Modern trappings in Tebogo and the Haka

By Pule Lechesa


Recent fictional works reflect how the world has moved on in the New Millennium, positively affecting the lives of countless black people at grassroots level all over Africa . This patent trend can be seen for example in Omoseye Bolaji’s work of fiction, Tebogo and the haka

We read and re-read our old favourites, novels, plays etc written by distinguished African writers over the decades and we are struck about the rather old-age ambience of such works. We feel that there is something missing – and most likely that thing is modern technology. Pick up Njabulo Ndebele’s classic, Fools for example and the ambience seems not so different from the setting of 19th century books like Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.Yet Zamani, the protagonist in Fools, is a school teacher and “middle class” in orientation. But he has few comforts compared with the modern world perks. Not even electricity. Nowadays we are awash with modern gadgets and technology and these things are incorporated into modern fiction.

Gone are the days when stationary phones and faxes were the ultimate in technology as can be seen from thousands of books published just a few decades ago.The face of the modern world has changed so much that most people now have access to things like cell phones, the Internet and ipods. In fact it is understood that in some African countries now “even beggars have one two or more cell phones”. This shows how the whole world has changed. Very few African blacks might have access to internet in their private house but with so many “Internet cafes” all over the place – not to talk of at many libraries – the world has opened up, so to speak.

Hence Tebogo Mokoena , the private investigator of the Tebogo Mystery series reflects this exposure to modern technology, moreso in Tebogo and the haka. His wife, Khanyi, is in France but of course she keeps in touch with him thanks to modern technology, via emails and by phone. SMS (text messages) keep their love glowing despite the vast physical distances between them:

“Before I slept, I was delighted to receive a text (SMS) message from my wife, Khanyi. She reiterated her love for me, said Paris was great but she would prefer to be with me. ‘Sweet dreams honey,’ she ended, ‘big, big kisses’….I slept well”
(Tebogo and the haka)

As we see later on in the book SMS messages add to the mystery of the story as the plot unravels (but I do not want to give the plot away here); also, as part of the deference to modernity at the end of the book we are told about “slick, sophisticated tape recorder on my person”Despite the fact that Tebogo is in a small town (Ladybrand) he still has time to go to the Internet. As we are told:

“He (the owner of the Internet shop) smiled. ‘Ah, sometimes we just open for a few hours. Now people are becoming more interested in the Internet. Alas, right now, only one computer is working well. You can pay for 30 minutes, an hour…to user the internet’‘An hour would be fine,’ I said. ‘I’d like to catch up with my emails…’ I paid for an hour and read my disappointingly few emails. I had hardly spent 15 minutes here and I was more or less through…’”

(Tebogo and the haka)

Other aspects of the story/mystery here involve recordings being made and being shown on computers (not on TV which apparently has become common place!). We are no longer surprised these days that many people at grassroots level have access to computers and sophisticated recorders. It is all part of our modern trappings – which keeps on improving and growing daily.

There are some people who believe that the modern generation has lost a lot (spiritually and intellectually), with so much technology around; that the likes of the Bronte sisters 200 years ago (Emily and Charlotte, to mention the most famous duo) honed their intellect because there was no electricity then (so no electrical gadgets at the time) – that they had ample time to think, go for walks, meditate and construct. The quality of their published works certainly shows their awesome intellect.

However others point out that with so much knowledge available to the world now – accessible more or less instantaneously from the Internet – people are over-spoilt for choice now and can avail themselves of wonderful opportunities. Certainly writers continue to write, and reflect and complement the goings-on in our world, as can be seen from Omoseye Bolaji’s Tebogo and the Haka.
* Originally published in 2009 in Lentswe. Slightly revised here