WATCH: Modise Sekgothe, a poet equipped in the exercise of digging deep and baring himself naked

Writing in itself has prerequisites of some vulnerability. Jotting for artistic purposes, where one reflects on oneself, demands profound soul-searching and openness.

“I understand why I do it, and it’s been at the core of my work for the past 10 years. I guess in a sense I’m equipped in the exercise of really digging deep and baring myself in naked and necessary ways,” poet Modise Sekgothe tells The Citizen.

Sekgothe’s vulnerability

Sekgothe debuted his latest work, Gabo Legwala, at the ongoing National Arts Festival (NAF) in Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown.

The work assesses the rites of passage that a young South African man undergoes as he grows up without a father figure.

When translated, ‘Gabo Legwala’ means the coward’s home. In full, the title, ‘Gabo Legwala a golliwe’, implies that the coward in question spares his loved ones from tragedy or mourning due to his aversion to combat.

“By staying out of trouble and walking away from conflict, he avoids harm, thus sparing his loved ones from the pain of loss,” Sekgothe shares.

Throughout what he describes as a memoir disguised as a poem, masquerading as a play, Sekgothe takes audiences on a journey of carving out his manhood as a fatherless boy in Soweto.

In one scene, audiences grimace when Sekgothe details the horror of a circumcision gone wrong, after deciding together with a friend who also doesn’t have a father, that they would get circumcised.

This is not uncommon in Sekgothe’s work; yet, he says it never ceases to be challenging, as it requires him to be as open as he is.

He says this bareness is necessary because individuals’ stories aren’t that unique.

“I think it’s important for an artist-depends on what they want to do-to be willing to give up some of that privacy because the cause is significant and the cause is to kind of almost allows other people the freedom to engage the part of themselves that they don’t want to engage –that someone else is just as flawed as I am,” he shares.

Although the piece is centred around him and sketches out his manhood despite the paucity of male figures in his life, the work highlights the role that his mother and three sisters played in his upbringing.

Whether it was how his sisters walked him to school when he was young or his mother’s hot, routinely prepared porridge each morning before school, he honoured them.

“I was writing this work really about the absent father, but then it is the same breath that points to the very present mother. So, there’s a way that I think is a tribute to these women that raised me,” he says.

However, only one of his sisters is now living, having lost his two other siblings and his mother.

The Standard Bank Young Artist award

Earlier this year, Sekgothe was named among the six winners of the Standard Bank Young Artist award (SBYA).

All six recipients, from diverse disciplines including dance, jazz, theatre, visual art, poetry, and music, receive national exposure, financial support for their work, and a cash prize.

The art festival in Makhanda is where these artists present their new work. Because of its prestige, the award comes with a weight of pressure.

“The highest pressure point for me with this work was the work itself and how much it took to get it ready and the time constraints we had,” Sekgothe says.

https://media.citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/modise-sekgothe-performs-at-National-Arts-Festival.mp4

The writer was more concerned with the integrity of the work, although he admits to the pressures of being an SBYA winner.

“There’s too much fixation on how do we get the work right [than] to pay too much attention to what’s around it because I think in many ways the Standard Bank award situation and all of that it’s a big part of the context within which the work is happening but if the work does not have its integrity, then all of that is secondary.”

“But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t appreciate the magnitude of the context, because, to be honest, if it flopped, it would be a huge flop.”

Among those he worked with to put together Gabo Legwala, Sekgothe roped in renowned theatre practitioners, Billy Langa and Mahlatsi Mokgonyana, affectionately known as The Theatre Duo.

“I felt great support and I felt confident in what I was attempting, from these other brothers,” said Sekgothe.

Having previous SBYA winners, The Theatre Duo, helped Sekgothe in some ways, as they know the pressure of holding the title. The Theatre Duo won the SBYA for Theatre in 2022.

“Being a recipient of the award as well, I had to carry that with him, but carry it with ease…and also sometimes not be driven by that pressure but acknowledge that pressure is there,” said Mokgonyana.

The Brotherhood

As Gabo Legwala portrays Sekgothe’s life outside his home, where the four women in his life shielded him.

The narrative also takes audiences to the streets of Soweto, where the poet found a sense of brotherhood among his friends.

In one part of the performance, which presents itself as comic relief, Sekgothe speaks about his love for martial arts and how that made him shine bright within his band of brothers, who brought something different to the table.

“We respect each other as men in very different ways. In others, we respect bravery, in others, we respect just talent and skill, intelligence and all of these other things,” Sekgothe shares.

While his other friends shone and found their place within the brotherhood through their bravado and being ‘tough,’ he found his place in the serene, playful moments.

“When we kind of allow ourselves to connect and appreciate each other for the things that we’re good at, then we support each other in the areas that we aren’t so strong.”

There wasn’t a paucity of this brotherhood even in the making of the work.

 “Through the making of the work, I got to see him as well beyond the work as a brother, I can share laughter with,” shares Th Theatre Duo’s Mokgonyana.

“In this project with Modise, we didn’t just come through as creatives; we were also providing the support in terms of production and many other things, so that he doesn’t have the pressure of thinking about many other things.”

Mokgonyana directed Gabo Legwala, with Langa contributing from afar because he’s on tour for other work.

Gabo Legwala has a harmony of disciplines. It was more than a poetry experience, but a holistic performance.

Multi-instrumentalist Yogin Sullaphen provided the sound, whether it was music or the sounds of prison cells, when one of Sekgothe’s friends spoke about their father in jail.

At the same time, Phumla Siyobi’s vocals and stage presence brought about a motherly harmony.

“I’ve always been interested in its [poetry] relationship to music, theatre, to visual arts and so on. I chose to reach out to Theatre Duo because I understood they a very good at understanding the language of poetry in the theatre,” said Sekgothe.

Issued on The Citizen (South Africa) by Bonginkosi Tiwane | https://www.citizen.co.za/lifestyle/watch-modise-sekgothe-a-poet-equipped-in-the-exercise-of-digging-deep-and-baring-himself-naked/