The Sunday News
Sinokuthaba Dube, Sunday Life Reporter
GROWING up in a rural setup always disadvantages a number of people in terms of being up to date with trends but for Pascar Ncube it gave him a lot of insights about real life issues that he puts across in his IsiNdebele novels.
A former Nembe teacher, Ncube who is also a qualified midwife grew up in remote areas of Tsholotsho District in Matabeleland North.
Now an accomplished author, he said writing books was not intentional at first but was something done out of passion and it came naturally.
The books basically highlight challenges people come across in life from an African perspective.
“I started writing in 2004 when I was in Form Three, by then I never took it seriously judging from the fact that I was just a mere village boy who never thought would even cross boundaries and mingle with people in the city. My passion for writing grew bigger while I was teaching at a local secondary school in Tsholotsho. I became a high school languages teacher before quitting my job in 2008 for greener pastures in neighbouring South Africa” he said.
Having called it quits in 2008 after three years in teaching, Ncube slowly retraced his steps back to being an author after making a huge following on social media with his book titled Ilifa Lezithutha Lidliwa Yizihlakaniphi.
He said life was not that rosy while he was in South Africa, he then decided to resume his writing skills and wrote his second book titled Ikhuba Lomunye Alilandima.
“The book highlights challenges that come with migration in search of greener pastures where a man leaves his wife and family behind and ends up getting married to another woman abroad. Upon his death both women fight for his inheritance only to be duped by a greedy lawyer,” he noted.
Ncube said he also wrote the poetry books as a way to encourage fellow writers to embrace their mother tongue while writing from a Zimbabwean perspective as they were the ones who have first-hand information on what they were going through on a daily basis.
“Initially my intentions were based on encouraging young men from rural areas that they can still climb the social ladder despite their background. My main focus was on educating the nation making sure that everyone has access to education and challenge fellow writers. I also ventured into poetry where I collaborated with other writers from South Africa and Zimbabwe to complement the other three novels that I wrote”, he said.
In his poetry book titled Umthombo Wenkondlo he writes about the importance of ubuntu, women appreciating their men, the author goes an extra mile where he reprimands the youth on vuzu parties, also featuring in his poetry are issues of xenophobic attacks faced by Africans when they migrate to neighbouring countries as they try to fend for their families back home.
He said although his road was not easy, he managed to persevere and now owns a publishing company called Ingwalo Ezingasoze Zabuna publishers.
“Coming from a rural setup was one of the most challenging things that I came across especially with publishing companies who lacked trust in my work, I didn’t know that coming up with a complete book was a process which is financially exhausting. The other issue was piracy where at one point I almost lost my book to some publishing house”.
He expressed gratitude for the tremendous support that he had been getting from his readers especially those that were purchasing Ikhuba Lomunye Alilandima. He says so far, he has sold more than 200 copies which he says was encouraging.
He says he has high hopes that his books may be selected into the mainstream education sector and qualify to be set books as he is currently making efforts to pitch his books to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
