By Zubeida Jaffer
The train glided out of Cape Town station at 11:35 on Saturday morning (24 October 2026), heading toward Nyanga with performing artists on board. In a short but memorable journey, assembled guests across three hired carriages were treated to inspiring poetry readings.
Leading the event on board was Poetry Conductor Phiwe Manata and the CPUT Performing Poets.
Local author and UWC staffer, Pamela Qinela Mbenenge, who wrote A Year That Felt Like a Decade, was particularly moved when CPUT student Abraham Tebogo Sithole performed a poem entitled “Bongani.” Although she could not see him through the packed carriage, she heard him clearly. “I turned my camera onto myself so that my family could share in what I was experiencing and dedicated the poem to our lost relative, Ronald Sakhile Qinela who disappeared in the eighties,” she said. “It was a poem about absence, unanswered questions, family conflict, guilt and the complicated meaning of home.”
Poetry on the Train was the brainchild of Lumkile Mzukwa, founder of Lumkile’s Book Joint SA in Gugulethu. He began hosting a reading room at his home shortly after Covid, creating a space for learners and local professionals to encourage reading. With Poetry on the Train, he and his close-knit team have taken that mission a step further. “We want to give ordinary people access to literary events which they could not ordinarily attend,” he said. “We would like to turn the train as a public space into an art platform.” The event team included Zimkitha Zilo, Phumzile Nteyi, Didi Gcingca, Dla Mancunga, Xolile Ndzoyi and Vuyiswa Vokwana — all avid booklovers.
Their vision is to be the epicentre (a lighthouse), a go-to literary space, in Gugulethu with diverse literary experiences that will normalise reading as an integral part of positive human development in disadvantaged communities where talent is often abundant but support absent.
The journey was not without problems. Although PRASA’s Metrorail had endorsed the event, organisers said Metrorail officials stopped them from using their own sound system, making it hard to reach audiences across three carriages. Filmmaker Amilcar Patel, who was on board, described the intervention as disruptive. “They said there was too much noise, and this was making it difficult when commuters had to hear safety announcements,” she said.
Despite this, Patel spoke with ordinary commuters who were travelling that day and found many had enjoyed the poetry. “They even stopped people from singing after they had put off the sound system… so strange,” she added.
For clinical psychologist Nomfundo Walaza, the trip marked her first train ride in decades. “Once I had started driving and had my own car, I never got back on the train,” she said. She described the experience as wonderfully uplifting despite the Metrorail debacle. On arrival at Nyanga station, the group was warmly welcomed by a local drummer, then set off on a roughly 25-minute walk to Lumkile’s Book Joint. A few guests needed to be transported but most walked.
The event unfolded in three legs: a first session in PRASA’s Cape Town station lounge, a second on the moving train, and a final leg in the street outside Lumkile’s home, where the team had erected a red marquee. Poetry readings continued there all afternoon, pausing only for lunch.
Learners from Bongo Lower Primary School in Gugulethu were included too. Dressed neatly in their uniforms, they took the stage and one child, in particular, captured everyone’s attention with an articulate poem.
A highlight came when the renowned Xhosa poem on the sinking of the SS Mendi, by SEK Mqhayi, was performed. The powerful recitation drew enthusiastic participation, filling the marquee with joyful response. Author Arthur Mngxekeza strode through the audience as he delivered “Ukuzika kukaMendi,” adding theatrical presence to the moment.
By all accounts, Poetry on the Train was a day not easily forgotten for those who attended — a creative experiment in claiming public space for the arts and bringing literature directly to the people.
Also Read A Visit to Lumkile’s Book Joint https://www.zubeidajaffer.co.za/mandela/
Personal comment from Zubeida Jaffer: This creative homegrown initiative provides an opportunity to build a reading culture and is worthy of support.
