“This is the stuff that action-packed, environmentally friendly stories are made of. In my home of vegans, pescatarians and meat-eaters, the book provoked a lot of discussion on several moral questions, especially when Siku dived to free fish from the hooks of fishermen. Should the spread of industrial progress be curtailed, controlled, or allowed free rein towards possible ecocide? Is ecogrief enough reason to oppose the need to feed the fast-growing human population? Do the rights of rural living supersede the needs of rampant development?
The pleasing thing about this graphic novel – or comic book, in the parlance of this old-timer – is how it teaches not only old African beliefs, but also that ancient wisdom can be adopted to support the protection of our ecosystem. After all, was it not Carl Jung who told us we need traditional myths to amplify our vision and sharpen our hearing to customs and ways of life that have been handed down to us by those who live in our blood, our ancestors?
Though Kariba is a little too idealistic at times and hesitates towards getting too deep to debate big topics, I would rather be subjected to that than total wilful ignorance about the possible environmental catastrophes that may occur if we don’t change our greedy ways to fit into the natural development of our ecosystem,” says Mphuthumi Ntabeni
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Mphuthumi Ntabeni is a South African author living in Cape Town. His debut novel The Broken River Tent won the University of Johannesburg Debut Novel Prize in 2019. He worked with the drama department of Rhodes University on two plays he wrote for the South African National Arts Festival about Maqoma and his half-brother Sandile, both of whom had been Xhosa chiefs. He has a passionate interest in South Africa’s frontier history and the wars of land dispossession. His most recent novel The Wanderers was published in 2021.
