Sandile Ntuli

Sandile Ntuli describes himself as an active dreamer: 'I believe in pursuing my dreams, as opposed to passively watching them pass me by.' He has a twin brother, Andile, and they were born in Emalahleni in Mpumalanga 28 years ago. 'I read English news between noon and 3 pm, and co-present the actuality programme The ego trip during the week on the campus radio station UJFM.' Sandile switches easily between fiction and non-fiction and his opinion pieces on several topics have appeared in The Star, The Citizen, the Sowetan and the Mail & Guardian. Some of his short stories have been published in Drum. He holds a national diploma in small business management and a BTech degree in management services from the University of Johannesburg. 'I'm a bold Leo, currently learning Chinese, and I naturally gravitate to passing my spare time writing. When I put down my pen, I pick up a spatula in the kitchen. Johannesburg is my current heartland.' To have been chosen as one of the writers to benefit from the Jakes Gerwel Foundation's Kommadagga Workshop is a dream come true: 'It validates my right to dream and gives me the permission to write the way I do.' It literally took him a few days to digest the news that his application was accepted. The opportunity to meet other people with the same fire inside themselves that keep them awake at night because they have so much to write about is precious. He embraces the chance to work with Rachelle Greeff and to be mentored by her and, in so doing, to stock up on new tools for his writing toolbox. 'There are fiction and non-fiction books waiting to have my name on them. Scripts for radio, television and theatre that live only in my head for now is finally going to see the light of day.'