Voice of the Voiceless in Mutuzeli’s I Speak to the Silent

Abstract

This research aims at exposing how the voices of the excluded subaltern people of South Africa are silenced and suppressed by those elitists who have full control and command over the rising anti-apartheid movement. In Mutuzeli’sI Speak to the Silent,Kondile, a subaltern man, is never encouraged to raise his voice and opinion on the burgeoning issues of the society. He is told that remaining silent is always in his best favor. Such hegemony of the elitists like Mbete block the dissemination of the voices of subaltern. It is on this ground that the novelI Speak to the Silentcritiques the exclusionary and repressive politics of callous and insensitive elitists. The researcher comes to perceive several evidences about how the so-called elitists like Mbete used their power and influences to cover their mistakes, and atrocious practices. While mounting the campaign for equality and egalitarianism, Sindiswa dies. Her father is seriously affected by the death of his daughter. Her father is not assisted by anybody to know the root cause of Sindiswa’s death.