as these? You tell us that these are
modern times! Your ministry has no word to say b~
way of reprimanding silly things such as these:
Unscrupulous as such! Honestly if it were not
thr.ough the mouthpiece of the ancestors just now,
I say just now I would bé.
Matsetsela goes so far as to swear that if it had not been for the
ancestors' decree he would not have approved the union. This
statement and Motshedisi's objection to Thuntshane's interrupting
~er amusement causes tension and creates the impression that Moiloa,
by these remarks wishes to ensure that the suspense will not lapse.
He appears to be suggesting that even at this late stage a break
in the relationship between Motshedisi and Thuntshane is still not
altogether impossible especially when Thuntshane, enraged at what
he sees', begins beating Motshedisi who runs to her parents for
help while her mother iepeatedly suggests that she and Thuntshane
divorce.
21
MMAMORUTI: Ha ho: h lah l.iale Ha ho h lah l.iae' Ho ka mpa
ha h l.ahLiaa : (p. 51)
MMAMORUTI: Let them divorce! Let them divorce! Let
them rather divorce.
It is at this crucial point that Moiloa clinches the triumph for
the traditionalists and the ancestors, when Motshedisi, despite
all the strange behaviour she is subjected to, clings to her hus-
band and says:
Ha ho ~e ka nkgaohanyang le wena haese lefu feela.
(p. 51)
Nothing wilZ make us part untiZ death takes its toll.
The themes in both dramas under discussion definitely. appeal to
a Black audience. At some stage or other in almost every Black
manis life he has had to seek employment away from home and he
has perhaps been through some of the trials and tribulations
Petlane goes through in Jaa ... This play would therefore appeal
to him from the point of view of seeing how Petlane copes with
perhaps the same problems he has had to cope with and the same
disappointment that probably so often faces these men who leave
their villages in good faith and when they return home have lost
.their loved one to some local man.
The theme in Molomo ..., will appeal to the vast majority of Black
theatre-goers as this problem of a love affair between a ~o-called
illiterate and one who is educated takes place frequently. The
problem confronting such young people is whether to consult their
parents, a higher authority, or wh~ther they should consult their
ancestors through a witchdoctor. In addition, to many Blacks,
belief in the ancestors and their concern with the living seems
to be very much part of their·daily lives and as a result the way
in which the forefathers manipulate things for Thuntshane and
Motshedisi and the outcome of such man i.puLa't.Lon, must most certainly
interest Black audiences - even if a spectator I s belief in these
matters has been dimmed by westernisation and the Christian faith.
22
1.6 The complication
I
\
[, "Complication", say Millett and Bentley11 "is a basic element in
plot structure; in the simpler forms of drama, it consists in
(sic.) the introduction of persons or events that delay the
arrival of the hero at his goal or that intensify the conflict
between opposing forces; it may involve the introduction from
the pre-history of hitherto unexpected elements".
In Jaa • • • I the dramatist has complicated the plot by introducing
Disene as a rival to Petlane for the hand of Thakag~ in marriage.
In Molomo ..., the complication takes the form of'parental opp6-
sition as,well as the interference of outsideis trying to give
the two young lovers advice. In this case, the girl's father
has the evangeli$t, ~oeletsi, to give advice fir~tly to Thuntshane
and then to Motshedisi neithSi of whom heeds it.
It is then at this stage in the structure of a drama that some-,
thing takes place so that true action can start. Conradie says:
"'Asdie uiteensetting nou vol tooi is, moet daar iets gebeur' wat
die handeling aan die gang sit; ditword die motoriese mornent;
genoem" 12 '
In Jaa ..., this significant moment occurs when Disene goes to his
friend, Teleko and asks Teleko to put in a good word for him with
Thakane. Teleko in turn gets his sister Sisinyana to do this as
,
she and Thakane are good friends., This takes place in Act III,
scene i when Disene, tells his friends the following about Thakane.
Ngwanana eo monna ke sethiba-mathe; tswere monna; seponono
ka nnete, ke utlwa ke huleha pelo ena; ke ntse ke tutleha;
ke kgofoha matshwafo, hoba ke ,utlwa Petlane a mpolella ha ke
tswa mo felehetsa hona jwale hore 0 se a bile a nkile
ngwanana eo.
Ha ke tsebe le letho, ke re ho tu! Ke ntse ke re ekaba ha
a na lethoko nke ke ikgohle ka yena; athe ke ntse ke ithetsa;
o se a bile a le mabaka-baka. Ana ke ne ke ntse ke dika-
dikelang, ke ejakaka methinya, ke bokwalahadi bong, ha ke
23
tsebe hore ke ne"ke .hlile ke horeletswq keng. nakong ya ha
a sa le mong; a sa le motheong! (p. 25)
That girl has an entrancing beauty, a sparrow, man; truly
most beautiful, I feel my heart throbbing being drawn nearer
to my sobbing lungs, because Petlane told me when I had taken
him a little way that he was engaged to her.
I know absolutely nothing, I say, I was thinking that she
had no boyfriend so. that I could propose to her, yet I have
deceived myself, as she is deeply in love. Why have I been
dilly-dallying; ·hesitating through cowardice, I don't know
what has been stopping me, whiZe ihe had no lover, she would.
have been easy prey.
Teleko now pleads with Sisinyana to he~p his friend by saying:
Kgaitsedi ye, a ko etse matla d buelle moshaana thaka ho
Thakane, ke a kgolwa wena a ka nna 0 mamela ho feta rona
and then says: 0 re bulele kgoro feela. (p. 25)
Sister, at all costs talk to Thakane for my dear friend,
I think she will rather listen to you than us and then says:
just open the gate for us.
In Jaa ..., Act III, scene iii is full of suspence as Sisinyana
initially refuses to tell Disene what has transpired from their
meeting - thus paving the way for a further consultation.
The complication in the sub-plot takes plac,e when Petlane's so-
~alled friends undermine him by wanting to put illegal items like
dagga and diamonds in his room. If Petlane is caught they know
that he will be dismissed immediately and this is what they want
because they are extremely jealous of this competent man. Because
of his nature he confides in people and yet he has to be careful
as Shuushu, his so~called friend, on numerous occasions warns him:
24
Le tshabe motho! (p. 94)
Never trust a person!
In Molomo ..., Thuntshane has the assurance of the ancestors in
the back of his mind. He is aware that it is they who make him
act the way he does and, is determined to go ahead with his desire
even though his father disapproves. It is they who influence
him in his decisions and actions. This assurance forms the signi-
ficant moment in Molomo ..., which initiates the action and
Thuntshane accordingly goes to the hospital where the nurse works
to propose to her. This moment takes place towards the end of
scene iii. The "motoriese moment" in a drama also creates
interest and suspense.
The witchdoctor Matsetsela in Molomo ..., assureS Thuntshane's
parents that their son is doing the correct thing by wan,ting to
marry Motshedisi. His words create interest and suspense with
the audience.
Empa eseng ho nna pepeduma ya makgerenkgwa. Ho nna mona
ba tla bina rashweleZl~, hoba ena taba ke ya badimo, etswe
manga taba ena 0 sa na phatswe ka lesenene boseeng. Ho
ya ka moa ke seng ke sekasekile ka teng tlhQrenyana tsa
bona tsa me lek:o di t l:a phopha. (p , 1?)
But not to me an expert specialist. With me here they
will fail hopelessly, because t hi e:matter is from the
ancestors, moreover the owner of this affair has been in-
jected by lu~k since childhood. The way I have already
investigated their little medicines of temptations they
will not iaork ,
Matsetsela's emphatic statement to Thuntshane's parents that the
mouthpiece of the ancestors cannot be overlooked in the following
lines creates further tension and expectation:
25
Ke tshepa hore re sa buile, le lona le sale le imamella
taba ena ya badimo, molomo wa badimo ha 0 tlolwe.
(p. 19)
I trust that we have spoken, you too must consider this
matter of the ancestors, the mouthpiece of the ancestors
cannot be overlooked.
Thuntshane's mother, Mmantete's encouragement to her son after
the witchdoctor has gone,that:
o se ke wa ba wa ituba mohopolo ntjhanyana, badimo ba hao
ba tla ema le wena, ho bua molomo wa badimo. ( p , 19)
Don't worry your soul. little boy, your ancestors will back
you u~, the mouthpiece of the ancestors has spokei.
creates yet further tension. The audience, mindful of Thuntshane's
self-confidence expressed in his opening soliloquy, is now certain.
that he is found to act and looks forward with expectation to this.
1.7 The development
Structurally, the elements essential to the development of a plot
are complication and crisis. The events discussed in paragraph
1.6 therefore also have a bearing here. In Jaa ..., the develop-
ment of the main plot stretches over a number of scenes, namely
Act V, scene i where Sisninyana paves the way for Disene to meet
Thakane. The plot develops further in Act V, scerre ii where
Disene' questions Thakane about her feelings.towards him. Because
she still loves Petlane he becomes quite annoyed with her and says
the following to her about her strange behaviour.
Ngwaneso 0 se ke wa loha thapo, kapa wa bapaZa ntikolohe-
ke-o-~ikolohe; wa etsa p~ta-pote; wa leka ho ntshuisa
rapo la puleng. Ha ke thupa ha ke robehe, ke metsi a foro
ke a phorosela; mme ke phorosella moo ke ~sebang. KgaoZa
ditaba kaitsedi. .I p , 4?)
26
My sister, don't ~eave a rope (don't be so lengthy)
or play merry-go-round (beat about the bush) or play hide-
and-seek by letting me labour without an end. I am not
breakable like wood but flow like water in a furrow and I
flow towards (the place) that I know. Cut matters short,
sister.
After having drunk a good deal of beer Disene feels that Thakane
is in the right frame of mind to be asked about her feelings once
again:
DISENE: Na ke hore 0 a nthata ngwaneso e le ka nnete?
THAKANE: . E, kgele haholo ka nnet~. (p. 49)
DISENE: Do yo~ really love me, truly my sister?
THAKANE: Oh yesJ very much indeed.
Thakane's declaration that she loves Disene certainly complicates
matters as she is already engaged to Petlane who is working to
earn money to enable them to marry.
The development and complication of the main plot in Jaa ... ,
continues in Act V, scenes iii and iv where the kidnapping of·
Thakane is discussed at Teleko's home.
Teleko tells Sisinyana exactly what she is to do to assist them
in abducting Thakane.
Sheba mona wena ngwaneso Sisinyana, seo re ~eng re se
lakatsa ke hore 0 itjhakedise Thakane hona kajeno pele
letsatsi le dikela. Re ~atla hore pele letsatsi lena le
dikela re be re mo shobedisitse. Rona re tla 0 sala morao
re fihle re ipate ~oo re ka ipatang. (p. 57)
Look here sister Sisinyana, what we want is that you
must try to visit Thakane today, befdre sunset. We want
to abduct her before sunset today. We will follow you and
hide where it will be convenient for us to hide ourselves.
27
This remark rouses still further tension and interest and fore-
shadows the obligatory scene where Thakane is indeed abducted.
Sisinyana is quite taken aback and says:
Le reng na, le se le rata ho nyala ka dikgoka? (p. 57)
What do you say, do you want to marry by force?
Disene gives Sisinyana further instructions by saying:
••• 0 se ke wa nyenyisa letho ka tsa morero wa rona wa
tjhobediso. t p , 57)
... you must not say anything at all regarding our intended
abduction.
Sisinyana initially appears to be afraid but not willing to help
them and says:
Le se k~ la mpa la nkenya tsietaing ha tloha ha hlahela'
hore taba ena ke ne ke ntse ke etseba. Jo! Ke a tshaba;
ka nnete nka fetoha motho e mobe hampe. (pp. 57, 58)
Please don't get me into trouble and let the cat out of the
bag that I knew something about this matter when matters are
revealed. Oh Lord! I am afraid, honestly I can be re-
garded as a most unr~liable, bad person.
Eventually Sisinyana agrees. .Her consent complicates the action
of the play and gives rise to the cri~is - the abduction of
Thakane.
The development of the sub-plot in Jaa ..., takes place in Act
IV, scene ii where there is an .argument underground about one
miner stealing a jacket belonging to another and when eventually
Petlane also gets involved, Molakolako mainta~ns that Petlane
bears a grudge against him.
28
The argument in this scene develops as follows. Shuushu asks
Molakolako:
Ke ofe motjhini 00 0 neng ookganna? 0 ipuela maka.
Ke nako e telele ke ntse ke 0 shebile ha 0 ntse 0 bua
ka baki eo 0 e utswitseng. (p. 39)
Which machine have you been driving? You are lying. I
have been watching you for a long time, when you were busy
talking about the jacket which you had stolen.
The argument ensues until the manager scolds Molakolako.
Ke manyofonyofo a eng a ke a utlwang ka wena hore 0 utswitse
baki? Shuushu 0 0 utlwile ha 0 ntse 0 bolella kwata yane.
ka baki eo 0 e utswitseng. (p. 40)
What nonsense do I hear about your having stolen a jacket.
Shuushu heard you when you were telling that mineworker
about the jacket you had stolen.
Petlane also gets 4ragged into the argument when MolakIolako says~
Morena e moholo ha ke a utswa. Petlane 0 ntse a
ntjhehile komponeng ena. (p. 41)
Sir, I have not stolen. Petlane bears a grudge against
me in this compound.
The sub-plot does not cease to develop at this point. The de-
velopment continues through Act VI, scenes i to vi and leads t6
the climax where Petlane's so-called friends' treachery is exposed.
In Jaa .~., this microsuspense of the lines of dialogue in Act IV,
scene vi also highlight the climax of the sub-plot. Petlane re-
marks .about the dïrty trick played on him by mineworkers who were
jealous of him and in utter dismay he exclaims that they are
rascals.
29
Xe ntse ke le nkile jwaleka metswalle ya ka anthe le tjee!
kgidi. Banna le tshabe motho. Ho bontshahala hore le ne
le nkep ela ke ntse ke phe la , (p. 94)
I have regarded you as my friends, yet you are like this!
My word. Gentlemen, never trust a person. It is quite
evident that you were burying me alive.
As Petlane leaves, he looks at them and exclaims:
Hee! bonang mahlabaphio ana banna! .(p , 94)
Hey! look at these rascals gentle~en.
His so-called friend, Shuushu, hits the nail on the head when he says:
Hell.' Le tshabe motho.' (p. 94)
Hell! Never trust a person.
In Molomo ..., the development of the plot is spread over scenes
iv, v, vi and vii. In scene iv, at the hospital Thuntshane meets
Moeletsi, the evangelist. The conflict between these two rivals
immediately becomes apparent when they discover that they are
both interested in the same girl. This complicates the problem
to be unravelled by the forefathers even more. This scene also
reveals important character traits - Moeletsi's disguised attempt
to hide his true feelings regarding Moeletsi and Thuntshane's
sharp insight intQ human nature which enables him tq see through
Moelets~'s feigned platonic friendship. He warns Moeletsi in no
uncertain terms to leave Motshedisi alone. The clash between the
two cultures - traditionalism and modernism - also comes to the
fore here. Moeletsi shows his contempt for everything Thuntshane
represents. Thuntshane in turn refuses to heed Moeletsi's advice
and proposes to Motshedisi much to Moeletsi's horror:
Xe hlile ke tshwenyehile maikutlo ke lerato la haa. Ha
ke sa ipatla mona moa ke leng teng, hoba ruri ke a 0 rata
mme ha 0 dumelleha ke batla ho raha moritshwana. (p. 24)
30
I am really worridd in my soul because of your love.
Here where I am, I cannot resist it any longer, because
honestly I love you and if all goes well I want to get
married.
Matters are further complicated in scene v, which is a very short
scene, full of action. Reverend Lekgwaba reprimands his daughter
after hearing from the evangelist_that she refused to heed his
advice about Thuntshane and says angrily:
o buang ngwananyana towe ka matlotlo! 0 ntja e bitswang
ka lesapo? Ke a 0 hlapanyetsa ke se hlole ke utlwa taba
ena ya lona l~ ka lehlanya. 0 tswe molekong ono wa mohedene,
o a nkutlwa? (~p. 28, 29)
You silly young girl, what are you talking about riches!
Are you a dog which is easily attracted by a bone? On my
honour I never want to hear again about this affair of yours,
especially with a lunatic. Get away from that heathen's
temptation, do you hear me?
This s6ene once again serves to show the chasm ex~sting between
the two cultures and the modernists' (Lekgwaba, Moeletsi and
Mmamoruti's) contempt'for traditionalists and all they represent.
It also depicts Motshedisi as somewhat of an opportunist in the
sense that she is after Thuntshane's w~alth and clearly illustrates
Lekgwaba as a man with a vile temper. The scene ends with the
tension at a high pitch when Motshedisi leaves her parents and
Moeletsi disgusted at their attitude to Thuntshane.
-The plot now develops a step further when Moiloa moves the scene
to the camp of the traditionalists (scene vi) . Once again the
contempt of the two cultures becomes evident when Makgobotlwane
expresses his contempt for the modern~sts in no uncertain terms .
... ha e le nna majakanenyana a kang ano a ikentseng
bokgowanatshwana ke utlwa ke a nyonya ka moya wa ka
k a o f e l a , (p. 30)
31
... with me chris~ians such as those ~ho play white I feel
I detest them with all my soul.
In this scene the witchdoctor, Matsetsela makes it quite clear
to Makgobotlwane that Thuntshane's wish to marry the nurse is
what the ancestors want him to do. After Matsetsela has strengthen-
ed Makgobotlwane's village with his witchcraft, he attacks
Thuntshane with sticks.
This scene presents the audience with a ritual played with sticks
to prove that the ancestors are on Thuntshane's side regarding his
marriage plans. When he and Matsetsela pick up the sticks to hit
one another, Thuntshane beats him .
.Ha di phahame re utlwe. Utlwa! tlere! tlere! tlare!
(p . 31)
Let ~s pick them up and li~ten. Listen! hit! hit! hit!
The plot does not cease to develop here. It still develops to
a climax. The climax ónly comes at the end of scene vii when
the modernists after a thorough clash of ideas agree to the
marriage.
1.8 The crisis
Millett and.Bentley13 say that "it will usually be found that the
development of the'play is such that it produces a series of foci
for emotions, which we may call crises. These crises are situa-
tions usfially involving a 6lash of interests and emotions and
a number of possible reactions to the specific situation. Such
a crisis, even though it is a minor one, involves like the expo-
sition the attraction of interest, the deepening of suspense, and
an increase in the number and variety of the emotions felt by the
characters and shared by the audience."
An example of a crisis in Jaa ..., occurs when Pet lane (on his
return to his home in Lesotho) confronts Disene regarding what
took place whilst he was in Johannesburg. This scehe is a climax
in Jaa ....
32
Ekaba 0 ikutlwa jwang feela monna? 0 ne 0 le motswalle
I wa ka wa hlooho ya kgomo! Ruri ke hloletswe. Ha ke sa
I
( tla tshepa motho lefatsheng le kgale. Mahlabaphio a
tshwanang le lona boDisene, hore ke nne ke re
o a thola-thola setsweng ke hole. (p. 104)
Exactly how do you feel man? When you were my bosom-
friend! I am really embarrassed. I'll never trust a
person in this world. Rascals like you Disene and com-
pany and I keep on thinking ... He keeps quiet oh no!
never, never!
In Molomo ..., there is a crisis at the wedding, towards the end
of scene viii where Thuntshane's father Makgobotlwane and Mmantete,
his mother, discuss their son's new bride.
Eseng ha le itsebe hantle seo le leng sana? .Na le
tseba le ho thella tjee! Haeba le le bokgowanatshwana,
ke a hlapanya nke ke ka hlola ke mamela pua tsa lona. -Ya
ka ngwetsi e tla tsamqiswa tseleng ya Sesotho, mme e tla
rutwa mekgwa le meetla ya Sesotho sa habo, ha e fi~la lapeng
ha ka, haeba ngwana lona le sa tloha le mo rutile.
(p: 42)
Perhaps it may be that you do not fully know what you are.
Do you-know how to praise yourself traditionally? If you
are detribalised I can ass~re you that I will no longer
listen to your talks. My daughter-in~law will toe the
line in accordance with Sotho custom, and will be taught
Sotho traditons and the customs of her poeple, when she
arrives at my home, if you did not teach your child from
the outset.
Once again traditionalism (the forefathers) triumphs over modernism
when Matsetsela the witchdoctor has the final word and in true
traditional Sotho custom he jumps ~bout, exclaiming:
Le dumile basadi, ha a felehetsweng ka pina hlabang ditlatse,
banna kenang mokorotlong. (p. 42)
33
All is over ladie~, let her be taken half way with a song,
I shout cheerfully, the men must take part in a warsong.
~'
I In both dramas under discussion there are minor crises in each
scene which heighten the suspense, interest and curiosity and
lead up to the major crisis in each drama - thus it is evident
that Moiloa makes use of not only an horizontal suspense line
but also a vertical one which heightens the audience's interest.
In Jaa ..., for instance, a further crisis of the main plot is
found in Act V, scene iv where Sisinyana is asked by Disene and
Teleko to assist in the abduc ti.onof Thakane. Sisinyana is af-
raid but they talk her into requesting Thakane to go with her and
collect fuel (dry dung) during which event Disene and 'ï'Leko will
abduct her when they approach a certain donga where the two men
will be waiting. In the sub-plot of'this drama there is a·further
example of a crisis in Act VI, scene v where Shuushu, Pet Larie ' s
"friend" on the.mine tells him of the bad intentions of his so-
called friends who want him dismissed from the mine because of
jealousy. Pet lane and Shuushu tlecide to tell the manager and
alert him to,what is going to take place.
In Molomo ..., a further crisis takes place on the verandah of
Reverend Lekgwaba's manse in scene vii. Lekgwaba refuses the
hand of his daughter in marriage to Thuntshane via the latter's
negotiators (Makgobotlwane and Matsetsela) but is forced to alter
his decision by his daughter's determined threat to commit suicide
if he refuses:
Ntate ruri le tla ntshwarela, hoba ke se ke qetile le eo
mora wa bona, mme ha ke bone ho kwenehela taba ya rona
pela lerato la rona, ho seng jwalo nka mpa ka ipolaya.
ïp , 3?)
Honestly father you will forgive me because I have finalised
with their son, and I see no way of changing matters regarding
our love affair, otherwise I would ~ather commit suicide.
Another crisis occurs in scene ix at the reception where MoeLetsL
whispers to a nurse about Thuntshane who cannot eat with a fork,
34
in Molomo ...
Bona ntata Zona mane. (0 supa Thuntshane) MahZokwana a a
mo hZoZa. Ha! ha! ha! ha.' (0 a t.sheh a ) HaesaZe ke
boZeZa hore ba panne pere Ze tonki. (p. 46)
Look at your father over there. (He points to Thuntshane)
He cannot use forks. Ha.' ha.' ha.' ha! (He laughs)
I have Zong said that they have inspanned a horse and a donkey .
.The above extract is perhaps intended to try to convince the
audience that the couple are not suited and their marriage will
probably not be a success. This incident is to emphasise the
fact that modernism and traditionalism are not compatible and is
a crisis in the lives of these two young people who wish to marry.
In Jaa ..., yet another crisis crops up in Act VI, scene vii where
Shuushu underlines what Pet lane has always maintained about friends
and emphasises what the playwright, MOiloa, set out to prove:
that one must never trust a person.. In the closing lines of this
scene, Shuushu shouts:
Se t eiaal l.el ee t eioal l.el se ka ya robal a , Lefatsheng mona
ha hos ets wa ZZe ha fee Za 0 kap hun t shwa ntZo les 0ba.
MotswaZle! motswalZe! Ke puo. ya nakwana feeZa eno.
Ha ho tsuonyana phateZa nngwe mona Zefatsheng. Ke ndoda
sibon;le. (p. 99)
Friendship! friendship! It can go to the dogs. There
is nb friendship in this worZd if only facilities are pro-
vided for you. Friend! friend! That's idZe talk for the
moment. No one works for another in this world. Everyone
should paddZe his own canoe.
1.9 The climax
"The climax is best regarded as the crisis of maximum emotion and
tension. It is the scene in the drama after which there is a·
35
tendency for the emotion to abate to the despair or the happiness
of the finale. Stru~turally, it may also be the turningpoint of
the drama - in tragedy, the point at which the protagonist first
catches sight of his inevitable but unwillingly accepted defeat;
in comedy, the scene in which the protagonist begins to have
reason to hope for his ultimate success.,,14
In Molomo ..., the climax comes at the very end 'of the play.
Moiloa gradually leads his audience to the climax very cleverly
and causes an argument in order to bring matters in the play to
a head. At the reception, the members of the two societies
(modern and traditional) are once again 'involved in arguments
relating to values and norms. The arguments develop in ascending
fashion and the emotional intensity builds up to such a point
that one feels something must crack. This eventually does happen
when a struggle starts between the two parties after Thuntshane
begins beating Motshedisi and she runs to her parents for assistance.
Lekgwaba takes off his minister's collar and 'begins grappling with
the traditionalists. It is at this stage that Makgobotlwane says
to him:
o fapane' hlooho, 0 sa tla bo re nko! Mosadi ke wa kgomo
tsa ka eniaa, Re tla mo .qe t h-iea 0 sa tla be a k.ene .
lelomolong leo a tshwanelang ho lomolwa ka lona. (p. 50)
You are mad, you will never get it. This woman has been
married by my cattle. We shall teach her and she will
be forced into t he ways which we want and toe the line
accordingly.
Althopgh this is no way for one to talk to a minister of religion
about his daughter it has the desired effect of furthering the
argument already mentioned, which eventually ends ip Motshedisi
siding with her husband - an act which clinches the traditionalists
victory over the modernists and proves the ancestors' power over
the will of man.
36
Ever since Disene and Petlane part at the beginning of the play,
Moiloa continues to build up our expectations in various scenes
(Act III, scenes i, ii and iii as well as Act V, scenes i, ii,
iii and iv) for this event. (Thakane's abduction) This scene
therefore too becomes an obligatory scene. The preceding scenes
referred to begun a pattern of action which must be continued
until it is concluded to the audience's satisfaction. If Moiloa
neglected to exploit this particular effect which is implicit in
the pattern of action and the rDythm he has created viz. of
building up our hopes and expectations that this scene will take
place then we would have had reason to question why he did so.
Furthermore had ,he not done so, the cumulative effect of the action
and rhythm in the play would be dissipated. Therefore, the follow-
ing incident can also be regarded as a climax.
So in Jaa ..., one climax of the main plot is where Tha~ane is con-
fronted by Disene whilst picking up fuel (dry dung) . When she
realises that she has been tricked by Sisinyana and sees Disene,
she exclaims:
Mme wee! ka tZa ka tshoha, ebiZe ke utZwa meriri ya ka
e baZeha~ Huu! huu! itjhuu! Na ekaba 0 re tshosetsang
h a k a a l e ? (p. 59)
Oh my mother! I am dead scared, I even feeZ my hair
s tanding on' end. Huu.' huu! it's painfu Zo' Why do
you frighten us so much?
After pleading with Thakane to come home with him, he pushes her
and threatens her 'by saying:
Tsamaya bo! Ke tZoha ke 0 hZaba ka kubu ena. ( p , 61)
Go! I wiZZ soon thrash you with this sjambok.
To cover-up her own treachery, Sisinyana. runs home, pretending to
be crying and shouting so that Thakane can hear.
)
37
Jo wee! Ruri ke 'ilo bo l.ela ka nqiaana eo wa batho.
(p. 61)
Oh gosh! I am going to report you about 'that poor child.
There is also a climax in the sub-plot of Jaa ..., in Act VI,
scene vi where Petlane's so-called friends are caught red-handed
by the compound manager whilst hiding the illegal goods in
Petlane's room. All that Shuushu can exclaim at the end of
this scene is:
Hel L' Le tshabe motho! (p. 94)
ueii : Never trust a person!
In the last act in this drama, Petlane returns to ,his home in
Lesotho and finds that Sisinyana has grown into a beautiful woman.
He visits Thakane to find her most unhappy, thrashes her younger
brother for being irisolent and returns to Sisiriyana. Surely this
is a pleasant" surprise in -t.he drama and takes place wheri the pro-
tágonist and antagonist are together again after Petlane's absence
from home for so long. Petlane pulls himself together and asks
Sisinyana to marry him, as he has lost his first love to his one~
time bosom-friend, Disene, thus proving that at the mine he could
not trust his friends and here at home he cannot trust them either.
Ekaba ke sona setswalle mótswalle? Hee.' o je 0 siela
motswalle. ( p • 109)
Could it be friendship, my friend? Hey.' Beware of a
friend.
1.10 The dénouement
"The particular function of that portion of the plot we designate
as the dénouement is that of solving the problem which the plot
initiated and developed. A satisfactory solution or dénouement
in whatever type of drama will be found to have Certain
characteristics: clarity, plausibility, and interest. It is
38.
obvious that the playwright must not consciously leave his audience
in doubt as to the outcome of the problem he has drarnatized.,,15
In both Moiloa's dramas he has succeeded. in leaving his audience
wholly satisfied with the solution to the problem he has dramatized.
In Jaa ..., both plots end very satisfactorily as he set out to
show his audience that one must beware of friends; to be more
explic~t, one must never trust a friend and this is clearly brought
out in the dénouement of this drama.
The dénouement commences after the climax - viz. Petlane's' visit
to Disene and Thakane. In .his agitated state of mind he visits
Sisinyana and explains to hér that he had always loved Thakane and
wished to marry her but Disene had treacherously undermined him.
After Sisinyana explains how she unsucessfully attempted to con-
vince both Thakane and Disene of the evil of their deeds (a state-
ment not altogether.true) Pet lane accepts his fate and even views
Thakane's and Disene's marriage as a blessing in disguise. Petlane
now proposes to Sisinyana. This sudden change in events does not
come as a complete surprise or deus-ex-machina because Moiloa has
sufficiently prepared the reader for this possibility at the be-
ginning of the scene where Sisinyana keeps a ~harp look out for
Petlane in order ~o gain his favours. Petlane's proposal to
Sisinyana emphasizes the theme of the play once more and clearly
brings out Moiloa's message:
o se ke wa. mpa wa nketsisa boDisene. Ekaba ke sona
setswalle motswalle? 0 tsitsinya hlooho. Hee! 0 je
o siela motswalle. Jp. 109)
Don't let me down like Disene and company. Can it be
friendship, my friend? He shakes his head. Hey! Beware
of a friend.
Sisinyana reiterates.the theme when. she in turn says:
Ke 0 tiisetsa ke hlapanya, ke se ke ikabetse wena. Sa
boThakane setswalle nke ke ka se paka. Ha e le motswalle
39.
wa haa, Disene, 0 ,je 0 mo siela .. Se jwalo x-ur-ike a se
tsaba (sic.) ( p . 109)
I can assure you on oath that I have given up myself for
you. I cannot ascertain the friendship of Thakane and
company. As for your friend, Disene, beware of him.
I have my fears about such a friendship.
In the dênouement of Molomo ..., Moiloa very aptly proves that
tradition, especially traditional belief in ancestors, plays an
extremely important ~art in the life of the Basotho and that no
matter to what level of education a Mosotho aspires, the over-
powering force of tradition and the ancestors will eventually
triumph over moderni~m - a culture foreign to the African.
1.11 Action-complexes
Besides the different phases, acts are subdivided into units of
actions or action-complexes. Every action-complex contributes
towards the theme and one action-complex will in many cases have
more than one function. Conradie16 mairitains that in e~ch
action-complex a certain stage of the development is concluded.
In many cases a new action-complex commences when another actor
appears on stage. Action-complexes are also associated with time
and space changes and the one action-complex must lead to the
next; there must be a connection, therefore the one complex must
have a bearing ,on the action-complex that follows. A new action-
complex can also start when a new subject ~s broached. It is
not always so easy to decide where one action-complex ends and
where the next one commences.
"As'nmens nou probeer vasstel watter funksie elke handelingsge-
heel in die drama het en hoe dit tot die ontwikkeling van die tema
bydra, kry jy 'Il baie goeie insig in die manier waarop die drama
opgebou is. Daar is geen beter metode om 'Il oordeeloor 'Il
drama te.vorm as om die funksie van elke handelingsgeheel te pro-
beer vasstel nie.,,17
40.
cronje18 on the other hand maintains the following regarding
action-complexes: "Ten eerste moet bedenking uitgespreek word
teen die term 'handelingsgeheel'. Die drama self maak ~ hande-
lingsgeheel uit, en wel op grond van die fundamentele prinsipe
dat daar in die drama eenheid van handeling moet wees. Die term
'handelingseenheid' sou bepaald beter gewees het, hoewel die drama
as geheelook wel so ~ handelingseenheid opgevat kan word.
In die tweede plek is dit die vraag of die drama inderdaad in
sulke eenhede 'opgedeel' kan word. Waar daar kontinuïteit en
aaneenlopendheid in die dramati~se verloop is, kan enigiets wat
l~k na ~ afbakening van (onder-) dele, skaars moontlik wees."
The drama is in actual fact a unit, but this' does not mean that
this unit cannot be subdivided into smaller components or complexes
which are inseparable, yet for practical purposes can be divided.·
Each component must form a whole unit in which there is a connec-
tion and again form a unit with other components. Therefore
the concept is the same as.that of the delimitation of acts ~nd
scenes, only in smaller components. Cronje thus wants this whole
reserved ~or the 'entire work and not into these smaller components
- this is quite in order and one could agree with him. His'
action-complex is equal to plot and his action~entity consists of
the acts, scenes and smaller components in the above two which
have'a mutual bearing and function.
Demarcation only occurs on account of practical considerations and,
if one ignores the existence of units or components, what is the
drama made up of?
In any case, in the analysis of any piece of literature, the stu-
dent has to break down the text into its constituent, meaningful
parts or elements so as to be able to look at théir functions and
the relation between them. This not only includes the basic
elements of characters, time and 'space, but also includes the
actions. In neglecting this, interpretatioh :~s hardly possible
for by a microscopic examination first, it is possible to get a
more satisfactory macroscopic impression of all the 'material or
the whole. Thus, whether one distinguishes action-units or
41
action-complexes it does not mean that the whole is neglected or
that one is busy disintegrating the text. One is merely using
a scientific technique so as to be able to analyse.
In this thesis the term action-complex will be adhered to as a
meaningful sub-unit in the whole. These action-complexes will
'be established, although their distinction cannot be watertight,
for the purpose of analysis.
1.11.1 Action-complexes and their function in Jaa
In Jaa ... , there is a main as well as a secondary plot and the
action-complexes in the main plot will be discussed first in
chronological order to test whether they form a complete unit ..
The secondary plot's action-complexes will then be discussed to
establish whether they form a complete unit.
The first action-complex in this play takes placé when the curtain
goes up and ~he audience meets Disene and Petlane who are bosom
friends. Their dialogue exposes how close their friendship is
by means of their greetings and conversation.
HeZeZe mphato; hai bo ntja-mme. (p. 1)
Greetings t~ you mate; I greet you my bosom friend
(my mother's dog).
This first action-complex serves to introduce the antagonist and
protagonist to the audience. It also serves to point out how
sneaky Disene is by trying to fish for information from his friend,
Petlane. Ultimately Disene gets to know all Petlane's plans for
the future, although Petlane does not realize Disene's motive.
This action-complex is spread over Act I, scenes i and ii.
Changes in time and space determine the second action-complex as
Disene walks home from the station. It takes the form of a
soliloquy and its purpose is to let the audience hear to what
42
lengths Disene intends going to woo Thakane, despite the fact
that he is the one whom Petlane has asked to look after her
during his absence.
The third action-complex is when Disene furthers his plans of
undermining Petlane during his absence and new characters are
introduced to the audience in this action-complex. Disene and
his friend, Teleko, approach Sisinyana and tell her of their
plans so that she can go to Thakane on their behalf to set the
ball rolling and'make her aware that they will be visiting her
to discuss a love affair between Disene and herself.' This action-
complex is the start of the complication of the main plot in this
drama. Sisinyana is introduced here as one merely rendering
assistance and, for the sake of suspense, the dramatist reveals
to his audience only towards the end of the drama that this
assistance is to help feather her own 'nest. It is quite interesting
to note how much effort Sisinyana puts into convincing Thakane to
fall in love with Disene.' Sellwane, as a minor. character, makes
an appearance and her only function is to call Sisinyana for
Disene.
Through the dialogue used by the various characters in this action-
complex, Moiloa achieves good and consistent c~aracter sketching
- Disene pursues h~s back-biting, Sisinyana has no respect foi her
elders as she is extremely rude to her mother (Mmateleko). There
are perhaps a few instances, however,·where the dialogue retards
development of the plot. Two instances worth noting are when
Disene recites his praise-poem about himself and the lengthy poem
on dagga recited by Teleko.
The fourth action-complex takes place when Sisinyana tells Disene
and Teleko what has transpired from her visit and they show their
joy at the good news by dancing and singing at the end of Act IrI,
scene iii. This action-complex is part of the complication re-
garding the structure of the drama.
The fifth action-complex is a natural reacti6n to what has happened
in the fourth. The audience finds Disene and Teleko making pre-
43
parations to visit Thakane ,on a Sunday with Sisinyana. They
lie to Mmasisinyana by telling her that they are going to church.
This immediately alerts the audience's curiosity and apprehension
to what is going to transpire on their arrival at Thakane's place
and makes one suspicious about how matters are going to be con-
ducted. Moiloa exhibits his expert manipulation of dialogue here
by getting Teleko to use slurred speech typical of a drunkard.
Tjhe, re ne re re re re re sa ntane re re re
rea ke r keng. ( p . 43)
No, we were trying to ... meaning to to to
get to ehu .. I' . . ch.
Sisinyana goes ahead of Disene and Teleko so as to warn Thakane
of their arrival.
Hlaha 0 bone kgotsi baeti ba haa ke bana ba se ba le haufi.
Ke re bashemane ha ba tlama, ,ha ba tlama. Masela ke a
masowana;, dieta ke motla-o-tutswe ngwana mme ke a 0 jwetsa.
(p.,45)
Come and see my friend, here are your visitors, 'they are
nearby. I am telling you the boys are spiek and span.
They are in white apparel, shoes are shining brightly, my
sister, I am telling you.
This action-complex assists in the development of the main plot
and prepares the audience directly for the sixth action-complex.
The sixth action-complex starts as a result of two facts - the
implementing of the plans made earl~er by Disene and also because
the play moves to a new locality (Thakane's home).
Disene proposes to Thakane in this action-complex. She is not
willing to marry him. Thakane, however, agrees to have an affair
with him. From this remark it is clear that Moiloa, in this com-
plex, develops his character sketching consistently.
44.
Disene gets a brain wave and intends abducting Thakane and
discusses this with Teleko. The actual abduct~on of Thakane
forms the n.ext action-complex in the play. She is tricked in-
to walking Sisinyana half way home when. Disene and Teleko kidnap
her. This seventh action-complex forms the climax of the main
plot. Tebello keeps an eye on happenings and knows top secrets.
The eighth action-complex takes place because of the introduction
of a further character, Thabo as well as a change during the
play of time and space as this bomplex takes place at Disene and
Thakane's new home.
This obligatory scene having now taken place ~he audience's sense
of poetic justice arouses their curiosity and makes them eager to
learn what the results of Thakane's and Disene's treachery has
been - whether their marriage has brought them happiness or misery.
M6iloa does not keep one in suspense for long about this isiue.
When the curtain goes up for scene vi a small, silly; young boy
Thabo, Thakane's younger brother who is living with Disene and
Thakane, says:
Owee! manna 0 se a ituletse m6laleng wa ka enwa.
Morena kgotso.' (p, 62)
My word! this man is really sitting on my neck. Good
Lord.'
These dramatic words immediately make it ambiguously clear that
there is no harmony between Disene and Thakane, and that this boy
aggravates matters by misbehaving and being stubborri and having
no respect whatsoever for Disene.
o ne 0 re ke reng? Kapa 0 re ke re ntate ha wena nna?
o ka ba le ngwana ya kala ka nna tjee? Ntate nna ha a
disene nke ke 0 bolelle. ( p , 63)
45.
What did you expect me po say? Or do you want me to say
father to you? Can you have a child as big as me? My
father is not toothless, I must tell you.
Thabo's indignant attitude forces Disene to thrash him.
Jo .' Disene a mpolaya. Ke tla ke tla
(p. 63)
Oh! Disene is killing me. I will I will
All these incidents in the eighth action-complex cause disharmony
and friction in the Disene home, and Thakane leaves home most
unceremoniously.
Ntshuthele monyako ke tswe. 0 nthibelang monyako? Ke
tla le eketsa leihlo lena la haa hana jwale, ke a bona ha
oeso u t l.iaehan t l:e, Sala 0 le jwalo. Haiaha.'
(p. 65)
Move away from the door let me get out. o Why stop me at
the door? I will add to that eye (hit it) just now,
evidently you have not felt sufficiently. Just stay
like that. That's it, you will get it!
The function of this complex is:
1. to explain the consequences of treachery.
2. Moiloa, through physical action and dialogue once again
achieves brilliant consistent character sketching.
3. The terse dialogue caused by exclamations, short questions,
ideophones, etc. help to create the atmosphere of disorder
which reigns in this home and also assist in building up
tension.
46.
The ninth action-complex (Act V, scene vii) is caused by a change
of place in the drama. Action-complex eight which is a very
action-packed scene, takes place at Disene and Thakane' s home,
whereas this complex takes place at Thakane's parents' home and
the facts related and advice given are presented in a far more
orderly fashion than all the action in the previous action-complex.
This complex serves to sketch the milieu - the wayaSotho family
hearing is conducted. This gives the re~der a better understanding
of the cultural setting on which the drama is based.
The problem regarding their childrens I dome st.ic differences is put
before both .Disene's and Thakane's parents for a solution. The,
children are both reprimanded and told to reform. They are told
to go home and are instructed to try and live in peace. Judging
from the interjections and grumblings of the two reprimanded
characters the reader doubts whether they will ever be able to
achieve this ..
THAKANE: Re se re tla utlwa teng feela, ho tla ipaka
diketso. Nn a atjhe.' Cp. 72)
THAKANE: We shall only see what the results will '
be, deeds will tell. But with me no!
DISENE: Eo mosadi! Ho se ho tseba Modimo fee la.
Ip, 72) ,
DISENE: This woman.' On'ly God knows.
These remarks are a subtle technique employed by Moiloa to suggest
that this "peace" which the childrens' parents crave for them is
mere wishful thinking.
The eighth and ninth action-complexes act as the dénouement of the
main plot as they unravel all the problems that Thakane'has brought
47.
upon herself hy being unfaithful to Petlane and allowing herself
to be tricked into marriage by Disene who leads her a real dance.
The ninth action-complex is educational probably meant to serve
as a guide for those who have marital problems. The parents act
in a very calm manner regarding this upheaval.
Time and space play a role in the start of the tenth action-
complex.
The tenth action-complex.in this drama is·--foundin Act VII, scene
i. The audience waits in suspense to see what will happen when
Petlane· discovers that Thakane has married Disene while he has
been away. This com~lex could very aptly be called a second
clim~x in the main plot.
Petlane is dumbfounded to find her married and asks Sisinyana:
Hela. kgaitsedi! ke utlwang na ka Thakane? Ha thwe 0
entse jwang? Ako mp~Zelle hantle hore jwale ditaba di
ile tsa sala di senyeha kae? Lp . 102)
.By the way my sister, what do I hear about Thakane?
What is being said has happened to· her? Please 1;el.z
me where did things go wrong?
In the eleventh action-complex Petlane arrives at Disene's home.
This scene corn:esas a culmination of previous hopes. It is an
obligatory scene which the reader demands that Moiloa present.
After a heated argument with Disene, Thakane leaves his home for
good in the presence of Pet lane who has gone to visit them to see
matters for himself. The audience waits to see whether Thakane
will want to marry Petlane out of desperation. This action-
complex further sketches Petlane's consistent character. He is
not only honest and faithful but proves himself here to be a man
of order and discipline - hence his being vexed at Thabo's dis-
respect and thoroughly thrashing him.
The twelfth action- complex takes place in the last scene of the
play. Petlane asks Sisinyana to marry him and she is delighted.
48.
The audience is amazed.but one now realises that Sisinyana's
keenness in persuading Thakane to fall in love with Disene and
ultimately even promoting Thakane's abduction, was because she
herself had had an eye on Petlane all the time. This action-
complex brings all Petlane's unhappiness on the mine and his
disappointment at finding Thakane married on arriving home, to an
end. Thus the disequilibrium caused in traditional society is
ended and equilibrium and ha~mony restored once again as Petlane
too finds happiness.
The first action-complex of the secondary plot is spread over
Act II, scenes i, ii·and iii where the dramatist suspends the
audience's curiosity and tension evoked in Act I by diverting
their attention from the main plot of the play by relating inci-
dents concerning Petlane's journey to Johannesburg. He is con-
fused by his fellow-passengers' use of a language very foreign to
him, Fanagalo. The function of this ~ction-complex is to ~eveal
Petlane's ignorance of mine 'work and to emphasise his jovialness
and spontaneity in order to evoke sympathy for him with the audience
who is, through the technique of dramatic irony, aware of the
treachery being planned against ·him.
The second action-complex takes place in Act IV, scene i where
Petlane comes into contact with other mine workers.~ This com-
plex prepares the audience for the ensuing complex's action and is
part of the complication of this plot. Though Petlane is only a
novice, he gets the more pleasant type of work on the mine. This
creates jealousy amongst the mine workers. In these scenes
Fanagalo, the ~ingua franca spoken on the mines, is extensively
and appropriately used. Because all the mine workers are of
different nationalities, this is the only communication medium
they have in common whilst working on the mines.
The third action-complex sketches Petlane as a flagrant, though
good-natured, braggart.
Kokopane di duma mpeng ya ~efatshe; bashemane ba a kga
o fumane ba ntshitse ma~eme jwa~eka ntja tsa map,aku;
ba kge~e~etse dikgoro~o ka móna ka mokoting moo ditshepe
49.
di jang malofa. Ha e lê nna mora-Petlane mona ke phuntse
ho ona mmaene wa Mlamlankuzi, ke longwa ke nta feela le
l.ona tseetse la komp onenq , (p. ?3)
Cocopans are hard at work underground; boys work hard;
you will find their tongues hanging out like pointer dogs;
full of sweat here underground where machines are dangerous
to loafers. As for me the son of Petlane I am having it
easy at this Mlamlankuzi mine, I am only bitten by the
compound louse and flea.
It is also intended tri show up the already existing animosity
between Molakolako and Mohahlaula on the one hand and Petlane .
and Shuushu on the other hand in order to prepare the reader for
the subsequent final scene where they clash and have a real show-
down.
The argument regarding the stolen jacket is very interesting and
it also serves to introduce the characters who will later have an
important role regarding the deceitful. trick they intend playing
on Petlane.
The third action-complex serves as .the development of the secondary
plot. It is a preparation to prepare the reader to understand
Molakolako's later hostility towards Petlane and Shuushu.
Petlane's jovial bragging continues in the fourth action-complex-
where he is placed in charge of the Basotho group of mine dancers
in a competition.
Le sa tla nkutlwa bafana hona kajeno. Ke tla
rethetha hore ntho e solle. Le re le methepa e tla
be e le teng. Ka mme mmangwane mosadi wa Bakwena ho
tla nkga ho sa bola, haeba re lebeletswe ho etsa oona
mohobelo wa heso wa Sesotho sa Basotho ba Lesotho.
(pp. ?6, ??)
You will hear me today boys. I will dance amazingly.
You say women will also be there. By my aunt's name woman
50.
of the Bakwena, tha~ will be the D-day, if we are expected
to do our Sotho traditional dance of the Basotho from
Lesotho.
All the spectators are amazed at his dancing ability and this
again causes jealousy amongst his fellow mine workers. Mabalane,
a mine worker's remarks leave no doubt as to Petlane's being a
successful dancer.
He! banna shebang moshemane yane ya ka pele. Ke ofe yena
eo? Haeka ekare lenyewane lela le neng le fihla maobanyana
moa komponeng! fjhe, leha ho thweng moshemane eno 0 tseba
mohobelo a se a tiile e le ka nnete! Le reng banna?
( p , ?8)
Hey! gen t lemen look at that boy in fron ti : Who is that?
It is as if it is that newcomer who recently came to/the
compound. No, come what may, that boy knows *ow to dance
I
perfectly. What do you say gentlemen?
This remark adds to t.he already prevailing jealousy and when the
policeman reveals Petlane's name and asks for a round of applause
matters are merely aggravated.
E, k:e yena. Hana le re ke mang na? Pet lane. 0
petlell~ e le ka nnete moshemane, a be a nne a tsamaye
a ikonka a bile a thenthetsa sa tshepe e hlakisa e
pheheletse h~ hlahisa mmala 0 mosweu ka mpeng, ka
bokgabane bo hlollang. Kgidi! s ... e ... 0 letsa molodi.
Mo opeleng mahofi! le mo hlabe ka ditlatse banna.
t p , ?9)
Yes, that's him. By the way who is he? Pe t Lane , The
boy really bends in the true sense of the word, and swings
his body about suddenly like a keen buck jumping high to
show the white colour of its stomach, in a most attractive
way. Gosh! my ... word... He 'whistles. Clap hands
for him! and cheer him, gentlemen!
51.
The fifth action-complex is spread over Act VI, scenes iii, iv,
v and vi. Because Petlane has won the dancing competition enmity
has started amongst the other mine workers, except Shuushu who
has always been on Petlane's side. The conspiracy is revealed
in scenes v and vi and the climax is reached when Petlane's
jealous conspirators are caught red-handed while planting dagga,
diamonds, gold, etc. in his room in order to bring him into dis-
favour with the authorities.
LEPOLESA: Re tshwarele hle morena, 0 se 0 re tshwere.
Please pardon us master, you have already caught
us red-handed.
MABALANE: Oho! oho! baas, asseblief tog!
Aa nkosi togwana!
Oh! oh! master, please!
Please, ~aptain, please!
MENEJARA: Khaman! khaman! Hamba phuma wena maespekere!
Com~ on! come on! Make haste get dut you dirty thing!
SHUUSHU: He ii: Le tshabe motho! (p. ·94)
He ii : Never trust a person .
.<
This, a~ well as the dênouement in the main plot clearly brings
out.what the dramatist· wished to convey to his audience - viz.
NEVER TRUST A PERSON!
1.11.2 Action-complexes and their function in Molomo ...
The little song, right at the beginning, with extremely sophisti-
cated vocabulary, puts the audience in the right frame of mind for
what is to follow once the curtain goes up. This could be termed
the introductory action-complex.
The first action-complex is Thuntshane's soliloquy when the play
opens. This soliloquy exposes to the audience certain essential
particulars which are vital to understanding the play. It can
therefore be said that this soliloquy has an expository function
and through it the audience is placed in the dramatic situation
52
by revealing his great love for a girl and it is a natural way
of exposition and illustrates:
a) The conflict raging in Thuntshane as a result of his genuine
love for Motshedisi and therefore people look down on his
traditionalism.
b) It foreshadows future conflict with his parents and between
the two traditions represented.
c) It reveals certain characteristics of his character - he
is self assured and proud of himself.
d) It introduces Thuntshane'as the main character.
e) It sketches the background and gives us facts about ,himself.
Of her I he says:
Ngwanana 0 nkgula moya eo. Ha a motle ngwana ditjhaba,
o tabola moshemane letswalo, leha a eme 0 a mmona hore
ho eme motha a le teng, ha ho se qeaqeisang monna hore
enwa ke mosadi (p. 9)
That girl is pulling at my soul. She is the most beauii-
ful child of tribes, that a boy's diaphragm splits (i.e.
boys tremble when they see her) even where she stands you
see her as a person of dignity,' there is nothing that
makes a man doubt that this is a real woman ...
The second action-complex is when Thuntshane and Mrnantete discuss
Motshedisi. This action also has an expository function as well
as a function of progression as the audience is told that Thuntshane
has been treated with herbal medicine and Mrnantete consoles her son
and strengthens his courage by telling him that he was treated
with even stronger medicine when he was a young boy. It serves
to place the drama in its proper setting - that of a traditional
53
background and in so doing prepares the audience for the clash
which is still to come.
Keng eka 0 tZa tshaba moru 0 se na nkwe? Maime keng
ho Zesenene. o phatsitswe ka Zesenene. ( p , 11)
Why does it seem as if you are afraid yet there is
nothing? What is medicine, compared with medicine
for Zuck. You. have been injected with medicine for luck.
The third action-complex includes the fainting of Thuntshane and
what takes place after it. It has the function of rousing
tension, because the emphasis now falls.on the supernatural.
(MoZomo wa Badimo. The Mouthpiece of the Ancestors.) Not only
does it rouse tension in the drama but it is also an example of
what Conradie terms Imilieu-beeZding".23. This term implies
everything that helps the audience to a better understanding of
the environment and conditions in which the actors live, in short
then, everything that adds to the atmosphere created in the drama.
This fainting bout and the calling of the witcpdoctor show us how
Thuntshane and his people would react in such a situation.
There áre many other such ~nstances and further examples of milieu-
sketching will be dealt with under para-textual ~nfluences in
chapter 4.
The whole of scene ii makes up the fourth action-complex in the
drama. This is where the witchdoctor, Matsetsela, treats
Thuntshane. From it the audience learns what a great and important
role the witchdoctor plays in the Black's traditional society. It
~ssists the audience in understanding the ~ay in which these people
lived traditionally and expands upon the milieu~sketching mentioned
in the previous paragraph since it depicts the way in which the
witchdoctor divines.
The entrance of Thuntshane's father, Makgobotlwane, forms the next
action-complex . It serves to introduce a new character to the
54
audience, and gives his wife the opportunity to relate to him
what has taken place - facts which are already known to the
audience. His attitude prepares the audience to a certain ex-
tent for what is to be expected later in the play when culture and
tradition are compared with so-called modernism. It also accen-
tuates the conflict which takes place between Makgobotlwane and
Thuntshane, therefore the latter acts on his own accord.
The fifth action-complex is the ritual of the throwing of the
bones by the witchdoctor and his prophecies. This is a very
important action as it links up beautifully with the title of the
drama. The verdict bf the bone throwing ritual has important
implications on the drama that still lies ahead and the witch-
doctor's prophecies have a progressive function as well as 'that
of increasing the tension. The prophecies foreshadow the ulti-
mate triumph of traditionalism and the ancestors.
During this fifth action-complex, Makgobotlwane is told about
Thuntshane's love for Motshedisi. In this action-complex also
Thuntshane's father hears about Motshedisi for the first time.
It is an obligatory scene which has been foreshadowed since the
beginning of the play and the audience wait~ in suspense to .hear
what Makgobotlwane's reaction t6 this news will be.
A new character appears in the sixth action-complex of this drama.
He is Moeletsi, the evangelist, and he makes his' appearance at the
hospital to which Thuntshane has gone to meet Motshedisi and tell
her how much he loves her. Moeletsi's negative attitude is clear-
ly representative of the so-called 'educated' (westernised) Black
and the conflict in this action-complex prepares the audience for
further similar conflicts regarding the traditional and westernised
outlook on life amongst the Blacks. It appears that Moeletsi
himself ha~ an eye on Moetshedisi. Thuntshane is wary of him and
says and unambiguously expresses his suspicions
Atjhe, taba ya hao e kgwadinyana moshaana heso, eseng
ke wena ya ipatlang ho yena, 0 ka ba lomahanya meno hakaale
tabeng e fokolang hakaalo? Ke mang ya tsebang haeba 0 se
o di tjheile ho yena. (p. 20)
55
Oh no, what you say creates suspicion my boy, are you not
the one who wants her, how can you be so serious in such
a trivial matter like that? who knows whether you have
already proposed to her.
Moeletsi maintains that should the couple marry, Thuntshane will
never be happy because of their two totally different backgrounds,
the one so traditional, the other so modern. His solemn warning
to Thuntshane is:
Na 0 tiile tjee manna Thuntshane? 0 nne 0 lare ho ka
nyala motho ya rutehileng, ke 0 tswela kgomo le ke ke
la ba la utlwana kae kapa kae feela; esita le tsamaisong
ya lela~a la lona le tla fapana h~mpe ka dikgopolo.
o ts~be hore ha a tsebe tseo wena 0 di tsebang, le wena
tseo 0 di tsebang 0 tla fumana e le ntho e ntjha ho wena.
Ke a 0 tiisetsa le ka tshwara mamphele ka sekotlo, le ke
ke la ba la dumellana le ka mohla 0 le mong. (p. 22)
Are you really serious man, Thunsthane? Have you ever
dreamt of marrying an educated person, I can assure you,
you will never ,agree by any means, even in the running of
your home you will differ greatly in ideas. You must
know that she does not know what you know, even you, will
find that what she knows is new to you. I can assure you
that you dan land in trouble, you will never agree not
even for a single day;
In the seventh action-complex, the audience meets the other main
character, Motshedisi, for the first time in person. Previously
she had only been referred to in conversations. From her con-
versation with Thuntshane it appears that she does not concern
herself at all with Black's traditions and she says:
Tjhe, nna ha ke tshwenyehe leha motho a ka mpitsa mokwena
kapa motaung, hoba ke Moafrika, ntho tsa diboko ho nna
hase ntho eo nke beng ke eise hloohong le ka mohla 0 le
mong. (p. 21)
56
No, I am not worried whether a person calls me a mokwena
or a motaung, because I am an African, things like clans
never worry me not even a single bit.
This remark foreshadows the first signs of a possible reconcilia-
tion between the modernists and traditionalists. From it one
gathers that there is more than meets the eye in Motshedisi's
friendliness towards Thuntshane and one gets ,the impression that
a reconciliation which at first seemed impossible could possibly
materialize especially when one bears in mind that it is the
forefathers' wish that Thuntshane and Motshedisi should marry.
Towards the end of this action-complex Motshedisi and Moeletsi
have a difference of opinion which once again prepares the
audience f o'r' what is to take place in the very next scene, which
is also the next action-complex in the drama.
The eighth action-complex takes place at the Reverend Lekgwaba's
manse. This is the conversation between Moeletsi and Motshedisi
and her parents. This action-complex has the function of
bringing to the audience's notice the great contrast existing be-
tween the minister's home and that of .Thuntshane. Moeletsi is
the instigator of the conflict between Motshedisi and her parents.
In this way the action-complex also prepares the audience for
similar future conflict sihce Motshedisi who is an extremely
stubborn girl is determined to marry Thuntshane. The clash
between modernism and traditionalism is emphasized. The fact
that the modernist exteems education highly and looks down upon
all forms of traditionalism is clearly illustrated.. This action-
complex also emphasizes the difference in values existing between
the various characters - Moeletsi, Lekgwaba and to a certain ex-
tent Mmamoruti are pronounced modernists, while Motshedisi ap~
pears to be caught between the two cultures. She accepts the
benefits of the modernist (in this case education) while at the
same time she realizes the wealth of the traditionalists and
probably because of this does not wish to discard altogether
with the traditionalists. So, the action-complex performs an
emphatic as well as a preparatory function in the play.
57
The ninth action-complex is in direct contrast to the previous
scene as it takes place at Makgobotlwane's home (the cradle of
traditionalism) where the clash between modernism and tradi-
tionalism is brought to the fore. Makgobotlwane - a sworn
traditionalist is totally opposed to his son marrying a modernist
but nevertheless unwillingly acquiesces solely because the fore-
fathers who form the basis of traditional religion have, by mouth
of the witchdoctor declared it to be their wish. It is aga~nst
Makgobotlwane's will to allow Thuntshane to marry Motshedisi, but
because the ancestors want him to marry h~r, the witchdoctor con-
vince~ Makgobotlwane that they know what will be best for Thuntshane.
The tension grows rapidly from here to a crisis point and later' ends
in the climax. This action-complex repeatedly foreshadows a
possible marriage between Thuntshane and Motshedisi.
Scene vii in the play forms the tenth action-complex.' The direct
conflict between the two main parties starts here. A further
.example of the communication gap which exists is illustrated when
Matsetsela speaks about a calabash of water mohope wa metsi
(p. 35) meaning a wife and Moeletsi understands him literally.
This once again illustrates the clash of cultures. The absolute
futility of attempting to reconcile the two cultures is seen from'
the above and the following example.
MATSETSELA: kgomo tseo le manamane a tsona!
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Kgwaba la methati le ba 0 potileng.
Re boka dikgomo morena.
MOELETSI: Kgomo tse nang le manamane le di bona kae
moa? Ha le hlomphe hakaakang na banna ba
baeti! Le re moruti ke lekgwaba la methati?
MATSETSELA: Tjhe bo, mohaeso re a dumedisa. ( p , 34)
MATSETSELA: I greet you most humbly (litt.:
Those cows and their calves.)
MAKGOBOTLWANE: To you crow of the ppecipices and those
around you. We greet you, chief.
MOELETSI: Where do you see cows and their calves here?
You have no respect at all gentlemen, being
58
visitors. Do you say the minister is a crow
of the precipices?
MATSETSELA: No, not at all my friend, we are greeting.
There is a further element of tension in this action-complex.
This occurs when Motshedisi threatens to commit suicide if her
father does not agree to allow her to marry Thuntshane. This
threat makes Lekgwaba change his mind and agree to their marriage.
Ntate ruri le tla ntshwarela, hoba ke se ke qetile le
eo mora .wa bona, mme ha ke bone ho kwenehela taba ya
rona pela lerato la rona, ho seng jwalo nka mpa ka
ipoZaya. (p. 3?)
Honestly father you will forgive me because I have
·finalis~d with their son, and I see no way of changing
matters regarding our love affair, otherwise I would
rather commit suicide.
Just as in the previous. complexes throughout the drama the motif
of the different sets of values existing between the modernists
and,traditionalists is extremely clearly shown to the audience.
Other functions of this action-complex are milieu sketching (p.
38), character sketching (p. 36), the adamancy of the two opposing
groups (p. 36) and the wisdom of Matsetsela (p. 38). Moiloa
complicates matters by emphasising these differences and in so
.doing makes the audience wonder whether the forefathers will be
capable of overcoming these obstacies and how they will do so.
In the next three action-complexes, namely the traditional
marriage ceremony, the reception at home and lastly the reception
at the hall, all the elements of friction and also the elements
of suspense come to a climax. At the traditional marriage cere-
mony, the eleventh action-complex, the 'educated' party, namely
Reverend Lekgwaba and his wife are belittled, shown up as ignora-
muses when they do not understand all the traditional marriage
customs that are taking place. Makgobotlwane says:
59
Le hlola le ntse Ze re re kwalehile banna, batho bana
ha ba tsebe ditsamaiso le meetlo ya bona. Ke lefifi la
motsheare, ha ke ntse ke sheba tjena, ho re feela tsho!
Tlisang nyooko ya kgomo ho kopanya ba nyalanang hammoho.
(0 tadima moruti) Ema ntate moruti, tshwara nyooko ke
ena (Ba atametswa ba kgumama ka mangole.) A re ba tshele
ka nyooko ena boka lak.at en q , Haeka 0 tseane tjee? (0 sheba
moruti Lekgwaba 0 a ba tsheha.) Jwale bohadi bo kgaohile
baheso. t p , 40)
You always say we are stupid, gentlemen, these people do
not know their o~n traditions and customs. It is just
midnight darkness in my judgment, it is just pitch-black!
Bring the ox-bile to bring together those who marry. , (He
looks at the minister.) Stand up, reverend, catch hold
of the bile, here it is. Come nearer, bridal couple, and
kneel down here. (They come nearer and kneel.)
Let us pour this bi2e, over their skulls. Why do you
stand so foolishly? (He looks at Reverend Lekgwaba and laughs.)
Now the (lobola) marriage is over my people.
Moiloa tries to emphasise the dire consequences which could follow
any attempt at bonding traditional and modern members ,of society
as well as their gross misconception of each other. The impossi-
bility of adaptation to each other is also brought out. Every-
thing dQne by the one group is a complete enigma to the other.
Later, when Motshedisi concedes and follows Thuntshane the
audience hopes that the forefathers have at last solved this
problem of misconception between the two groups. This hope is
strengthened by the forefathers' decree which places them under
an obligation to keep the couple together.
At the reception, Thuntshane is ridiculed because of his inability
to use a fork properly when eating. This is t?e twelfth action-
complex in the play. The aim of this action-complex is to hu-
militate Thuntshane as is illustrated by Moeletsi's whisper to
a nurse that Thuntshane cannot use a fork properly.
60
mahlokwana a mo hlola. Ha! ha! ha! ha! Haesale
ke bolela hore ba panne pere le tonki. (p. 46)
He cannot use forks. Ha.' ha! ha! ha! I have always
said that they have inspanned a horse and a donkey.
This action-complex has an important function as it shows up that
Motshedisi has to learn and will adapt herself to the traditional
way of life. She has to submit to her husband as head of the
home and not regard herself as such because he happens to be
'educated'. So, the action-complex also has the function of
bringing to light the internal conflict existing with the tradi-
tionalists as well as that of character sketching - Thuntshane's
compromising and willingness to meet Motshedisi half way.
In the last scene, which is also·the thirteenth action-complex
of the play, are seated the climax and dénouement of the play.
T}J.ehappenings .at;the dance prove again to the audience that
Motshejisi has to take orders from her husband.. The reconcilia-
tion that takes place proves that the westernised as well as the
traditional Black have. a future together in marriage. Yet this
action-complex clearly indicates that there is a great deal of
good in tradition. Motshedisi for instance forfeits her
'educat~d' way of life in order to marry the man she loves,
Thuntshane a traditionalist and now abides by the traditional
way of life.
In both dramas every action-complex forms a vital part of the
drama concerned. All the complexes are functional. The com-
plexes in both dramas are so intricately woven that if one of
them were to be left out it would cause such a gap in the dev~lop-
ment of the plots that at least one of the plots would be in-
comprehensible. The action-complexes are therefore all in-
dispensable.
1.12 General remarks
Moiloa's two dramas have considerable clarity of internal struc-
ture.
61
According to P.J. Conradie, R. Hayrnan, E. Bentley, F.B. Millett
and G.E. Bentley, and J.L.Styan's theories regarding the struc-
ture of a drama, both Moiloa's dramas comply with what they have
formulated as the general internal structure of any drama.
However, neither of his dramas has five acts, which appears to
be the ideal norm for a classical tragedy. Jaa ..., has seven
acts while Molomo merely has ten scenes which are not divided
into acts at all. Moiloa's works also don't fall into the cate-
gory of most modern drama which usually consists of two acts pro-
viding a natural pause between them for the interval.
The fact that Moiloa's plays do not conform to the so-called
ideal build of a drama does not in any way diminish its value
as plays becaus~ v~ry few modern plays comply structurally with
any given formula. Thus it is evident that Moiloa too breaks
traditional cQnventions in his two dramas.
John Osborne and Anthony Creighton have written a play in three
acts called Epitaph for George Dillon. The first two acts are
not divided into Scenes, although the third act consists of two
scenes. Flowering Cherry is a play by Robert Bolt in two acts
with no scenes in the two acts. Arthur Miller's play After the
Fall consists of two acts while another of his dramas, Death
of a Salesman, consists of two acts and a requiem. Athol Fugard
seems to keep to two acts in the following plays: People are
living there, Bellow and Goodbye and Boesman and Lena,
The Blood Knot consists 'of seven scen~s.
Other Black dramatists too do not appear to stick to any hard
and fast rules when it com~s to external structure. So, for
instance, J.M. Mofokeng's Sekhona sa Jwala consists of sixteen
scenes~ S.M. Mofokeng's, Senkatana, of five acts, each with
three scenes and S. Matlosa's Katiba consisting of nineteen
scenes which vary c.:;onsiderablyin length. Scene two is a mere
two pages, scene six is eighteen pages and scene fourteen is
twelve pages long. J.G. Mocoacoeng's play, Tseleng ya bophelo,
on the other hand consists of four acts each consisting 'of a
62
varying number of scenes.- Act one consists of four very short
scenes, act two has three scenes, act three has five scenes and
act four has three very short scenes.
No matter what pattern the external structure follows, however,
the drama must follow a chronological order and thus present
little difficulty as regards the succession of events. The
duration of Black drama does not appear to be a very important
factor to the Black man.
Van der poll'9 quotes Jafta as saying: "The duration of a play
is not very important in Xhosa. (It appears to be true regarding
Sesotho plays as well.). This is not 6nly an influence of
intsomi (fable) but the tradition that amusement can go as far
.as the people can still enjoy themselves However, the
audience becomes restless if they sit for longer than four hours."
He.adds that Traore says: "Unlike the Europeans we are not in
a hurry to arrive at the dénouement. When something pleases
us, its repetition pleases us even more."20
The scenes in Jaa ..., vary considerably regarding length and
might present stageability problems. So, for instance, in Act
I, scenes i and ii are short, whereas scene iii is a soliloquy
consisting of about half a page. The same pattern is followed
in Act II.and scene iii in this act is even shorter than Act I,
scene iii. Unfortunately the localities of these scenes change,
and they cannot therefore be incorporated in a preceding scene.
These short scenes would necessitate frequent curtain drops during
a performance. This could perhaps be disturbing to the audience.
The only alte~native ~s the possibility of employing the modern
technique of a bare stage or the very minimum of props so that
the curtain does not have to be rung down between scenes. Act
III, scenes if iii and iii are an improvement on the first two
acts regarding the -length of the scenes. Act IV consists of
two very short scenes. The seven scenes in Act V each take
place at a different locality which make it impossible for Moiloa
to reduce the number by incorporation. Since, as will be shown
later, all these scenes are vital to the progression of_plot, none
of them could be excluded from. the play.
63
This external structure could also be a result of a lack of
experience on Moiloa's part since few Black dramas are ever
staged from which follows that he has not seen many dramas en-
acted. He has written only two dramas to date and since Jaa
~, was his first drama written as early as 1966 this could also
account for the strange number of acts in it.
Molomo ..., consists of ten scene's and does not appear too long
a play to stage.
In conclusion then, the total structure of a dramatic work thus
depends on a very delicate balance of a.multitude of elements,
all of which must con~ribute to the total pattern and theme, all
of which are wholly interdependent. This is the case in Moiloa's
two dramas under discussion as well.
64
FOOTNOTES
1. Virtue's Simplified Dictionary, Encyclopedic edition,
p. 294.
2. Conradie, P.J., Hoe om TIdrama te ontleed, p. 3.
3. Hayman, R., How to read a play, p. 11.
4. Ibid., p. 11.
5. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.~., The art of the drama,
p. 181.
6. Ibid., p. 186.
7. Bentley, E., The life of the drama, p. 13.
8. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., p. 187.
9. Hamilton, C., The theory of the theatre, p. 157.
10. Styan, J.L., The dramatic experience, p. 71.
11. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., p. 190.
12. Conradie, P.J., op. cit., p. 10.
13. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., p. 191.
14. Ibid., p. 193.
15. Ibid., p. 194.
16. Conradie, P.J., op. cLt.;, p. 12.
17. Ibid., p. 13.
18. Cronje, G., Die drama as speelstuk, p. 205.
19. Van der Poll, J.D.P., Studies in Sesotho drama, p. 696.
20. Ibid., p. 696.
I
2:. ClilA.R·ACTERIZATION
'.'. '
2.1,. Introduction 65
....2.1.1 Problem: ·number of characters 65
2) · Character-in drama 65
2:2.1 Characterization by appearance 66
2.2:2 . Characterization through other characters 61'
2.23 Characterization through' praise-poems 72,
2.2.4 Characterization by the playwright 75
:'; 2'.2:5 Characterization by action .' 76
.; 2.3 .Character andstyle " . 78
':. 2k Character and action' 80
. , '. ': 2.5' Analysis of characters in Jaa ... 82.
..', . '.; ;.25.1 Petlane 82
." .. ··.t.·':. 2.5.2:1.. ' Disene 87
.....;, .' 2.5.3. Thakane 91
.; ':.2:5,.4 .Shuushu . 93
·2.55 · Sisinyana 95
",,' ',,< .':, ,2.5.~,6·. Teleko 98
:".!: ' '.- 2.'5':7 · Molakclako 99
•. :: .:~ .' .:,,2'.5.8 . Mohahlaula . 100
:', 25.9' ',' Thabo 101
:\:,.? .;' 2.5: 10 Sellwane 101
.' '2.5.11 TebeUo 102
. 2.5.12 '. The Bakgotsi 102
.. c'. 2.6 · Analysis of characters in Molomo ... 103
':,' .. ' '2.6: 1 Thuntshane 104
. 2.6.2 Motshedisi 107
. 2.6.3 Matsetsela . 108
2.6.4 Lekgwaba 110
. 2.6:5 Makgobotlwane 112
'. : .' 2.6.6 Moeletsi ns
2..6~7 Mrnantete 118
2.6,8· Mmarnoruti 119
FOOTNOTES 120
2. CHARACTERIZATION
2.1 Introduction
Millett and Bentley,1 remark that "in both life and art, while
we may be struck at once by the novelty or strangeness of an in-
cident, we are at once moved to inquire the sort of persons
involved, and it is only when we have learned something of their
nature that the incident begins to arouse_a complex series of
feelings and emotions and values that give the incident signifi-
cance. "
2. 1 • 1 Problem: number of characters
" the dramatist is much more limited than the novelist in the
number of characters he can use." In much f i.ctLon , of course,
as in drama, the conflict tends to shape up between two, or among
several, main characters", say Brooks arid Heilman .'2
In Jaa ... , there are twenty six characters. Because of its
length and the fact that there are two plots, it is not disturbing
to have such a big cast, as every character fulfils a purpose.
In Moloma ..., Moiloa has eight characters plus the extras (the
nurses) at the hospital.
All eight characters in Moloma ... , have important roles to play
and because there are only eight, the audience gets to know them
more intimately than all the characters in Jaa ..., except the
main characters, naturally.
2.2 Character in drama
Roby and Ulanov3 maintain that "the concept of character in drama
is a more familiar one than that 6f action, and to many people it
is a more interesting one. Character is rather easily discernible,
and it engages a natural interest in personalities. Our reactions
to 'people' we recognize immediately, verbalize easily. The
66
things that characters'do and say are more obvious than are the
logic and meaning of the pattern in which they say and do them."
In Jaa ..., one can easily associate oneself with either Petlane
or Thakane and even Disene as these characters are so true to
life in this specific situation in this drama.
In the case of Moloma ..., any young man or woman intending to
marry fit in Thuntshane's or Motshedisi's shoes as this is such
a corninonpredicament many young people have to face.
2.2.1 Characterization by appearance
"Chronologically, in most instances, the firs~ material that is
available for the understanding and interpretation of character
is personal appearance. Even the first sight of a person
furnishes the observant individual with a great deal of material
for consideration and analysis. For good and all, we bring to
the observation of new acquaintances a formidable apparatus of
assumptions as to the significance of physique in terms of
character.
Size, form; build, posture, grossness of form, or emaciation are
our first notations, and a more careful scrutiny will reveal de-
tails of feature and gesture that may almost immediately repel
or attract us, or at least keep our curiosity alive", say Millett
and Bentley. 4
However, a playwright should not give too much detail regarding
the appearance of a character in case someone who looks like him
cannot be found.
In this respect, Moiloa does not give too much detail regarding
size, form, bui.Ld, posture, etc. about his characters in the
B-text which wi·ll all make the producer's task a great deal
easier when looking for suitable persons to act in both the dramas
under discussion.
, .
67
The graphic description Mmantete gives of Motshedisi in scene i
of the drama Molomo "'1 attracts the audience's attention and
will definitely keep their curiosity alive until they meet this
girl about whom Mrnantete is talking.
o fela 0 mmone, 0 tla fumana hlohwana ekang ya lehe la
mpjhe ena a e akgotsa, peta a e kgothetse pele, a tsamaya
a inyaka kgafetsa, empa hase ntho e ka 0 tshosang eno, 0
ngwana monna, 0 kgobe matshwafo, ngaka ya ntatao Matsetsela,
e ne e 0 qethise 0 sa le ngwana mohlang 0 neng 0 jeswa ke
malomad. (p. 11)
You have really seen her, you will find h~r playing about
with. her head which is like an ostrich egg, chest out in
the front, often looking around when moving, ~but that is
something which should ~ot frighten you as such, you are
a man's child, you must remain calm, your father's doctor
Matsetsela, strengthened you long ago while you were still"
a child, the day when your uncle gave you (food) to eat.
2.2.2 Characterization through other characters
"The characters comment upon themselves and others so that we
can establish a tone peculiar to each and can evaluate speeches
and actions by a kind of yaidstick established by the play as a
whole. The way the playwright poses his characters against
each other (the kind of conflict established is the essence of
any dramatic situation) and the sorts of dialogue he puts into
their mouths become keys to his attitude."S
In Jaa "'1 Shuushu and Molakolako comment on Petlane.
SHUUSHU: Ke utlwile eka 0 ya morabarabeng. Feela na
motho 0 ntenne eo banna! hase le ka ho ipoledisa;
haesale a ne a utlwe a roriswa mohla Zetsatsi Za
motjhokolo a inkela hodimo, ke bon9 hantle hore
tjotjo e hlomiZe seseZa.
MOLAKOLAKO: Ke ntse ke re ekaba wena ha 0 mmone 0 bonwa
ke rona feeZa, 'ke bone eka Zona ba babedi Ze
68
mathe le ,leleme.
SHUUSHU: Owai! Ke ne ke ntse ke mo nkile jwaleka
motswalle, empa se fedile sa rona kajeno.
Nna ha ke na motswalle ya tla hlola a
mphahamiseditse pheyanyana.
MOHAHLAULA: Na ke boikgantsho jwale tjee ba Petlane
ban na ! Hase bo kaak o ke ba tsiemokopu. Emp a nna
ha a ntsebe, ke Mohahlaula ke tla mo ntsha
bokaakonyana bono, 0 tla ntseba ka le leng la
matsatsi, ~utleng lona le tla bona. (pp. 81, 82)
,
SHUUSHU: I heard that he was going to play 'morabaraba'.
But that man is making me fed up, gentlemen!
He is praising himself too much; since he h~ard
people praising him on the day of the dance, I am.
quite sure he thinks he is greater than everyone
of us.
MOLAKOLAKO: I thought you didn't see him, we are the'only
ones who see him like this.
SHUUSHU: What! I treated him as a friend, but that has
come to an end today. I don't have a friend who
raises shoulders above me.
MOHAHLAULA: Petlane is really pompous lately gentlemen!
He is worse than.pompous. But he doesn't know
me, I am Mohahlaula and J will drive that pomposity
out of him, he will know me one of these days, you
will see.
The soliloquies in this drama also reveal certain characteristics
to the audience as the actors comment upon themselves (Act I,
scene iii).
At the close of Act VI, scene vii Shuushu also speaks to the
audience after taking leave of Petlane where he comments on him-
self and reveals his true character.
Ha menejara a ka re feela 0 nkgethetse mosebetsi 00,
ena mpara leha e ka ba re eya kgutla e ki ke ya ba ya
69
hZoZa e 0 thoZa. Ke tZa mo tjhoma hore ho ye moo ho
yang. Nka mpa ka bona boKeatseba haeba taba e nngwe
e Ze teng. Ere feeZa ba re ba mp ei l:e jwaZekaha a
boZetse. Ke ikana ka ntate a shweZe ke tZa mo jeZa
maime, ere ha a fihZa a nkgeZe Makgowa ana a neng a se
a mo nketse hodimo. Nna Ke Shuushu, ha ke Shuushwana
wa maobane. Ke se ke fumane setuZo? Ke dutse sa
maratswana? Ke goZa bokgotho~kgotho ke bo tZoheZe!
Ekaba le a na. 0 0 je,Ze mosebetsi haeba 0 sa ntsa tZa
kgutZeZa ho ena kompone.
SetswaZZe! setswaZZe! se ka ya robaZa. Lefatsheng
mona ha ho setswaZZe ha feeZa 0 ka phuntshwa ntZo Zesoba.
MotswaZZe! motswalZe! Ke puo ya nakwana feeZa eno.
Ha ho tsuonyana phateZa nngwe mona Zefatsheng. .Ke ndoda
e i bo n e l:e . 0 a tswa. (p , 99)
If onZy the manager can appoini me in that work, even if
this stupid fooZ were to come back he wouZd never get the
job again. I wiZZ absoZuteZy undermine him. I wouZd
ra~her see witchdoctors. Let them just appoint me as he
has said. I swear in the name of m~ father who is dead,
I wiZZ use witchcraft against him so. that when he arrives
these Europeans who hoZd him in high esteem must find him
most unsuitabZe. (smelling) I am Shuushu, I am not the
ZittZe Shuushu of yesterday. Have I been appointed?
Have I been promoted? ShouZd I Zeave having received
Zarge sums oj money! That wiZZ be the day. He wiZZ
never get it again, if he is stiZZ going to return to
this compound.
Friendship! friendship! It can rather ,go to the dogs.
There is no friendship in this worZd, if onZy faciZibies
are provided for you. Friend! friend! That's jus t
taZk for the time being. Nobody works for another ~n
this worZd. Everyone for himseZf. He goes out.
In Molomo ..., there is only one soliloquy right at the outset
of the play. This speech not only reveals Thuntshane's thoughts
I.
70
to the audience but it·also serves as an introduction of the
main character in the play. In it the audience realises that
he is a determined young man who knows what he wants in life.
THUNTSHANE: (0 bua a le mong.)
Ke Thuntshane nna, ha ke Thuntshane wa jwale. Motho 0
tla ntseba, ba duletse ho nna ba ntsheba ba leka ho
ntshenya ngwananeng eo ke mo ratang hakaale, ka hore ke
mpara ha ke tsebe ho bala? Bona ba mpheta kang? Nna
ntate ke morui, ha ho y~ sa mo tsebeng motseng ona wa
Phuthaditjhaba. Ba ntjhebela maotong a dikgoho! Ya
itseng motho wa maemo a ka a ke ke a nyala nese (mooki)
ke mang? Ba ipolella lehahla hoba ke a mo rata ngwa~ana
eno. Moditjho! (0 a inama)o sisinya hlooho.)
Ngwanana 0 nkgula moya eo. Ha a motle ngwana ditjhaba
o tabola moshemane letswalo, leha a eme 0 a mmona hore
ho eme motho a le teng, ha ho se qeaqeisang monna hore
enwa ke mosadi, monna 0 hlakana hlooho ha a mo tadima,
kelello ya hae e sale e eme ntsi! Empa ke a ikana ka
Makgobotlwane a ntswetse, ho nna .(0 ikotla sefuba) 0
kene monneng, ho tla kgaoha moo ho kgwehlang, ha ke
Mosotho mmotwana.
Mafasathaenyana aa a ntse a mo konkolla ka hore haeso ke
Bosothong ba pelo e thata, ha e le ngwana Mosotho 0
-
tshwanetse ho utlwisisa nnete ya tsamaiso ya meetlo ya
Sesotho. E se eka bahaeso ba ka rapeleha ba ntumella
hore nke ke thetle mokotla, ke mohla a tla kopana le pela
di falla ke a 0 jwetsa. Ke tla hana ke sa fihla, ke
tsamaya meemo ke eme ya dikgoho, ke tswetleha moshemane
ke ema diphenene, phalafala di tla fapana tseleng mohlang 00.
Ha e le dipuo tsa batho ha ke na mosebetsi le tsona, hoba
ke a bona bashemane pelo di tswile di a leketla, nonyana
di fofa fubeng tsa bona, ba tjha ntshi ha ba mmona. Nna
ha ke tshohe dibono ke eso bone monga tsona. Feela ke
sehwa ke letswalo ha ke mo hopola ha ke tsebe keng, ~mpa
71
ke kgolwa hore ke hobane ke tjheswa ke lerato sefubeng sa
ka, hoba nnete ke hore ke a tjha ke a tuka, lerato ha le
mphe sebaka, pelong ya ka le tuka malakabe. Itjhu!
(0 itshwara pelo). Ke a tjha ke a tjhutjhusela ngwanana!
(0 tadirna fatshe). (p. 9)
THUNTSHANE: (Speaks alone.)
I am Thun ts hane, not Thun ts hane of n._C?lwate ly. A person
will know me, they are busy backbiting me and trying to
talk ill of me in the presence of the girl I love so much
by saying I am a stupid fool as I can't read? In what
way do they surpass me? My father is rich, there is no-
body who does not know him in this villa~e of Phuthaditjhaba.
They look down on me. Who said a person of my status can-
not marry a nurse? They are wasting their breath, because
I love that girl. Gosh! . (He bends down and shakes his
head. )
That girl is pulling at my soul. This child of national
folks is so beautiful that boys tremble when they see her
and where she stand~ you see that a dignified person is
standing~ there is nothing that makes a man doubt that
this is a real woman; a man becomes extremely mad when
he looks at her, his mind comes to an absolute stand still!
But I can assure you in the name of Makgobotlwane who begot
me, in me (he strikes his chest) she will meet a man,
come what may, I am not a so-called half Mosotho.
These who wear ties keep on misleading her by saying that
at our place you find tough, traditional Basotho, if she
is a Mosotho child she must understand the truth in the ad-
ministration of the Sotho custom. I wish my family would
agree to let me try, that will be the day she will be faced
with trouble, I am telling you.
I will not give her a chance from the outset, I will take
my stance like that of fowls, bending and standing to at-
72
tention, boy, things will change tremendously that day.
I have nothing to do with the people's talk, because I
can see boys' hearts are throbbing, they live in fear and
retreat when they see her. I cannot fear a person if I
have not confronted him. But I get frightened when I
think it is because of the burning love in me, because the
truth is that I am briskly burning, love does not give me
a chance, its flames are burning in my heart. Ouch! (He
grips his heart.) I am briskly burning terribly, girl.
(He looks down.)
The following quotation fr9m Molomo ..., scene vii makes the
audience soon realise that Motshedisi knows .what she wants in
life. Note the way the dramatist has created this conflict
between h~r and her parents and the evangelist. - Her sniffing
the way she does, as well as the idiomatic language used by the
evangelist makes this situation exceptionally real~
MOELETSI: Ruri ngwane~o Tshidi 0 tla llela metsotso
makgaba a kgahletse.
MOTSHEDISI: ,(0 hlwephetsa maminá.) Wena fuduwane towe
o kgaohane le moya wa ka. Ru~i ke a tiya le tla
ntlhoka lefatseng (sic.) la ba phelang, haeba, le
tla ya ka mora dipuo tsa fuduwane enwa. (0 bua
jwalo ho:batswadi ba hae a etswa.) (p.:3? )
MOELETSI: Honestly my sister Tshi~i, you will cry over
spilt milk when it will be too late for tears.
MOTSHEDISI: (She sniffs.) You damn instigator you must
leave my soul at rest. Honestly, I am telling
you, you will find me nowhere in the world of the
living souls, if you are going to listen to this
instigator. (She talks to her parents in this
manner as she leaves.)
2.2.3 Characterization through praise~poems
Praise-poems in drama are mainly found in Black literature and
Gurna6maintains that "the form and technique of dithoko, are
73
to a large extent bound up with what they were intended for, as
well as the manner in which they were recited. They were
basically intended for the ear and not the eye; for a listening
public, and not a reading one. Such thoughts and actions
were conveyed in poetic language without, however, following
each other logically or systematically from beginning to end.
Nor were they given in any great detail, in that only the major
points were mentioned in a telegraphic style, and the rest left
to the listeners' imagination."
He7 mentions the following general characteristics of praise-
poems (dithoko).
"An outstanding characteristic of dithoko .Ls the use of obscure
allusions, which make it difficult .for the modern .generation to
understand what the reciter was referring to. They are
also characterised by a fair sprinkling of archaic words.
They are also characterised by a certain amount of poetic licence.
Various reciters coin their own words at will and use unusual
stylistic devices and constructions, including numerous compound
forms. "
In Jaa ..., Act III, scene i Disene introduces· himself to Mmateleko
by means of a praise-poem.
Ke nna:
Disene Mmoroso mora Tshiba~ha-di-aparwe,
Di aparwa ke nong tse kgolo boTlakatshowana;
Ka boKgalodi, nonyana tsa matsha a dithapolla.
Phakwe ya theoha e tsubella mehohlong sekaNtsu,
Nong e kgolo ya ho hlaba kg~ra ka sefea-maeba
K~ Disene shekemisa ka hanong re bone;
Re tswe re hZoZlwa ha Disene a tsheha.
Ke Lekaka-lenyathedi-la-monna-mosepedi,
Monna ha a hloke kgomo a tsamaya.
Ho tla ya ho ye a be a e thole. t p , 18)
It is I:
Disene Mmoroso son of Tshiba-ha-di-aparwe,
"
74
Which are worn by 'great vu Ltures, Egyp tian vu Ltures;
Wheat ear birds of the great, deep pools.
A hawk came down flying rapidly from the abyss like a vulture,
The great, big, ungrateful bird
It is the toothless Disene showing nothing in the mouth;
So that we admire Disene when he laughs.
It is the great traveller who travels all over,
A man never lacks an ox whilst travelling.
As time passes he will ultimately get i~.
In Jaa ..., there is another pra~se-poem recited by Telekb,
praising Thakane for the beer they are enjoying. The aim of
this poem is flattery, yet the audience is also able to form an
opinion of her and from the poem it appears th~t she is qui~
beautiful ... and of course can make excellent beer.
Re a boka re a leboha,
Mosadi wa Mosotho Mmadikgomo,
Seponono sa heso Mmamothenthi.
Sa re thentha ka metsi;
A maputswanyana tedu tsa banna
(p. 48)
Many thanks we thank you,
Mosotho woman Mmgdikgomo, (one married with cattle)
Our beauty Mmamothenthi. (one who serves and attends to visitors)
Welcomed us with water;
Greyish water ... the men's beards (beer)
~n Molomo ..., which is quite modern compared to Jaa ..., there
is only one praise-poem recited by the witchdoctor Matsetsela
- after he has thrown the bones to assist him in curing Thuntshane.
This praise-poem is aimed solely at praising th~ bones and not
at achieving any character sketching. It does, however, remark
about Thuntshane that he is one of the lucky ones who was injected
with lucky medicine at birth.
Banna ba ho phatswa ka lesenene boseeng. (p. 16)
75
Men who have been injected with luck medicine at birth.
For further examples see 3.12 in this thesis.
2.2.4 Characterization by the playwright
Granville-Barker8 says: "Nor are the essentials of a character
likely to lie in those wise things the d~~matist himself may
want to say, the little sermons, the epigrams noted down before
he had thought of the character at all; nor in the journeyman
\
service of helping on the plot. And the ,more it is charged with
such matters the more the actor will be found making it all his
own. "
Note the dramatist's use of English which can never be mastered
by a character like Petlane as it just does not suit him to use
such superfluous, high-falutin language. Its very incongruity,
however, makes it valuable to the play'as it provides the audience
with a laugh., When one wants to learn a few words in a foreign
language, these are definitely not the right ones to start with;
Shuushu should have realised this and should rather have taught
Petlane easier vocabulary which he could have used on his return
to Lesotho. Shuushu probably uses this type of English to show
his friend, Petlane how learned he is~ Thus the function here
is character portrayal.
"A ,I I rig ht !" o a bona ha 0 fihla 0 botsa moth~ bophela
o re: "How do you suverngemise?" Ho hlo qale wena pele
o tjho. Ha a 0 araba, 0 tla 0 araba le yena a 0 botsa.
Jwale 0 be 0 mo araba ka ho re: "I am still existing under
the calamities and the catastrophies of this terrestial
ball. I feel quite eff~rverscent, everything is utilizing."
Onto mo furalla 0 itjhebela kwana. (p. 9?)
"All right!" You see when you want to ask someone how
life is, say: "How do you suverngemiseJ" You must start
first and say. When he answers you, he will give a reply
asking you as well. Then you must reply by saying: "I am
76
still existing under ~he calamities and the catastrophies
of this terrestial ball. I feel quite efferverscent,
everything is utilizing." Then turn around and look the
other way.
Granville-Barker9 continues by saying that "you can detect the
true poet in the very first line of a poem. Certainly one of
the signs of the true dramatist is that his characters, at first
sight, seem to leap from the pages at you. And one of the tests
of the fully achieved character is - paradoxically enough - that
it can be given a dozen different personalities and interpreted
from nearly as many different points of view, and yet remain
essentially the same character. "
Just one example of employing to the full this rebellious human
medium is found in Jaa .'.. , Act VI, scene iii where Shuushu and
Mohahlaula discusi Petlane. Shuushu rebels about Petlane's be-
haviour towards others but in actual fact he uses his attitude
to elicit information about his friend from the other miners in
this way.
SHUUSHU: Owai! Ke ne ke ntse ke mo nkile jwaleka
motswalle, empa se fedile sa rona kajeno. Nna
ha ke na motswalle ya tla hlola a mphahamiseditse
pheyanyana.
MOHAHLAULA: Na ke boikgantsho jwale tjee ba Petlane
banna! Hase bokaako ke ba tsiemokopu
t p . 81)
SHUUSHU: What! I regarded him as a friend, but that
has now come to an end today. I cannot tolerate
a friend who will keep on raising shoulders above me.
MOHAHLAULA: Pet lane is really pompous lately, gentlemen.
He is worse than pompous ...
2.2.5 Characterization by action
"Since the essence of the drama", say Millett and Bentley, "is
the representation of action, in drama, whether of a serious or
77
trivial sort, .one of the major modes of characterization is
action itself .. For, in life as in art, what a person does or
does not do, his behaviour in and out of crisis, and the exact-
ness or inexactness with which he achieves his objectives, have
undeniable significance in terms of character.,,10
An exam:rle from Molomo ..., might be Lekgwaba. All along f.1oiloa
portrays Lekgwaba as a man of principles who becomes so infuriated
at the idea that his daughter might marry a traditionalist that
he threatens to murder her. Yet when she on p. 37 threatens to
commit suicide if he refuses to consent, Lekgwaba does not even
attempt to protest any more and throws all his principles over-
,board and capitulates.
Matsetsela, the witchdoctor in Molomo ... , is called by Thuntshane~s
mother, ~antete, to strengthen her son to withstand future ob-
stacles he.may come across in life. If the action below were
to be performed by a man off the street in the play, the i?tegrity
of such an action would be seriously threatened. But, because
this smoking or fumigating process is performed by ,awitchdoctor,
the action is plausible and intelligible in the light of what
the audience knows about witchdoctors.
MATSETSELA: Mótho a tla re 0 buile hara mokgopi moa 0
tla se bona. Ke nthonyana e nyane ho nna ho
fetola motho makoko hana jwale a iphumane a se a
nts~ a lelekisa dithole. Mosadi atametsa kotla
eo ya ka.ke fumane mokubetso. Butle he ke hle
ke mo kubetse. Kobotetsa hlooho moshemane.
(0 a mo kubetsa.) (p . 13)
MATSETSELA: A person should try and talk amidst the
group, there he will get what he wants. It is
a very small thing for me to change a person in-
to a rooster now, he will soon find himself
chasing hens. Lady, bring that bag of mine
nearer to get fumigating medicine. Wait, let
me fumigate him. Bend your head, boy. (He
fumigates him.)
78
2.3 Character and style
"The actors embody and interpret the text provided by the author.
And it would seem that they are entirely free to do this in any
manner they like., But· that is true only up to a point. For
the author has at his disposal a very powerful instrument for
imposing on the actors the manner of interpretation he desires.
That instrument is style.,,11
Moiloa's dramas are littered with idiomatic speech. 'This is
characteristic of his style 'of writing and in it he has at his
disposal the necessary instrument for imposing on his actors,
the manner of interpretation he desires. In Jaa ..., Act III,
scene i Disene and Teleko discuss a means of wooing Thakane and
we see how Disene praises himself, very aptly using a number of
idioms in rapid succession whilst talking to .Teleko.
Kgelele! 0 re nka ba ka etsa jwalo eO,ngwanabo rona
Sisinyana a se a ikemiseditse ho re tlosetsa sebo~a, nna
monna ha ke tshabe diyabanneng; ha ke tshabe ho tshwara
mmamphele ka sekotlo. Haeba ke se ke bona hore e tla
ba lehlanahlana la motimahlaha, Tebello weso ke a 0
hlapanyetsa ke tl~ ~ua hore ke kgaohe hlooho; ke pjhe
mathe ka hanong; nthane e ome haeba ho ntumella, hoseng
jwalo e tla be e se nna Disene mora Mmoroso. Hee! heel
nna ha ke tshabe moru 0 se na nkwe.
Gosh! Do you think that I can do that when our sister
Sisinyana is already prepared to bell the cat, I am not
afraid of hardships, man; I am not afraid of struggling
my way through. If I find that matters are turning against
us, in the name of my sister Tebello, I will speak until I
can't speak any more, until saliva dries from my mouth and
my throat dries up until I find an opportunity, otherwise
it wou Ld not be me Dis ene, son 0f Mmo r 0 s0 . Hey! hey!
I can never get cold feet.
"By the style in which a play is written the audience is instant-
ly, and largely subconsciously, being made aware of how they are
79
to take the play, what to expect from it, -on what level they
ought to react on it. For the audience's reaction is greatly
dependent on their expectations. If they are under the
impression that the play is meant to be funny they will be more
readily inclined to laugh than if they know from the beginning
that it is to be taken with deep seriousness. Some of this is
communicated to the audience by the title, the author, the actors
in the play, or whether on the programme it is described as a
tragedy or a farce. Nevertheless there may be many in the
audience who do not have this advance information, nor is it
\
always clear, even from the programme, what the dramatist or
director intends.,,12
In a play like Jaa ..., the style viz. that the play is meant to
deal.with treachery, conditions the actors to act "stealthily"
and so creates expectations with the audience in order to bring
out their proper reactions to the play.
"What applies to the general style of the play as a whole is also
true of each character: in a good pl.ayby an accomplished, pLay-:
wright ea9h character will have his own style of speaking - which
will, however, have to be a variable within the overall level
of language of the play as a whole.
In other words: having set himself a lower and an upper limit
within which th~ language of the play will move, the author can
vary the level inside that range, .according to the way he wants
us to look at the character or indeed the scene.,,13
For instance in order to make the mine workers as true.to life
as is humanly possible on t.he stage, Moiloa has Petlane use
Fanagalo to his fellow mine workers.
Yini wena hlala buka lo sihlangu ka wena, shova lo stof!
sheshisa! shayisa lo mashini! yini wena yenza siphukuphuku?
(p. 39)
Why are you sitting and admiring your shoes. Push the
cocopan! let it move! drive that machine! what are
you doing you fool?
80
Also compare the witchdoctor's .vocabulary in Molomo ..., a man
who is so different from ordinary people uses his own, sometimes
strange language.
ho shwashwatha ka shetla la molomo. (p • 14)
talking too much with her mouth.
Note the proverb, idiom and ideophone used in the following
utterance by Matsetsela.
o hlo re ho bona haesale re duba thankga, re tlolaka
tangtanyane e kganngwe ke lerole ho se ngwana e motle.
Re qeta ho re kgefu, re ka re koba mangole ka mokgorong
ka mo na. (p . 15)
You have already seen for yourself we'have since been in
a mess dribbl~d up and down working hard breathlessly.
·We have just paused, and sat a bit in the hut over here.
2.4 Character and action
"Action, then,. apart from its reference to character is relative-
ly meaningless. Action, even violent and exciting action,
unless it becomes the action of concrete characters, soon becomes
tiresome.
If it is true, then, that physical action can become dramatic
only as it becomes meaningful, we shall have little difficulty
in seeing why dialogue is of tremendous importance in drama.
For language is perhaps our richest and most subtle means of
significant expression. Gesture, though it goes hand and hand
with dramatic dialogue - 'gesture is highly limited. In the first
place the more subtle aspects of facial expression, for example,
tend to be lost on most Of the audience, who sit foo far back from
the stage to be able to see it clearly.,,14
81
"It goes almost without saying that the action should strike the
beholder as appropriate to the character from whom it proceeds.
Of even greater importance in successful motivation is the
quality of adequacy. It is fairly easy for authors to conceive
of characters appropriate to certain actions, or actions appro-
priate to certain characters; it is not always so easy to con-
vince an audience that the motives given or suggested are ade-
quate to the actions performed. Another test of success
in motivation, the establishing of a plausible relationship be-
tween pharacter and action, is consistency. Here, too, our
demands in the way of consistency depend directly on the nature
of the character."15
In this way Disene's physical action when he strikes Thakarte
during their quarrel'is meaningful and consistent with his
'character, since he has.already revealed himself as a man of
violence when he forcefully abducted Thakane. His striking of
Thakane merely emphasizes thé fact that he is a mean, treacherous
character.
In Molomo ..., the audience is brought to realize that Thuntshane
can stand up for himself as h~ was blessed when still very young.
In his opening solilo~uy he boasts th~t he can stand his man and
defy the rest of the world so his actions seem appropriate to
his character in scene vi during the following incident.
Ko! ko t , ko t ka t lun q , (0 sa itshohlometsa a kena.)
MATSETSELA : Bee! 0 ke na ho esa t hiae kena . Nk.a! nka I
(Ba a kallana.) Thiba! 0 thiba jwang na?
Nk.a ! nka! (A erna le tsona Thuntshane d i.peke l
Ha! ha! (A tsheha Matsetsela.) Tjhe ke a
bona 0 manna 0 tla tseba ho sireletsa ntlo ya haa.
(p. 30)
Knock! knock! knock! in the house. (He enters abruptly.)
MATSETSELA: By'the way! You enter before you are told
to en ter. Beware! Beware 1 (They knock each
other with kieries.) Defend! How do you defend?
Beware! beware! I
82
(Thuntshane stops the kieries.) Ha! ha!
(Matsetsela laughs.) No, I see you are a man,
you will be able to protect your home.
2.5 Analysis of characters in Jaa ...
Character sketches of the main or central characters will be
given now. Although the minor characters in'the drama concerned
are character-types, they have a part to play' in the drama, and
will be dealt with after the main characters have been discussed.
2.5.1 Petlane
Petlane as a central figure appears to be an extremely honest
and straightforward person in all that he does and 'says through-
out the entire pliy. He is always candid in whatever he says
and never hides anything. His openheartedness and trust in his
fellow human being causes him to take Disene into his confide~ce
,and divulge everything about how.he feels towards Thakane. It
is also possible that Petlane's genuine love. for Thakane and the
excitement of going away to earn money for their forthcoming
wedding that makes him so garrulous and eager to share his newly
found joy with someone else. It is this spontaneity that later
causes him to lose Thakane.
Tjhe haa ha ho etse letho hob a ke se ke nkile ngwanana
mona ka ha Tshowane. (p. 2)
But that does not matter because I have already become
engaged to a girl just over here at Tshowane's place.
Thakane moradi wa Tshowane. ( p , 2)
Thakane the daughter of Tshowane ..
He is a great pretender at times but always jovial.
Ke qala ho tla ka lona lena le hodimo; ha ke bua
nnete fee la. Taba ke here mohaeso sehole sa manna se
lokela ho pata bohlotsa. (p. 14)
83 .
It is my fi~st time coming here today if I have to
tell the truth. The main thing my friend is this, one
has to conceal one's infirmities.
His excitement causes his emotions to get the better of him and
when he sees the train for the first time he becomes quite
lyrical about it. Hence his poem in honour of the train on p. 9.
Because he is so good-natured and jovial he has the ability to
make friends very easily with some of the other mine workers on
the train (Act II, scenes i, ii and iii).
I~ some instances ~e cart be quite jocular and shows a sharp sense
of humour.
~na ke tla re ntate yena .ke mang? ( p , 10/
By the way ~ho is my father? '
When the third mine worker mentions that they come from Dikgwele,
Petlane misunderstands "dikgwele" deliberately as "strings"~
He says:
o tla nqaka le wena mo~na ke a b~na. 0 re le tswa
dikgwele? Le tswa dikgwele ha le entse jwang? Hana
ke dikgwele tsa mofuta ofe? Ha re sa tla utlwana ke a
bona ban.na . Terene e kene s e te i.s he neriq • Petlane 0
bona dikgarebe. Ntloheleng ke bone ditshehlana ka ntle.
o hlaha ka fensetere . (p. 10)
You will puzzle me, man, I can see. You say strings
emerge from you? What's the matter that strings emerge
from you? What type of strings are they? We will never
understand each other, as I see, gentlemen. The train
enters the station. Petlane .s e.e s ladies. Leave me a lone
to see the ladies. He looks through the window.
84
He is quite a tease when he calls to the ladies to embarrass them,
saying:
He! he! Dieketseng, Tselane, Puleng! Wena Mmaletsatsi!
Ngwanana eo hase Maria na banna? Xe ntse ke bua le wena
leha 0 itimeletsa nna jwalo, hammoho ~e wena Jenete. Xe
a le tseba leha le ka ba la itimeletsa nna ha le le
Gauteng mona. (pp. 10, 11)
Hey! hey! Dieketseng, Tselane, Puleng! You Mmaletsatsi!
Is that girl not Maria,.gentlemen? I am talking to' you,
although you pretend not to know me, even you Jenete. I
know you even if you pretend not to know.me when you are
here in Johannesburg.
He reveals himself as one eager to learn from others and after he
has ac~nowledged his igrtorance about mine work he attentively
listens to what those who have previous experience· of such work,
have to tell him. This charact.er trait - his eagerness' to
learn - also accounts for his speedy promotion once he starts
working.
Petlane is a sporting and good-natured braggart, merely to gain
his fellow workers' attention. He maj~tains the following about
his work on the mine.
Kokopane di duma mpeng ya lefatshe; bashemane ba a kga
o fumane ba n~shitse maleme jwaleka ntja tsa mapaku; ba
kgeleletse dikgorora ka mona ka mokoting moa ditshepe di
jang malofa. Ha e le nna mora Petlane mona ke phuntse ho
ana mmaene wa Mlamlankuzi, ke langwa ke nta feela le land
tseetse la komponeng. (p. ?3)
Cocopans are hard at work underground; boys work hard,
you will find their tongues hanging out like pointer dogs;
full of sweat here underground where machines are dangerous
to loafers. As for me the son of Petlane I am having it
ea sy a t th is M Lam Iank uzi m ine, I aman ly bit t e-n byt he com-
pound louse and flea.
85
Another instance where' this trait is portrayed is on the day
of the mine dances. Petlane is portrayed as a self-confident
person and despite the others doubts he consistently believes
in his and his comrades' abilities:
Haa! Le sa tla nkutlwa bafana hana kajeno. ( p . 76)
Hee! Ke tla ba kganna ke a 0 jwetsa, ke ba sututse
ke se ke lomahantse meno. (p • 77)
Oh Lord! You will he. aT me today boys,.
Hey! I am going to drive them I am telling you and
push them most seriou~ly.
He is a man of his word and does not faLl in love with other
girls while working on the mine. He is true to Thakane while
away from her. As far as his w6rk on the mine is concerned,
he appears to be very conscientious and soon becomes boss "boy",
... , ke bile ke ae ke kgethetswe botjhifobaseboye
(p.' BOj
... , I have also been chosen to become the chief boss
boy ...
It is this fact that causes his friends to be jealous of him and
his achievements on the mine. Not only his promotion, but also
his outstanding dancing abilities and popularity amongst the
female spectators all contribute to their reasons for being
jealous of him.
At times he is a little abrupt with the other mine workers,'but
never resorts to foul, vulgar language.
Because Petlane is faithful he expects others'to be like him that
, I
is why he hopes to find Thakane waiting for him on his return
home from the mines.
86
When his trust is betrayed he is dumbfounded but nevertheless
remains calm. Although he has been betrayed by his best friend,
his friends on the mine and especially by her whom he loved
dearly, this does not cause him to lose his temper; he seems to
take things in his stride. Although Thakane betrays him, he
still has some feeling left for her. He is a man of discipline
and believes in submission to one's elders and hence his infu-
riation at Thabo's insolent attitude toward Disene to the extent
that he thrashes Thabo, Thakane's younger brother.
A mo hweba ka lebanta. Ke tla 0 shapa hore 0 bakele ho
arabisa batho bao e seng thaka tsa hao . (p. > 106)
He thrashes him with a belt. I will thrash you so much
that you will never agqin ~nswer people who are not your
equals.
He is unlike Disene in the sense that he believes in u~holding
traditions. When he visits Sisinyana (p. 101) he is respect£ul
and careful to obey the traditional code of conduct by being
respectful to Mmasisinyana (Cf. his behaviour here to that of
Diserie toward Mmateleko (p. 19)).
He is called a fool by othe~ jealous mine workers, but thii
judgment of him appears to be biased and unfair. His use of
Southern Sotho proves him to be by no means uneducated as witnessed
by his use of the many synonyms for the word friend like ntja-mme
(chum), mokana (colleague) and weso (brother) whilst talking
to different c~aracters during the course of the play. He is
also very fond of idiomatic language and this is to be found on
almost every occasLon.when he speaks.
Petlane's character shows development dQring the course of the
play. From an insignificant passenger on the train, he becomes
a boss boy on the mine, a famous dancer and a good loser when he
returns home to find his fiancée married·to his so-called bosom
friend, Disene. Without begrudging Disene, be accepts the
87
situation as it is, and looks to someone else for love, and
deservedly gains Sisinyana as wife. Through this character,
the dramatist has achieved what he set out to do and that is to
prove to his audience through the many incidents in the play
that one must always be on the look-out in life and beware
of a friend!
Petlane is there to portray to the audience that there are still
honourable men today. Despite temptation he is not tempted in-
to being unfaithful to Thakane while he is away from her. Be-
cause he is a man of his word he expects the same from· others,
yet he is constantly warned to beware of friends. He is extremely
consistent in his behaviour and self-motivated~ He wants to do
his best at all times and thus gets ahead in his work on the mine.
He intends marrying the girl he left behind and this ~hought is
perhaps uppermost in his.mind, so one comes to the conclusion that
this character is there to portray that there are still good
people in this wicked world of ours.
2.5.2 Disene
Disene .is untrustworthy .and treacherous~ In all his dealings
throughout ,the drama he is deceitful and sly. He makes bold
promises to his bosom friend which he does not keep and even
goes so far as to undermine him.
Ke tla nne ke behe leihlo weso, ha ke hopale hore ekare
ke bona hore mathaka a tanasetaa teng ka hloka ho 0
tsebisa. (p. 5)
I will keep an eye brother, I don't think I would let
you down and not inform you when I see folks trying to
play near heT'.
Immediately Petlane turns .his back, Disene exposes his character
and tells the audience how determined he is to marry his best
friend's fiancée, Thakane, whom he had a moment ago promised
"to guard against the vultures" for him:
88
Ke se ke bi le ke nt ee ke bona tse la eo ke tla mo
kgwaphela ka yona. Ka mme ka mmangwane mosadi wa
Bakwena mmuti le nna ke kene, ale barese dibotlolo.
(p. 6)
I already see a way in which I will get (trip) her.
Honestly, making assurance doubly sure in the name
of my aut wife of the Bakwena, I must get her, come
what may.
He reveals no reverence for traditions and customs and is dis-
respectful towards his elders (pp. 19, 20 and 66) ~
He is selfish and in order to achieve his repulsive, aims he
disrupts Mmasisinyana's household and sows disharmony by luring
Sisinyana and Teleko to execute his selfish aims (pp. 42, 43).
His selfishnéss is further illustrated when he forces the,un~
willing Thakane to elope with him. Disen~ pursues his plans,
despite the suspicious Tebello's eff6rts to brihg him to his
senses by persuading him to thin}< twice before he exeeut.es
whatever it is he has in mind.
He shows no shame for his intended treachery nor feeling for
others, not even for his best friend, Petlane; He is so brazen
about the affair he intends having with Thakane that he openly
admits:'
monna nqiaanan a eno k:e mo rata ts ho l.Lo.ya madi, ·ke
mo rata nnete e ts~ileng matsoho. 0 ntshitse ena.
o itshwara pelo. (p. 22)
man I love that girl a great deal" I l.ove her with all
my heart. She has extracted it. He holds his heart.
leha Petlane e le motswalle wa ka wa hlooho ya kgomo
hoo ha ho re letho, re ka mpa ra se ke ra hlola re
ntshana se inong, ra mpa ra qothisana lehlokwa ha.ya moo
ho yang (p, 23)
89
even though Fetlane is my bosom friend ... that
does not matter, we would rather not be bosom friends,
but rather at loggerheads, come what may ...
Disene has the bad habit of being a dagga smoker. He also
drinks excessively, which is one of the causes of his unhappy
marriage. He is extremely lazy and Thakane tells his parent~
that he often gets drunk, sleeps it off and beats her younger
brother Thabo. (Act V, scene vii.) During one of their many
arguments he resorts to burning the woman he is supposed to
love.
Le ka letsatsi le leng 0 kile a ntjhesa ka mollo.
(p. 68)
Moreover, one day, he burnt me with fire.
Disene has a violent temper and, while Petlane is visiting his
home, he has a fight with his wife and hits her with a stick
until she eventually decides to leave hi~ fbr good.
THAKANE: Ho·lokile 0 a nkotla? Otla hape! otla hape!
ako re 0 nkotlile fee la.
DISENE: Molamu wala. Ke t l:a 0 tiu la , .A mo pola ka
molamu.
THAKANE: Jo Disene wee! Jo nna nna Disene a.mpolaya!
A tswa ka ntshwe di sa fohlwa. Yaba 0 ngadile
o ngaletse ruri.
PETLANE: Hele! Ya lona ntwa ke e se nang bothibo.
Ere ke di bone matswele. Phuru.
DISENE: A tswa a suma ka dinko. Ke t l:aml7JO l.aua
mosadinyana enwa. (p. ID?)
THAKANE: Well and good you hit me? Hit again! hit
again! just say you have only hit me.
DISENE: Picks up a stick. I will smash you.
He strikes her with the stick.
90
THAKANE: Oh Disene! Oh Disene is kiZZing me! She
leaves in a great hurry. And then, she goes
away for good.
PETLANE : Gosh! Your fight cannot be stopped. Let
me go away. He leaves.
DISENE: Goes out furiously. I wiZZ kiZZ this woman.
Disene's character shows some signs of development. When
Petlane confronts him on p. 104 Disene does show some signs of
remorse and craves Petlane's pardon.
DISENEj Oho ngwaneso, 0 ntshwareZe, 0 bo 0 ntshwareZe,
feeZa re tZa nne re bue Zeha ke sa tsebe jwang,
h~ba ke se ke hiZe ke tshctba ho kopanya ~ahZo Ze
wena. (p. 104)
DISENE: Oh my brother, forgive me, forgive me once more,
however we shaZZ taZk aZthough I don't know how,
because I am afraid of facing you.
His inability to discipline himself causes h~s wife td disrespect
and eventually leave him. Had.rhe been more honourable in his
attentions toward her he might possibly have succeeded in disci-
plining her.
Disene is a barn rotter. When the audience meet him for the
first time and get to know him quite intimately he is a rogue"
and when they take leave of him in the ~enultimate scene of the
play he is only worse. What an apt name the dramatist chose for
t.his horrible character. Disene (gums) suits his personality
to a T. The playwright causes him to pay ,for his deceit by
eventually depriving him of that which he had treacherously
robbed Petlane - viz. Thakane.
Disene is a drunkard and under the influence of liquor he reveals
a dishonest, irresponsible characte.r.. ,His downfall is drink and
because of this and alsb his being a dagga smoker, he sinks so
low that he treats the woman he maintains he lo~ei like dirt.
91
He is the type that fights for something and when he gets it he
loses interest and does not appreciate it. In this character
the effects of liquor and dagga are clearly brought home to the
audience.
2.5.3 Thakane
Thakane is a weak character that can easily be swayed. She is
unstable and is easily tricked, because of her lack of vigilance.
Sisinyana tells her:
... tweba di nne di nyanyake bo kgotsi ha katse e le siyo.
(p , 31)
mice always play when the eat's away, m~ friend.
This refers to Petlane's absence from home and Sisinyana's plans
for her intended meeting with Disene. Thakane says:
Oot tjh~, mea ho ka nna ha lo~a, ho tsamaisa nako
feela... (p. 31)
Oh! no!· that's all right, only to while away the time ...
This is a shallow, .frivolous, flippant character who pays very
dearly for her flirtation with Disene. Like Disene she too
has no feeling for others least of all for the one to whom she
has given her word of honour. She plays with Disene's feelings
and underestimates his possible reactions when she says to him:
Ke itse ho wena: "Ntaele Morena ka mofo wa haa, thato ke
tla etsa ya haa yohle, ... (p. 60)
I said to you: "Instruct me my Lord, I am your servant,
your en tire wi l: l: wi l: L be done, ...
She does not realise that by agreeing to love Disene she is
heading for trouble. During their first heated argument in
92
married life it appears that Thakane has no respect for her hus-
band, Disene: after being scolded and threatened by him, she
retaliates in the following sarcastic way:
THAKANE: o mo setotsa habohlako. o tlapunya mang?
Ekaba 0 tlo nno tlapunye dihole. Nna ha ke
setlatla nke ke 0 jwetse, 0 disene ekang tsa
leqheku la mohofe 0 dinta. (p. 63)
THAKANE: Looks at him furiously. Who can you strike?
Perhaps you normally knock fools. I am not a
stupid fool I must tell you, y~u a toothless
thing like.a poor old man full of lice.
She can stand up for herself in a fight as is .seen throughout
the very ac~ion-packed scene.vi in Act V.·
In Act V, scene vii she is not at all afraid to tell' her p~rents
as well as her in-laws how badly Disene treats her and her
younger brother,·Thabo.
o hlorisa le ngwana enwa weso ... ( p . 68)
he ill-tr~ats this littl~ brother of mine as well
When angry she definitely doe.s not behave like a lady. Disene
reports to her parents that she often swears at him. Her· parents
as well as her very concerned in-laws give them advice, but it
seems to fall on'deaf ears when it comes to Thakane. This is
displayed in her disrespectful attitude when leaving.
Salang hantle ..., 0 a honotha. Re se re tla, utlwa·teng
feela, ho t l:a ipaka diketso. Nna atjhe! (p. 72)
Good-bye. She murmurs. We shall only see what' the
results will be, deeds hlill tell. But with me, no!
.Both Thakane's and Disene's behaviour is typical of what
Ntsukunyane16 refers to in his article. They both defy ·the
93
laws and thereby cause '''disequilibrium, conflict and disharmony".
By disobeying their parents' advice (after the court scene, Act
V, scene vii) they as it were annoy the ancestral spirits and
are punished accordingly. Eventually their de~picable act of
treachery to Petlane is vindicated and they in turn are heavily
punished for their wrongs and equilibrium is restoreq in society
once more.
Thakane, however, is an excellent cook and a beer maker as Teleko
praises her and the beer she has made in his praise-song on pages
48 and 49.
Thakane lives up to the saying 'out of sight, out of mind' and,
although she loves Petlane, he is forgotten when Disene makes an
appearance. She is an image of a woman with low morals and
resorts to bad language when having an argument with her husband,
Disene. She also shows the. audience that blood is.thicker than
water by defending her young brother who lives with them, even
though he is in the wrong and disrespectful towards Disene. She
is very gullible to believe all that Sisinyana has to say about
Disene.
2.5.4 Shuushu
Shuushu is a sub-plot character whose function it is to assist
Petlane in outwitting his conspirators and to emphasize the theme
of the play.
He is one of Petlane's friends who works with him on the mine.
He is a friend in need, but deep down he is a chameleon. His
influence saves Petlane from being dismissed and simultaneously
lands their enemies in trouble. This shows how tricky he is.
He pretends to plot against Petlane with the other miners and
by what he says makes them even more determined to get rid of
Petlane.
Nna ke ne ke re ha ho lohuweng leqheka la ho mo
senyetsa mosebetsi kapa bona botjhifo-baseboyenyana bono
94
ba hae. Re se re bile re jela kgwebeleng ka lebaka la
lenyewane lena
ke yena ya seng a rwesitse tlokola ...
homme he re ka nna ra ba fehlella habonolo haeba ke
moo le bona ha ba sa ja ditheohelang ka baka la mpara e
tshwanang le ena ya Mosotho. (p. 83)
Personally I was saying we must devise a means of
getting him dismissed from work or ás chief boss boy.
We are already living in torture because of this newcomer
he is the one who is being praised ...
well then ~e can easily influence them, if they too
find themselves in. torture becau~e of an ilZiterate fool
like -this Mosotho.
Shuushu has the ability to lay it on thick when denigrating
Petlane to the ~ther miners~ He degrades him by saying:
Moshemane eno 0 ikgopolelá haholo "too much"
hona tsh.iung tsena, hoo a seng a re~tadima jwalek,a
matlakala. (p. 86)
That boy thinks very highly of himself "too much"
these days, with the result that .he looks down on us as
rubbish.
He warns Pet lane about the other miners' conspiracy after Petlane
himself had noticed a radical change in attitude towards him on
the part of the other miners but had been unable to fathom what
they had against him. He asks Shuushu:
o reng na monna Shuushu! hara ke bona eka setswalle sa
rona ke hona se tiyang, ... (p. 89)
What are you saying man Shuushu! When I see that our
friendship is growing stronger now, ...
95
who warns him by saying:
o e hlokomele ke leraba ntho eo~ ntsho esa ... (p , 89)
You must beware of it, that thing is a snare, my friend
Throughout Petlane's stay on the mine, Shuushu remains a true
friend, but the minute Pet lane Leaves for home and Shuushu
\
secretly hears from Petlane that he (Shuushu) has been designated
as Petlane's successor he vows to keep Petlane ousted even though
he were to return. So Shuushu too cannot be trusted and fits
in with the theme of the play. This becomes especially apparent
when he says:
Ha meneja~a a k~.re feela 0 nkgethetse mosebetsi 00,
ena mpara leha e ka ba re eya kgutla e ke ke y~ ba
ya hlola e 0 thola. Ke .tla mo tjhoma h~re ho ye moa
ho yang. (p . 99)
If only the manager can appoint me for that work, this
stupid fool even if h~ tries to come back he will never
get that job again. I shall undermine him until I
can't any more.
Shuushu is a bosom friend to Petlane. His function in the drama
is to carry news to Petlane and he is the one who constantly
warns Petlane ~ot to confide in people, but to always 'BEWARE OF
FRIENDS'·. As long as Petlane is still on the mine, Shuushu's
actions are very consisterit, but as soon as Petlane leaves,
Shuushu expresses determination to take Petlane's post and one
comes to the conclusion that his own philosophy boomerangs as
Petlane has also to beware of Shuushu - a supposedly true friend.
2.5.5 Sisinyana
Sisinyana is a sneeky and most unreliable character and in the
drama she helps to promote matters that ultimately benefit her.
In order to prepare Thakane for a temporary flirtation with
96
Disene, Sisinyana says ·to her while the two are'discussing boy
friends:
Ke yona entho ena eo nna ke sa rateng ho ipehella ka
mohlankana a le mong. Mehleng ena ha ho batlahale
hore motho a tsamaye naha ka mpa ngwaneso. (p. 28)
Personally that is why I don't like to keep one boy
friend. These days it is unwise for one to act
foolishly, my sister.
Sisinyana jokingly asks Thakane:
Ha 0 sa batla e mong na nnake? Ke 6 bonetse sootho .
.ka mona; tjaka ya seema-ka-ditlha*o; leqhw~le.mokgotsi;
tjharola ya mohlankana wa lekejakejane. (p. 29)
Don't you want another one, darling? I have seen a
brownish chap for you here, a handsome fellow, active
my friend, a good~looking and wise lad of.fine stature.
This handsome fellow referred t6 is none other than Disene and
the audience knows that he is a sight for sore eyes. Sisinyana's
deceit and audacity becomes evident when she says to Thakane:
Ka bonolo. Kgele nnake. Disene 0 mo~le hampe hle
nnyeo, 0 mpa Q le disene feela. (p. 30)
With meekness. Gosh darling. Disene is extremely
handsome, my friend, he is only toothless.
She is a very determined person and tries her utmost to get
Thakane to forget about Petlane. She tells her so convincingly:
Ha ho thata hore 0 mo lahle ha Petlane a fihla,
tweba di nne di nyanyake bo kgo~si ha katse e le siyo.
(p. 31)
It is not difficult for you to sever connections with him
when Petlane arrives, when the cat's away the mice will
play, my friend.
97
Because she desires Petlane for herself she co-operates with
Disene and Teleko in the abduction of Thakane. She cunningly
realizes that if only she can help get Thakane out of the way,
it will be so much easier for her to win Petlane when he returns.
She is determined to catch Petlane's attention by passing his
home several times a day so that he can see how beautiful she is
now that she is a grown-up. She is elated when Petlane asks
her to marry him, an act which she sees as a reward for all her
scheming done for Disene while Petlane was away and she, the
deceitful wolf in sheep's clothing finds happiness in Petlane.
It is ironical that Petlane, an honest and good-natured character
should eventually marry Sisinyana - a character who herself has
a str'eak of deceit and disrespect in her. (Cf. the disrespect-'
ful way she speaks to her mother and how she deceives her mother
about desiring to go to church on pp~ 42-44).
Sisinyana is perhaps Moiloa's best attempt at character sketching.
Petlane is the picture of virtue 'while in Sisinyana we find one
who has a mean streak but not to the same extent as Disene. It
could possibly be 'that she had seen through Thakane and had
wishéd to save Petlane from it. (Cf~ her words to Petlane on
p. 108.)
Ha 0 mpa wa re Disene a tla a 0 thusa. Nna ke bona a 0
etseditse thuso e kgolo ka ~ebele. 0 ne 0 tla tjha
mashaleng a mollo 00 0 sa 0 besang 0 sale 0 le kae?
Why don't you say Disene 1.-S the one who helped you.
Personally I feel he has done you a great favour indeed.
You would burn in a coal fire which you did not kindle
and then where would you be?
Sisinyana therefore appears to be a more balanced character than
Petlane.
Sisinyana is the catalyst in the drama. She has to convince
Thakane about 'love' matters which will eventually benefit her-
self. In all her actions relating to Thakane or to her own
98
mother, she is dishonest and is a snake in the grass. On the'
Sunday that she intends visi ting Thakane, she tells her mother
that she is going to church - which is a blatant lie. Without
the influence of Sisinyana, Thakane would never have married
Disene.
2.5.6 Teleko
Teleko is truly an utter fool whose serises function only when he
has smoked dagga. He is an interesting character when intoxicated.
When, in this condition, he extemporizes praise-poems suitable
to the occasion. The praise~poem on page 21 is an excellent
example of his 'poetic ability.
, ,
Thokwana tlhakwana ya tekwane,
Talane, se 'hlasimolla ditshae-tshae,
,The brownish seed of dagga
The green leaf that titillates foolish people
He is'very bold and-becomes talkative when tipsy.
Ke Teleko ha ke Mmateleko, hape ha ke motho ke
n t ho eee l:e; nyooko; selala feela t j ena . (p. 27)
I am Teleko not the mother of Teleko, moreover I am
not an ordinary person, but altogether a different
person, to be feared as a -hero of heroe~~
Though he is a fool, he is a clever one at that who exaggerates
his foolishness in order to achieve his goal.
Mme 0 ntjo tjeba ho ... re nna ke ya
Somtaheng kamehla ena ker ... keng. (p. 43)
Mother knows th ... at I always go to ch urah
" ~ every Sunday.
99
Teleko's function is to back up Disene not only in what he says
but what he does as well and, if it were not for Teleko's help,
Disene would not have .married Thakane.
He is a good actor - pretends to talk in a slurred fashion when
his mother is around (p. 43) but no sooner has she gone then he
speaks quite normally (p. 44).
He appears to be a rather apathetic creature showing no sympathy
for Petlane's feelings about Thakane when -the latter is being
abducted and she shouts for help, Teleko is the one who points
out Thakane's deceit to her and quite aptli remarks:
Molaedi ha a na lonya, ke rato la hao leo. 0 jewa
ke k:e a rata nqiaaneeo , (p. 61)
A messenger has no mercy, that is your love. You
have br9ught it upon yourself.
2.5.7 Molakolako
Molakolako is·one of the main ~nstigators, who influences the
other mine workers to find ways and means of plotting against
Petlane. He pretends to be Petlane)s friend, yet all he says
is hypocritical .
... ke ikutlwa ke le motlotlo ka wena moshaana we so
Petlane, leha 0 se 0 sa re bolelle hore 0 se 0 le matwetwe.
ha motho a fuwe 0, fuwe. Le reng banna, na le
re 0 teng ya phalang Petlane kompon~ng ye? (p. 88)
I am proud of you my boy, Petlane, although you
don't tell us that you have been promoted to a superior
position. when a person is gifted he is gifted.
What do you say gentlemen, can you say there is anybody
better than Petlane in this compound?
After saying these things to Petlane he is the one to organise
the decei t.f uL deed and says .t.o Mohahlaula:
100
Hee! Mohahlaula· bitsd phoyisa ke eo a feta, 0 mmolelle
ho sa le ngwese a etsa kapele a tlise dintho tsane
kamoreng ya mpara ena. (p. 92)
Hey! Mohahlaula there is the policeman passing, call
him, tell him the coast is clear, he must hurry and bring
those things into this stupid fool's room.
2.5.8 Mohahlaula
This man really has an opinion of himself and looks down on
his colleagyes, especially newcomers.
Suthelang mohahlaula 0 fete banna! Manyewane aboelle
morao jwale. (p. 37)
Give way for mohahlaula to pass gentlemen! Newcomers
must stand back now.
He regards his colleagues as fools and t~lks harshly and
abruptly to them.
Ha ke a tla·o mamella mona. Tsa haa di kae dit~ebe?
Ke nna ke itseng 0 tle Makgoweng 0 apere ditsebe?
(p. 38)
I am not here to listen for you. Where are your ears?
Did I say you must come to work amongst Europeans being
deaf?
He is jealous of Petlane and openly displays his feelings to-
wards Petlane.
Empa nna ha a ntsebe, ke Mohahlaula ke tla mo
n t sha bokaakonyana bono... (p. 81)
But he doesn't know me, I am Mohahlaula, I shall
drive out that pomposity.
101
This character is there to sow hatred. He influences the other
mine workers who all agree to undermine Petlane.
2.5.9 Thabo
Thabo is a silly, disobedient boy who takes no heed of instruc-
tions from his elders. He is stubborn and has no respect for
elders. He is extremely disrespectful towards Disene.
o ne 0 re ke reng? Kapa 0 re ke re ntate ho wena nna?
o ka ba le ngwana ya kalo ka nna tjee? Ntate nna ha a
disene nke ke 0 bo l.ell:e, (p , 63)
What did you expect me to say? Or do you want me to
call you father? Can you have a child my'age? My
father is not toothless, I must tell you.
He shows his insolence when he says:
Nna ha ke kgalemelwe ke ntho e ntsho-ntsho ena. Setlére
se kang yena tjee? (p , 106)
I cannot be reprimanded by this pitch black thing. A
foo L like him?
Thabo's functiori is to help cause friction between Disene and
Thakane.
2.5.10 Sellwane.
Sellwane is a humble character. She takes instructions from her
elders and never argues. She is the direct opposite of Th~bo.
She is a character who doesn't meddle in others' affairs and
minds her own business. Her only function is that of being
a messenger (p. 24).
102
2.5.11 Tebello
She is a minor character who keeps a watchful eye on happenings
and knows top secrets. She is a good example of one who sends
out feelers to show that despite precautions, secrets become known
and this is her main function in the drama.
o reng Teleko? Aka bue ha n t l:e re ke re u t Liae , (p. 52)
What do you say TelekoJ Talk sense let's hear.
2.5.12 The Bakgotsi
They are the peacemakers in the play. They are patient enough
to'listen to both parties concerned. They are clever enough
to solve Disehe's and Thakane',s problem (or so they think) and
come to an amicable conclusion. The troublemakers are strongly
reprimanded.
As parents they give good advice. They are good judges of the
situation and'don't take sides.
RATHAKANE: Wen~ mosadi ° mamele manna wa hao, 0
t l.ahele ho iketsa nak.ana tsa podi , Wena manna , 0
tlohele ho nwa majwala, ( p , 70)
RATHAKANE: You as a woman must listen to your
husband and stop arguing. You as a man must
stop drinking liquor,
RADISENE: Le nna ke tiisa mantswe a builweng ke ntata
lona bana ba ka. Ahisanang ka kgotso le hlomphane,
Re se hlole re utlwa ntho ekang ena hape.
(p. 70)
RADISENE: I also corroborate the words spoken by your
father, my children. Stay in peace and respect
one another. We do not want to hear about such
matters again.
103
From the above it is quite evident that the bakgotsi have been
absolutely impartial about the whole unpleasant affair.
2.6 Analys.i.sof characters in Molomo ...
In Molomo ... f the dramatist has chosen names for his characters
which appear to suit their personalities. The giving of such
apt names to his characters is a technique used by Moiloa to help
bring his characters to life. Thuntshane is derived from the
word -thuntsha (to cause trouble), He actually causes a
great deal of trouble between his family and Motshedisi's because
of their different cultural backgrounds.
Motshedisi is one who consoles parents.' souls but it appears
that she doesn't live up to her nam~ at all in the drama.
It could be that the playwright intended to present her as one
who conso les ..or appeases the ancestral spirits by. obeying their
wish despite bitter opposition from her parents and by so doing
strikes a compromise between modernism· (for which she stands) and
traditionalism.
Matsetsela is an expert and as a witchdoctor he is one.
Lekgwaba is ·a crow and the minister in t.he drama probably looks
like a black crow with his white dog-collar resembling the white
ring around the crawls neck. This name probably does not quite
suit his personality but gives one a description of his outward
appearance.
Makgobotlwane is one who is very abrupt and this attribute
comes to the fore throughout the drama.
Moeletsi is the one who gives advice and whether it is good or
bad advice, he gives it. Throughout the drama he appears to
very disparaging about anything tradit~ónal.
Mmantete, is a minor character in the drama but it is a name given
to a fattish woman. The characters will be discussed in this order.
104
2.6. 1 Thuntshane
Thuntshane is an extremely self-confident head-strong, bold
fellow. He is backed up by his worldly. possessions inherited
as a result of his father's being well to do. He is a man who
cares very little for educational achievements for himself de-
spite his illiteracy and absolute rawness. He despises the
I
modernists who look down upon traditionalism as a whole and upon
him in particular.
Ba ntjhebela. maotong a dikgoho! Ya itseng motho wa
maemo a ka a ke ke a n~ala nese (mooki) ke mang? Ba
ipolella .lehahl~ hoba ke a mo rata ngwanana eno.
( p , 9)
They look down upon me! Who said a person of my status
cannot marry a nurse? They are wasting their breath,
because I love that girl.
He is in love with Motshedisi and this fact sets the conflict
in the play in action because traditionally the traditionalists
and modernists have different philosophies of life and Thuntshane
realizes. that humanly speaking it will be impossible for him to
be accepted by Motshedisi's family.
He cannot understand Moeletsi's preoccupation with school educa-
tion and regards traditional initiation school education as
sufficient. This he states quite emphatically to Moeletsi.
Hana hase lebaka pelo e ja serati, kgaohana le ho nna 0
mpotsa hore nna ke tswa ho sefe sekolo, ke ile ka rupelwa
le nna manna sekolong sa thabeng, ke tswa mophatong, moa
ke ileng ka suuwa teng. (p. 22)
That does not matter love is blind, leave off asking me
from which school I come, man I was· also taught in the
initiation school, I come from the initiation school where
I was educated.
105
He is rather osteritat.Lous about his father's and his own wealth
and wishes to impress Moeletsi with it.
hoba ntate ke.monna wa banna, heso ho hatwa boloko.
o tsebe ha 0 mpona ke le tjena ke se ke ntse ke kganna,
leruo la ntate ke la ntate, la ka ke la ka, haeba 0
motlotlo ka lefa la thuto leo a le filweng, re a tshwana
hoba le nna ke motlotlo ka leruo leo e leng lefa la ka.
(p , 22)
because my father is a strong man, he possesses
cattle at home. You must know as you see me, I have my
own possessions too, my father's riches belong to my
father, mine are mine~ if .she is proud because education
wcts given to her, we ~re the same because I am also proud
of my riches which are my own inheritance.
He is very sensitive about his illiteracy and becomes angry if
people stress the advantages of education. The fact that
Moeletsi warns him not to marry Motshedisi for fear that their
marriage ~~ll be a very unhappy one infuriates him especially
when Moelets~ refers to him being .uneducated as a donkei:
o nketsa tonki, ho fihla jwale moo re tla fapana hampe
le wena haeba 0 sa hlokomele mantswe a hao. Ke bona
eka ha 0 na kelello, haeba ha 0 tsebe hore bofutsana bo
jesa kobo maaparo, hoba meferefere e mengata malapeng e
bakwa ke bona bofutsana. (p. 23)
Are you calling me a donkey, it has reached the stage
where we wi II be at loggerheads, if you don't cou n t your.'
p's and q's. Evidently you have no sense, if you are
not aware that poverty is a disgrace and breaks down life,
becduse many squabbles in the home are specifically
caused through poverty.
To Thuntshane, tradition comes first and foremost.
106
ha e Le ngwan.a Mosotho 0 tshwanetse ho utLwisisa
nnete,ya tsamaiso ya meetLo ya Sesotho., ( p . 9)
if she is a Mosotho chiLd she must understand the
truth in the administration of Sotho cUstom.
Throughout the drama he remains determined to marry Moshedisi
and nothing that people say deter him from reaching his goal.
Because the witchdoctor has contacted the ancestral spirits on
his behalf and has ascertained that they are in favour of his
marriage to Motshedisi, the educated nurse, he confidently
awaits their intervention ,on his behalf.
He is riot to be regarded as a mere pawn in their hands, however,
since he had already announced his determination to marry her
even before he had received their confirmation.
He is a man who respects his elders and takes advice from them.
Thuntshane's character reveals, some measure of development.
Cf. for instance how despite his staunch 'traditionalism to
succumb to Motshedisi's wish to have' a wedding reception in
western style and even defends her against his parents when
they query his attitude (pp. 43, 44).
Because he is a stranger to the modernists' way of life and has
a different philosophy of life, he takes exception to the way
one of the guests at the wedding dances with his wife. He goes
up to him and says:
He wena Leqai towe, mosadi ke wa ka enwa, ke ikana ka
Bakwena ba ntswetse ke tLa 0 bolaya (p. 47)
Hey, you uncircumcised bLoke, this is my wife, I can
assure with the Bakwe~a who begot me, I wiLL kill you
Though people look down on him because he ±s not educated~ he
nevertheless holds his head h i.qh because he upholds the Sotho
107
tradition; he sends his father and the witchdoctor to ask for
Motshedisi's hand in marriage and opts for a traditional Sotho
marri<?-ge. As the protagonist in the drama he achieves his
goal to marry the educated nurse, Motshedisi.
2.6.2 Motshedisi
Motshedisi seems to lack foresight despite her educational quali-
fications. She is blind to the realities of life and is attracLed
by riches more than anything else. She is openly accused of
this vice by the evangelist and, whilst looking at him super-
ciliously, she says:
ha e se feel~ 0 rata ho hlohlelletsa maya 0 mobe ho
batswadi ba ka, ka ho honohela le ho ba le pelo emona
ya ho bona hore ke tZa kena hara motlotlo ao 0 se nang
and. (p. 28)
lest you just want to instigate a bad spirit to my.
parents, of being jealous and envious in your heart when
seeing that I will be amidst riches which you don't have.
Her father, the Reverend Lekgwaba, agrees with the evangeli~t and'
angrily reprimands her about her intended marriage to Thuntshane.
o buang ngwananyana towe ka matlotlo! 0 ntja e bitswang
ka lesapo? Ke a 0 hlapanyetsa ke se hlole ke utlwa taba
ena ya lona le ka lehlanya. 0 tswe molekong ono wa
mohedene, 0 a nkutlwa? (pp. 28, 29)
What are you talking about riches? Are you a dog which'
is easily attracted by a bone? On my honour I am telling
you I don't want to hear of your affair again with a lunatic.
Get away from that heathen's temptation, do you hear me?
She is pig-headed and takes no heed of advice given to her by
her parents or the evangelist and vows that she will rather com-
mit suicide if she is not allowed to,marry Thuntshane. She
108
threatens her parents knowing that by continuing this line of
conduct, she is bound to get her own and compel them to
consent to her marriage.
ho seng jwaLo nka mpa ka ipoLaya. H• . , . ,i :, h~. h~.
h~. ., (0 alla.)
Ruri ke a tiya Le tLa ntLhoka Lefatshen la ba
phelang, haeba, Le tLa ya ka mora dipuo tsa fuduwane
e niaa , (p. 3?)
otherwise I would rather commit suicide., Hi! hi!
h~. ., h~. ., (She cries.)
HonestLy, I am, teLLing you, you witL not find me
in the worLd of Living souLs, if you are going' to listen
to the taLk of this damn instigator.
She eventually succumbs to traditionalism - the conflict which
takes place in her at the wedding ceremony.
2.6.3 Matsetsela
Matsetsela is a witchdoctor who is a ,specialist in witchcraft.
He firmly believes in what the ancestors have to say to him
through his divining bones. His ability to réad what the bones
have to say as well as the power of his medicines in performing
wonders and miracles is illustrated by his correctly interpreting
the stance of the bones. He re-assures the people about his
capabilities:
Empa eseng, ho nna pepeduma ya mak.qerenk.qiaa, Ho nna mona
'ba tLa bina rashweLeLLa, haba ena taba ke ya badimo, etswe
manga taba ena 0 sa na phatswe ka lesenene boseeng.
tLharenyana tsa bona tsa meLeko di tla phopha. (p. 1?)
But not to me an expe~t specialist. With me here they
wiLL faiL hopeLessly,. because this matter comes from the
ancestors and the owner of this affair has been injected
with Luck at chiLdbirth. their LittLe medicines
of temptations wiLL not work.
109
As mouthpiece of the ancestors he assures Thuntshane's parents
that the ancestors are going to assist Thuntshane in achieving
his goal and reprimands those who stand idly talking and prevent
him from doing his work.
Hoja 0 kile wa mamela hore ke itse masapo a tse shweleng
a itseng, wa lesa ho ithaburanya. Hase nna ya buang,
ho hua moloma wa badimo ... (p . 19)
You could have listened to what I said iH being said by
the bones of the d~ad and stop yapping. I am not the
one who speaks, the mouthpiece of the ancestors speaks.
He strengthens the people and their villages and even has the
ability to chase evil spirits away. He exorcises the evil
spirit which has caused Thuntshane to faint.
Eke! k:e tsa ka tseo. (0 a di phura.) Phua! ph ue l.l:ta
Phuella baloi ba phephethehe. Phuella ba pepetlQlotsehe;
ba phereme~se ba mathe la Ntshwekge ... (p. 13)
That's it! those dre mine. (He chews them.) Phua!
He blows saliva! Let the wizards run away as he spi-ts.
Spit, let them flee in great numbers, they must ~o helter
skelter and run a~ fast as they can.
Matsetsela plays a major role in the conflict and complication
of the plot. The fact that he points out .to the modernists
that they reject traditionalism yet cling to customs which are
barbaric in the eyes of the traditionalist (p. 48\). He, though
a traditionalist himself, goes against a fellow traditionalisi
Thuntshane and commands him to leave off beating his wife Motshedisi
because the forefathers have already given her into his hands.
In scene ix he cures Motshedisi of her dominating perspnality
and frofu that moment on she takes orders from her husband as head
of the home according to traditional Sotho custom.
110
2.6.4 Lekgwaba
Moruti Lekgwaba is a minister of religion who should respect
other people's feelings. He has no feeling for his daughter
or Thuntshane when he says:
Keng seo le neng le ka se buisana le leqaba
le letsoku ka mora ditsebe leo. Le. reng na ho
buisanwa ka ditaba tsa masawananyana a lerato?
Na 0 nka hantle tjee Motshedisi? 0 ne 0 hopola
hore ke ne ke 0 rutelang, haeba 0 sa tlo tseba ho
kgetholla pere ho tonki? (p.28)
What ~s it that you can speak to that. stupid,
illiterate fool. . What do you say a~out talking of
silly love affairs? Are you really normal Motshedisi?
Why do you think I educated you, will you not be able
to differentiate between. a horse and a donkey?
He is an extremely strict man who at all costs tries to guide
his daughter in the ri.qht; direction, but finds her threats so
demanding that they. absolutely shock him .and cause ·him .to lose
his temper and say things that he does not really mean, like:
Ngwananyana enwa ke tla mmolaya ka sebele. (p. 29)
Honestly, I will kill this little girl.
He adopts a relentless attitude toward the illiterate traditiona-
lists. When Makgobotlwane and Matsetsela ask him for his
daughter's hand in marriage, he says:
Moradi wa ka? Na le bua le imametse hantle tjee.
Kgele! ke mehlolo ya eng? Haeba le tlile ka taba
tse jwalo, tawang ha ka mona pele ke fapana le lona.
(p. 36)
My daughter? Are you really conscious of what you
are saying? Gosh! What are these miracles? If you
are here on such an errand, get out of my place before
I quarrel with you.
111
His misinterpretation of the traditionalists' form of
greeting
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Kgwaba la methati le ba 0 potileng.
Re boka dikgomo morena (p. 34)
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Crow of the precipices and those around
you. We greet you chief.
and the calabash of water
MATSETSELA: re ~lile ho tla kopa mohope wa metsi.
(p. 35)
MATSETSELA: we have come to ask for a bride.
shows that he has no understanding of these people and what they
stand for.
At first he is adamant and wil~ not allow his daughter to marry
Thuntshane, but her threat to commit suicide makes him change
his mind, and he has the courage to admit that he has been"
·defeated.
Tjhe, ke hlotswe ruri haeba ke moa ngwanaka yena ya
mpuelang mantswe a bohloko hakana. Ho hlolwa ha manna
hase ho mela d inak.a, Xe tshaba I.e j u la hae. Lefu le
e eh l.oho la ho i.phene t ha , (p , 3?)
No, I give up if it is my ch~ld who talks such painful
words to me. I am thoroughly beaten and have no other
alternative. I fear her death. A cruel death by com-
mitting suicide.
He is a man of principles and he is humiliated when his daughter
does not undergo a marriage ceremony in church.
But, to prove his strictness, he is able to face matters at
their worst. He is ready for a stand-up fight when the occasion
is fitting as at the end of the play.
112
Ekaba le a na. Emang hantle Moeletsi le Mmamoruti.
Nk.al (0 a lwana e se e le moferefere.) Ho ka mpa
ha hlahlwa, ha ya moa ho yang teng. (p. 50)
That will be the day. Take your stand Moeletsi and
Mmamoruti. Beware! (He is fighting and there is a
squabble.) We would rather desert and let everything
go to the dogs.
2.6.5 Makgobotlwane
He is sketched .as an impulsive, suspicious person and demands
that Matsetsela identify himself when he hears the witchdoctor
cough in the hut while treating Thuntshane and suspects hi.m of
being alone with his wife. ~ike his son he ~ppears to be
determined not to stop before he gets what he wants. These
character tra~ts.are illustrated when he says to Matsetsela:
Hee! 0 mang wena manna bua kapele molamu ana
ke tloha ke 0 s~ya hodima hlooho ya hao 0 bo lebisa
maoto hodimo hona jwale. (p. 15)
Hey! who are you man, talk quickly I will soon
hit you on the head with this ~tick that your feet ~hould
face upwards just now.
When Matsetsela tries to calm him down he insists on learning
who he is.
He shows genuine. concern for his son I s physical wel.f aze (p. 15),
is adamant that his son follow the customary fashion in seeking
a wife (p. 17), is very distressed and annoyed that'his son has
"decided by himself" (p. 18).
Makgobotlwane is a very stubborn man. /He is traditionally
minded and is not easily convinced, unless rea'sons are based on
and given in accordance with his customs and traditions. He is
also 'opposed to his son, Thuntshane, marrying a girl from a
113
family which has become so westernised that tradition plays no
part whatsoever in theLr lives.
Nna Makgobotlwane ke nyallane le maqai a kang ao!
Ka bakwena ba ntswetse e ka ba le a na. Batho ba
sa itsebeng le hore na ke bakae? 0 ka re motho ke
Mosotho ha a sa hlole a tseba le seboko sa hae?
Tjhe! tjhe! tjhe! tjhe! le ho leka, 0 se 0
tlohile .ka leoto lese~e. (p • 18)
Should I, Makgobotlwane, negoti~te a marriage ~ith
such uncircumcised people! In the name of Ba~wena who
gave birth to me I will never do it. People who do
not even know their lineage~ Can you say a person is
a Mosotho who does not even know his tradition? No!
no! no! no! No~ at all, you have already started
on the wrong foot.
He accuses his son of insanity (p. 19). So distressed is he
when he hears that it is the forefathers' wish thai his son
should marry Motshedisi that despite his faith in traditionalism
he c~nnot reconcile hims~lf to the idea that his son i~ to marry
a modernist.
He despises whoever is detribalized and hates anything modern.
Le hlola le ntse Ze re re kwalehile banna, batho bana
ha ba tsebe ditsamaiso le meetlo ya bona ... (p. 40)
You always say we are stupid, gentlemen, these people do
not know their own traditions and customs.
Even though the medicine man is regarded as the mouthpiece of
the ancestors, Makgobotlwane's staunch traditionalism revolts at ,
the idea once a'qai.nat the thought of this son's union to a
modernist. He even doubts Matset-sela's authenticity as medicine
man.
114
Ke mpa ke tsietswá ke taba ya hore wena Matsetsela 0
re ke molomo wa badimo, ha e le nna majakanenyana a
kang ano a ikentseng bokgowanatshwana ke utlwa ke a
nyonya ka moya wa ka kaofela. (p. 30)
I am merely baffled by this that you, Matsetsela, say
it is the mouthpiece of the ancestors, with me,
Christians such as those who play White, I feel I de-
test them with all my soul.
He openly detests his son's future in-laws and even goes so far
as to reproach the ancestors for their decision.
Ao, ba d-imo ba nkgola .ka seb el:e, .k.amaqai a kang
boLekgwaba, a seng a sa re letho ka mekgwa le meetlo
ya rona Basotho. Ekaba ke tab a eo k.e.tla e etsa
jwang? (p. 31)
Gosh, the ancestors have really .constrained me with
uncircumcised people like Lekgwaba and company who
hav~ nothing to do with OUT Basotho traditions and
customs. Wha~ am I going to do with such a matter?
Irrunediatelyafter this reproach, however, his traditional back-
ground gets the better of him and he requests Matsetsela to
crave the ancestors' pardon on his behalf (p. 31) .at; the same time
accepting his fate. When he and Matsetsela go to negotiate
with his son's future in~laws, Makgobotlwane's disgust. at their
strange habits again flares up (eg. their ignorance of his
language and the ,fact that they drink tea. instead of beer (p.34)).
His staunch traditionalism is also illustrated by his adamancy
that his son's future in-laws anoint Matsetsela (the gO-between
in the marriage arrangements) according to custom as a sign that
they accept their offer (p. 38).
Makgobotlwane has a strong faith in the medicines of the witch-
doctor and he gets Matsetsela to strengthen his village so that
115 "
no harm may come to them when their son marries the educated
nurse. Although he is at first against the marriage, he even-
tually accepts it as the wish of the ancestors and gives his
consent. He gets his way in the end when the couple are married
according to Basotho custom where ox-bile is poured on their
heads and plenty of beer is drunk - part of the traditional
marriage custom. When he becomes very angry, he controls his
language and is not one to resort to vulgarity. He is constantly
at loggerheads with Lekgwaba whom he despises right to the very
end (p. 50).
..
2.6.6 Moeletsi
Moeletsi is a good evangelist. As an evangelist he is to the
point regarding religious, spr-itual, and other matters. He has
no hesitat~on in telling Thuntshane what is right or wrong and
is convinced that if Thuntshane and Motshedisi were to marry it
would be a disaster. Regarding education Moeletsi says:
Na manna ha 0 bone hore 0 a iphoqa. Hleka ha 0 nepe
hantle hore Motshedisi ke ~ nngwe ya dinese tse kgolo
sepetlele~g see. Ha 0 tshabe hore a ka tloha anna
a 0 seba kapa a 0 buela tjhomi ebe moa 0 phoqehang 0
sa tsebe Senyesemane tjee? Ha motho wa lona a sa
tsebe le A moo e shebileng teng. 0 tswa sekolong
sefe wena? (p. 22)
Man, don't you see that you are fooling yourself. By
the way are you not aware that Motshedisi is one of the
great nurses in this hospital. Are you not afraid .of
her scandalising you or speaking English to you and you
feeling ashamed by not knowing English? You don't even
know how to write an A. What school do you come from?
He is outspoken in his criticism when it comes to any form of
compromising between traditionalism and modernism as revealed
by the following remark to Thuntshane:
116
Ke mohau hobane ke ne ke mpa ke 0 eletsa, ho mo nyala
o ka nna wa mo nyala, empa 0 hlokomele hore ho thata
ho pana tonki le pere, di ka nna tsa hula empa ka
thata. (p. 23)
It is a pity because I was merely advising you, if you
marry her you can marry her, but ~ou must be careful
as it is diffidult to inspan a donk~y and a horse, they
)
will puZl, but under. difficult circumstances.
This calleus remark clearly reveals his centempt fer traditiena-
lism and his view that the twO. cultural 'parties are irrecencilable.
His calleusness might pessibly be attributable to' jealeusy caused
by his ·ewn feelings toward Metshedisi theugh h~ denies any such
attractien.
o buang na ntja mme. Ha 0 bona nka 0 be sa wa tuka ke
sa besa makabelane. Hona moruti a ka nkuka ke le motho
ya jwang. (p. 20)
What are you saying my friend. Do you think I can ever
do such a thing un ltjissI am a foo Zo What ty'pe of person
will the minister regard me to be.
In frent ef Metshedisi he. tells her parents that she and
Thuntshane will net suit each ether. His brazen facedness
and audacity beceme evident when he, in Metshedisi's presence
expresses the epinien to'her parents that Metshedisi and
Thuntshane are unsuited. His jealeusy causes him to'be dis-
paraging and almest ebnexieus at times:
Ka nnete ke mohau hobane ke bona enwa moradi wa lona
a wetse. Bomora Makgobotlwane ba maqaba e se ntse e
le batho ba lekang ho ikgohla ka yena, mme le yena 0 se
a ntse a etsa ditshepisonyana tse fahlilweng le bona,
ha ke re ke a mo eletsa 0 a mpekoletsa 0 nqhalla
matso ho. (p . 2?)
117
Hones tly, it is a· pi ty becau e-e I find your daughter
being· lost. Fools like the sons of Makgobotlwane
and company are people who have tried to propose to
her and she has made promises to them and when I try
to advise her she ignores and throws her hands up at
me.
He is very frank and reprimands Makgobotlwane.and Matsetsela for
using an archaic form of greeting which translated literally could
in all fairness be regarded as disparaging lan~uage.
Le re moruti ke lekgwaba la methati? (p. 34)
You say the minister is a crow of the precipices?
He is relentless and repeatedly tries his utmost to influence
Motshedisi's parents not to consent to her intended marriage
by saying:
Ruri mme e ke ke ya eba bohlale ho ya kamoo ebang
ba se ba dumellane kateng, re tshwanetse ho thibela
Motshedisi ha wela molekong 0 kang ana. (p. 36)
Honestly mother, it will not be wise to act according
to their agreement, we must stop Motshedisi from falling
into such a temptation.
and continues unwaveringly by adding:
Ke bona eka 0 mpa a re tshosa, empa haeba 0 bua a tiile
ke mo utlwela bohloko, hoba ke bona eka tsena ke dinyane
d i ho lo di sa t la . ï p , 3?)
I think she is frightening us, .but if she is really
serious, I pity her, because it would appear that these
are small beginnings, greater things lie ahead.
118
Because the evangelist 'looks down on the Makgobotlwane family
as uneducated folk he takes no notice of their riches. He
scorns tradition and any benefits attached to it. He seems
to take malicious pleasure in deriding them.
2.6.7 Mmantete
Mmantete is an example of a typical Mosotho woman who clings
cohesively to her customs and traditons. She knows her husband's
word to be final and abides by his decisions. She believes
wholeheartedly in the witchdoctor's medicine. She also believes
that the witchdoctor has supernatural powers.
E, empa ntata Thuntshane, badimo ba se ba mo supisitse
ho ya kamoo ke utlwang ngaka Matsetsela a bua kateng mme
nna ke nka ho~e tshupo ya badimo ka m~hla e hahelwa lesaka.
(p. 1?)
Yes, but father of Thuntshane, the ances~ors have already
shown him according to what I hear from doctor Matsetsela
and I take it that the ancestors' decision should b~.r
adhered to.
Whatever she does should comply with theii customs and traditions
and she is proud of her convictions arid clearly states:
Tjhe mme, le mpa le bua, ke Sesotho, re Basotho, le wena
o Mosotho, re phethisa kamoo e leng mo et l.o le t Lho leho
ya ro~a kateng ya setso, ... (p. 42)
No mother, you are merely talking, that is Sesotho, we
are Basotho, you are even a Mo~otho, we are complying
o i th tradi tion and cu l-tu.er as it was origi na Lly, ...
She portrays the traditional Mosotho wife ±n the drama and her
function is to show how important tradition is to a traditiona-
list in society.
119
2.6.8 Mrnamoruti
Mmamoruti is a Christian modernist. She would like her
daughter to listen to her father and take his advice humply
and respectfully.
o mamele ntatao ngwanaka, 0 se ke wa ba wa
kgahlwa ke none e hlotsa. (p. 29)
Yo~ must listen to your father my child, you
must not be attracted and deceived.
Her function in the drama is to show that ·modern Basotho women
are ignorant regarding Sotho customs. She does not even under-
stand a simple traditional Sotho greeting and remarks:
Ke tumediso e jwang yona eo? (p • 34)
What type of greeting is that?
She is easily impressed by worldly possessions and this is also
a reason why she succumbs to the wishes of the tradition~lists~
120
FOOTNOTES
1. Millett,F.B. and Bentley, G.E., The art of the drama, p. 201.
2. Brooks, C. and Heilman, R.B., Understanding Drama, p. 28.
3. Roby, R.C. and Ulanov, B., Introduction to drama, p. xii.
4. Millett, F.R. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., pp. 208, 209.
5. Guerin, W.L. et. al., A handbook rif critical approaches
to literature, p. 83.
6. Guma, S.M., The form, content and technique of traditional
literature in Southern. Sotho, p. 159.
7~ Ibid., pp. 165, 166, 169.
8. Granville-Barker, H., On dramatic method, p. 31.
9. Ibid., p. 34.
10. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., p ..213.
11. Esslin, M., An anatomy of drama, p. 34.
12. Ibid., p. 36 ..
13. Ibid., p. 39.
14. Brooks, C. and Heilman, R.B., op. cit., p. 11:.
15. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., pp. 215, 216.
16. Ntsukunyane, T.V., The interpretative value of the cultural
factor applied to the Sesotho novel, p. 18, .in Communiqué,
December, 80.
3:.. D-'lAiLOGUE
J~l The: functions of dialogue' 1'2'1
J.1.1 Utilitarian function. 121
3:.1.2. Non-utilitarian function 127
3'.2: Indirect dialogue 132
3.3 Dramatic dialogue 1.33
. 3~4- The soliloquy . IJS
3.5'. The aside 142
3.6 . . M oiloa's. style 1-44'
3]· Irony. 149
3.8 Humour 152
3.9· Puns 158
.':- , 3.10 Vulgar language 160
3.11 Religious. tones 162
.~,,' '. 3..12 Praise-poems 165
3.12: 1 A' war-song incorporating a praise-poem on a train 166
3,12.2. A 'self-praise'. poem 167
3.12.3 A praise-poem on dagga 168
J.U' Figures of speech 169
.-:': '.'
3.13: 1 . Similes 169
. 3:.13.2: Metaphors 171
3.14: The. use of other languages in Moiloa's dramas 172
3.14.1 English in Moiloa's dramas 172
3.14·.2 Afrikaans. in Moiloa's dramas 175
3.14.3 Fanagalo in Moiloa's dramas 177
- 3.1S The use of idioms 178
.3'.16' The use of proverbs 180
FOOTNOTES 182
3. DIALOGUE
"All literature is made up of words, but plays are made up of
spoken words." 1
3.1 The functions of dialogue
"Critics are agreed that dialogue is a very important component
of the play. All dialogue is inherently dramatic, since dia-
logue presupposes some kind of encounter bet.ween two or more
persons. But 'dramatic dialogue has special obligations,
strengths ana limitations. The peculiar nature of dramatic.
dialogue follows of necessity from the functions it must fulfil,
and these are set by the nature of the drama itself'.,,2
"The language of a play has certain basic functions:
1. it.is principally through what is said by the characters
that the playwright is able to propel the action of his
play;
2. the lines in a play characterize the persons who speak
them; and
3. the kind of language employed largely determines the general
tone of a'dramat.Lc work. Thus, the' language of a play is
efferitive only when it contributes to the story continuity,
when it is appropriate to the characters, and when it con-'
veys the dramatic view of life that the dramatist
wishes to reflect.,,3
3. 1 . 1 Utilitarian function
"Dramatic dialogue has its utilitarian functions: to further the
plot, to.reveal the, characters' thoughts, emotions, and their
essential natures, and to describe setting. Dd.aLoque , in
·the main, is controlled by. the function of the particular scene
122
of which it is a part; . it advances the plot one or more stages
in its progress, or sheds a further bit of illumination on the
nature and motives of the major figures. ,,4
These utilitarian functions are clearly seen in both Moiloa's
dramas. To further the plot in Jaa ..., there are inter alia
the following extremely apt examples. In Act I, scene iii,
Disene's soliloquy tells the audience of his intentions and in
this way furthers the plot. It also illuminates his selfish and
treacherous nature, thus telling us more about his character.
Ekaba ngwanana e~ Thakane.ha a Le motLe hakaaLe, 0 ne
a hLile a bonang hlahlaneng e kani Petlane tjee banna?
Haeba ke nnete ba a ratana, 0 a ikana supang Le nna
ke tla kena. Ke se ke biLe ke ntse ke bona tsela eo
ke tla mo kgwapheLa ka yona. t>. 6)
/
I wonder what that girL Thakane who is so beau~ifuZ
saw in an ugLy person Like Petlane, my word! If it
is true that they are in Love he swears. honestly I
wiLL aLso be accepted. I aLready see the way ii which
I wiLL get (trip) her.
This type of dialogue is scattered throughout the play and it
would be quite impossible to quote here the many passages in
.(
the drama which exemplify the utilitarian functions of drama.
In Molomo ..., there are just as many apt passage$ which further
the plot, but perhaps the most suitable to quote occurs when
Motshedisi threatens to commit suicide if her parents do not
agree to allow her to marry Thuntshane. Lekgwaba has to either
give into his daughter's wish to marry Thuntshane or else she
will commit suicide.
MOTSHEDISI: Ntate ruri Le tLa ntshwtirela, hoba ke
se ke qetile Le eo mora wa bo~a, mme ha ke
bone ho kwenehela taba ya rOna peLa Lerato
La rona, ho seng jwaLo nka mpa *a ipoLaya.
(p. 37)
123
MOTSHEDISI: Honéstly father you will forgive me, be-
cause I have finalised matters with their son,
and I see no way of changing matters regarding
our love, otherwise I would rather commit suicide.
As far as the revelation of the characters' thoughts, emotions
and their essential naturesare concerned, the following examples
should suffice to show how Moiloa has used dialogue to bring
these characteristics of his characters to the notice of his
audience. In Jaa ..., there are the following instances which
are n6teworthy, but again all instanc~s cannot be quoted.
"Beware of friends" is the title of the drama and Disene is one'
,frierid of whom Petlane has to beware~ Petlane, however, confides
in him in good faith and, when Petlane leaves Disene does exactly
the opposite to what he has promised Petlane to do., To the
audience this does not come as a surprise as the title hinted at
such a possibility. The following illu~trates Petlane's faith
in Disene, -Disene's hypocrisy and Petlane's emotions - the fact
that he is deeply in love with Thakane.
PETLANE: 0 bone soothwana eo ya ka bo wamma,
mathaka a se ke a sala a mpota mehlala ka
morao, 0 ngolle ha 0 bona mafokotsane a ntse
a oka-okela a rata ho hahela teng.
DISENE: Ke tla nne ke behe leihlo weso ha ke hopole
hore ekare ke bona hore mathaka a tanasetsa
teng ka hloka ho 0 tsebisa. Nke ke ka
ba ka fanya weso, mmesa mohlwanyane ha a panye;
etswe ha ke motho ya yeng a rate ho ruta tshwene
mapalamo. (pp. 5, 6)
PETLANE: please look after that girlfriend of mine,
well, my mother's child, beware that folks do
not undermine m~, write to me when you see swallows
hovering and wanting to build there (when boys
come and woo her).
124
DISENE: I will watch carefully, brother, I don't think
I will let you down when I see folks trying to
play near her, I will let you know. I
will not make a mistake, brother one who watches
neither slumbers nor sleeps, moreover I never
want to teach one tricks.
Disene's two-facedness is further revealed when he and Teleko
discuss Thakane in Act III, scene i.
DISENE: Kge lele! . o re nka ba ka etsa jwalo eo ngwanabo
rona Si~inyana a se a ikemiseditse ho re tlosetsa
seboba, nna manna ha ke tshabe diyabanneng; ha
ke tshabe ho tshwara mmamphele ka sekbtlo. Haeba
ke .se ke bona hore e tla ba lehla~ahlana la
mdtimahlaha, Tebello weso ke a 0 hlapanyetsa ke
tla bua hore. ke k.qao he h looho; ke pjhe mat he. ka
hanong; nthane e ome haeba ho ntu~ella, hoseng
jwalo e tla be e se nna Disene mora Mmorosa.
Hee! heel nna ha ke tshabe moru 0 se na nkwe.
(p , 26)
DISENE: Gosh! . do you think that I can do that when our
sister Sisinyana is already prepared to bell the
ca~, I am not afraid of hardships man; I am not
afraid of struggling. If I find that matters
.are turning against us, by Tebello, I can assure
I will speak until the saliva dries in my mouth,
until my throat is dry, if I find the opportunity,
otherwise it would not be me Disene, son of
Mmorosa. Hey! hey! I can never get cold feet.
In the sub-plot the dialogue used also reveals the characters'
thoughts and emotions, as is portrayed in the following two
examples. Petlane is very self-conffdent and certain that his
team will win the dance competition. He says: (Act VI, scene
ii) :
125
Hao! Le sa i l:a nkut Ltaa bafana hona kaj eno. Ke t l:a
rethetha hore ntho e solle. Le re le methepa e tla
be e le teng? Ka mme mmangwane mosadi wa Bakwena ho
tla nkga ho sa bola, haeba re lebeletswe ho etsa oona
(sic.) mohobelo wa heso wa Sesotho sa Basotho ba
Lesotho. (pp. ?6, ??)
Gosh! You will hear me today boys. I will dance
amazingly. You say ladies will also be there. By
my aunt, woman of the Bakwena, it will be the day, if
we are expected tb do our Sotho traditional dance of the
Basotho of Lesotho.
The following. quotation is an example where the dialogue sheds
further illumination on the jealousy of Petlane's enemies and
their motives for acting the way they do.
SHUUSHU: Moshemane eno 0 ikgopolela haholo "too
much" hona tshiung tsena, hoo a seng a re
tadima jwaleka matlakala.
.MOHAHLAULA: . Ha 0 hlaha ka ena huku, ke Petlanel
ha 0 potela ka lena lelapa, ke Petlane!
LEPOLESA: .!: •• Haa! haa! 0 a tsheha. Tholang lona
feela le re. tu! . Ke tla ya sunya matekwane
kamoreng ya hae kapa phahlo e nngwe feela e kotsi
eo rona mapolesa re tsebang hore e tshwarelwa
batho bao e ka fumanwang ho bona komponeng ena.
o tla tswa a qatile mohatla jwaleka ntja
l ep ak:u, (pp. 86,8?)
SHUUSHU: That boy thinks too highly of himself "too
much" these days, with the result that he is looking
down on us like rubbish.
MOHAHLAULA: When you app~ar at this corner, it is
Petlane! when you turn to this home, it is
Petlane!
126
LEPOLESA: 'Haa! haa! He laughs. You keep abso-
lutely quiet! I will go and hide dagga in his
room, or anything else which is dangerous, and as
police we know that it is illegal and people who
possess it can be arrested in this compound.
He will get out like a pointer dog with its tail
between its legs.
The following passage from Molomo ..., illurnitates Thuntshane's
character. He knows his place in society, and though others
may judge him to be illiterate by western standards, he i~ well-
educated by traditional standards. This fact comes to light
when he is questioned by his father about a girl he intends
ma~rying and says:
(0 a fehelwa.) .Hu!. hu! tjh ... tjhee! ena e ne e le
takatso feela, ke ne ke esa ka ke be ke thetla mokotla,
ke a tseba hore ke ngwana Mosotho ke lok~la ho ~upiswa.
(p. I?)
(He sighs.) Hu! hul n .... noI this was merely a wish,
I had not even attempted io speak to he~, I know that I
am a Mosotho child, I must be shown.
All the other characters in Molomo ..., say something that illu-
minates their characters, and passages like.this can be found in
every scene of the play.
The following examples of dialogue to describe the setting in
Moiloa's dramas are found in Jaa ..., in the following .i.nstances:
Act V, scene iv:
Le reng na, le se le rata ho nyala ka dikgoka? (p. 5?)
What do you say, do you want to marry by force?
Jo! Xe a tshaba; ka nnete nka fetoha motho ~
mobe hamp e , (-p, 58)
127
Oh Lord! I am afraid, honestly I can be regarded as a
most unreliable, bad person.
Ha ho motho ya tla be a nyenyise taba eo. Lebitso la
haa le ke ke la ba la hlaha tabeng ena, ho tla tseba
rona feela, etswe mokotla ke wa rona, 0 tla jarwa ke
rona. ( p . 58)
Nobody will ever hint about such a thing. Your name
will not be mentioned in connection with this matter,
we will only know, moreover the case is ours, we shall
bear the b lame .
This argument continues on pages 60 and 61, when Disene confronts
Thakane in Act V, scene v.
DISENE: Ke a bona 0 nketsa tsuonyana robala. Kgale
ke di bona ha ke tlotswe ka seretse nna. Ke
o nkela pele hana jwale, mohopolo ana wa haa
haeba ke wa nnete ke batla hore 0 phethahale
hana jwale, ~seng kgale.
THAKANE: Owee! eseng jwalo hle moratuwa. Ekaba,hampe
haholo .hore 0 ntshutshutlelle. Lp p , 60, 61)
DISENE: I see you are playing the fool with me. I am
experienced you cannot deceive me. I am going
~ith yo~ just now, if what yo~ say is true I want
to finalise this now, and not later.
THAKANE: Oh no please! not that way my darling. It
would be very bad that you should force me.
3. 1.2 Non-utilitarian function
"A non-utilitarian function of dramatic dialogue is that of in-
teresting us in itself by its poetic elevation ... or by its
wit or humor."S Moiloa is fond of this non-utilitarian function
of dialogue as is seen in the following examples from Jaa ...
128
The many instances where he has used Fanagalo, has been done, for
the sake of wit or humour to interest us in itself.
KAPOTEINE: Pet lane! sheshisa lo mashini; bamba lo
winch manje wena!
PETLANE: Yini wena hlaZa buka lo sihlangu ka wena,
shova lo stof! sheshisa! shayisa lo mashini!
yini wena yenza siphukuphuku?
Hayi khond mina dlala ka lo sikhathi, mina
t ehe la Lo makhu lu baas. .(pp. 39, 40)
KAPOTEINE: Pet lane! Drive that machine; you hold
the winch now!
PETLANE: Why are you sitting admiring your shoes.
.Push the cocopan! Let it move! drive that
.machine! What are you doing you ?tupid fool.
This time I will not play, I will tell the
big boss.
The following passages containing Engli~h occur purely for the
sake of interesting the audience in the dialogue itself by its
humour.
"All right!" o a bona ha 0 fihla 0 botsa motho bophela
o re: "How do you suverngemise?" Ho hlo qale wena pele
o tjho. Ha a 0 araba, 0 tla 0 araba le yena a 0 botsa.
Jwale 0 be 0 mo araba ka ho re: "I am still existing
under the calamities and the catastrophies'of this
terrestial ball. I feel quite effervescent, everything
is utilizing." 0 nto mo furalla 0 itjhebela kwana.
(p. 97)
"All right!" You see when you want to ask someone how
he is you say: "How do you suverngemise?" You must
start first by saying so. When he answers, he will reply
and then ask you as well. Then you must answer him by
saying: "I am still existing under the calamities'and
1.29
catastrophies of this terrestial ba1l. I feel quite
effervescent, everything is utilizing." And then turn
your back on him and look the other way.
Shuushu's English lesson to Petlane also interests us in itself
by its humour.
o a bona ha 0 rata ho bua empa 0 sa tlo bua letho 0 no
re: Ke tla bua Sekgowa jwale banna, haholo ha 0 bona ho
nowa jwala ba Sekgowa, mme ke tla qala ka ho re: "In pro-
mulgating my estoric cogitations or articulating my super-
ficial 'sentimenialities and amicable philosophical dnd
,psychologi~al observations,. I~shatl beware of my p1atitu-
.dinous ponder~sity." Ha 0 fihla hona moo ba tla tsheha
kapa ba 0 op e l:emahofi. W-ena 0 hl:e 0 h l.ianeue ebe 0 re
mmameleng banna: "This is a pulveri~ing stimulant that
titilates ~ur promontoric nerves, the palatable beverage
of immortality, the holy intoxicant madam petrification
and stultification of thought to vulgar propensities and
brazen mendacity of human mentality". Ha e telele haholo
eo? E ti la kena h i oohonq , (pp. 9?, 98)
You see when you want.to talk but knowing that you are
going to say nothing you must'always say: I am going to
speak English now, gentlemen, especially when you see
European liquor being consumed. I will begin by saying:
"In promulgating my estoric cogitations or articulating
my superficial sentimentalities and amicable philosophical
and psychological observations, I shall beware of my pla-
titudinous ponderosity. " When you get there they will
laugh and applaud you. You must be serious and then say,
listen to me gentlemen: "This ~s a pulverising stimulant
thattititlates our promontoric nerves, the palatable
beverage of immortality, the holy intoxicant madam petri-
fication and stultification of thought to vulgar propensi-
ties and brazen mendacity of human mentality." Is that
one not too long?, Will you master it?
130
"Dialogue of the non-utilitarian sort has its dangers, for, un-
less it retains our interest, unless it woos us into forgetting
that the action is for the moment being neglected it becomes a
disturbing and annoying intrusion," say Millett and Bentley. 6
It might seem that the previous quotations are used by the
dramatist purely for their own sake and are a disturbing and
annoying intrusion. This is true to a certain extent since
they do tend to hamper the development of action but one must
bear in mind that such speech and behaviour is not at all uncom-
mon amongst the Blacks - and should theiefore hold their interest
and woo them into forgetting that the action is for the moment
being neglected. They should therefore not be judged too harshly.
A few instances where his use of non-utilitarian dialogue does
however become a·disturbing and annoying intrusion are found in
Jaa ... ',on pages 9 and 10.
KWATA YA BORARO: o re 0 mora mang, haeno ke kae?
Ana 0 itse 0 ya komponeng efe?
PETLANE: Monna haeka 0 tseba lebitso la ka tjee! 0
ntsebella kae? Ha ho le jwalo etlaba le haeso
o a tseba. 0 batla a makala. Hona ho ya kang
hore 0 nepe lebitso la ka hakaale! 0 tsebella
kae hore ke Moramang?
KWATA YA BOBEDI: Ha 0 a mo utlwa mphato 0 re ho nna
ana ntata~ ke mang? Ha 0 utlwe hore motho eo
ha a tlala, ke tsebella kae ntatae? 0 tadima
Petlane. '0 buang na monna jwale 0 re ntatao ke
mang? 0 ka ba mpotsa ntatao, ha 0 mo tsebe?
0 teng motho ya sa tsebeng ntatae! (pp. 9, 10)
KWATA yA BORARO: What do you say whose son are
you (mora mang), where is your home? By the
way to which compound are you going?
PETLANE: Man, how is it tha~ you know my name? From
where do you know me? If it be so then you
should know where I come from. £e is quite
surprised. How is it that you know my name so
well? How do you know that I am Mordmang?
131
KWATA YA BOBEDI: Didn't you hear him my friend, he
asks of me who is his father? Do you hear
this person is mad, how do I know his father?
He looks at Petlane. What are ,you taZking
about now, you say who is your father? Is
there anybody who does not know his father?
The only disturbing bit of dialogue in Molomo ..., is where the
witchdoctor praises the bones which he has thrown and then speaks
at length about their positions. This dialogue probably
interests the audience in itself (the dialogue) and is perhaps
an annoying intrusion ·in the development of the plot. This
dialogue, says J.G. Gildenhuys is 'milieu~beelding' as no doctor
throws his praise bones without this type of poetic di~logue just
as no medical doctor examines a patient without a stethoscope.
The praise-poem about the bones and their positions to a Black
is important dialogue. It depicts an aspect of his culture.
Therefore, such a piece of poetry, even if not understood by
the Blacks themselves, (because much witchdoctors' poetry is
meant not to be understood,) is not altogether without function.
It deepens the mystery of the craft performed and thus has a
bearing on the audience. (and the characters concerned) as the
witchdoctor has to convince them of his capabilities.
Fi~ZZafieZZa nkoko a iswaZe. (A di pjatlanya
a di ya ka mahlo.) Mh! (0 a kgotsa.)
Di weZe Zentswe Za hZapadimane,
La hZapa dikwena. Di re kwena
di hZapa di nyoZosa madiboho,
Tse nyenyane di hZapa di theosa.
Ke bodiba botaZa ha bo okameZwe,
Bo okameZwa ke kganyapa tse kgoZo
Banna mekhonkhotho boMakgisa Thamaha,
Banna ba ho phatswa ka Zesenene boseeng.
Ako di nke mohZankana (0 di rtéhela .mokudi)
o hZo di hZohohZe, 0 ntoo di akgotsa hdba 0 etse fieZZa-
fieZZa. Tshwrr! (0 tea serobele hoba mohlankanyana
a di lahle.) Ena ke Tshwene makgisa, e tsamaya
132
le Phalafala e kgolo kgata dirite, mona di entse kgwiti
maboya le tsela. Tsuka ho nkgile le lebe la Matsetsela,
baloi ba ikgata mehlala. Ba ke ke ba 0 be sa wa tuka.
( p , 16)
Reveal what is hidden. (And then he throws them
down and looks at them with his eyes.) Mh! (He admires.)
They have fallen a word of washers,
Of washing eroco d i.Tes. They say oro cod i les
They wash going up the drifts,
Small ones wash ~oing down.
It is the green pool that cannot be looked at,
It can be looked at by great water snakes
Great men like'Makgisa and company with Thamaha
Men who have been injected with lucky medicine.
Take them please young man (he gives them to the patient).
You must please shake them and then throw them up after
saying: "reveal what 1.-S hidden". I'ehiarr t (He whistles
after. the boy has thrown them down.) This is a
monkey full of hair, it goes along with a big bone treader
of shadows,' here they have made a come back along the
road. Smell is experienced of Matsetsela the wizards are
treading on their tracks. They will fail in kindling it
to burn.
The words have no.direct significance, but indirectly they must'
have. Moiloa could have given reactions here, exclamations,
etc. in which case the audience could have seen the influence
the witchdoctor and his actions have on the characters. This
would make the scene more true to life. According to custom,
however, reactions are usually limited so as not to be bad
mannered and hinder the witchdoctor.
3.2 Indirect dialogue
Knott 7 maintains: "Whenever you get a chance to use live
dialogue in your writing, take it. Never use indirect or
133
summary dialogue unless you have to, for dialogue means that
people are conversing, interacting, and that's action - a
possiblility for conflict.
There are times, however, when indirect dialogue is acceptable.
Usually, this opportunity arises when a character is relating
to another person in the story something that has already been
described. " In Molomo ..., Moiloa uses this device of indirect
dialogue in scene iii where Mrnantete tells her husband why
Thuntshane has fainted, an incident which-has already taken
place in the previous scene.
3.3 Dramatic dialogue
"Dramatic dialo~ue has two obvious ends, the· telling of the
story and .the disclosure of character.. .But there is another'
not so obvious; it must b~ made to stimulate our imagination
and emotion - and here, mainly, comes in the need for some
artifice of form.,,8 This not so obvious end of dramatic
dialogue that stimulates our imagination and emotion is found
in Jaa ... , in Act VI, scene vii. Petlane is about to return
home from the mines unaware of the fact that ·his erstwhile boso~
friend, Disene, has betrayed him and ignobly abducted the girl
.to whom he had been engaged.' He goes to the mine manager to
greet him. Having done so he turns to Shuushu and remarks
about Thakane:
PETLANE: Morena! Kgomo tseo Ze manamane a tsona!
Ke ne ke se ke emetse ho tZa 0 dumedisa morena,
ke a theoha kamoso. Morena a saZe hantZe.
MENEJARA: Wena sebenza muhZe Zapha komponi. Hamba
kahZe. Mina vuya wena buya Zapha komponi
futhi. Totsiens.
PETLANE: Kgotso! kgotso! Morena. 0 sheba ka ho Shuushu.
Monna moshaana, ke utZwa eka nka fofa ha ke hopQZa
tshehZana eno ya heso. Ba feeZ~ nka mpa ka mmona.
(p. 95)
134
PETLANE: Sir! 1 greet you my lord! I was already
waiting to come and greet you sir, I am leaving
tomorrow. Remain well, my lord.
MENEJARA: You have worked well in this compound. Go
we l i, I will be most obliged if you will re-
turn to this compound again.
PETLANE: Bye! bye! Sir. He looks at Shuushu.
Man, my boy, I feel like flying when I think
of my beautiful one, light in complexion. If
only I could see her.
This is a.perfect example.of/dramatic irony which evokes a feeling
of pity for him from the audience who is aware of the true state
of affairs existing at his.home while he is as yet·blissfully
unaware of it. His faithfulness and genuine love for the un-
faithful Thakane and the unpleasant shock which awaits him on
his arrival at home,: evoke emotions of pity and sympathy for
Petlane and reproach for Thakane especially when Petlane,keeps
quiet-for.a while like one meditating and then in anguish says
to Shuushu:
o a thola-thola jwaleka motho ya toutang. Leha ke mpa
ke nyahama pelo here ke kgaZe a qetetse ho nngolla,
mangolo a ka a se a bile a le mararo a se a sa nkarabe.
O.sheba fatshe. Ekaba molato 0 hlahile kae? Banana
ba mehleng ya kajeno! (pp. 95~ 96)
He keeps quiet for a while like one who is meditating.
Although I feel a bit downhearted as it is a ~ong time
since she wrote to me, I have already writ~en three.
letters without a reply. He looks down. Where could
the trouble be? Modern girls!
Note the stimulation of imagination and emotion in Molomo ...,
scene iv, caused.by the following drama-tic dialogue.
MOTSHEDISI: o bolela hore ke tla be ke wetse lsfureng,
hara mejo e se kaaka letho?
135
MOELETSI: Jo nna! 0 potelang jwale? Seo ke se
bolelang ke re haeba taba e jwalo e ka hlaha
mothong ya rutilweng jwale ka wena ho nkana le
leqaba le kang yena jwalo 0 tla be 0 thutse
lebota.
MOTSHEDISI: 0 bolela hore ha e tla ba ke teng motho a
nyalwe ke mohofe 0 nta di moqopo kapa ho thweng
na, 0 nta di motopo hob a feela a rutehile?
(pp. 24, 25)
MOTSHEDISI: You mean. I will have fallen into riches,
amidst a great deal of food that cannot be
finished.
MOELETSI: Oh my lopd! what.are you dreaming now?
What I mean is if_such a th~ng happens to a
person who is educated like yourself to take
such an illiterate like him~ as such you will
have knocked your head against the wall.
MOTSHEDISI:' Do you mean to te Il me that the right
thing is that a person must be married to some-
one who is as poor as a churchmouse with protru-
ding lice or what do they say with oblpng lice
j~st because one is educated?
3.4 The soliloquy
Millett and Bentley9 mention that lithe soliloquy is a dramatic
device for the revelation of character to which more serious
attention must be given. Logically and practically, it is a
speaking aloud of the character's feelings and ideas, an objecti-
fication of intimate and personal psychological material. The
source of life in this convenient device is obvious, since what
has come to be called in recent times the 'interior monologue',
the stream of consciousness in which observation, perception,
sensation, feeling, emotions, and ideas are all involved, is
136
an omnipresent phenomenon in the experience of any normally
self-observant person. The soliloquy, then, is merely a con-
ventional device by which the dramatist utilizes the material
of this aspect of experience. The plausibility of it is con-
siderably increased by the phenomenon of 'thinking out loud',
a habit common enough not to be regarded as psychopathic."
Usually a soliloquy takes place on the stage when a character
is alone.
Moiloa uses the soliloquy in his dramas in the following cases:
In Jaa ... , Act I, scene iii, page 6 where Disene returns home
after having promised Petlane to keep .an eye on Thakane for him
and immediately begins to scheme how he will undermine Petlane.
Disene 0 tsamaya a bua a le mong ha a kgutlela hae.
Ekaba ngwanana eo Thakane ha e le motle hakaale, 0 ne a
hlile a bonang hlahlaneng e kang Petlane tjee banna?
Haeba ke nnete ba a. ratana~ 0 a ikana supang le nna
ke tl~ kena. Ke se ke bile ke ntse ke bona tsela eo
ke tla mo kgwaphela ka yona.
Ka mme ka mmangwane moscidi wa Bakwena, mmuti le nna ke
kene, ale barese dibotlolo. Feela banna! 0 sisinya
hlooho. Basotho ba a bolela ka nako e nngwe ha ba re
kwekwe ya morao e tloha le sepalo. Hantl~-~tle ke tla
re ngwanana eo ke ne ke ntse ke mo tloheletseng? Ka tla
ka mo tlQhela he, mme ho ntse ho bonahala hore 0 motheong.
Feela, tjhe, ha ho nang, metsi a lekwa ka vere; ke tla ke
ke thetIe mokotla.
A tsamaya a ipotsa hangata hore na 0 tla qala ka le reng
eng haele moo eka tshabo e hlile eteng.
Mano ha a site monna, e ·se a lefu. Ke yena eo. Ke
tla fihla ke inwele, e le hore a tIe a mpone hore ha ke
motho ke selala; ke ntho e sele ~ hape ke tla di bea
ke di tshekalatsa, ke hane ha a re 0 a bUG ke mo qhobele
majwe ka hanong ke tsamaye ke phaella, ke retileha kgafetsa
ke mo sheba ka mahlong, meemo ke ema ya dikgoho; ke
137
thenthetsa sa makoko 0 bona dithole; hore a tle a be a
ikutlwe a kgahlwa ke nna, a mpone hore ke fela ke le
tjhadiba ya mohlankana wa leqweleqwele. Thola feela
wena, 0 tla utlwa eka 0 hulwa ke kese. o a thola ha a
kena motseng.
Disene starts talking when returning home.
I wonder what that girl, Thakane, who is so beautiful saw
in an ugly person like Petlane, my word! If it is true
that they are in love, honestly then I will aLso be accepted.
I already see a way in which I will get (trip) her.
Honestly, to make assurance doubly sure in the name of my
aunt, wife of the Bakwena, I mu.st get her, come what may
But gentlemen! . He shak~s his head. The Basotho have
said a mouthful at times iahen they say.: , pro erae t i.na t ion
is the thief of time. In actuat fac~ why did I léave that
girl a.ll this time. Gosh, I left her indeed,. yet it is
clear that she is easy prey (target). However, it does
not matter, there is nothing like trying; .I will make an
attempt. He goes along asking ,himself several times where
to start seeing that he is also a little frightened.
Tricks never fail a man unless th~y are invented for /
preventing death. He exclaims. I will arrive well-
dressed so that she sees that I am not just an ordinary
p~rson, I am someone great, a different person ~ttogether
- furthermore 'I will approach her wisely and give her no
chance to talk and I will talk often turning around looking
at her face, standing like fowls, making turns like a cock
seeing hens, so that she should be attradted by me, that I
am truly presentable, a handsome, clever gentleman. You
just keep quiet, it will be as though she is being pulled
by electricity. He then keeps quiet when entering the
village.
At the close of Act VI, scene vii ~huushu also speaks to the
audience after taking leave of Petlane. This soliloquy proves
that Shuushu, too, cannot be trusted and fits in with the theme
138
of the play. He vows· to keep Petlane ousted even though he
were to return to the mine.
Ha menejara a ka re feela 0 nkgethetse mosebetsi 00,
ena mpara leha e ka ba re eya kgutla e ke ke ya ba ya
hlola e 0 thola. Ke tla mo tjhoma hore ho ye moa ho
yang. Nka mpa ka bona boKeatseba haeba taba e nngwe
e le teng. Ere feela ba re ba mpeile jwalekaha a
boletse. Ke ikana ka ntate a shwele ke tla mo jela
maime, ere ha a fihla ankgele Makgowa ana a neng a se
a mo nketse hodimo. Nna Ke ,Shuushu, ha ke Shuushwana wa
maobane. Ke se' ke fumane se~ulo? Ke dutse sa maratswana?
Ke gala bokgotho-kgotho ke bo tlohele! Ekaba le a na.
G 0 jele mosebetsi haeba 0 sa ntsa tla kgutlela ho ena
kompone.
Setswalle! setswalle! se ~a ya robala. Lefatsheng
mona ha ho setswalle ha feela 0, ka phuntshwa n t lo l eeoba ,
Motswalle! motswalle! ,Ke pua ya nakwana feela eno.
Ha ho tsuonyana pha~ela nngwe mona lefatsheng. Ke
ndoda siban~le. 0 a tswa. (p. 99)
If_only the manager can appoint me in that work, even if
this stupid fool were to come back he would never get the
job again. I will absolutely undermine him.' I would
rather see witchdoctors. Let them just appoint me as he
(
has said. J swear in the name of my father who is dead,
I will use witchcraft against him so that when he arrives
these Europeans who hold him in high esteem must find him
most unsuitable. (smelling) I am Shuushu, I am not the
little Shuushu of yesterday. Have I been appointed?
Have I been promoted? Shou'ld I leave having received
large sums of money! That will be the day. He will never
get it again, if he is still going to return to this com-
pound.
Friendship! friendship! It can rather go to the dogs.
There is no friendship in this world, if only facilities
139
are provided for you. Friend! friend! That's just
talk for the time being. Nobody works for another in
this world. Everyone for himself. He goes out.
In Act VII, scene i there is another soliloquy in Jaa ...,
where Sisinyana who has a mean streak which is clearly shown
to the audience when she says:
Na ekaba ke tla etsa jwang feela hore Petlane ampone?
Ha ke ne ke le mohlankana ke ne ke tla mpe ke ipuelle ho
yena. Morero wa ka wa ho mo senyell~tsa. hb Thakane 0
phethahetse, mme· ha ke kgolwe leha a. ka rata, hore 0 sa
tla kgahlwa ke yena ka baka la sena se e~sahetseng;
etswe Thakane· ha e sa le Thakane yane ya mo tsebang.
Ke ile ka kgothalla taba ena ya boDisene ya ho shobedisa
Thakane ka kgopolo ya hore Petlane a ka nna a tshoha a
kgahlwa ke nna, empa na ekaba 0 tla tseba jwang feela
hore a mpe ampone? Efela ka sebele ke tsietsi, hobane
mohlomong leha nka re ke iphetisa hangata feela pela hae,
ho ka nna ha etsahala hore a nne a ntlodise mahlo. Leha
ho le jwalo metsi a lekwa ka lere. Ke tla iketsa lejwe
la kgopiso ho yena. Moo a tsamayang teng ke rata hore
a fumane a se a ntse a thulane- le nna. Hape ha ke na ho
kgaotsa ho mo dumedisa kgafetsa moo re kopanang, mme ke
mmontshe sefahleho se kganyang kgotso le lerato kamehla.
Ha e le pela ho iphotla teng, ke tla iphotla ka nnete hore
ditjhaba di sale di maketse. 0 a thola-thola.
(pp. 100, 101)
What am I going to do so that Petlane shou·ld only see ..me?
If I were a young man I would rather plead for myself.
My aim of getting him away from Thakane has succeeded and
even if he likes, I don't believe he would be attracted
to her because of what has happe~ed. Thakane is not the
same Thakane that he knew. I was keen on this matter of
abducting Thakane for Disene and company with the idea
that Petlane may perhaps be· attracted and look at me, but
how will he know that he has to Zook at me? Indeed, it is
140
a difficult matter because even if I pass near him several
times, it may happen that he overlooks me. However, I
will try, try and try again. I am going to be a stumbling
block. Wherever he goes or moves I would like him to
realise that he is bumping against me all the time. More-
over I will never stop greeting him, even if it is several
times wherever we meet, and show him a bright face full of
peace and love. As for washing my face, I will wash
thoroughly, that whoever sees me must admire me. She keeps
quiet for a while.
These soliloquies have a definite purpose and each has a message
for the audience so that they too can be aware of what is going
through these three actors' minds. - They put.their actions.into
.perspective and because they confide in the audience they make
them feel part of the play, which is one of the reasons one goes
to see a good play.
In Molomo ..., there is only one soliloquy right at the outset
.of the play. This speech not only reveals his thoughts to the
.audience but it also serves as ·an introduction of the main
character in the play which is vital for the understanding of the
rest of the play. The audience becomes sympathetic towards
him and this sympathy is enhanced by his open-hearted talk with
his mother just be£ore he faints at the end of this first scene.
In it the audience realises that he is a determined young man
who knows what he wants in life.
THUNTSHANE: (0 bua a le mong.)
Xe Thuntshane nna, ha ke Thuntshane wa jwale. Motho 0
tla ntseba, ba duletse ho nna ba ntsheba ba leka ho
ntshenya ngwananeng eo ke mo ratang hakaale, ka hore ke
mpara ha ke tsebe ho bala? Bona ba mpheta kang? Nna
ntate ke morui, ha ho ya sa mo tsebeng motseng ana wa
Phuthaditjhaba. Ba ntjhebela ma~t6ng a dikgoho! Ya
itseng motho wa maemo a ka a ke ke a tiyala nese (mooki)
ke mang? Ba ipolella lehahla hoba ke a mo rata ngwanana
eno. Moditjho! .(0 a inama 0 sisinya hlooho.)
141
Ngwanana 0 nkguZa'moya eo. Ha a motZe ngwana ditjhaba
o taboZa moshemane ZetswaZo, Zeha a eme 0 a mmona hore
ho eme motho a Ze teng, ha ho se qeaqeisang manna hore
enwa ke mosadi, manna 0 hZakana hZooho ha a mo tadima,
keZeZZo ya hae e saZe e eme ntsi! Empa ke a ikana ka
MakgobotZwane a ntswetse, ho nna (0 ikotla sefuba)
o kene manneng, ho tZa kgaoha moa ho kgwehZang, ha ke
Mosotho mmotwana.
Mafasathaenyana aa a ntse a mo konkorZa ka hore haeso ke
Bosothong ba peZo e thata, ha e Ze ngwana Mosotho 0
tshwanetse ho utZwisisa nnete ya tsamaiso ya meetZo ya
Sesotho. E se eka bahaeso .ba.ka rapeZ~ha ba ntumeZZa
hore nke ke thetZe mokotZa, .~e mohZa a tZa kopana Ze peZa
di faZZa ke a 0 jwetsa. Ke tZa.hana ke sa fihZa, ke
tsamaya meemo ke eme ya dikgoho, ke tswetZehq moshemane
ke ema diphenene, phaZafaZa di tZa fapana tseZeng
mohZang 00.
Ha e Ze dipuo tsa batho ha ke na mosebetsi Ze tsona,
hoba ke a bona bashemane peZo di tswiZe di a ZeketZa,
nony~na di fofa fubeng tsa. bona, ba tjh~ ntshi ha ba
mmona. Nna ha ke.tshohe dibono ke esa bone manga tsona.
FeeZa ke sehwa ke ZetswaZo ha ke mo hopoZa ha ke tsebe
keng, empa ke kgoZwa hore ke hobane ke tjheswa ke Zerato
sefubeng sa ka, hoba nnete ke hore ke a tjha ke a tuka,
Zerato ha Ze mphe sebaka, peZong ya ka Ze tuka maZakabe.
Itjhu! (0 itshwara pelo) . Ke a tjha ke a tjhutjhuse Za
n qio an a n a l (0 tadima fatshe). (p , 9)
THUNTSHANE: (Speaks alone.)
I am Thuntshane, not Thuntshane of now ZateZy. A person
wiZZ know me, they are busy backbiting me and trying to
taZk iZZ of me in the presence of the girZ I Zove so much
by saying I am a stupid fool as I can't read? In what
way do they surpass me? My father is rich, there is no-
body who does not know him in this viZZage of Phuthaditjhaba.
142
They l09k down on me. Who said a person of my status
cannot marry a nurse? They are wasting their breath,
because I love that girl. Gosh! (He bends down and
shakes his head.)
That girl is pulling at my soul. This child of national
folks is so beautiful thát boys tremble when they see her
and where she stands you see that a dignified person is
standing, there is nothing that makes a man doubt that
this is a real woman; a man becomes extremely mad when
he looks at her, his mind comes to an absolute. stand still!
But I can assure you in the name of Makgobotlwane who begot
me, in me (he strikes his chest) she will meet a man, come
what may,. I am not a so-called half Mosotho.
These who wear ties keep on misleading her by saying that
at our place you find tough., traditional Basotho, if she
is a Mosotho child .she must understand the truth in the
administration.of the Sotho custom. I wish my family
would agree to let me try, that will be the day she will
be faced with trouble, I am telling you.
I will not give her a chance from the outset, I will take
my sta~ce like that of fowls, bending and standing to at-
tention, boy, things will change tremendously that day.
I have nothing to do with the people's talk, because I can
see boys' hearts are throbbing, they live in fear and re-
treat when they see her. I cannot fedr a person if I
have not confronted him. But I get frightened when I
think it is because of the burning love in me, because the
truth is that I am briskly burning, love does not give me
~ change, its flames are burning in my heart. Ouch!
(He grips his heart.) I am briskly burning terribly,
gir L (He looks down.)
3.5 The aside
Hamilton 10 maintains that "great progress toward nat.u re Lne s s in
143
centemperary acting has been eccasiened by the abregatien ef
the selilequy and the aside. The relinquishment ef these two.
time-henered expedients has been accemplished enly in mest re-
cent times. Dramatists have beceme cenvinced that the
selilequy and the aside are lazy expedients, and that with a
little extra laber the mest cemplicated plet may be develeped
witheut resert te either."
It is expected ef dramatists to.use mere subtle me ans ef con+
-
veying to. their audience, their characters' inner mental and
emetienal life. "The aside is an almest tee easy device fer
revealing directly and immediately to.the audience the discre-
pancy between what ,the ,character says and what he feels, between
the appearance ef ceurage, and the actuality ef cewardice, be-
tween the innecence ~f the anne~nced intentien and the malice
ef the actual purpese ."1'1 .An aside, then, is a speech wherein
a character expresses his theughts in werds audible to.the
spectaters ,but suppesedly net to.the ether stage characters
present.
In Jaa ... " the enly aside werth mentiening is feund en page 18
where Disene expresses his theughts whilst peeping threugh the
deor at Mmateleke's place.
O-hlwedisa menyake 0. bua a le meng,. Na ,ekaba moshaana
he so Telek6 0 ye a be a le teng tjee? Eka nka mpa ka
mo fumana a ~e teng, ke tle ke tsebe ho mo lama tsebe ka
taba ena ya Petlane. Mohlomong a ka nna a nthusa ho
kgwaphela Thakane. 0 keketa a hlahisitse hleehe
menyake.
He peeps threugh the deer and talks. Is my boy, namely
Teleko in at all? I hope to find him in so that I can
hint to him privately about this matter regarding Petlane.
Perhaps he will help me in conv£ncing Thakane~ He knecks
at the deer and peeps inside.
144
3~6 Moiloa's style
Furthermore, regarding words, Moiloa's language is rich and
high flown. He weaves his sentences artistically, composed
of modern and archaic words, well chosen to suit the occasion
and thus making his.language flowery. All examples cannot be
quoted here but the 'following will suffice from both Jaa ...,
and Molomo ... A few examples of archaic words mingled with
modern ones from Jaa ..., are found on pages:
37 Le dumiZe Heng re tZa etswa matonomapesa.
We are goin~ to carry out instructions ...
E~identZy it appears that we '~haZZ be tossed up
and down.
. 65 o se ke ·wa tsetZaZZa wa ema methemeZZe ~ ..
Hdiaha!
don't stand Zike a statue That's it!
103 ke diya banneng. Ke swabiZe nko ho feta moZomo.
it's aZZ in the game.' I am terribZy' disappointed.
In Molomo ..., there are the following examples on pages:
18 ke tshetheoZwa ke hZooho ...
'I am suffering from a terribZe headache.
19 ke mapokaetsi
mad
23 o ipueZa fofotho
you are speaking nonsense.
manyekathipa
poor as a church mouse
o ko robe monakedi
rest a bit, pZease.
27 dihaeya
endZess nonsense.
145
27 bontshunyakgare
people who rush matters
39 Tsie lala baheso!
Silence please, folk at home.
Furthermore Moiloa writes eloquently and has a great variety of
expressions and this can be demonstrated in his use of traditional,
customary words. In so doing he shows that he is well-versed in
words and sentences used in the old traditional Sotho customs.
In Jaa ... , there are the following examples of his eloquent
writing on pages:
22 e rahile moritshwana ya tona.
to become engaged.
45 Ha ho bokwe; kgomo tseo le manamane ~ tsona.
Many thanks, we accept wholeheartedly.
50 ho kopa mohope wa metsi.
to ask to become engaged.
In Molomo ..., the following examples of eloquent writing by
t.he dramatist stand out:
12 thitapoho le sephephetho ...
medicinal roots and the medical one ...
Phua!
Phoo!
Moethimolo ola 0 kae?
Where is that sneezing medicine? (Something that
tickles the nasal cavity.)
13 a batlile a nyekwa ke tladimothwana '"
he was nearly killed by lightning ...
16 Fiellafiella nkoko a tswale.
Reveal what is hidden.
146
18 Ona ke·molomo-monate
You will be listened to ...
In order to uplift the standard of everyday Sesotho spoken, the
dramatist has in his dramas used many synonyms of which the
following are a few from Jaa ...
For the word 'friend' he uses:
ntja-mme, mokana, w~so, kgotsi, mokgotsi, wa mma.
For the word 'dagga' he uses:
matekwane, sabonkgi, s~talane, kgomo ya fatshe.
For the word 'unreliable" he uses:
mahelehel~, botshephe-seisa-none, matjholotjholo.
For ,the word 'dirty' he uses:
thinetseng, dikgiba-kgiba, maphemphe
For applause by ululating, the following are used:
Ba hlaba modidietsane, Mo opeleng mahofi!, Diatla!
For the word 'superior' he uses:
matwetwe, makhonya
For the word 'hesitate' he uses:
-qeaqea" -tsila-tsile, -farao
In Molomo ..., the following are examples of synonyms used
by Moiloa.
For 'English' he uses: tjhomi
For 'hesitate' he uses: -qeaqea, '-fara
For 'dream' he uses: potelang, fofotho
For 'ancestor~' he uses: badim9, baholoholo
Although Moiloa uses a variety of words with similar meanings~
on occasions he uses words which are repeated for the sake of
emphasis. An example is found in Molomo ..., on page 51.
MMAMORUTI: Ha ho hlahlwe! Ha ho hlahlwe!
Ho ka mpa ha hlahlwa!
MMANTETE: Ho hlahlwa eng?
147
MMAMORUTI: Let them divorce! Let them divorce!
Rather let them divorce!
MMANTETE: What do you mean, divorce?
Added to the use of synonyms in the two dramas Moiloa uses
reduplication of words for the sake of style. "Reduplicated
radicals signify that the action of the predicate is carried
out on a small scale.,,12 In Jaa ..., on pages:
25 mabaka-baka in love
28 -thethakaka smile a little
34 -upu-uputsa fish (information) a little
44 letomo-:-tomo .murmuri ng .
letjebee-tjebee a li t tl.e noise
In Moloma ..., there are. the following examples of. reduplicated
words on pages:
10 -itshohlotshohlom~tsa . easily rush
12 matsebetsebe a little fearful
metjeatjea full of rags
15 -kenyekenya (sic. ) a huge monstrosity·
31 -hwayahwaya a little doubtful
There are sporadic uses in Jaa ..., of diminqtives as on pages:
57 molatonyana a little reason
tabanyana a little matter
74 melongwana little lips
In Molomo ..., Moiloa has made use of many more diminutives than
in his first drama with an attempt to express contempt or be
disparaging. They are found on pages:
9 mafasathaenyana those wearing ties ...
10 ntjanyana a ~mall boy (a small dog)
12 mopotjwaneng in a little clay pot
148
17 tlharenyana little medicines
20 kgwadinyana little suspicions
21 bomauthwauthwana low-down people
29 lehwadinyana a little stubborn
43 ngwetsana a newly-wed
sehlotshwana a little group
Another characteristic of this dramatist's use of words is the
elision of certain prefixes and thus only giving the reader a
shortened form of the word as in Moloma ...
According to S.M. Moletsane, an inspector of schools in the
Orange Free State, these shortened £orms of words used in
Moiloa's dramas are becoming more and more common in colloquial
speech today.
12 kotleng instead o£. mokotleng
17 tlharenyana tsa bona instead of dithlarenya tsa bona
33 tedu tsa banna instead of ditedu tsa banna
34 kwaba la methati instead of lekgwaba la methati
38 rapo la puleng instead of lerapo la puleng
40 kolwane instead of lekolwane
46 .ke mampara ntho tsena instead of dintho .tsena
49 nthonyana tsena instead of dinthonyana tsena
Jaa ...
9 mpeng tsa makwala. instead of dimpeng tsa makwala
22 kobo tsena tsa ka instead of dikobo tsena tsa ka
In order to educate his readers, Moiloa has used unusual words
instead of the every-day colloquial forms used by Basotho-
speaking people and a few examples from Jaa ... are:
28 ma t j hiaabo l a ladies
45 difatjana chairs
52 tshaane (Zulu) grass
73 dikgororo sweat
mponyane bread
149
74 -nganga hit
morwatla weak beer
76 madada men
methepa women
bafana (Zu.lu) boys
77 -bolaya win
96 diphamala thieves
tjhomela talk
bommamesana ladies
97 mahofi hands
106 tsielehile embarrassed
setlere fool
In Molomo ..., there are the following few examples:
12 mokgopi group
18 tjhalala smear
24 lekwatlakwatla footsteps
33 tedu tsa banna beer
mothamahane beer
36 mejo riches
37 iphf3netha commit suicide
41 dipio beer
kwae sheep
3.7 Irony
"The texture of a play will become finer in proportion as its
author can say more to the spectators through an ironic manage-
ment of the actors. The actors perform two functions: they
act and talk to themselves, and they act and talk to the
aUdience."13
Petlane leaves his loved one to be cared for by his friend,
Disene. Disene promises to look after her, but he has ether
plans. Meiloa should have seen to, it that the audience had
known of Disene's plans before he was approached by Petlane.
This, then, would have been excellent dramatic ireny.
150
A perfect example of dramatic irony is found on pages 95 and
96 in Jaa See.page 134 in this thesis for an explanation
and example.
What Petlane says is ironic in the sense that although he is un-
aware of the true situation existing at home, the audience is
totally aware of it. What he says therefore means one thing
to him and something else to the audience. The latter knows
that when he sees Thakane again, his feelings will no longer be
the same.
In another instance in Act III, scene i, Mmateleko goes off the
deep-end when Disene comes to seek Teleko's and Sisinyana's
assistance to tr~p up Thakane. Disene neglects the usual cus-
tom of inquiring after Mmateleko' s health and of discussing the'
state of affairs at his home with her. Mmatelekobecomes'
annoyed at his disrespect and reprimands him for his bad manners.
What she says is significant and ironical and in a sense even
foreshadows Disene's evil intentions with Thakane. When she
therefore says:
Oho! ha e le bana ba kajeno le senyehile, ka sebele le
lahlile meet~o ya bontata lona moholo le mamaretse
sejwalej~ale sena sa lona se sa thuseng letho. Ha le
a senyeha he le photolehile. Siss pthoo!
o mo tshwela mathe. (p. 19)
Gosh! ChiZdren nowadays are really spoiled, yóu have
really thrown away your grandfathers' traditions, you
are clinging to .your modern ideas which are of no use.
You are not only spoiled but you have gone astray.
Siss! pthoo! She spits at him.
Her words have an extra meaning to the audience who is in on
Disene's plans and aware· of his treacherous intentions while
Mmateleko is only aware of his immediate act of disrespect.
Another example in Jaa ..., is where Teleko tells how he will
approach Thakane after becoming brave as a result of the dagga
151
that he will smoke. She will soon be influenced by him because
Ke TeZeko ha ke MmateZeko, hape ha ke motho ke
ntho eee l:e; nyooko; ee la la feeZa tjena. (p. 2?)
I am TeZeko not TeZeko's mother, moreover I am
not any ordinary person but a different person aZtogether;
one to be feared; .q a ll, just a hero of heroes.
The fact that Teleko regards himself as a "hero of heroes" is
.ironic. The audience being aware of his treachery, is aware
that he is in fact the very opposite of what he claims to be.
His cowardice is'revealed by the fact that he deceives Petlane
into believing that he is what he is not and does not have the
moral courage to tell him that he too is in love with Thakane
and plans to woo her. His underhandedness therefore makes
him anything but a "hero of heroes".
In Molomo ..., it is ironic to think that Thuntshane admits
that he is afraid of Motshedisi, just like all the othe~ young
lads wishing to have her hand in marriage, and yet he says:
Ke tZa hana ke sa fihZa, ke tsamaye meemo ke eme ya
dikgoho, ke tswetZeha, moshemane ke ema diphenene,
phaZafaZa di tZa fapana tseleng mohlang 00.
Ha e Ze dipuo tsa batho ha ke na mosebetsi le tsona,
hoba ke a bona bashemane pelo di tswile di a leketla,
nonyana di fofa fubeng tsa bona, ba tjha ntshi ha ba
mmona. (p. 9)
I will not give her a chance from the outset, I will
take my stance like that of fowls, bending and standing
to attention, boy, things will change tremendously that
day.
I have nothing to do with the people's talk, because I
can see boys' hearts are throbbing, they live in fear
and retreat when they see her.
152
The two instances where Makgobotlwane and Matsetsela visit
Lekgwaba to negotiate about the bride price and are misunder-
stood by Lekgwaba are instances of dramatic irony. Therefore
if the play were enacted before a Black audience the latter would
probably understand the traditionalists' form of greeting and
the term mohope wa metsi (a bride). In other words these
statements mean one thing to the audience and traditionalists but
something totally different to the modernists.
3.8 Humour
.Both dramas have plenty of humorous incidents and comments in-
tended for amusement. ..In Act I, scene i the description of
the woman given by Disene is extremely humorous in Jaa ...
The disparaging remarks passed by both Disene and Petlane about·
each other and about others shows their·jealous natures about
one another. The one who passe~ the horrible remarks is trying
to put himself in a more favourable light than the other. This
is true of both Petlane and Disene .
... a nyala ngwanana yane ya mobehadi ya neng a le
mahonyopo tjee ka mahlong, yane bo ya nko ekang di a
n kq e l.iaa ... (p , 1)
he married t~e ugliest girl with the hollow face and
wide, open nostrils .... as if smelling something.
Petlane adds his humorous description of this ugly lady as
follows:
a nyala sekgookgo; mothepahadi 0 motsho wa Tebeleng,
o tsebe di makgapetla tsa ho kga moro ka pitseng.
(pp. 1, 2)
he married an ugly thing, an oldish, black Nguni lady,
with thick~leaved ears suitable for dishing up gravy from
a pot.
In the same scene Petlane is described by Disene as
153'
having a beard on 'his chin like that of a bi l: ly-goat.
seletswana se se se ririelletse jwaleka sa phookwana.
(p . 2)
Disene continues by humeristically saying that Petlane is
as old as the hills.
thaka ntatae putswa mokokotlo. (p. 2)
The secend half ef Disene's solilequy on page 6 centains a great
deal of humeur .
... Mano ha a site monna o tla utlwa eka 0 hulwa
ka kese. (p. 6),
Fer the Engiish translation ef this passage, see page 137 in
this chapter.
One is amused when ene imagines teo.thless characters like Disene
in Jaa ... ,.prewling like a pe~ceck er a ceck in frent ef ladies
as he ~ntends deing en page 6. Nete the ireny here tee: Imagine
Disene with his teothless jaws having the audacity to.refer to.
Petlane as an ugly person. Disene even refers to.himself as
someone great, semething which he certainly is net. The audience
is beund to spet the irony here.
meemo ke ema ya dikgoho; ke thenthetsa sa mokoko
o bona dithole ...
taking my stand like that of fowls, turning quickly
like a cock seeing hens
Anether humereus incident is when Pet lane appears to.be a feol.
He thinks it is better to.pretend than to.expese himself, by
saying:
154
sehole sa monna se lokela ho pata bohlotsa
(p . 14)
one has to conceal one's inf~rmities ...
until eventually he is reprimanded by the guard on the train and
finds out that he is moving aimlessly in the wrong direction.
An extremely humorous effect is created by the mixture of
Fanagalo and Afrikaans used by the guard-i6 Petlane when he
says:
Hai, hai wena! Hamba lapha muvaf Yini wena londaba?
Wat makeer met daardie ou skepsel? "jou
matraskop". (p . 8)
Eey~ hey you! Get back! Whai ~s the matter with ~ou?
What's the matter with that old creature?
"You pumpkin head!"
In Act V, scene ii Sisinyana describes Thakane's visitors.
Humorous as it may be, it is so typical of the Blacks when
trying to impress someone.
Hlaha 0 bone kgotsi baeti ba hao ke bana ba se ba le
hauf~. Ke re bashemane ha ba tlama, ha ba tlama.
Masela ke a m~sowana; dieta ke motla-o-tutswe ngwana
mme ke a 0 jwetsa. (p. 45)
Get up and peep my friend, your ~isitors are quite near.
I am tel ling you the boys are spiek and span. They are
in white apparel; their shoes are shining, I am telling
you, my sister.
The superfluous verbocity on pages 97 and 98 could cause the
educated Black audience to burst into laughter ~hen hearing it.
"In promulgating my estoric cogitations or articulating
my superficial sentimentalities and amicable philosophical
and psychological observations, I shall beware of my
platitudinous ponderosity." (p. 9?)
155
This extract and the following English one are terminological
inexactitudes and their effect is surely only one of provoking
laughter.
"This is a pulverising stimulant that titilates our promon-
toric nerves, the palatable beverage of immortality, the
holy intoxicant madam petrification and stultification of
thought to vulgar propensities and brazen mendacity of
human mentality." Cp • 98)
A fool like Teleko who smokes dagga appears as a clown, especial-
ly when he is under the ~nfluence of this drug. His praise-poem
on pages 48 and 49 resembl~s the amusing things said and per-
formed by people under ihe influence of dagga.
HUmour plays its role in Moloma ...,.too as is seen when
Matsetsela says:
Ke nthonyana e nyane ho nna ho fetola motho mokok~
hana jwale a iphumane a se a ntse a lelekisa dithole ...
( p • 13)
It is a small thing for me to change a person into
a rooster ~ow, and then he will soon find himself chasing
the hens ...
From the encultured audience's po~nt of view it is quite funny
to listen to the conversations between Makgobotlwane's and the
Reverend Lekgwaba's family regarding the negotiations of
marriage especially since they are diametrically opposed to one
another in behaviour and culture. The way in which Makgobotlwane
greets Lekgwaba is in itself very amusing to an encultured Black
man.
"Kgwaba la methati le ba 0 potileng." Cp , 34)
Crow of the precipices and to those around .you.
156
Note the humour in the' following lines spoken by Lekgwaba:
Tjhe, le rona re sa le teng paballong ya Morena Mmopi,
Ramasedi 0 sa ntsa re beile seatla, kaha ke mona re sa
ntsane re fapanya maoto. Jwale ekaba le tlile ka dife
baheso? Rona re ya be re se re fehile matswafo (sic.)
hle bahesa, kaha bongata ba ba tshwanang le lona, ke ba
tlang ho tla latola, hore semangmang 0 se a re seile. (sic.)
(p. 35)
No, we are still being preserved by our Lord, the Creator,
the Almighty hand is still protecting us because here we
are still kicking the dust. Now what brings you here my
fellow men? We are f~aring as it is my fellow men because
many who .are like you bring reports that so-and-so has
passed away.
He knows exactly what they have come for and furthermore the
evangelist knows what they are saying when Matsetsela says:
hoba re tlile ho tla kopa mohope wa metsi.
because we have come to ask for a water calabash
(because we have come to ask for a hand in marriage.)
After all they are also Basotho and should know the saying even
if they are westernised. The humour lies in the fact that the
representatives of the two clashing cultures do not understand
each others ways, customs and language - they are diametrically
opposed to each other.
The very fact that the westernized and encultured Blacks do not
grasp what .the representatives of traditionalism have to say to
them is a cunning method of the dramatist to ridicule those who
have deviated so far from their culture. (Cf. Moeletsi's words
I
at the top of page 37 too.)
157
LEKGWABA: Moradi' wa ka? Na le bua le imametse hantle
tjee. Kgele! ke mehlolo ya eng? Haeba le
tlile ka taba tse jwalo, tswang ha ka mona pele
k:e fapana le Lo na . (p. 36)
LEKGWABA: My daughter? Are you really serious in
what you are saying? Gosh! What miracles
are these? If you are here on such an errand,
get out of my place before I quarrel with you.
As the curtain drops for the end of Act I, scene vii, a further
humorous incident occurs when Magkobotlwane and Matsetsela leave
the manse.
MAKGOBOTLWANE: Re sa tla reng weso a re mpe re itsamaele.
Batho bana hase Basotho. Salang ka kgotso
bahesa. (0 a tswa, a mo setse morao.)
MATSETSELA: Ba jwalo Basotho-mmotwana re tla ~eng?
(Ba lelapa ba sala ba maketse, Mmamoruti a ntse
a kgotsa ha lesela le ewa.) .Kgele! mafura!
keng yona ntho eo? Re mo home ka mafu~a!
kgele! mafura! Mafura! Ba· e etsa kgoba!
Hm! hm! Ho hola ke ho bona! Basadi!!!
(p. 38)
MAKGOBOTLWANE: What shall we say friend, let us rather
go. These people are not Basotho. Stay in
peace fe lloio men. (He goes out following him.)
MATSETSELA: They are like that, the so-called Basotho.
What shall we say? (The family remain in sur-
prise. Mmamoruti is still wondering when the
curtain falls.) Gosh! fat! what is that? We
must smear fat on him. Gosh! fat! Fat! That's
miracles. Hm! hm! To mature has its dangers
(To grow is to see.) Women!! !
This incident is there to poke fun at the Lekgwaba family.
158
3.9 Puns
The pun is, historically, one of the most ancient and honourable
devices of wit. It "involves words similar or identical in
sound, suggesting two or more meanings simultaneously in a word
or phrase". 12
Moiloa does not use many puns in his dramas although there are
a few in both dramas used very effectively to suggest, two or
more meanings simultaneously. In Jaa .~., there is a pun on
words on page 8
Ek sê my boy, staan terug! Wat makeer met daardie
ou skepsel? "jou matraskop~"
PET LANE : Le kqoiaa: lee le reng na banna. Le re ke
Satane! ha a utlwa lentswe le reng "staan"
Kapa 0 bua le Makere? ha a utlwa lentswe le
reng "makeer". .0 tadima dikwata tse haufi le
yena. Makere ke mang ho lona banna ya yang
mmaeneng wa Matrasekopo? Nna ke ya MlamZankuzi,
ha ke tsebe lona banna! Kwata tsa qhalana ke
ditsheho.
I say my boy "staan» stand back! What (,s) "makeer"
the matter with that oZd creature? You "matraskop"
pumpkin head.
PETLANE: What does this European say, gentlemen? He
says I am a "Satane" when he hears the word
"staan". Or is he speaking to Makere? When he
hears the word "makeer". He looks at the nearest
mine workers. Who ~s Makere amongst you gentle-
men. Who is going to "Matra~kop" mine? I am
going to Mlamlankuzi, I don't know about you
gentlemen! The mine workers start laughing
heartily.
159
Another example is found on page 9 where the mine worker says
to Petlane:
o re 0 mora mang, haeno ke kae?
PETLANE: o tsebella kae hore ke Moramang?
You say whose son are you, mora mang, where is
your home?
PETLANE: How does he know that I am Moramang?
On page 22 Teleko and Disene meet, and Teleko says probably in
slurred speech as a result of smoking dagga:
••• 0 o tswa kae na wa mma? '
DISENE: Ka boswasi Ke tswakane le kobo tsena tsa ka.
Ha e le ho tswa-kwae hona hq ke tswe kW4e.
Where do you come from my mother's child?
tswa kae
DISENE: Jokingly I am mixed up with.my blankets. tswakane
If you think there is tobacco oozing from me tswa kwae,
there is no tobacco coming out of me. tswe kwae
An outstanding example of a pun in this drama suggesting two
meanings simultaneously is found on page 33:
Tjhe, kgele ke tsona tedu tsa banna ...
No, ~osh this is indeed real beer for men.
(tedu tsa banna means men's beard)
On page 35 on the verandah, at the home of Reverend Lekgwaba,
the actors are having tea together when Matsetsela says:
Tj he, re t l:a ke re tj he mat shwafo hona lca je no , -k:ea bona.
No, it appears that we shall have to burn our lungs today.
160
The use of puns by writers is to cause laughter among the audience
and in the two dramas under discussion it appears that the drama-
tist has used them with this specific purpose in mind.
3.10 Vulgar language
This device is used to shock and embarrass the audience and could
even make them laugh. Moiloa does not make use of vulgar
language in his dramas to the extent that Athol Fugard does.
Fugard uses vulgar language to shock, or for realistic effect
possibly, whereas Moiloa uses vulgar language in such a mild way
that it could almost be termed euphemistic vulgarity with a touch
of sarcasm in most cases. He also tends to use it in idiomatic
speech which helps cover up the bare vulgarity in common, ~very-
day, foul language.
Firstly, this has a bearing on Black traditions and western in-
fluence has not made an impact on Black writers regarding
vulgarity. Second·ly, when Blacks write. dramas they are intended
.for schools as didactic material, therefore vulgarity is not
acceptable.
In Jaa ..., there isn't a single instance where blatantly vulgar
language is used in the play and the following sarcastic euphemisms
are the only examples of the mildest of vulgar language used.
These examples are found on pages:
1 PETLANE: sekgookgo; mothepahadi 0 motsho wa
TebeLeng, 0 tsebe di makgapetLa tsa ho kga
moro ka pitseng.
PETLANE: an ugLy thing; an oLdish bLack Nguni
Lady with thick-Leaved ears suitabLe for
drawing gravy from a pot.
25 ngwana mpa mme
my mother's chiLd
161
38 Kapa le tshwerwe ke motjhetjhafatshe?
Or are you suffering from scurvy?
43 Tshaetshae towel
Damn fool!
48 Ha ho kwae koomeng mona.
She is an empty vessel.
106 0 tsiel~hile ke a 0 bona 0 motsho-motsho.
Evidently you are embarrassed you black thing.
In Molomo ..., as in Jaa ..., there are not many examples 9f
vulgar language, although there are the following examples on
pages:
9 Nna ha ke tshohe dibono ke eso bone mo~ga tsona.
I am not afraid of anybody. (I am not afraid of the
buttocks before I can see their owner.)
13 Phuella baloi
Spit on the wizards
25 0 bolela ha e tla ba ke teng motho a nyalwe ke mohofe
o nta di moqopo kapa ho thweng na, 0 nta di motopo
hoba feela a rutehile?
Do you mean to tell me that the right thing is that a
person must be married bV one who is as poor as a
churchmouse with protruding lice or what do they say
oblong lice just because one is educated.
27 o ne 0 mpuela dihaeya di hana ho fela
you were speaking endless nonsense.
29 Wena fuduwane towe.
You damn instigator.
36. Ha ke na bosawana ...
I don't play marbles ...
162
37 Mejo ya maqaba?
Fortune of stupid fools?
41 anthe le nkenya manyaleng
you have landed us in a predicament.
(you have landed us in the dirt)
43 wa hatiswa masepa a manamane
you have been deceived ...
(you have been trampled by calf shit)
I
45 0 ntso re nywenywe, nyang-nyang?
You are talking tripe.
46 Ke mampara ntho tsena ~..
Those things are illiterates
49 Nthonyana tsena tseo 0 ntseng 0 re ke senywalenywale-
senywalenywale 0 tla di lebala.
These things that you keep on sayi~g are modern - you
will forget these modern things. (These things that
you keep on saying are shit - you will forget this shit.)
Moiloa has used these euphemistic forms of vulgarity for emphasis
and stress whatever he has in mind clearly.
3.11 Religious tones
Very little mention is made of relfgion in Jaa ..., and the re-
ligious tones are so sporadic that there are only three instances
in the entire drama where reference is made to the Bible, God
or ~ biblical figure.
Women and their ways are being discus,sed when Disene says:
eKe mokgwa le tlwaelo ya mofuta wa Eva. Cp • 34)
That is the usual way and habit of Eve's type.
163
As Petlane leaves the mine he gives his friend Shuushu sound
advice by saying:
Shuushu, ngwaneso, 0 tshepe Modimo lefatsheng lena.
(pp. 94, 95)
Shuushu, my brother, trust God in this world.
Marriage was instituted by God· and Petlane mentions that
Lenyalo lona ha ke hane ke pallo ngwaneso. (p. 96)
Marriage, I have no objection bro the r ; is a predestination.
Because Molomo ..., revolves around the marriage of a minister's'
daughter, it goes without saying that in the scenes in the drama
dealing with the minister and his family there will be references
to the Bible and thus the majority of religious tones will be
found in these scenes.
In scene v there are the following instances where religion is
merely mentioned.
MMOLEDI: hoba le sepetlele ke bile ka fihla ho
isetsa bakudi thapelo. (p. 26)
MMOLEDI: because even at the hospital I go to pray
for the patients.
MORUTI: Jwale monna heso Moeletsi ha 0 bona nka ba
isetsa selallo neng moo sepetlele?
MMOLEDI: Ke hopola hore leha e le hona Sontaha sena
se tlang ho ka nna ha loka. Cp • 26)
MORUTI: Now, Moeletsi man, when do you think I could
give them Holy Communion at the hospital?
MMOLEDI: I think that next Sunday will be atl right.
164
LEKGWABA: .Hleka ngwanaka ha 0 tsebe hore motho ha
a kgathatseha moyeng bohloko bo mmeleng ho yena
bo dieha ho fola, leha le ntse le leka malebaleba
jwalo? i p , 27)
LEKGWABA: Evidently my child, you are not aware
that when a person has worries in his soul the
bodily illness takes a long time to heal, even
if you try all means like that.
At the reception in scene ix, the following religious happenings
take place.
MODULA-SETULO: Re tla qala ho bula mosebetsi wa
rona ka ho bina sefela, mme ka mora moa ke tla
kopa moruti ho re bulela mosebetsi ka thapel~ e
kgutshwanyane. (Ho binwa sefela.)
LEKGWABA: A re rapeleng: "Morena Modimo, re a 0 lebaha
ha 0 re dumeletse ho· ba teng moketeng ana wa bana
ba rona. Re kopa hore ditaba tsohle di tsamaiswe
ke wena, 0 re etelle pele, 0 be lere le seikokotlelo
sa rona, re tle re tsebe ho thaba mmoho le bohle
ba monyakeng ana, lebitsong le letle la Jesu y~
bokwang ka ho sa feleng. Amen. "
MMAMORUTI: ' Morena hlohonolofatsa dijo tsena tse beilweng
ka pela mahlo a rona hore di matlafatse meya le
mmeZe ya rona ka Kreste Morena wa rona. Amen.
(pp. 45, 46)
MODULA-SETULO: We eha II open our work by singing a hymn,
and after that I shall ask the minister to open,
by saying a short prayer. (They sing a hymn.)
LEKGWABA: Let us p~ay: "Lord God, we thank you for
allowing us to be here at the feast of our
children. We ask ~hat everything be directed
by you, lead·us forward, be our .staff and comfort,
so that we can rejoice with all who are in this
165
joy, in the name of our Lord Jesus who has to be
praised for ever and ever. Amen."
MMAMORUTI: Lord, bZess this food that is put in front
of us, so that it may strengthen our souZs and
bodies, through Christ our Lord Amen.
These religious tones have a function in the drama and they are
there to show that there is a difference between Christianity
and the belief in the forefathers, a custom still clung to by
those who have not as yet heard the Word of God.
3. 12 Praise-poems
"These compositions ar~ .regarded by the Bantu as the highest
products of their literary art. They are a type of composition
intermediate between the pure, mainly narrative, epic, and the
pure, mainly apostrophic, ode, being a combination of exclama-'
)
tory narration and laudatory apostrophizing. In form they
consist of a succession ~f what may be called loose stanzas of
an irregular number of lines, each line containing a varying
number of words, with, however, a more regular number of strong
stresses, the whole being in such balanced metrical form as will
be described below·in dealing with literary technique. In
content they .consist of praises and sentences in praise of some
tribe, clan, person, or lifeless object which, as a group or
individually, is the subject of the poem.,,·15
Schapera continues by saying that "two only of the subsidiary
features of these poems can receive mention here. The first
is'the extraordinary difficulty of their language, which, in the
case of the older poems, is often so archaic as to be only partly
intelligible, and which, even in the case of quite new poems,
contains many archaisms and obscurities of other kinds. The
second is the highly figurative and allusive nature of words
and expressions used, which require a considerable amount of
extensive and intensive historical as well as ethnographical
knowledge for their understanding, and which are, even with such
166
knowledge, often lost ,to us and still more often only partly
explicable. This obscurity of language and allusion, it may
be added, presents itself even to the very reciters of such
poems, who, though they declaim the verses at the greatest speed
at which their vocal organs can articulate, are often quite at
a loss to give an intelligible explanation of their meaning.1I16
In Jaa ..., the following praise-poems appear in the drama.
3.12.1 A war-song incorporating a praise-poem on a train
On page 9 there is a war-song and it has an extremely bold tone
throughout and yet, when the content is scrutinized, it is a
war-song incorporating a praise-poem on a train.
Tjhutjhumakgala kgomo ya boMmalebereko,
Basotho ba re: ke kgodumodumo semetsa-bana-ba-batho,
Ere e tloha e ethimole habedi hararo;
Sello e hlabe sa mmokotsane,
E didietse sa petsana e llela'mma yona;
E llise sepotla seka pere e tona;
Fatshe le dume le be moreketla,
Ho teteme mpeng tsa makwala.
E Va 0 boye masantanyane,
Ha 0 motho 0 Rasekganyane.
Kgale 0 tjhutjhuta; 0 tjhalametsa ka. matjhutjhuta.
o hapile'matjholotjholo ka ihlo le botjhalatjhala,
o tjhutjhu 0 a tjha 0 a tjhutjhusela.
Letjhopotjhopo towe 0 tjhirimetsa 0 tjhoposella kae?
The shunting train, an ox of Mmalebereko;
The Basotho say: It is the big monster swallowing
people's children,
By the time it pulls off it sneezes twice or thrice;
And then whistles painfully,
With a cry like that of a colt crying for its mother;
Then emerges a thundering sound like that of ~ stallion;
The earth starts to tremble as if it were an earthquake,
Deep down in cowards' stomachs there is shivering.
167
Return again shunting train,
You are not a person but a Bushma;.
You have been going up and down with harZots.
You have captured rascaZs with a sharp eye,
You are reaZZy red-hot, burning and sparkZing,
You rascaZ where are you going to in such a hurry?
3.12.2 A 'self-praise' poem
Disene introduces himself to Mmateleko and company by means of
a praise-poem (p. 18) and there is no better means of doing it
than the traditional praise-poem. He praises wild animals and
concludes by praising himself. This praise-poem is a form of
dithoko (praise-poem). See 2.2.3 in this thesis.
Ke nna:
Disene Mmoroso mora Tshiba-ha-di-aparwe,
Di aparwa ke nong tse kgoZo boTZakatshowana;
Ka boKgaZodi, nonyana tsa matsha a dithapbZZa.
Phakwe ya theoha e tsubeZZa mehohZong seka-Ntsu,
Nong e kgoZo ya ho'hZaba kgora .ka sefea-maeba
Ke Disene shekemisa ka hanong re bone;
Re tswe re hZoZZwa ha Disene a tsheha.
Ke Lekaka-Zenyathedi~la.monna-mosep~di,
Monna ha ~ hZoke kgomo a tsamaya.
Ho tZa ya ho ye a be a e thoZe. t p . 18)
It is me:
Disene Mmoroso son of Tshiba-ha-di-aparwe,
'.,'. "
Which are worn by great vultures, Egyptian vuZtures;
Wheat ear birds of the great, deep pooZs. ,
A hawk came fZying down from the abyss rapidZy like a vuZture,
The great, big, ungratefuZ bird.
It is the toothZess Dise~e showing nothing in the mouth,
We admire Disene when he Zaughs.
It is the great traveller who traveZs aZZ over.
A man never needs an animaZ .whiZst traveZZing
As time goes he eventualZy gets it.
168
3.12.3 A praise-poem' on dagga
An outstanding characteristic of this particular praise-poem
is the use of obscure allusions, which make it difficult for
the modern generation to understand what the reciter is referring
to.
Thokwana tlhakwana ya tekwane~
Talane, se hlasimolla ditshae-tshae,
BoKeatsherema; mangole a rerekela,
Ha ke tsiape ke a otsela ke a thibasela,
Ho thibasela ke ha bolokwana:
Bolokwana ke bang hara bana?
Ke seta lane sa banna thabisa boNkeka,
Thena e kgahlwa ke ha e idibanngwa ke wena;
Ke sehlatshana sa marena seepa-pits~;
Sa epa lerole la kubella; mosi wa thunya,
Lapeng la bOSabonkgi hae ha Mmateleko.
Mmangwane ntshware ke a robeha;
Ha ke robehe ke mabela,
Ke mabela a bosetalane,
Moi~himollo wa banna,
Ka ithimola ha re etlo!
Mahlo ahIaha pataneng;
A tswereha a ka a morubisi;
Makgohlo wa dithaba mahaheng.
Dumela moo talane tataZane. ( p : 21)
The browny seed of dagga,
The green leaf that titillates or awakens foolish people,
Those who are exhausted; knees failing to carry them
/
I am so tired, I am slumbering and nodding
My slumber is that of sickly sleepiness.
What is sickly sleepiness looking for among children?
It is the men's green leaf that pleases folk
Folk are pleased when they become dizzy because of you (i t) i
It is the herb of chiefs which call up m~etings;
169
It ca~~ed and there was a storm; smoke went up,
At Sabonkgi's p~ace the home of Mmate~eko.
Aunt, ho~d me I am breaking,
I am not getting broken but swanking,
It is a pompous swankiness,
Sneezing men's snuff
I sneezed and became bright!
Eyes came out of the bag;
Because wide open ~ike that of an ow~;
The mountain ow~ of the k~oofs.
Greetings to you the greenish, green ~eaf.
This praise-poem on dagga is extremely difficult for one to
understand. The function of this.poem in the drama is also to
emphasise the man I s .Love.of and adrmra't.Lonfor dagga.
3.13 Figures of speech
Moiloa is very fond of using figures of speech in the speeches
of his actors. Both dramas have their fair share of them.
3.13.1 Similes
A simile is "a rhetorical figure expressing comparison or. like-
ness, by the use of such terms as ~ike, as, so, etc. ,,17 In
the Sotho language the construction of similes conforms with
that of the English definition above.
In Jaa ..., a few of the similes used are:
2 Se~etswana se se se ririe~~etse jwa~eka sa phookwana.
The chin is fu~~ of beard ~ike that of a bi~~y-goat.
6 ke thenthetsa sa makoko 0 bona ditho~e
making quick turns Lik:e a cock seeing hens
8 ha 0 du~etse ho t~ankeL~a jwa~eka t~atset~atse tjena
you keep on rushing b~ind~y ~ike a foo~
170
13 0 phokwa hohte jwaleka ntsintsi
being reprimanded driven away like a housefly.
26 wa tloha wa nna wa kgohlela jwaleka mosha, 0 tshaba dintja
start moving back like a meercat fearing dogs
ke ema sa mokoko 0 motona
standing like a big rooster
44 ke se ke laletse jwaleka ntja lepaku
I am already watching like a pointer-dog
.73 molala 0 fi~yeletse mahetlaneng jwaleka fakatshana
a close neck next to the shoulders like a small piglet
78 0 terepela jwaleka pere ya reisisi
he is ambli~g like a racehorse
In Molomo ..., the following similes are used to enrich the
speeches of the actors.
11 0 tla fumana hlohwana, ekang ya lehe la mpjhe.
you will find her head which is like an ostrich egg
19 a thotse jwaleka lefatshe
as quiet as the grave
46 ba hobotse mahlo jwaleka diphooko
staring like owls
47 e menyekisa lethekana jwaleka mmamodukule
twisting a waist like a wasp
a hoshola jwaleka matsipane.
hopping like a springhare
o thwena jwaleka kwekwe
moving fast like a quail
48 Na motho a ka ba kunyapa jwaleka seboko, banna?
Can a person really writhe like a worm, gentlemen?
171
The other figure of.speech used quite frequently is the
metaphor.
3.13.2 Metaphors
A metaphor is "a figure of speech in which one object is likened
to another by speaking of it as if it were that other:
distinguished from similes by not employing any word of compa-
rison, such as 'like' or 'as,".18
A few metaphors worth mentioning in Jaa ..., are found on pages:
2 Ke mang ya ka nyadi$ang moradi wa hae thaka ntatae
PUTSWA-MOKOKOTLO?
.Who can allow his daughter to marry one as old as his
father who is as old as the hills?
3 LEFOKOLODI la dithota mahlabe
the millepede a train that traverses the plateaux'
KGOMO E NTSSO; SEKGWAHLAPA SE NKO E THATA, MOHALA
KE WA TSHEPE ...
Black beast; a lazy one with a hard nose, a neck
of steel a train
4 ke mo thethebaditse jwalo ho mmehella MAKANYANE ...
.leave her waiting all the time exposed to wolves.
7 Ke marwana a mafubetswana feela ...
They are merely red-ants.
45 dieta ke MOTLA-O-TUTSWE
shoes are shining
46 NONYANA e teng ka sefubeng
A fear bird in my heart chest
ka lerato le LEFUBEDU
with burning love
172
49 ... 0 nahana .hore ke nkele morohong, KE TLA TLA 0
NOKELA KA LETSWAI
do you think that I am a fool of no description
In Molomo ..., a few metaphors are used to render the language
metaphorical and they are:
13 a nyekwa ke TLADIMOTHWANA
nearly killed by lightning (a bird causing thunder)
15 haeka 0 kena ka MAHLO .A MATSHO, 0 niaele MOTHAMAHANE?
why enter so hurriedly (black eyes)
have you drunk beer? (strong drink)
18 Ona ke MOLOMO-MONATE
You will be listened to (precious mouth)
3.14 The use of other languages in Moiloa's dramas
Moiloa has used languages other than Sesotho only when he has
deemed it absolutely necessary to bring out the true meaning of
a foreign word~ as in the case w~th a.borrowing from Engli~h
like Khaman! khaman! (p. 94) (come on! come on!) or in a
situation where English, Afrikaans or Fanagalo is deemed to be
more fitting than Sesotho alone.
3.14.1 English in Moiloa's dramas
Moiloa makes use of English, particularly in Jaa ..., but this
is only where it suits the occasion. He is aware that not much
English is used in the Orange Free State and that is why the
guard on the station does not use it. As soon as the train
arrives in the Transvaal, the guard resorts to English.
Germiston! Germiston! All change please. (p. 11)
"All seats please!" (p. 13)
173
Here the guard knows that he will have no difficulty in getting
an interpreter to tell thbse who do not understand English what
they wish to know in their mother-tongue.
In the compound, Act IV, scene i, the doctor gives some of his
instructions to the new mine workers in English.
Get nearer Undress and lie on your back, breathe
hard! You dress up. Tell them to do the
same as that boy has done Policeman. (p. 3?)
When people are speaking Fana~alo on the mine and the correct
Fanagalo word does not come to mind instantaneously, the English
word is inserted and the .sentence makes sertse; Moiloa probably
inserted it partly for amusement.
Lata la stomach Manyiwane wona hlupha too much.
t p • 3?)
Lie on your stomach Newcomers are extremely·
troub lesome .
In Act VI, scene v the manager uses English when speaking to
Shuushu and Petlane.
Be careful you must not get to the mental asylum.
Should such a thing happen, you wait we shall catch them
red-handed. You will see, if it be true that they are
trying to plot against you. Right, (p , 91)
This is straight-forward, down-to-earth language typically used
by Whites on the mines when speaking to Blacks.
In all other instances, Moiloa uses English in this drama mainly
for amusement, but only once 'again when the speaker will find
the occasion fitting to, speak English. 'This makes the reader
or the audience laugh, as the sentences chosen are so high-falutin
and so humorous that they cannot help but laugh especially the
174
passages on pages 97 and 98, quoted on pages 174 and 175 of
this thesis.
Moiloa also wrote this drama to teach his people not only their
mother-tongue, but also English phrases. These phrases are
often used by both students and scholars of English, in order
to show off in public so that people listening to them will
realise how learned they are. Moiloa is perhaps subtly trying
to make his readers realise the idiocy of this type of showing
off. It is Petlane's wish to speak this type of English so that
when he gets home the people there will acknowledge him as an
educated man returning home from the mines.
Shuushu doesn't teach Petlane the ordinary, everyday language
spoken. Instead he teaches him the most difficult, incompre-
hensible English only spoken by those who think that using such
language is a proof of their proficiency in the English language.
How do you suverngemise? I am still existing under the
calamities and the catastrophies of this terrestial ball.
I feel quite effervescent, everything is utilizing.
( p , 97)
Petlane asks Shuushu how one would use the word hydrogen in
a sentence and he says that one could say the following:
Life is a rigmarole amidst hydrogenous conglomeration
of multifarious co ncu seions , (p. 97)
In promulgating my estoric cogitations or articulating
my superficial sentimentalities and amicable philosophi-
cal psychological observations, I shall beware of my
platitudinous ponderosity. (p. 97)
This is said when no message is to be conveyed to the listener;
it is said for the sake of putting on airs especially when
European liquor is being drunk. When something serious is said
the following can be used, says Shuushu:
175
This is a pulverising stimulant that titilates our pro-
montoric nerves, the palatable beverage of immortality~.
the holy intoxicant madam petrification and stultifica-
tion of thought to vulgar propensities and brazen mendacity
of human mentality. (pp. 9?, 98)
The following extremely complicated English sentence expresses
a simple action such as extinguishing a lamp before going to
bed. In the most rediculous English one can say:
May I have the inexpressible felicitude of decapitating
the nocturnal luminary? (p. 98)
Petlane wants to know from Shuushu what one says when one wants
to tell someone that what. has been said is a downright lie.
That's a terminological inexactitude, poignantly utilised'
in slanderous and malicious atrocities and utterly sub-
versive of justice and repugnant to the general principles
of humanity. (p. 98)
The English being taught to Pet lane is irrelevant to plot de-
velopment etc. and has been included in the drama merely for
its own sake.
In Moloma ..., the dramatist does not employ English words as
this is a typical·Sotho drama written in perhaps very sophisti-
cated Sesotho. There is no need for English as all the
characters are Basotho people who either adhere to ancient
customs or not. Accordingly they use Sesotho only as their
medium of· communication.
3.14.2 Afrikaans in Moiloa's dramas
Afrikaans is used in Jaa ..., here and there for the sake of
emphasis, though some words have been borrowed from or derived
from the Afrikaans language and Sesotho~zed to imply exactly
176
what the dramatist has·in mind. These derivations are found
on the following pages:
6 ... aZe barese dibotZoZo
aZ bars die botteZs (no matter what happens)
14 0 pasope
Jy moet pasop oppas (you must be carefuZ)
ampore
amper (nearZy)
62 sebanteu
spantou (knee-strap)
94 togwana
tog man (pl.ease man)
SamboZifi! e ambo l.i f-i
AssebZief! assebl.ief· (PZease! pZease ... )
In most cases where Afrikaans has been used it is there to show
how often a Mosotho because of his lack of knowledge of the
Afrikaans language misinterprets what an.Afrikaner says'. This
misinterpretation then gives rise to some sort.of pun. It seems
as if thé Afrikaans used here is a simplified form similar to
that spoken by the Whites in an attempt to make themselves under-
stood to a Black man.
Ek sê my boy, staan terug! Wat makeer met daardie ou
e kep ee l ? "jou matraskop". (p , 8)
To Petlane, who knows no Afri'kaans the following misinterpre-
tations arise. "Staan" resembles "Satan". "Makeer" is in-
terpreted as the proper name "Makere" and th(3degrading term
"Matraskop" is thought to be the name of a place, "Materasekopo".
These all help to make the dramatis-personae interesting and
amusing and create humour in the drama. This technique also
creates the environment, the background and characters.
177
In some instances the Afrikaans language used is most typical
of the way the European miners talk to the Blacks on the mines.
Ho~kom stap julle ~n die kamer in as julle my sien
aankom
Mina funa niks. (I want nothing.)
Ek wou net vir jou lekker kom lag, want ek hoor julle
wou werk toe vanmore gegaan het. Wat was die fout
met julle?
Julle kop vat nie goed nie!
O! Is dit so? Wag, ons sal hulle dop hou (sic.)
tot siens (sic.). ( p , 91)
Gaan keer daardie mense anderkant by die deur, hardloop
gou om. Skelms! Haal daardie goed uit, julle
diep skelms! Cp • 93)
This Afrikaans spoken on page 93 by the man~ger is most likely
the result of his excitement at catching the ,rogues red-handed
so that he does not have the time to think and speak Fanagalo
and accordingly uses his home language, Afrikaans.
No Afrikaans is used in Molomo ..., as there are no characters
in the drama who need Afrikaans in order to communicate, as in
the case with the mine manager in Jaa ...
3.14.3 Fanagalo in Moiloa's dramas
No Fanagalo has been used in Molomo ..., because it would -have
been most inappropriate, but it would have been a great deficiency
had the dramatist avoided Fanagalo in Jaa ... , since it is the
communication medium mostly used by mine workers. This lingua
franca makes it possible for people of different nationalities
and mother-tongues to communicate with one -another. It would
thus have been a pity if this important item of Fanagalo had
been left out of those scenes in the drama deal'ïng with mine
workers.
178
Fanagalo is used for the sake of variety and is essential for
creating the right atmosphere in the mine and mine compound
scenes in the drama.
Bai, hai, wena! Bamba lapha muva! Yini wena londaba?
Shesha wena, mina zokhahlela wena manje, zofaka
wena isicathulo, "jou matraskop". Cp • 8)
Bey, hey, you! Get back! What is the matter with
you? I shall soon hit you and give you a kick,
"you pumpkin head".
Fanagalo is also used in Act IV, scene i, pages 36 to 41 and
again in Act VI, scene ,vi, pages 93 to 94. Without the use
of Fanagalo in Jaa ..., the desired effect would not have been
achieved and it therefore forms an essential part of this drama
by Moiloa.
3.15 ,The use of idioms
Evidently Moiloa is very fond of idiomatic language and both
his dramas are literally littered with idioms, thus idioms are
found on almost every page in these two dramas.
Guma19 maintains that "idioms are characteristic indigenous
expressions, whose meanings cannot be ordinarily deduced or
inferred from a..k.nowledge of the individual words that make
them up. Unlike proverbs, idioms do not have a fixed
and regular form to which they adhere at all times. They are
changeable and are seldom, if ever, used in their basic form.
They are based on a predicate, which is built on a particular
verb stern and which may be found associated with a large number
of idioms. Further, idioms are never didactic, and never
teach any moral lesson. Neither do they ever express any fun-
damental truth or wisdom'with a general bearing on life. Rather
are they witty and humorous expressions which are connected with
a particular phrase, but which are not as staid and dignified as
proverbs.
179
Idioms do not seem to have any roots in mythology, in that none
seem to originate therefrom, whereas some proverbs do.
Finally, being based on verbs, idioms are.mainly concerned with
action, rather than with a symbolic representation of truth.
In their range and scope, idioms also cover a wide range,
including the customs, herbs, wild and domestic animals, as well
as historical incidents in Basutoland. In all these instances,
the basic significance is that of describing the various facets
of human action and behaviour by drawing freely from the culture
of the people.
In their basic form, idioms are based on the infinitive form of
.a particular verb stem, which is the key-word in the whole
construction."
Idioms make the language in a drama flowery. Moiloa's aim is
perhaps to uplift the standard of Sesotho for his own people,
but whatever his aim may be when. so many idioms are used in a
drama one tends to feel that the more difficult idioms might
cause a possible loss in interpretation of the drama. Idioms
should b~ functional at all times, but are not always so in
Jaa
Moiloa's dialogue does not always appear to be appropriate to
the character who uses it. In Jaa ..., it appears that the
character who uses more idioms in his speech than any other
character is Disene, contrary to what the audience would expect
from a character like him. In three sentences spoken by Disene
in Act V, scene iii, on page 55 he uses five idioms, name+y:
potla-potZa le ja podi.
fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
lefifi la mmoto.
to wait for a rainy day.
kwekwe ya morao e tloha le sepalo.
procrastination is the thief of time.
tshwara hlolo ka boya.
to be at the wrong end of the stick.
180
sisitheho [e ja kgomo moreso.
time and tide wait for no ma~.
3.16 The use of proverbs
Guma20 defines the proverb as "a pithy sentence with a general
bearing on life. It serves to express 'some homely truth' or
moral lesson in such an appropriate manner as to make one feel
that no better words could have been used to describe the par-
ticular situation. Various proverbs apply to various situations,
and are.an embodiment of the distilled and collective experience
of the community on such situations. Individually and.as a
group, they have certain basic characteristics that run through
them all.
These may be listed as follows:
a) They all have a fixed and rigid form to which they adhere
at all times and which is not changeable~
b) Some are didactic and teach a lesson by expressing a moral
or moral ideal which is not particularly difficult of at-
tainment but which is rather a summing up of everyday
experience. in getting on in the world as it is .
.c) Others are practical in significance, and suggest a course
of action to be followed in'a given situation. In some
cases, they may be said to pass a judgement on a particular
situation.
d) They are figurative, employ various structural forms such
as contrast and parallelism, rhythm.and alliteration, as
well as balance.
e) For them to be firmly established in any language, they
must have general acceptance by the community whose collec-
tive wit and wisdom they represent.
In their range and scope, proverbs cover a wide field. They
extend over all the areas of the communi.ty's activities and
daily pursuits. They reflect its attitude to ,ofher people, as
well as its sense of justice; its physical environment, as well
181
as its plants and animals, including their characteristics.
They also reflect the relations between members of a single
household, and extend from there to cover the tribe as a whole.
The striking thing here, is that they are all
concerned with those things that the people know in their daily
lives, and not with things that fall outside the scope of their
experience."
Moiloa uses proverbs in the same way as he uses idioms, to enrich
the language in his dramas without always taking into account
whether they are functional or not.
182
FOOTNOTES
1. Bentley, E., The life of the drama, p. 70.
2. Van der Poll, J.D.P., Studies in Sesotho drama, p ..105.
3. Shroyer, F.B. and Gardemal, L.G., Types of drama, p. 17.
4. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., The art of the drama, p. 222.
5. Ibid., p. 222.
6. Ibid., p. 225.
7. Knott, W.C., The craft of fiction, p~ 71.
8. Granville-Barker, H., On dramatic method, p. 37.
9. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., p. 211.
10. Hamilton, C., The theory of the theatre, p. 49.
11. M!llett, F.B. ~nd Bentley, G.E., op. cit., p. 210.
12. Guma, S.M., An outline structure of Southern Sotho, p. 151.
13. Styan, J.L., The .elements of drama, p. 51.
14. Barnet, S. et. al., A dictionary of literary, dramatic
and cinematic terms, p: 53.
15. Schapera, I. et. al., The Bantu-speaking tribes. of South
Africa, p. 295.
16. Ibid., p. 296.
17. Funk and Wagnalls, Standard dictionary of the English
languagej p. 1171.
18. Ibid., p. 800.
19. Gurna, S.M., The form, content and technique of traditional
literature in Southern Sotho, pp. 66-68.
20. Ibid., pp. 65, 66.
,
l~
4:.. EXTRINSIC CONVEN,TIONS
, "
" '4;1 Attention 183
":4,2' Drama- and, society 185
, 4~J' .what. appeals to the audience 186
,:;,. >,,\ ~"!". 4'4',,:",,':,', " . ,Wh~t.a~ audience-should-know aboutthe para-textual influences on the
'drama' 187
4:4';t" ',',< Tim~and locality ,188;
4';4'.2 ','.:: Para-téxtuálinfluences. pertaining to the two dramas in question, 192
, 4;.4~2:I' , Working on the mines' '," ' 194
'4~4,2.2, Marriage, ' . 1,95
4.4.2:2. l ,Marriage .:. traditional style, 196
4A;2.2.i:· The' wedding: ... traditional style 197
">":' '~t4:2:J . The abduction of a.bride (1]hobediso) , 198
:: <: ' 4A:2.:4" 'Child discipline,
, 199,
4A.25 ' , ; Consulting. parents who give' advice 200.
, , ", '4.4".2.6' .... Medicinal' practice and beliefs: 200
. '. ,.4':4;2.6~,r 'Thé 'witehdoctor ' ' , ' 2'00 ' '
~4,,2:62 ' Methods of divination 201
'4t4:2:6.}, ,Pf()tecting a, village. . 203
.4;4:2:'7 Thejh'ïtiation';'schools~ 204
'., 4.4:'2:7.1 'The girl's' initiation 'schools' ' .Ó. 205
4A~.2.7.2, Methods of teaching in the, :'schools' 206
, 4;,4,2.8 The ancestors " " 206
I. 4.4:2~~. r'." "The 'spirits 'óf the dead, ." 207
"" 4:4.2.8'.2 ,Manifestations of the spirits 207
,I, • 4.4.i8.3 ,The worship-of the ancestors' 208
;:',. ': 4.5 Minor para-textual influences. 2.10
:' '.' " 451 Spitting, ' 210
:",', ' 4:5:2, New Surname 211
,'.4.6 Conclusion 2.12
FOOTNOTES 215
4. EXTRINSIC CONVENTIONS
"Without an audience there is ·no drama. A play which is not
performed is merely literature. In performance a play either
works or it doesn't work, which is to say that the audience
either finds it acceptable or not. drama compels the
spectator to decode what he sees on the stage in exactly the
same way as he has to make sense of, or interpret, any event
he encounters in his personal life.,,1
4.1 Attention
Dawson2 maintains that "it is characteristic of drama, as no
other form of literature, that it makes an absolute arid sustained
demand on our attention. .A play in performance demands
our uninterrupted attention, not, only for our. own sakes, hut
for the sake of other members of the audience. .It fol-
lows that the dramatist's primary responsibility is to seize and
hold our attention. This is why we commonly refer to plays and
films as 'gripping'."
To elaborate.on what has been said about the way Moiloa holds
his audience's attention, one may consider the following: In
Jaa ... , Act I, scene i is extremely short and yet he has
touched on so many topics that grip the audience's attention.
All the facts in scene i have' a bearing on the rest of the play
which include Petlanels revelation to Disene of his intended
marriage to Thakane, his absence from Lesotho and Petlane's
request to Disene to keep an eye on Thakane as well as Disene's
thoughts about Thakane. Petlane and Disene talk a great deal
in Act I, scene ii and, in order to round off matters that have
been discussed, Disene leaves Petlane and reveals all his plans
to the audience on his way home in Act I, scene iii.
These include his plans to woo her, and the fact that he intends
wasting no time about the matter. He will dress well to impress
her and when he arrives he will not give her much chance to talk
184
and in this way he hopes she will' be attracted to'him as though
she is being pulled by electricity (p. 6).
"Put in its simplest and most mundane terms, the basic task of
anyone concerned with presenting any kind of drama to any audience
consists in capturing their attention and holding it as long as
required. Only when that fundamental objective has been
achieved can the more lofty and ambitious intentions be fulfilled:
the imparting of wisdom and insight, poetry and beauty, amusement
and relaxation, illumination and purging of emotlon. If you
lose their attention, if you fail to make them, concentrate on
what is happening, on what is being said, all islost.,,3
This ability to hold the attention of the audience must be main-
tained throughout the play and not only in the beginning when
the curiosity of the audience is extremely strong. "Along with
the complication that is necessary to the development of the plot,
there must also be an increasing and deepening of interest,
curiosity, and suspense. This effect is an almost inevitable
accompaniment of the complications we have been,considering;
it is, in a way, the audi~nce's contribution to these evénts,
the repercussions of these complications upon the feelings and
emotions of the aUdience.,,4
In both Jaa ..., and Molomo ..., Moiloa holds the attention of
his audierice until the final curtain falls.
The only scenes in Jaa ..., which to a certain degree do not hold
the audience's attention throughout are those containing mainly
Fanagalo and the high-falutin English.
In Jaa ... , an additional technique is used to hold the atten-
tion of the audience, namely the second plot which has been very
cleverly woven into this drama. The many incidents in both
plots deepen the interest, curiosity and suspense of the audience.
Because the audience know certain information before Petlane, his
reactions when he eventually di.sco've.sr this information heighten
the suspense of this drama. His reactions play on ~he feelings
and emotions of the audience throughout the play.
185
In Molomo ..., the audience's attention is held in the following
way:
The audience is at all times anxious to know whether the an-
cestors will get their own way. Added to this, is the triumph
of a man and a woman who really love each other to the extent
that they are blind to all obstacles against such love, even to
their parents belief that they are not suitable for each other.
All their problems are shared so intimately with the audience
that the audience is forced to concentrate on what is happening
and what is being said.
4.2 Drama and society
Esslin5 maintains that "because of the pecul~ar nature of drama
as an instrument of knowledge, of perception, thought, insight
about society, its concreteness and the fact that drama never
makes an overt statement, that by its very nature it is always
an experiment which always carries its own control-mechanism,'
its own verification, within it."
"The drama is the only art, excepting oratory and certain forms
of music, that is designed to appeal to a crowd instead of to
an individual. No writer is really a dramatist unless he
recognises this distinction of appeal; and if an author is not
accustomed to writing fOr the crowd, he can hardly hope to make
a satisfying play." 6,
The themes in both dramas under discussion ~efinitely appeal to
a Black audience. At some stage or other in almost every Black
man's life he has had to seek employment away from home and he
has perhaps been through some of the trials and tribulations
Pétlane goes through in Jaa ... This play would therefore ap-
peal to him from the point of view of seeing how Petlane copes
with perhaps the same problems he has had to cope with and the
same disappointment that probably so often faces these men who
leave their villages in good faith and when they return home
have lost their loved one to some local man.
186
The theme in Molomo ••• I wïll appeal to the vast majority of
Black theatre-goers as this problem of a love affair between
a so-called illiterate and one who is educated is taking place
daily. Who must these love-birds turn to for advice? Must
they consult their parents, or a higher authority, or should
they resolve to consulting their ancestors through a witch-
doctor? In addition, to many Blacks, belief in the ancestors
and their concern with the living seems to be very .much part
of their daily lives and as a result the way in which the fore-
fathers manipulate Thuntshane and Motshedisi through their acts
and the outcome of it all, must most certainly inte~est the Black
audience - even if a spectator's belief in these matters has
been dimmed by westernisation and the Christian faith.
4.3 What appeals to the audience
styan7 says .that "any play depends to an important degree upon
the people for whom it is written and their reason for going to
the theatre; and the way the play is written for adting and
speaking depends upon the theatre. in which it is to be performed.
These two factors of audience and playhouse are not really
separable of course, and much of the fascination in the study
of drama comes from the imaginative excitement of deducing the
relative contri_butions of the 'why' and the 'how'.of the theatre,
the relation between the written text, the audience. and the
play's means of presentation."
With reference to Styan's statement, it must be remembered that
many works are written to be prescribed in schools and "... dit
ook duidelik is dat dit aangebied word om TIkind of die jeug se
begrip nïe te bowe te gaan nie. Dan weer verfraai som-
mige skrywers hul taal doelbewus en is dit ook duidelik dat die
taalgebruik só aangewend word dat dit geskik is vir die skoling
van die Bantoeskolier in sy eie taal."8
Esslin9 maintains that "positive reaction from the audience has
a powerful effect on the actors, and so has negative reaction.
If the audience fails to laugh at jokes, the actors will in-
stinctively play them more broadly, underline them, signal more
187
clearly that what they' are saying is funny. If the audience
responds, the actors will be inspired by the response and this
in turn will elicit more and more powerful responses from the
audience. This is the famous feed-back effect between the
stage and the audience. But there is another equally powerful
feed-back: between the individual members of the audience
themselves. Laughter, for instance, is known to be infectious."
Anyone in an audience seeing Jaa ..., on stage will realise that
Petlane has extremely high morals. Most Black men on the mines
will have forgotten about their loved ones back home and the
temptation is so great that they will fall in love with someone
else. Petlane does not do this and Moiloa convinces the reader
or audience of'Petlane's naive trust in others.
4.4 What an audience should know about the para-textual
influences on the drama
"The way the writer arranges his subject matter and the ideas
and concepts which he presents to his readers, the social habits
and customs and the modes of thought and action which he takes
for granted in his writings all give a distinctive quality and
tone to his work which can be related to the culture to which
the author belongs." 10
When one makes a study of Black literature it becomes evident
that there is a very close ,correlation between their literature
and society. Because of this it is comprehensible that Black
literature in certain aspects will differ radically from
literature influenced by other cultural, social and environmental
factors. Black literature has also been influenced by other'
cultural and environmental factors, but there are still factors
that foreign observers to Black literature will not understand.
Therefore a certain amount of background about these factors
must be given if the foreign (i.e. non-black) viewer is to under-
stand a drama containing many of these so-called para-textual
influences. Because these para-textual factors determine to a
188
great extent the type of literature ~ a study of the Black man's
role in traditional society as well as his role today is essen-
tial.
What Obiechina,11 has to say about the 'West African' novel can
also be said about 'Black literature' in general, namely that:
1. Black literature is written in Africa and deals with the
life of the Black man.
2. More specifically it is genuinely regional. The literature
represents local speech habits, beliefs and customs.
3. It has an esserrt.LLal.y sociological emphasis. Black litera- \ .
ture has appeared at a time when large~scale social and
economic changes are taking place and the writers show an
almost obsessive preoccupation with the influence of these
conditions.
4. It is explicitly or implicitly didactic, even propagandist.
5. Black literature reflects the peculiar cultural situation
of Africa, where elements of the oral kinship~oriented
culture of old Africa exist side by side with elements of
the world technological contract-oriented culture. This ..
generates. tensions, conflicts, contradictions and ambiva-
lences in the lives of individuals. Moreover, and this
is an important'distinction, Black literature tends to shbw
individual characters not through their private psycholo-
gical experiences, but through community or social life,
and activities of a collective or general nature, with
individual sentiments and actions deriving force and logic
.from those of the community.
4. 4 . 1 Time and locality
In general the Black man attaches very Little significance to
time compared with perhaps the exactness found amongst .t.he
majority of Whites.. This is probably the reason that Jaa ...,
consists of seven acts and does not conform to the generally
accepted norm laid down for dramas written by Whites. This
189
drama could probably not take place within a two to two-and-a-
half hour period in a theatre, but even so the dramatist through
his two plots and many scenes and crises has been successful in
conveying to his audience or reader what he set out to convey
and that is that in all walks of life one must BEWARE OF FRIENDS.
"On the modern stage, five acts may be regarded as the maximum,
simply by reason of the time-limit imposed by social custom on
a performance. But one frequently sees a melodrama divided in-
to 'five acts and eight tableaux', or everi more.r which practi-
cally means that the play is in eight, or nine, .or ten acts, but
that there will be only the four conventional .interacts in the
course of the evening. The playwright should not let himself be
constrained by custom to force his theme into the arbitrary
mould of a stated number of acts. Three acts is a good number,
four acts is a good number, there is no positive objection to
five acts. Should he find himself hankering after more acts,
he will do well to consider whether he be not, at one point or
another, failing in the art of condensation and trespassing on
the domain of the novelist.~12
Regarding time in.Jaa ..•, very little reference is made in the
drama to specific times, although Teleko and Disene decide on a
certain Sunday as the day on which they will. visit Thakane.
hoba re rata ho mo tjhakela Sontaha sona sena
( p • 25)
because we would like to visit her this specific
Sunday.
The time factor among Basotho depends on the day mentioned and
not so much on the exact time.
On another occasion an approximate time of between seven and
eight o'clock in the morning is the time given when Teleko and
Disene will visit Thakane.
190
SISINYANA: Nna ke ne ke re hoseng ha dikgomo di qeta
ho aloha, hang feela ha letsatsi le re qato.
(p. 35)
SISINYANA: I would say in the morning just seven or
eight, just when the sun is up.
During a conversation, Disene merely mentions that as time goes
by he intends visiting Thakane again and no specific time as
such is given.
DISENE: Blo akofele pele Sisinyana. Re rata hore a
tsebe ha metsotso e eja babedi re tla be re hata
re kena lapeng habo. (p. 44)
DISENE: Ga ahead quickly Sisinyana. We want her to
know that within a short while we shall be
arriving at her place.
The time 'midnight' is mentioned on page 55 lefifi la
mmoto
No mention is made of the past as such in the drama. Most of
the action takes place. in the present and almost no mention is
made of the future. The audience is not told how long Petlane
works on the mine and how long he has perhaps told Thakane that
he will be away from home.
Duyvené de Wit13 sums up the question of time as follows: "In
die Westerse en tegnologiese gemeenskap is tyd 'n kommoditeit
wat benut, verkoop en gekoop moet word .. In die tradisionele
swarte se lewe moet tyd egter geskep en geproduseer word. Die
swart mens is nie 'n slaaf van die tyd nie; inteendeel, hy
'maak' soveel tyd as wat hy begeer. Die Bantoe leef nie
volgens die horlosie nie; dit is die blanke se uitvindsel.
'Actual time is therefore what is present and what is past.
It moves I backward I rather than 'forward'; and people set
their minds not on future things, but chiefly on what has taken
place. I"
191
No specifi~ time lapse' is_mentioned in Jaa ..., although it can
be assumed that this drama stretches over a period of one year.
This assumption is made because Blacks are usually under a
yearly contract to a mine and after a year they return home for
their annual holiday. All the happenings during the assumed
year take place on the stage in 109 pages and in order to achieve
this Moiloa has given the audience incidents which they have to
put together. A drama of this nature cannot possibly include
day to day happenings for a whole year. The audience has to
"uit stukkiesen brokkies inligting wat ~eur die hele teks ver-
sprei is, die legka~rt saamstel van hoe alles chronologies in-
mekaarpas".. 14
In Jaa ...,'the characters and their deeds portray a specific
period of time during which the drama takes place. The time
is when people in Lesotho could not make ends meet and in order
to do this, the young men had to leave home to seek employment
on the mines in South Africa.
Regarding .locality in Jaa ..., the drama takes place mainly in
Lesotho, but no specific place is mentioned. The sub-plot takes
place in Johannesburg on a mine given a fictitious name. The
action in the main plot takes place at the home of one of the
actors and the scene changes are also when they move from one
actor's home to another. ·The action in the sub-plot takes place
in the mine, in the compound, on the sportsfield where the dance
takes place, all places in and around the mine at Mlamlankuzi.
The time-factor in Molomo ..., is very much the same as in Jaa
~, where no specific mention is made of time. On page 33 a
time is decided on when the boy's parents will visit the girl's
parents and that is
Hoseng ha dikgomo di aloha.
(Early in the morning, about eight to nine or ten)
When the cattle gc to the fields.
192
No time is mentioned regarding the period it takes Thuntshane
to have his plans fulfilled; the events merely take place in
chronological order.
In Molomo ..., the dramatist has not given any specific time,
but according to their c.ustom, a young man's arranqement; of a
wedding takes approximately six months and these stages of the
arrangement are all produced on stage in 42 pages.
In both dramas all events follow each other in chronological
order, but no mention is made of chronological time in either
of the dramas under discussion.
Molomo ..., is a drama that could take place at .any time as in
society there will always be that apprehension when a well-
educated person marries someone in another class of soci~ty.
In Molomo ..., the belief in the ancestors shows the audience
that the traditional Black, even in modern times, still has
great faith in his ancestors.
4.4 .2. Para-textual influences pertaining to the two dramas
in question
Para-textual· influences which are fully understood by an audience
enhance the drama to such an extent that actions performed and
things said in the drama give the audience a better understanding
of .t.hedrama as a.whole. With regard to'Jaa ..., and Molomo ...,
the following para-textual influences appear in-the two works.-
Those appearing in Jaa ..., will be dealt with first.
Of particular note when one makes a study of the Black man's
drama is the use of idioms. This has been discussed in the
previous chapter (3.15) but mention must be made here again as
this is an important para-textual influence on a drama. These
idioms form the core in which the wisdom of the traditional man
is locked up. These idioms are so numerous that they can be
applied to almost every incident experienced by a Black.
193
Both Moiloa's dramas are littered with idioms and the use of
these idioms helps enhance the decorative style in which Moiloa
has written his dramas. Besides the use of many idioms and
proverbs Moiloa has the ability of choosing his words so
meticulously as to enhance his perhaps over-decorative style.
In Jaa '.'1 the following examples should suffice:
Hlaha 0 bone kgotsi baeti ba hao ke bana ba se ba le haufi.
Ke re bashemane ha ba tlama, ha ba tlama. Masela ke a
masowana; dieta ke motla-o-tutswe ngwana mme ke a 0 jwetsa.
(p. 45)
Come and see my friend here are your visitors approaching.
I am .telling you the boys are spiek and spd~. They are
in white apparel; shoes are shining, my mother's child
I am telling you.
THAKANE: Difatjana ke tseo, ha le dule la ka la roba
m anqo l.e; la ntsha mokgathala. (p. 45)
THAKANE: Here are the chairs; take a seat, make your-
selves at home, and have a rest.
The following conversation can only come from two love-birds
and the words of endearment are superbly chosen by Moiloa in
this passage.
DISENE: Ho Thakane o ntse 0 phela he (sic.) kgaitsedi?
THAKANE: Ke ntse ke phela ngwaneso he ke tsebe we~a?
DISENE: Ke a phela ha ke phele ngwaneso.
THAKANE: Malotonyana keng na ngwaneso?
DISENE: Ke kula moyeng ha ke 0 hopola. Ke a tshepa 0
se 0 utlwile dillo tsa ka, pela lerato la hao le
nkgapileng maikutlo. (p , 46)
194
DISENE: To Thakane Ho~ are you sister?
THAKANE: I am well brother and how are you?
DISENE: I am up and down my sister.
THAKANE: What is the matter my brother?
DISENE: I become sick when I think of you. I hope you
have already heard of my cravings for your love
that has captured me.
One short quotation from Molomo ..., again shows Moiloa's ability
to write, very decoratively for his reader and audience.
Tjhe, kgele ke tsona tedu tsa banna. Ho bonahala hore
o ne 0 finne lengale, leha bo ntse bo utlwahala hore ke
jwala ba molatsa ee? .(p. 33)
No, gosh th~s indeed is real beer for men. It appears
you really mea~t business, although one can taste that
,lit is yesterday's beer .
.With reference to the previous chapter it appears that Moiloa
falls into the category of being an extremely good decorative
dramatist. Gildenhuys15 sums him.up as follows: "Onder skrywers
wat hierdie tipe styl aanwend, moet J.J. Moiloa egter ook uitge-
sonder word as iemand wat by uitstek daartoe in staat is om
episodes en karakters in detail en met fyn nuanses te beskryf.
Sy taalgebruik is·besonder goed, terwyl sy kennis en.aanwending
van TIryke verskeidenheid van spreekwoorde en idiome, opvallend
is. Tog is dit jammer dat hy soms doelbewus daarop konsentreer
om sy styl te verfraai en sy werke sodoende minder gemaklik
lees en aan natuurlikheid ihboet. Sy raak beskrywings kan egter
nie betwis word nie."
4.4.2.1 Working on the mines
It must be realised by,a reader or an audience that as a result
of poverty, young Black men leave their homes to seek work on
the mines. When they have saved enough money they return home
195
again and in Petlane's·case he intends marrying Thakane on his
return home from the mines. This practice of having to leave
home to seek employment on the mines has a disastrous effect on
family life as the girl is not sure that her husband-to-be will
remain faithful to her and return to marry her. With this
doubt in her mind she often marries someone else as is the case
with Thakane. Her flippancy also bothers Petlane. The men,
away from home, are sometimes just as doubtful about the loyalty
and trust pledged and they too fall in love with women nearer
the mines. This is also a great disappointment for a woman who
perhaps remains faithful to a man who returns hom~ to tell her
that he is married to someone else. The theme in Jaa ... , cuts
both ways and is so applicable: BEWARE OF FRIENDS and there-
fore trust nobody! Many of.the men are illiterate and their
loved-ones seldom receive letters and, because Of this, they
"probably feel that their 'man' has fallen in love with someone
else and has forgotten all about them. In Jaa ..., the working
on the mine by Petlane forms an entire sub-~lot and if it were
not for this, th~ main plot would not become a reality in the
drama ..
4.4.2.2 Marriage
"When the individual has passed through whatever schools and
ceremonies in his tribe for initiation into adulthood, he is
ready for marriage. To regard Bantu marriage as the culmina-
tion of sex love would be giving this institution a wrong pers-
pective. Further, marriage is primarily an.affair between
groups, involving the two families concerned even more than the
individuals. The personal predilections of the couple do not
~arry nearly the same.weight as the good name of the family of
the girl, her ability to bear children, work well, and get on
amicably with her mother-in-law, for whom she will at first have
to work.,,16
With regard to the unhappy marriage of Disene and Thakane in
Jaa ..., none of the above customs was adhered to by the 'parties
concerned and perhaps they did not have their parents' blessing
196
on their marriage and this could also be a reason for their un-
happiness. Disene causes disequilibrium and brings the wroth
of the forefathers upon him.
4 •4 .2. 2 • 1 Marriage traditional style
More detail is portrayed to the audience regarding marriage in
Molomo ..., than in Jaa ... Moiloa shows his audience what
should be done traditionally when a man wishes to marry a woman
according to Sotho custom. Fully to understand t.his traditional
marriage preparation ceremony in Molomo ..., one has to know
exactly what takes place in the bridegroom's hóme as well as
the happenings at the bride-to-be's home. Regarding marriage,
S.ekese 17. main.tains:
Moh~ankana ha a n'a qosa lenyalo ho bahalo ba hae e ne
e ka khona a rahe moritsoana.
When a youn~ man wanted to.get married (f~om his parents)
he had to kiak a small clay pot (i.e. let calves run
with their mothers and children have no milk that day).
Moiloa uses the idiom in his drama ha raha moritshwana
yet Ash~on18 maint~ins that this custom has been completely
abandoned. He says the following:
"If a youth wanted to get married and thought his parents were
delaying unduly, he could send them a message to that effect
through his mother's brother, or could discuss the matter with
his mother. It was not 'done' in the old days for him to
.broach it directly with his father. Nowadays this formality
has largely been dispensed with, although a young man may still
approach his father through an intermediary. The old. conven-
tion of 'kicking the lit~le dish' (ha raha moritsoana) has
been completely abandoned."
Contrary to what Sekese says, Ashton19 maintains the following
and it is this type of procedure followed in Molomo .~.
197
"Nowadays there are several departures from the 'correct' pro-
cedure outlined above. The most common is that the boy, in-
stead of waiting for his father to choose his bride, takes the
initiative himself. As one informant put it, 'When a man meets
a girl who pleases him, he tells his father. If his father
does not like her, the boy will leave her and look for another:
but if his father approves he is told to go and woo her. He
then courts the girl and asks her to marry him. When she accepts,
his father goes to her father and tells him about their children's
love for one another and asks him to agree to their marriage.
They talk and, when the girl's father has consulted his daughter
and his kinsmen, he agrees. The man's father will send sdme.
cattle to his mokhotsi and then they will talk further about
the day for the feast'. This terse account. stresses the two
main points of an acceptable modern version of the old procedure,
namely, the freedom of choice allowed to the young péople, and
the negotiations between the parents." /
4.4.2.2.2 The wedding traditional styl~
The wedding ceremony in Molomo ..., is a very important para-
textual influence on this specific drama as the ceremonies and
rituals performed form an. important ingredient for the under-
standing of scene viii. Again, Moiloa uses custom, not for
the benefit of explaining it as such, but as a tool to evoke
suspense and laughter, viz. the episode when Makgobotlwane and
his party ask f6r the hand of the minister's daughter in marriage.
Áshton20 says: "Normally the wedding is held shortly after the
marriage has been arranged. Until this has been celebrated,
the couple are not supposed to have sexual intercourse with one
another or to live together."
198
Ashton21 states that the gall is poured over the groom's
hands, usually by his father, and the bladder is tied round
his right wrist. In Moiloa's Molomo ..., in scene vii, page
40 Makgobotlwane says:
A re ba tshele ka nyooko ena bokalakateng ...
Let us pour this bile over their skulls ...
There appear to be different versions of this ritual because
Ellenberger maintains: uThe spouses were smeared with the
gall of the animal, and in some cases with the fat of the
entrails was rubbed with a special medicine, and made into a
collar, which was hung round the neck of the bride, descending
as far as her chest.,,22
Here nyooko (bile) has a symbolic function too. By
referring to this custom, apart from drawing custom portrayal
to its full consequences, Moiloa describes very aptly what a
strange occurrence this marriage must be to the minister and
his family. Although Lekgwaba has succumbed in letting his
daughter have her own way, it does not follow logically that
the events are not a thorn in his flesh.
4.4.2.3 .The abduction of a bride. (T.jhobedisoJ
The reasons that this method is followed are according to Gilden-
huys, the following: "As uitvloeisel van en opstand teen boge~
noemde dwangmaatreëls deur ouers op hulle kinders toegepas, ont-
wikkel die jeug h nuwe tradisie wat ewe-eens deur skrywers
199
afgekeur word, naamlik·dat jongmans hulle bruide eenvoudig
ontvoer en sodoende ouers se reëlings met betrekking tot TI
huwelik pypkan, of onwillige jong meisies in TIhuwelik, wat
deur die' jongman begeer word,.dwing.,,23
This is exactly what Disene did to Thakane as she was the girl
he wanted as a wife and against her will she was abducted and
in actual fact tricked into marriage by him with the help of
Teleko and Sisinyana who assisted Disene so amicably because
Sisinyana secretly.had her eye on Thakane's true love, Petlane.
4.4.2.4 Child discipline
The father of the house is the disciplinarian and in his absence,
\.
whoever is in his place, is.the.guardian. In Jaa ..., ,Thabo,
Thakane's younger brother, lives with Disene and his wife and
she resents the fact that Disene ill-treats her brother, al~
though he deserves it as he is a stubborn, cheeky, insolent,
little boy. Traditionally if an elder person passes a strange
child doing wrong he is entitled to reprimand or even thrash the
child. That is why the audience must not take it amiss when
out of sheer disgust at Thabo's behaviour, 'Petlane resolves to
thrash him.
PETLALVE: Ka ho'thohothelwa. Moshemane enwa ke bona
hore le mo lemme ka ho nna le mo arabisa. A be
a se a mo nanabela. Ke tla 0 ruta batho moshemane.
-A mo hweba ka lebanta. Ke tla 0 shapa hore 0
bakele ho arabisa batho bao e seng thaka tsa hao.-
Mo tlohele wena ke fohle tsona tsejana tsena tse
thibaneng. Ke tla di kaballa ka phafa. A mo
duba hore ere ha a etswa a tswe a forile ditsebe.
( p . 106)
PETLALVE: Furiously. Evidently this boy seems to be
spoiled because you keep on answering him. He
went for him. I will teach you manners, boy.
200
He thrashed him with a belt. I wiLL thrash you
so much so that you wiLL never answer peopLe who
are not your equaLs. Leave him Let me thrash
these extremeLy smaLL, bLocked ears. I wiLL
open them up with a whip. He thrashed him se
thereughly that he ran out like a madman.
4.4.2.5 Consulting, parents who. give advice
This para-textual Lnf Luerrce cd s impertant in Jaa. ..., as this
custom differs radically frem·any. such practice ameng Whites.
IL a husband and wife have marital p.robl.ems, théy usually sort
them eut amongst thet:rlselves. In SOtho..tradition when' such a
sLt.ua t.Lori arises, t.hen.the: eoupLe go.to. their.parents' whé~e they'
st'ate>their case'.and the' pa:rerit:esn .bot.h'. sides g.l.veadvice. to.
.beth' parties cencerned as to.,'hew .they. can best -soIve their pro:-
b Lenr.. This cus com Ls. clearly brouqht; out, in Act V, scene vii':,
This is an Lmpo rtant;p..ar a-ctext.uaL- influence as Whites· see i.nq,
this play weuld tend to.make the rema rk .... "What has' this got
te .do ~j, th the paz-errst, why don't 'they soLve their own pr.oblerns?"".:'.
4.4.2.6 Medicinal practice and beliefs
In.MOlómo. ...,.the -t.r adLt.Lona I is oppo sed te.the' rnoderri and in'
'this.'d~amathere are again manyrperr.a+t.exu'atI influences which
are.ef ut.most;impertance, especial.ly te the White reader er
audience, for a.fulier and mer,e.meaningful understanding ef the
play. "One of the~óstyigereus ef these is tbe Sethe belief
in and practice ef me~icinej magic ~nd sorcery. In the face ef
se many 'years of educatien, missienary influence, and ecenemic
change, this~aspect ef culture might well have" disappeared er
been mod Lf Led beyond recoqn i t.Lon , . But, on t.he contrary, sotho
belief in these thirig~ is still practically unshaken, and the
practice. of medicine and, to. a lesser degre~,.ef magic is
..universal.. "24
4.4.2.6.1 The. witchdecter
"The de~tor er herbalist (ngaka) is ene ef the mest impertant
.:~.,"'.~
201
persons among the Sotho. He is expected to ~iagnose and
prescribe remedies for the ordinary ailments and diseases, to
alleviate and prevent misfortune, to give protection against
sorcery and accident, and to bring luck and prosperity. In
fact, he is expected to help in practically every situation
which people cannot control by their own unaided efforts or
where they feel at all insecure. To do this he relies on his
medicines, occasionally helped out by other means."25
The doctor (Matsetsela) in Molomo ..., belongs to the class of
bone-throwers (seZaodi) who diagno~es or prescribes for ill-
ness by consulting a special set of bones (ditaoZa). "He
acquires his knowledge by paying someone to teach him, by
experience, or by undergoing a short novitiate. This includes
instruction in the interpretation of the various positions or
falls (maoa) of the bones, and their names and praise-songs,
as well as instruction in the symptoms and cures of the commoner
ail~ents and in the use of protective medicines."26
"As a class doctors or diviners have no particular status.
Such prestige as individuals may have depends not sq much on
their being doctors as on their successes. These doctors
are paid certain fees for their duties performed and according
to Sotho law, doctors and diviners should be paid according to a
definite scale of fees. Doctors should be given a goat or
sheep as an initial payment 'to open the medicine bag'. For
curing - but only for curing, not for treating - a disease they
may get a beastw In other cases, their fees vary with the
treatment or medicine given for protecting the village
one or two beasts ..."27
4.4.2.6.2 Methods of divination
/
"The more complicated divination sets of the Sotho comprise
four principal bones and a varying number of accessory bones,
together with shells and other objects, according to the desire
of the ngaka to whom the set belongs. Of the four principal
pieces, the two male ones are carved from the hoof of an ox.
202
The old male, the more 0 moxolo ('the great tree of medicine')
or the kholo ('the brg one'), is the great chief of the
ditaola; it is cut from an important ox (e.g. one slaughtered
at a wedding feast). The young male may be cut from the hoof
of a less distinguished animal! One side only of these bones
is ornamented, as a rule, but each can fall in four different
ways. The two female pieces are made of bone, horn, or ivory,
and can fall in two ways only, hence the four principal pieces
alone can fall in sixty-four different combinations, quite apart
from considerations of direction. The other bones are talis or
astragali of various animals, representing ~otems found in the
various Sotho tribes. There should be a male and female repre-
sentative of each, and they must genuinely be got from animals
killed by man. It is useless to pick up such a bone from.a
carcass in the.veld. Hence a complete set takes a very long
tiITleto collect. Each talus can also fall in four different
ways, and its position in relati~n to the other bones is of
great significance in interpretation. In addition, sea shells
may be used to represent white people, a,flamingo-bone for rain,
and many other objects can be added according to the inspiration
of the ~iviner.,,28
"Some of the praises include' proverbs and riddles. For inst.ahce
the first line constitutes the riddle whose answer is .ditaola,
d~i v~"n~ng bone\s. ,,29
MATSETSELA: , Fiellafiella nkoko a tswale.
(A di pjatlanya a di ya ka mahlo.) Mh!
(0 a kgotsa.)
Di wele lentswe la hlapadimane,
La hlapa dikwena. Di re kwena
di hlapa di nyolosa madiboho,
Tse nyenyane di hlapa di theosa.
Ke bod i ba- bo ta la ha bo okame Lio e ,.
Bo okamelwa ke kganyapa tse kgolo
Banna mekhonkhotho boMakgisa Thamdha,
Banna ba ho phats~a ka lesenene boseeng.
Ako di nk:e moh lan kan a , (0 di nehela mokudi)
o hlo di hlohohle, 0 ntoo di akgotsa hoba 0 etse fiellafiella.
Tshwrr! (0 tea serobele hoba mohlankanyana a di lahle).
Ka bataung ba ntswetse (0 di ya ka mahlo a ntsa di supa).
Ena ke Tshwene makgisa, e tsamaya le Phalafala e kgolo
kgata dirite, mona di entse kgwiti maboya le tsela.
Tsuka ho nkgile le lebe la Matsetsela, baloi ba ikgata
mehlala. Ba ke ke ba 0 besa wa tuka. (p. 16)
MATSETSELA: Reveal what is hidden. (He threw them
.- down and gazed upon them.) Mh! - (He admires.)
They have fallen a word of washers,
Of washing crocodiles. They say crocodiles
Wash· going up the drifts,
Little ones wash going down.
It is th~ green pool that cannot be looked at,
It can be looked at by great water snakes
Greatest men Makgisa and company with Thamaha
Men who have been injected with luck medicine.
Take them please young man, (he gives them to the'patient)
You must please shake them, and then throw them up after
saying reveal what is hidde~. Tshwr~! (He whistles
after the lad has thrown them down.)
In the name of Bataung who begot me (he looks at them pointing).
This is a monkey full of hair, it goes along with a
big bone treader of Sh4dows, here they have made a come
back along the road. Smell is experienced of Matsetsela
the wizards are treading on their tracks. They will fail
dismally ~n kindling it to burn.
4.4.2.6.3 Protecting a village
In Molomo ..., Makgobotlwane gets Matsetsela, the witchdoctor
to prqtect his village and household by blessing it. This
takes place in scene vi. This ritual plays an important pa~t
in this scene and as a para-textual influence warrants a little
explanation.
204
" every village 'is surrounded by a fence made up of charms,
which competent doctors put all round to prevent witches and
sorcerers from entering. One such medicine used is a kind of
ointment in which are contained different powders made up of
various sea-animals, the jellyfish, the sea-urchin, the
sponge, and others. To these sea-animals are added some roots
which have been exposed to the light by the rain which has
washed out the soil in the kloof. All these drugs, which are
also employed to obtain rain, are mixed with fat and burnt on
charcoal at dawn on the road to the village to protect the main
entrance. Stones are daubed with it and put in all directions
to close other openings. Then a second fire is made before the
threshold of the hut.and the smoke which, comes out. from the
magical fat will keep the baloyi away 'for fear of being re-
vealed'. See how it works: as the rain has washed away the
soil and exposed the hiddert roots of the trees, so, too, this
rain-making, medicine, put in juxtaposition with the roots wrenched
from their hiding, will expose the loyi who seeks to hide as
the roots were hidden!,,30 says Schapera.
Makgobotlwane's village has to.be treated in this way so that his
belief in.the torefathers, his belief in the witchdoctor and all
he stands for, and his fervent belief in tradition must at all
times be protected.
4.4.2.7 The iriitiation 'schools'
Thuntshane's father., Makgobotlwane, in scene iii refuses to allow
his son to marry Motshedisi as she has not been to an initiation
school~ she is therefore not a true, traditional Basotho ...
she and her family pretend to be Whites.
To the true traditional Basotho these initiation 'schools' play
a very important role in their lives. Very few Whites know
what really happens in these schools and therefore it is fitting
that something is said about them. "Formal education is given
in the initiation schools, which play a very important part in
205
the life of every individual_ The Bantu tend to conceive of
the development of the individual as a series of stages clearly
marked off from one another. Puberty marks an important stage,
marriage another. To pass successfully from one such stage to
the next, it is considered necessary to secure the aid of forces
that can influence one's life for good or bad. It is usual,
therefore, at such times to have ceremonies by means of which a
-break with the faults and weaknesses of the previous stage is
effected, the initiate is strengthened by magic and appeal to
the ancestors, and is instructed in the duties and privileges
he is about to assume. These rites emphasize the change that
is taking place; and'the emotions they evoke, together with the
impressionable age of the scholars, help to give a lasting effect
of the precepts inculcated."31 At these 'schools', the initiates
are circumcised.
4.4.2.7.1 The girls' initiation 'schools'
Because Motshedisi has had a modern education to the extent that
she is a qualified nurse in.a hospital, Thuntshane's father
maintains that she is not a true Mosotho as she has not been
to an initiation school. The following takes place at such a
.schooL for girls or ba l e.
liTheinitiates wear skin skirts and bands across the chest of
woven bark and grass, which are believed to ensure fruitfulness,
and they may not smear their. bodies with fat. The day is spent
working, and besides being made to perform various 'exercises,
such as hopping on one lég and picking up stones, they are sub-
jected to other hardships. They are severely beaten, their
meals of dry porridge must, like those in the boys' circumcision
school, be eaten very quickly, and unpleasant tasks, such as
that of eating fresh cow-dung, are set. They must be very
humble and respectful to all and have to use the special terms
characteristic of the school whenever they speak."32
206
4.4.2.7.2 Methods of. teaching in the 'schools'
"Every Bantu child, in addition to the education received in his
own home, which enables him to satisfy his economic needs, thus
passes through at least one and often more than one school.
If we are to understand the value of these schools in tribal
life we must not judge them by the knowledge inculcated, so much
as by the manner in which'they fit the individual (or are thought
to fit him) for the life he is to lead as an adult. The function
of each school is different~ but, broadli-speaking, we can say
that every school is a preparation for a new step in the life of
the individual, in ~hich ~n attempt is made to imbue him with
the qualities and the kno~ledge necessary for.that stage. The
qualities believed by the Bantu to be most important for success
in adult life. are ability to bear children and strength, courage,
and endurance in the work of life~ hence these things are
emphasized in the schools. In addition they learn to.honour
the chief and tribal custom, respect those older than themselves,
value those things which are of value to the society, and observe
tribal taboos, especially those connected 'with'sex life.,,33 ,
4.4.2.8 The ancestors
In Molarno ... , as the name suggests the mouthpiece of the an-
cestors, this para-textual influence plays an important role
in the drama and for one who has no background knowledge of this
very important issue to a traditional Mosotho, a great deal is
lost regarding the 'whys' and 'wherefores' about the ancestors.
Besides the 'schools' in which the Basotho believe, there is
also a well-defined belief in certain supernatural beings able
~o influence for good or for evil the destinies of the living.
Thus it is understandable and quite ,appropriate that Makgobotlwane
would be against the marriage between his son and Motshedisi who
has not been initiated and therefore is seen as a Zethisa,
(uninitiated girl) . The uninitiated is usually looked down
upon to such an extent that it is said that their noses stink.
Having chosen an uninitiated girl in this conflict situation,
207
Moiloa gives satisfactory motivation for not only a nearly im-
possible combination that the forefathers want to attain but an
unavoidable clash afterwards. This heightens suspense since
the audience knows this difficulty and is eager to see how it is
going to be solved if it is to be solved at all.
4.4.2.8.1 The spirits of the dead
"Ancestor worship is based upon·the belief that man, or rather
part of him, survives after death. This conviction is held by
all the Ban-tu, who firmly believe that already during his life-
time. a person consist~ 6f two separable entities, his mortal
body and his immortal soul (in Sotho ,..maya) • But con-
cerning the nature of this soul and its after-life there is but
little theorizing, for the Bantu are far more interested in the
prosaic affairs of everyday life, in women, cattle, and war, than
in such metaphysical problems as the nature and destiny of man.
The soul is thought of vaguely as the 'mysterious, self-evident
something' making up what we ourselves term the 'personality' of
a human being; it is also closely connected with. the breath,
and frequently identified with the shadow."34
liThe worship of ancestors is based upon the belief that when' a
man dies he continues to influence the lives of his relatives
remaining on earth. But the spirits of the dead, 'although
they have found enlargement of power through release from the
restraints of the body, are not omnipotent; nor can they read
the secrets of the human heart, though they know all that their
descendants who remain 'outside on the earth', but indifferent
to members of other communities, unless they owe them some grudge
or have to hinder them from hurting their protégés.1I3S
4.4.2.8.2 Manifestations of the spirits
"Living as they do in a world of their own, the ancestors do not
often reveal themselves to their living descendants. But they
can on occasion appear to warn them of danger, or to disclose
new medicines to a magician of their line. More usually their
208
visits are to demand a'sacrifice, or to reproach the living for
some breach of custom. After every such revelation, the person
experiencing it must consult a diviner to ascertain its signi-
ficance, for the communications of the spirits are not intelli-
gible to the layman.
Often enough the ancestor spirits appear.~o the living in dreams.
As we have seen, the Bantu believe that in sleep - the 'little-
death', as they sometimes term it - the soul temporarily departs
from the body and wanders about on its own. While doing so, it
may encounter and talk with the spirits of the dead, as when a
man dreams about some dead relative or friend. Such dreams al-
ways have some special significance, the nature of which must be
interpreted by a diviner.,,36
4.4.2.8.3 The worship of the ancestors
"The ancestor spirits, as we have seen, have ·power to protect
I
and help their descendants, as well as to punish them. Con-
tinued good fortune is attributed to their benevolence, while
calamity may result from neglecting them. The good relations
between them and their des~endants must therefore be maintained'
with meticulous care. It is more essential to retain their
favour than to propitiate them occasionally; and so a certain
well-defined conduct towards them is traditionally prescribed.
This takes the form of making them a special offering whenever
a beast has been slaughtered or beer has been brewed. The
offering is made unobtrusively, and as a matter of routine; but
the welfare of the group depends upon its regular performance.
We have here a replica of conduct in ordinary family life, where
every man slaughtering an ox or making beer is expecfed to share
it with his senior relatives. A few people go even further, and
'make some simple acknowledgment to their ancestor spirits for
every new day that dawns upon them, every meal they take, every
pot of beer they brew, and every batch of snuff they grind, never
209
taking a drink of watet without spewing some of it upon the
ground as a libation to dwellers in the underworld, and ac-
companying every sneeze with a pious exclamation'. Such ex-
treme recognition of the ancestors is on'the whole exceptional,
but it illustrates very clearly the manner in which harmony
and friendship are maintained between the ancestors and their
living descendants.
There are, however, certain occasions when the ancestors of the
family or of the tribe must be specially approached and propitiated.
In family life these include such momentous events as birth, ini-
tiation, marriage, death, the return of members long absent, or
the reconciliation of,close relatives who have been estranged;,
occasions when the ancestors have revealed their displeasure in
dreams, family misfortune, or one of the other ways described
above; and occasions when some new enterprise is about to be
undertaken - such as a long journey, or the building of a hut -
for which the blessing and protection of the ancestors is re-
quired.,,37
In this particular drama Moloma ..., the blessing of the ancestors'
is required for the marriage between Thuntshane and Motshedisi.
They in actual fact arrange the wedding. The audience watch in
great anticipation to see whether they will triumph over the
Christian resistance. What the audience must realise is that
ancestors have to be obeyed; they are fundamental and witch-
doctors can communicate with them. They also have the ability
to punish. It is because of their working that Thuntshane and
Motshedisi are drawn together. One might argue ,that since this
marriage is the will of the forefathers, the audience must know
beforehand that it will take place, so there is no conflict and
thus no drama; there will be no resistance.
Besides what may be called the major para-textual influences on
Jaa ..., and Molomo ..., mentioned above, there are also a number
of smaller incidents which occur in the two dramas and could be
210
termed minor para-textual influences as they also play their
part and an understanding of them will also enhance the under-
standing of the play in the same way as an understanding of the
major para-textual influences.
4.5 Minor para-textual influences
Little incidents that occur in the drama which to a Black audience
would be accepted as normal, everyday occurrences must be men-
tioned as para-textual influences on the drama as these incidents
are perhaps unknown to a White audience.
4.5.1 Spitting
'In Molomo ..., the doctor spits during three scenes in the drama.
In scene ii
(0 phura sekoqo 0 a mo khwefa) (p. 12)
(He chews a medicinal ,root and spits on him.)
Again in scene ix
(Matsetsela 0 a foka ka tlung 0 a khwefa.) (p. 45)
(Matsetsela sprinkles in the house and spits.)
In scene X he spits on Motshedisi
(0 khwefa Motshedisi ka sehlotho sa mathe a matala.)
(p. 51)
(He spits greenish, large foamy saliva on Motshedisi.)
This spitting ritual is very important when communicating with
the ancestors. Communication between the worshippers and their
ancestors is generally established through prayer, accompanied
by an offering or sacrifice. The offering may be no more than
'"
II) 211
a little saliva spat out of the mouth. Spitting is also a way
of showing disgust and disapproval.
4.5.2 New surname
It is quite remarkable that when Motshedisi marries Thuntshane
she takes on the name of Mmadikgomo and not his surname. This
is strange to one who does not know Sotho custom. There is a
reason for this and it is one of respect. She may not bear the
husband's surname as she may not use that name out of respect.
"Between the bride and her husband's people there are numérous
taboos and types of enjoined bahaviour. Thus she must respect
and avoid (- hlonepha) the personal name of,her father-in-law
or other kinsmen in that ,class and must call him by a special
'name. Should she inadvertently slip, ,she should immediately
spit, to drive away evil a:;r-isinfgrom this disrespect."38
This fact of getting a new name serves the purpose of strengthening
Motshedisi's total surrender, not only to her' husband and his
traditional customs, but to her Christianity and westernised
upbringing and outlook. In no better terms could Moiloa have,
summed up the situation and underlined the fact that in this
case the forefathers, .have had their way and triumphed over the
obstacle of traditional Blacks who do not hasten to succumb to
their will, but especially over those who try to turn their backs
on what is supposed to be the crux of their lives.
It is evident that Moiloa uses a variety of beliefs and customs'
in both Jaa ... , and Molomo ... , in a way which is undoubtedly
an essential part of his work~ It is clear that he does 'not
include them for their own sake but succeeds in interweaving
them into the plot for the purpose of milieu sketching, as well
as for character portrayal and a basic substructure of the theme.
'As such, his works, especially Molomo ... , in ,which the tradi-
tional comes more to the fore, becomes an adventure to the White
reader/audience who has to draw the lines/connections and as such
is also active in the accomplishment of the work.
212
4.6 Conclusion
"The ability to mix instruction and entertainent, then, has
enabled many playwrights to produce good drama; yet the
greatest dramatists have done something even more than make
us laugh and learn at the same time.,,39
This 'something even more' is well portrayed in Jaa ...,
through the theme 'beware of friends'. Throughout the play
this treachery by men who all along have professed to be
Petlane's friends supports the theme so aptly t;hat through it
Moiloa ambiguously pronounces the idea that even one's closest
friend should not be trusted. Moiloa also unobtrusively
teaches a moral, viz.: let your word be your honour. Disene
'faithfully promises Pet lane to keep an eye on Thakane so that
she will not be kidnapped by other ruffians; yet he goes back
on his word and is severely punished ,for it. Similarly,
Thakane, being betrothed to Petlane, agrees to a temporary
flirtation and suffers the due consequences.
In Molomo ..• , Moiloa has revealed to his audience that even to-
day the problem still exists where Blacks who profess to be
Christians adhere to ancestor worship and witchcraft. Van der
pol140 says the following about this problem and in it pin-
points so aptly what Moiloa's message to his, audience is.
" Ancestor worship and witchcraft are practised either
dualistic alongside the Christian religion or syncretistic with
it by the majority of so-called Christianised Bantu." Moiloa
likewise sets out to prove that Thuntshane and Motshedisi are
compatible even though they have two vastly different back-
grounds.
Knott41 has the following to say regarding the art of the drama-
tist: "You must not open too slowly. There's a lot you have
to do and you don't have much time in which to do it. You
must do it and do it without boring your reader, for it is in
the opening pages that you must grab your reader and keep him.
You will have no other chance."
213
In this regard, Moiloa 'has complied with every requirement and
in both dramas he has very successfully captured his readers'
interest and held it throughout as mentioned in chapter 1 of
this thesis. He is not boresome except on rare occasions when
praise-poems are introduced or nine-men's-morris (morabaraba)
played or when Shuushu teaches Petlane to speak English.
Many critics today maintain that a drama is either good or bad.
This is such a general statement and one wonderi whether their
analysis is thorough enough to conclude by saying that a play
is good or bad. Surely; in the worst of plays there must be
some godd somewhere, ~hether in the dialogu~, the decor or in
just one of the characters. Williams 42 s.ays: "Much of ~he
important dramatic criticism of the last seventy years has been
what is usually called destructive; and this, too, is worth
emphasising. There are many categories of criticism, but in
the popular view two categories predominate: 'constructive'
and destructive'. And. it is commonly assumed that constructive
criticism is good, and destructi, v. e criticism bad. The cu'r rerit;
prospectus of a monthly review, for example, promises, with some
show of satisfaction, 'constructive criticism ohly'. Yet there
is an essential place, in the development· of a literature, for
criticism of the kind that is usually called destructive. The
large body of destructive criticiim of the last seventy years
was fundamentally necessary to the reform of the drama. The
energy of ~ts revali was .the moving power; and· its intelligence
ensured that it should pass, at the proper time, into construc-
tion and into creative development."
Lastly, it is agreed that: "Drama is as multifaceted in its
images, as ambivalent in its meanings, as the world it mirrors.
That is its main strength, its characteristic as a mode of
expression - and its greatness~" 43 Millett and .Bentley 44
maintain that "the drama comes closer than any other form of
literature to rivaling the color and form, the brilliance and
firmness of painting, the roundedness and mass of sculpture.
The drama is the art that most clósely approximates life
because it represents not merely a high moment in experience and
214
imagination like painting and sculpture, but a sequence of
striking events and emotions in time, and because it uses as one
.of its indispensable mediums actual human personalities. In-
deed, the approximation of the drama to life, especially in its
realistic modes, is so close that much false criticism has its
origin in the assumed identification of the two. But as we
have iterated, the drama is art, and not life. Yet it comes
closer than any of the other arts to the immediacy and the
reality of life."
Professor Gerhard. Beukes in his inaugural address in 1961 rightly
says: "En hierdie voortleef van ~ toneelwerk op ~ verhoog bly
uiteindelik die enigste kriterium wat bepaal in watter ~ate die
dramaturg daarin gesl~ag het om ~ brok lewe artistiek s6 suiwer
weer te gee dat dit vir alle volkere en vir alle tye aktueel sal
bly. Want dit bly ~ waarh~id; ·Geen drama~ hoe gewaagd dit
tematologies ook mag wees, of ho~ super oorspronklik dLt tegnies
op ~ verhoog aangebied mag word, kan uiteindelik iets vir die
toneeltradisie van ~ gemeenskap beteken, tensy dit deur die oer-
bron. van alle dramatiek gevoed word, naamlik die verhouding van
die mens tot sy medemens.., $y gewete en sy God." 45
215
FOOTNOTES
1. Esslin, M., An anatomy of drama, pp. 23, 24.
2. Dawson, S.W., Drama and the dramatic, p. 12.
3. Esslin, M., op. cit., p. 43.
4. Millett, F.B. and Bentley, G.E., The art of the drama,
p. 191.
5. Esslin, M., op. cit., p. 96.
6. Hamilton, C., The theory of the theatre, p. 18.
7. Styan, J.L., The'dramatic experience, p...15.
8. Gildenhuys, J .G.·,TI KJ;:itieseontleding van die aard en
'ontwikkeling van die novelle in Su"id-Sotho, pp. 262, 263.
9. Esslin, M., op. cit., p. 25.
10. Obiechina, E., 'Culture, tradition. and society in the
West African novel, p. 31.
11. Ibid., p. 35.
12. Archer; W., Play-Making, A manual of craftsmanship, p. 90.
'13. Duyvené de Wit, H.E., Mopheme van S. Matlosa: TI Koritekstuele
en tekstuele studie, pp. 27, 28.
14. Van Zyl, D., Die Markplein, p. 16.
15. Gildenhuys, J.G., op. cit., p. 264.
16. Schapera, I. .e t . aL, The Bantu-:speaking tribes of South
Africa, p . 111.
17. Sekese, A., Mekhoa le maele a Ba-Sotho, p.1.
18. Ashton, H., The Basuto, p. 64.
19. Ibid., pp. 64, 65.
20. Ibid., p. 66.
21. Ibid., p. 68.
22. Ellenberger, D.F. V.D.M. and written in English by J.C.
Macgregor, History of the Basuto, ancient and modern,
p. 275.
23. Gildenhuys, J.G., op. cit., p. 199.
216
. 24. Ashton, E.H., Medicine, magic and sorcery among the
Southern Sotho, p. 1.
25. Ibid., p. 2.
26. Ibid., p. 2.
27. Ibid., pp. 3, 4.
28. Schapera, I. et. al., op. cit., p. 238.
29. Guma, S.M., The form, content and technique of traditional
literature in Southern Sotho, p. 150.
30. Schapera, I. et. al., op. cit., p. 234.
31. Ibid., p. 99.
32.' Ibid., pp. 104,105.
33. Ibid. , p. 106.
34. Ibid »:r pp. 247, 248.
35. Ibid. , p. 250.
36. Ibid. , pp. 251 , 252.
37. Ibid. , pp. 254, 255.
38. Ashton, H., op. cit., p. '76.
39. Clarke, R.F.,The growth and nature of drama, p. 69.
40. Van der Poll, J.D.P., Studies in Sesotho drama, p. 407.
41. Knott, W.C., The craft of fiction, p. 138.
42. Williams, R., Drama. From Ibsen to Eliot, p~ 269.
43. Esslin, M., op. cit., p. 118.
44. Millett, F~B. and Bentley, G.E., op. cit., pp. 239, 240.
45. Beukes~ G., Die moderne eksperimentele toneel, pp. 14, 15.
/
217
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221'
ABSTRACT
J.J. MOILOA THE DRAMATIST:
Chapter one deals with the structure of drama in general: the
introduction, the beginning, the expositon, the theme, the
complication, the development, the crisis, the climax and the
dénouement. The action-complexes and their function in both
Jaa ..., .and Molomo ...,'are discussed in detail. Examples
from the two dramas under discussion are then quoted and as far
as is possible it is shown how the two dramas employ a general
structure.
Chapter two on char~cterization discusses different methods a
.playwright employs to portray his characters to the audience
like characterization by appe~rarice, characterization through
other characters, characterization through praise-poems, cha-
racterization by the playwright and characterization by action.
A character-analysis of all the characters in the two dramas
under discussion concludes this chapter .
.Chapter three is an in-depth discussion on all aspects of dialogue
used in these dramas. Matters such as functions of dialogue,
indirect and dramatic dialogue, the.'aside, the soliloquy, Moiloa' s
style, irony, humour, puns, vulgar language, religious tones,
praise-poems, figures o£ speech, the use of other languages
English, Afrikaans and Fanagalo in Moiloa's dramas are discussed.
The function of the many idioms and proverbs used in Moiloa's
dramas is also discussed.
Chapter four is a discussion of extrinsic conventions which in-
clude: what holds an audience's attention in a drama and how
Moiloa has attempted to hold his audience's attention in both
Jaa 0 siele motswalle and Molomo wa badimo. what appeals to
an audience is also discussed. A lengthy part of the chapter
is taken up by para-textual infuences on a drama. with regard
222
to the two dramas in.question, the following para-textual in-
fluences receive attention: working on the mines, Bantu marriage
customs, the abduction of a bride, child discipline, medicinal
practice and beliefs, the witchdoctor, the initiation "schools",
the ancestors, the spirits of the dead, the wedding in tradi-
tional style. Two minor para-textual influences discussed are
that of spitting and the surname a girl takes when getting married.
The researcher has come to the conclusion that the two dramas
can be classed as relatively successful Sesotho dramas.

(i)
(i) BIOGRAPHY OF J.J. MOILOA
James Jantjies Moiloa was born on June 6, 1916 in the Wepener
district, in the province of the Orange Free State, South Africa
and started his primary education in 1924 at Jarnrnerdrift,about
three miles from Wepener along the Caledon River. Here he
passed standard IV in 1929 whilst the exam was still conducted
externally under the Native Education Department. As this
school did not go beyond standard IV, Moiloa worked bn a farm
minding the herd for two years, then went to Wepener to work
as a kitchen boy for a Nrs Robinson who became sympathetic and
allowed him to attend school whilst still in het employ:
In 1932 he passed standard.VI, continued working for another
two years, then, in 1935 began studying for the.Junior Certifi-
cate (J.C.) at the Bl6emfontein Bantu High School. He passed
the examination in 1938, being one of the first student;s to
complete J.C.. in Bloemfontein.
Moiloa then proceeded to the Thaba. Nchu Moroka Missionary Insti-
tution, where he completed his Teachers' Training in 1940, .being
one of the first to obtain a first class at this institution~
J.J. Moiloa started teaching at Brandfort in 1941 and stayed
there till 1951. During this time he was busy with his Matric
and later with his B.A. degree for which he s'tudied.extramurally
at the University of South Africa. In 1952 Moiloa was appointed
teacher at the Bantu High School in Bloemfontein, and in 1958
he passed his B.A~, while still a teacher. In 19~6 he was
appointed principal of the Lereko Secondary School in Bloemfon-
tei-n, being the first African in this post.
In 1970 Moiloa. was appointed Speech Aid at the University of
the Orange Free State in Bloemfontein, also here being the
first African to be appointed in this post at this institution
- a position he still holds.
(ii)
Moiloa married Anna'Madijeloang, daughter of Mr and Mrs
Molelekoa in 1947 ~nd were blessed with six children: two sons
and four daughters, namely Selina, Kotsoane, Mmanking, Pinki,
Ranking and Ntshilane.
He is a foundation member of the association for "Language and
Culture" in the homeland of Qwaqwa, a member of the "Association
for Education and Cultural Advancement" and a founder-member of
the "African Library Association of South Africa", branches in
Bloemfontein and chairman of the African Library Association
branch in Bloemfontein. He is also a staunch lay preacher in
the Methodist Church of South Africa.
Moiloa, in his intellectual pursuits is doing research regarding
equivalents of Proverbs and Idioms in English, Afrikaans and
Southern Sotho. Moiloa has translated many school text books
like Bophelo bo botle (1963) for standards III, IV, Vand VI
.and religious instruction books. Thutabodumedi (1967) for
standards III, IV, V and VI. Other translations include
Methodist Catechism (1977), 0 re rute ho rapela .(1977) and
Borumuwa ba Bokreste (1978).. He is also one of the compilers
of a Southern Sotho/Afrikaans - Afrikaans/Southem Sotho
Dictionary ca~led Bukantswe ya Maleme-pedi (1974). He is a co-
author of two Southern Sotho reading books for European pupils
c~lled Naledi ya Masa. I and II .(1975) as well as Sesotho sa
Bohlokwa (1977) and Thahameso for sub A up to form I (1978).
Moiloa has written several books in his mother-tongue, Southern
Sotho, and is still writing. His publications include the
following:
Sediba sa Megoqo (1962) - Essays.
Dipale le Metlae (1963) - A volume of humorous short stories ..
Mohahlaula Dithota (1965) - A volume of poems praising birds,
animals and insects.
Jaa 0 siele Motswalle (1966) - A play.
Paka - Mahlomola (1967) and Mehla e a fetoha (1971) - Two novels.
(iii)
Che, Lia Bua (1977) - Ánimal stories.
Molomo wa Badimo (1977) - A play.
Tsietsi e latelIa Tshotleho (1978) - A novel.
Mosadi a Ntlholla (1981) - A novel.
Monna Mosotho (1981) - A novel.
In 1978 he received a certificate, signed and sealed in Cambridge,
England, in recognition of distinguished achievements which are
recorded in the "International Who's Who of Inteilectuals". In
1979 he received a certificate of merit awarded for "DISTINGUISHED
ACHIEVEMENT which is the subject of commendation in MEN OF
ACHIEVEMENT".
This thesis concerns J.J. Moiloa as a dramatist and the two
plays to be discussed are JAA 0 SIELE MOTSWALLE and MOLOMO
WA BADIMO. Surnrnaries·ofthe two plays are given scene for scene,
in an appendix at the end.
(iv)
JAA 0 SIELE MOTSWALLE
I i. Disene Moroso meets Moramang Petlane. They engage
in idle talk about acquaintances' becoming engaged and married.
Petlane tells Disene that he is going to Johannesburg. Disene
maintains that no girl will marry Pet lane as he looks old because
of his beard. Petlane shocks Disene by telling him that he is
engaged to Tshowane's daughter. Disene is perturbed because he
also loves this girl, Thakane.
I ii. Pet lane tells Disene that he really loves ~his girl
and that is why he is going to Johannesburg to make money so
that they can get married when he returns. Petlane has known her
for some time and Disene maintains that Petlane will leave her in
the lurch. Disene belittles this girl to Petlane by saying that
his fiancé is a braggart, high-minded and pompous, but Petlane
denies these allegations.' Petlane asks Disene to let him know
if others woo her while he is in Johannesburg. Disene agrees
to look after her and they take leave of each other.
I iii. Disene talks to himself all the way home about how
he will try to woo Thakane, Tshowane's daughter. He is going
to undermine his friend, Petlane.
II i. It appears that this is Petlane's first train trip.
A mine~orker asks him where he is going. The guard scolds him
and Petlane doe$ not understand the ~uropean's instructions and
misinterprets them. The policeman tells the passengers in an
abrupt manner to board the train quickly. On the train Petlane
I
is asked who he is, where he comes from and his destination.
/Idle talk is pursued on the journey and then they change trains
at.Germiston.
II ii. On the train Petlane asks what mixture of a language
is being spoken. He is told by a second mine worker that he talks
too much. A policeman scolds Petlane and slaps him as he thinks •
he is fOQlish. Petlane talks incessantly. The other mine
(v)
workers realise that he is a novice at travelling and mining,
yet he talks about the mines. They tell him all about the
mines, Fanagalo (the communication medium spoken by all miners),
the type of work done, the equipment used and apparel worn by
mine workers, how the ore is brought to the surface and all
about the mind dumps, etc. All this is discussed until they
reach Mlamlankuzi.
II iii. They arrive at the compound. The guard gives them
instructions. A clerk takes down their names and firigerprints,
and then they are told to go out again .
III i. . Disene goes to Mmateleko's home to fish for infor-
matidn about Petlane's affair with Thakane. He' introduces him-
self using a praise-poem. He ~s invited to stay, but tells the
people that he is merely passing by. Mmateleko scolds
Sisinyana for joining in the conversation of elders. Mmateleko
looks for Teleko, who has been smoking dagga. They discuss
Petlane. Disene tells Teleko that Petlane has become éngaged
to the girl whom he also loves, loves with all his heart.
Disene wants Teleko to put in a good word for him. Teleko
suggests that Sisinyana help him as she and Thakane are good
friends. Disene then tells Sisinyana of his love for Thakane.
She must prepare the way for them to meet her on the following
Sunday. Teleko, under the influence of dagga, praises himself
and Sisinyana rebukes him by saying that self praise is no re-
commendation.
III ii. Sisinyana goes ahead of Telekó and Disene to prepare
the way of negotiation for them. Thakane has not heard from
Petlane and assumes that he has met someone else in Johannesburg.
Sisinyana maintains that she believes in having many boyfriends -
not only one. .Thakane tells Sisinyana that she is engaged to
Petlane. gisinyana belittles Petlane and they talk about
Thakane's other boyfriends.
Sisinyana mentions that she has met a handsome boyfriend for
Thakane. When Thakane hears that it is Disene Mmoroso she
(vi)
laughs and asks what she will do with such a toothless one,
although Sisinyana thinks that he is handsome. Sisinyana tells
Thakane how much Disene really loves her as they have previously
discussed the matter. Disene's love for her is discussed and
Sisinyana tells Thakane of his intended visit.
III iii. Sisinyana meets Disene and Teleko on her way home
from Thakane, but does not immediately tell them what transpired
from her visit. She keeps them in suspense and maintains that
tomorrow is another day. Eventually they persuade her to talk
and she tells them that Thakane is half-hearted about another love
affair, although she will be at home the following day when they
intend visiting her. They tell her to hasten home as the old
lady will kill her for being away from home so long.' They all
depart after Disene had sung a war song.
IV i. At the compound all the workers are standing in
queues, workers from other mines and newcomers at the back. The
policeman speaks Fanagalo which all of them do not understand.,
After giving their names they go to a doctor for a routine check-
up in which he makes them do various things. Pet lane is dumb-
founded. He is reprimanded by the policeman. Molakolako,
Mohahlaula, Shuushu and Petlane are to work underground with a
mine captain and an underground manager and are instructed to
work well.
IV ii. The miners are working underground when Shuushu
accuses Molakolako of stealing a jacket. An argument ensues.
The underground manager overhears the argument. The 9apta~n
scolds Molakolako and accuses him of not only stealing a jacket,
but also loafing. Molakolako maintains that Petlane bears a
grudge against him in the compound.
V i. At Sisinyana's home in Lesotho, an argument about
manners takes place between Mmasisinyana and Sisinyana. Teleko
wants food so that he can leave for Thakane's place without
t1masisinyana's knowing. Disene arrives and they all tell the
.-
(vii)
old lady that they are going to church as it is Sunday.
Sisinyana goes ahead and they follow.
V ii. Sisinyana finds Thakane in the house. Disene
and Teleko arrive, very well dressed. when they arrive Thakane
fetches food for the visitors. Sisinyana tells Disene in
Thakane's absence to speak his mind regarding his love for her.
After lengthy wooing he asks her what her feelings are for him.
She has no feelings to express. The talk goes this way and
that way about each others' feelings. Thakane leaves to fetch
the visitors some beer. Thakane tells Disene. she is not in
love with him they drink beer and then her attitude changes and
she tells him that she really loves him. Trust, love, ~eceiving
one another and engagement plans are argued about and it·appears
that Disene does not trust her~ When it is time to leave she
accompanies them for a while, then she and Disene kiss for a
long time before departing.
V iii. Disene arrives at Teleko's home to discuss kidnapping
Thakane. After a lengthy talk they decide to bring in Sisinyana
to assist, despite warnings from Tebello to be careful lest they
get irito trouble as yet ano~her boyfri~nd, Seobi, is'coming home
for the holidays and may still be in love with Thakane.
V iv. Teleko and Disene send Sisinyana to deceive Thakane.
Thakane is to come back half way with Sisinyana to where she is
supposed to be collecting dung (fuel). Teleko and Disene will
wait for them in a gully and when they appear, Teleko and Disene
will abduct Thakane.
v v. Thakane is sweeping and surprised to see Sisinyana.
They agree to go and pick up fuel together. When they see
Disene, Thakane becomes very frightened. Disene maintains that
he loves her dearly and feels that she is playing the fool with
him. He threatens to hit her with a sjambok if she does not
accompany him home. Sisinyana runs home pretending to cry.
V vi. Disene and Thakane's life together is m~st disap-
pointing and terrible. They are most unhappy, they have no
(viii)
respect for each other and matters are aggravated by Thabo
(Thakane's younger borther who is living with them), who is
insubordinate and stubborn. Disene even thrashes him with a
rope. Thakane belittles Disene, and hits him, using a stone.
After many arguments Thakane and Thabo flee from Disene's home.
V vii. At Mmathakane' s place, matters relating to Disene
and Thakane's fight are told to the parents of both parties con-
cerned: the abduction, Thakane's always being reprimanded, the
way Disene ill-treats Thabo and even beats the child, the way
he eats and sleeps in a drunken state, and the way he once
burned Thakane. She again swears at Disene. They both re-.
ceive sound advice from both sets of parents. The in-laws
leave after a very fruitful discussion with the children and all
concerned leave in peace.
VI i. Back at the mine an argument ensues between Shuushu
and Mohahlaula over their vulgar talk and,between Petl~ne and
Molakolako~ Eventually all are happy over a drink of beer and
they start a game of draughts. Shuushu helps Petlahe make the
moves whilst Molakolako helps Mohahlaula. In the end Shuushu
and Petlane win.
VI ii. At the dancing.arena Petlane's group of dancers
take top honours from all the other participating groups and he
is congratulated by all for having led his group so well. Even
the women from the married quarters are highly impressed by his
group's dancing.
VI iii. All Petlane's friends become jealous because he is
such a good dancer. They are also jealous of the position he
has attained and his true friend, Shuushu, warns him. Petlane
asks Shuushu to pretend also to be against him and join in
their talk abbut Petlane so as to gain more information from
them concerning a way to have him dismissed as chief 'boss boy'.
VI iv. The jealous mine workers are devising a plan to get
Petlane dismissed. Shuushu is playing along with them, though
(ix)
he is only pretending.' Whatever is illegal in the eyes of the
law like dagga will be hidden in Petlane's room so as to have
him arrested.
VI v. This scene takes place at the gate and then in the
compound manager's office. While Shuushu and Petlane pretend
to be playing draughts, Shuushu reveals the plan to Petlane.
They then decide to tell the manager. He is then on the alert
as to what is going to take place.
VI vi. Petlane's enemies who have tried to plot against
him are caught red-handed by the compound manager whilst hiding
the illegal goods in Petlane,'s room. Shuushu~remarks that one
must never trust another person.
VI vii. Petlane p~epares to go to his home in Lesotho.
He and Shuushu talk at great length about learning a few good,
useful English sentences so that he can. use a number of these
words and sentences when he meets friends and acquaintances in
Lesotho to show that he has returnedhome a learned, young man.
,
VII i. Pet.Larie arrives home from Johannesburg. ·He finds
that Sisinyana has grown into a tall, beautiful woman. She at~
tracts his attention and they talk about Thakane. Things have
gone wrong and Sisinyana reveals her love to Petlane. It is no
use crying over spilt milk and Petlane is attracted to Sisinyana.
VII ii. Petlane arrives at Disene's home to find Thakane
washing dishes. .He tells Thakane how disappointed he is in her.
There is an argument when Disene asks her for food. Thabo is
rude in their company and Petlane thrashes him and Thakane
decides to leave for good.
VII iii. Petlane visits Sisinyana's home and tells her that
his bosom-friend has married the girl he was to have married.
He asks Sisinyana to marry him and she is delighted at the thought
and kisses him for a long time. He wants the wedding to take
place soon and they go out embracing each other.
(x)
MOLOMO ~vA BADIMO
I i. This scene takes place at Thuntshane's home.
Thuntshane feels he must marry a nurse, Motshedisi, the daughter
of a minister of religion, although he (Thuntshane) is an il-
literate. His father is a very wealthy man. Whilst talking
to his mother about Motshedisi, he suddenly suffers severe pain
and falls down.
I ii. Thuntshane's mother, Mmantete, calls for the witch-
doctor, Matsetsela, who revives Thuntshane from his fainting
bout, using his medicine and then takes him into the hut.
I iii. Makgobotlwane, Thuntshane's father, comes into the
hut while Matsetsela is busy handing out medicine and using the
~ivining bones to discover the cause of Thuntshane's fainting.
His wife explains what had happened. The witchdoctor tells them
that it is the decision of the ancestors that Thuntshane should
marry Motshedisi, but Makgobotlwane refuses to allow his son to
marry her as she never went to the initiation school, so they
, are not proper, traditional Basotho ... they pre~end to be
Whites.
I iv. This scene takes place at the hospital. 'ï'hurrt shane
goes to the hospital to meet Motshedisi. By coincidence they
meet the evangelist, Moeletsi. He is there to meet the sick
while Thuntshane is there to propose to Motshedisi. Moeletsi
tries to advise Thuntshane (illiterate as he is) not to make a
mistake by proposing to Motshedisi as they will not agree in
life.
Thuntshane tells Moeletsi that if Motshedisi is well-educated
(rich in mind) he is also rich in animal$ and tradition. He
ignores Moeletsi's advice, meets Motshedisi, proposes to her
and she accepts.
When Moeletsi meets Motshedisi he tries to persuade her not to
accept Thuntshane's proposal, but she also ignores him.
(xi)
I v. This scene takes place at the minister's manse.
The evangelist reports to Reverend Lekgwaba. about his visit to
the sick at the hospital. He also informs the minister about
the relationship between Thuntshane and Motshedisi and in so
doing proves to be a turn-coat. Motshedisi maintains that the
evangelist was talking nonsense when he tried to advise her re-
garding Thuntshane's proposal. Reverend Lekgwaba is infuriated
on hearing this, but Motshedisi becomes hard-headed and stubborn.
I vi. The following scene is at Makgobotlwane's place
where Matsetsela is strengthening Makgobotlwane' s village with his
witchcraft and feels that it is the decision of the ancestors
that Thuntshane should marry Motshedisi. To test this decision,
Matsetsela attacks Thuntshane with sticks, but Thuntshane beats
him ~nd this testifies that what he has said really is the de-
cision of the ancestors.
I vii. This scene takes plate on the verandah at Reverend
Lekgwaba's home. Makgobotlwane and Matsetsela arrive at Reverend
Lekgw.aba's home to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage to
Thuntshane. The minister refuses her hand in marriage, but h~s
daughter feels that she would rather commit suicide than live
without Thuntshane, so he gives in, and matters relating to the
marriage are discussed.
I viii. The wedding ceremony is conducted in this scene
~ccording to Basotho custom which the Reverend Lekgwaba does not
understand. In this scene a mockery is made of Reverend
Lekgwaba and his party. Makgobotlwane then leaves with his new
daughter-in-law. A wedding song is sung as they leave.
I ix. Thuntshane asks his parents for a reception in honour
of his wife, but his father disagrees. .The nurses from the
hospital have secretly arranged a reception, but Matsetsela has
had to use his medicines to strengthen the place first. This
reception then takes place at Makgobotlwane's place.
(xii)
I x. This scene is at the reception hall. Here
Makgobotlwane and family are amazed to see the type of dances
performed as well as the modern way of playing the drums. They
hate the sight, start squabbling, and ultimately fighting. In
this scene the shoe is on the other foot and Thuntshane and his
family are the ones to be mocked as they are not accustomed to
such modern amenities such as a reception and the type of dancing
done here. Fortunately Thuntshane and Motshedisi stick together
throughout the fight and the audience is kept in Suspense until
the final curtain as they don't know whether the couple will or
will not be happy because of the difference in culture or the
outlook on life or the vast knowledge gap which comes to a head
during the argument. Then it seems that the. two lovers will
stick together as they clutch each other and.maintain that nothing
will part. them except dea~h. It is the wish of the
ancestors that they will be extremely happy.
. ,