Mogorosi Motshumi is finishing two graphic books
Veteran Free State cartoonist Mogorosi Motshumi’s biggest fear is that he will die before finishing his life’s work. He has decided to move to Cape Town to finish two major works of graphic literature: his own autobiography, and the biography of boxing legend Jacob “Jake” Ntuli.
Motshumi, 70, has lived in Batho township near Bloemfontein for much of his life, but he says it’s hard to work there.
“The kind of work I am doing needs quiet, and this place is very distracting,” he says.
“Township life is township life. When someone wants to be with you, they just come without making an appointment. There are no bylaws here, so if music is too loud, who are you going to complain to?” says Motshumi, whose home and workplace is sandwiched between a school, a tavern and a church.
“All bloody noisy,” he says. “And the taxis start moving as early as 4:30am, with their hooters blaring.”
For Motshumi, Cape Town represents peace and quiet. He has spent months working in Cape Town previously, as a guest artist in the Greatmore Studios residency program. He completed the first part of his autobiography, titled The Initiation, in a small room in Woodstock.
According to fellow cartoonist and art historian Andy Mason, the book, published in 2016, “is a milestone in South African literature: the first graphic autobiography by a South African, and one of very few graphic memoirs ever to be produced in this country”.
The Initiation tells the story of Motshumi’s childhood in Batho, living with his grandmother. It recounts his years as a Black Consciousness activist in the aftermath of the Soweto uprising, and his start as a cartoonist in 1980s, depicting township life in a popular comic strip called Sloppy, published in Learn and Teach. Failed relationships, struggles with drug addiction, and an HIV diagnosis are all experiences Motshumi grapples with matter-of-factly.
It is difficult to reconcile the chaos Motshumi describes in his life story with the gaunt, softly spoken man setting out his pencils on a small work table in his backyard in Batho.
“This space isn’t big enough but it’s what I have,” he says, peering at some new drawings through strong spectacles.
“I struggle with my eyesight, especially in cloudy weather. There was a time when I could not see my own pencil drawings, but things have improved a bit since I had some treatment,” says Motshumi. He says he works all the time, “stopping only to sleep, or when I have to go get something in town.”
“My biggest fear is that I might die before I finish these books. I know artists who died leaving work unfinished, and I don’t want that to be my story.”
The Initiation was conceived as the first part of a much bigger, three-part autobiographical work, but it didn’t go to plan; his publisher, Xlibris, went bust. A French publisher picked up part two, titled Jozi Jungle, but it is only available in French. The rest of his story has not been published.
“My plan is to pull everything together and publish it as a single, consolidated works,” says Motshumi.
He is also working on an epic biography of the legendary South African boxer Jacob Ntuli, who Motshumi befriended in the 1980s.
“The guy had a remarkable story. After becoming a champ in South Africa in his weight divisions, he went to London and became the first black South African winner of the Empire Championship. I feel I must do his story justice. He was a friendly man, we would always mingle,” says Motshumi, raising his voice above a chorus of shouting from the nearby tavern.
Motshumi does not currently have a publisher for his work.
