When growing up as a Xhosa man there are things you are taught you cannot share. There is a certain way that you are expected to behave. This has led to a lot of Xhosa men believing that sharing their feelings or crying makes them weak. Our forefathers have instilled the practice that a man that shares his life experiences does not deserve to be a man and is referred to as ‘ibhetye-bhetye’ which means to be soft.

 In 2018 Mafa Bavuma published his first book entitled ‘Born for This’ which he Co-authored with former ENCA journalist and SABC head of parliamentary news, Vuyani Green. He says the title of the book was inspired by the fact that he finally fulfilled his dream as he grew up longing to be on the radio, “I always stayed glued on the radio every time after school and even kept on recording songs from it.” said Bavuma. However, being on the radio is not the only reason he wrote a book, but he wrote it to inspire a young man who grew up in a rural town.

 When growing up in an African family you are expected to go to school and do a typical profession that is not regarded by them as a hobby. Parents, especially growing up in a big family, expect you to study to become a doctor, nurse or teacher. Growing in a family of eight children, Mafa disregarded all the societal and family norms, he went with his childhood passion, getting into radio.

 Mafa started his radio career at Kingfisher community radio station. In 2008 he left Kingfisher and started working at Tru FM and later in the same year he joined Umhlobo Wenene. He is currently doing a morning show at Umhlobo Wenene FM.

The highlights of his radio career are, in 2012/13 he was nominated in the MTN awards, in 2014 he was an Eastern Cape nominee in the Vodacom Journalism Award as well as being nominated to attend the UN’s Annual General Assembly in New York.

George Meko who has known Mafa Bavuma for almost nine years says he never thought that Mafa Bavuma would write a book. He kept the book writing decision as a secret between him and his co-author. Although the book came as a shock to Meko he believes that Bavuma independently collected his thoughts during his teenage years and when Vuyani Green gives him a chance to tell the world his life story he easily conveyed the information over to him to put it in a language of a book. It is a book that takes people to his background and lifestyle, “the book can lead you to moments where you burst to laughter, a moment where you find yourself crying or feeling pity.” says Meko.

In his book, he included how he was molested by his cousin. Being molested is not an easy thing to talk about whether you are a male or female. It takes bravery to be able to talk about such things. When Mafa opens up about such a traumatic experience he does not only help himself to recover from trauma, but he also encourages another young man out there who have experienced the same thing but scared to talk thinking that he will be judged or made fun of but him sharing the experience has paved a way for other people who are looking up to him. Mafa says it doesn’t matter what situation you come from, it shouldn’t stumble your dreams even if the road seems tough because everyone has a dream even Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko had dreams. “Wherever you come from you can never stop dreaming,” says Bavuma.

Bavuma started from the bottom but one of the things that he teaches people is that giving up is never an option, in every storm, you come across stay firm. He proved that by continuing with writing his book although he lost his mother in the middle of book writing. “In the middle of the book there was a long break because I was still mourning for my mother,” he said. Although his mother passed on, half of the book story is from her since she died after an interview with her was conducted. Regardless of this, his friend George believes that if both of his parents were still alive, they would have had more of their perspective of the challenges he faced when he grew up but unfortunately, they are no more.

Born for This might be his first book, but it is not his last. Bavuma is still determined to write another book because he believes he is still young and there will be more to share with other people as he grows up. On his first book he has gained a lot of encouragement and positive feedback from people, many people are impressed because his book speaks for those who are scared to speak out, it makes people understand their situation even better as they realize that even people who are well known have had their ups and downs but they did not give up, they strived to better their lives. However, when people ask him why he wrote a book at such young age, he simply responds to that question by saying “I do not know what tomorrow holds for me and I do not know how long I am going to live.” Mafa believes that ‘every day of your life there is a story to tell.’ His book encourages everyone that never use your background as an excuse of not achieving your dreams, stay in your lane and use what you have to get what you need.