Q&A With Tafadzwa Taruvinga
Author of The Educated Waiter
by Ezekiel Kekana
Tafadzwa Zimunhu Taruvinga released his debut memoir titled, The Educated Waiter in 2019. Tafadzwa has a knack for literary, popular, and scholarly writing. He is also a corporate trainer with solid experience sharpened from delivering accredited courses within 50+ private and public sector organisations on the African continent. In this exclusive interview with EW Blog editor, Ezekiel Kekana, Tafadzwa reflects on his debut memoir, the plight of African immigrants in South Africa and he also shares good advice to young foreign African students studying in the country.
Question: First, congratulations on your debut book, The Educated Waiter, how has the reception been for the book from both South African and Zimbabwean readers?
Answer:
Thank you, Ezekiel and the EW Blog team, for creating this amazing opportunity through which I can talk about The Educated Waiter. The reception in South Africa, Zimbabwe and within the global African diaspora community has been really great. Many people can relate to my story because, in one way or another, it’s their story too. Some who have read the book say: “I laughed and cried hard as I was reading your story.”
Question: What inspired or motivated you to write down this book?
Answer:
I have a passion for both writing and education. I believe they are both powerful gateways to self-empowerment and social justice. I felt that living through the struggles and successes that I have, but without sharing them with the world, would have been an injustice to the voiceless migrants and students whose personal journeys resonate with mine. That’s why I wrote this book.
Question: The title of the book, The Educated Waiter, why did you decide to go with that title?
Answer:
This question always reminds me of my mother. When I came up with the title in 2017, I predicted that it would highlight the plight of, in the literal sense, African migrant waiters toiling for a pittance in South Africa’s hospitality industry, just to scrape a living. On the evening of my book launch in October 2019, my mother shared with me her unforgettable interpretation. She said the title was apt because I had spent a longer time than usual trying to graduate, as well as to become a published writer. I had “waited”, despite being “educated”, to see my dreams come to life. I think her summation is very powerful.
Question: In the book, you touched on the challenges of being a foreign student in South Africa. While many students would easily drop out, what motivated you to finish your degree despite your challenges at Rhodes University?
Answer:
I told myself that I had no choice but to graduate at Rhodes University. The other option was to pack my “China bag” and return home to Zimbabwe where I might have vegetated on my mother’s sofa that she bought from her sweat-in-labour 1995 salary. I would have felt like a failure if I did that. After all, I had bussed in over a distance of 2100km between Harare and Grahamstown. Because I had gone that far, I had to keep going.
Question: With the book, what message (s) were you trying to convey to both South Africans and Zimbabweans?
Answer:
We now live in a time when it’s no longer so important which country you come from as it is what social impact you impress upon the world. Will you be remembered as a red-hot bull branding iron that inflicts pain, or as a coal iron that warms and straightens up the social fabric of the world? No one else is going to come and fix our problems in Africa, and the best place for us to start is with unity rather than the “otherisation” of others. Every young African needs to urgently internalise this way of thinking.
Question: Afrophobia, unemployment, and racism are some of the themes in the book, what do you think make so many South Africans to be angry at their fellow African brothers and sisters?
Answer:
It’s wrong to say that all South Africans are angry with Africans from other parts of the continent. I have lived with South Africans for over six years of my life and that is testimony to their benevolence. However, xenophobia, racism and other forms of prejudice are global maladies that we will confront for some time to come. It’s our duty as young people to become even more vocal and active about them. That way, our children may have a better future than ours.
Question: You are among many Zimbabweans who find themselves in South Africa due to the poor economic challenges in the country of your birth. How does it make you feel that even under the so-called new leadership things remains the same in Zimbabwe?
Answer:
Without a doubt, the economic challenges in Zimbabwe are one of the push factors leading to the emigration of many people to other parts of the world, including South Africa. I feel optimistic for Zimbabwe because its people have shown extraordinary resilience through countless trying times. It’s my hope that it won’t take long to rebuild the country when the time has come for its respite.
Question: Zimbabwe is currently under turmoil, with human rights once again being trampled by the government and journalists being arrested for exposing corruption in the government, what message do you have for your fellow citizens who are continuously being terrorised by their government?
Answer:
I’m not sure whether Zimbabwean citizens are being terrorised by their government – I would need to research this in order to become better informed. Having said that, I believe Zimbabwe desperately needs a progressive way of thinking in order to come out of the doldrums: transformational leadership combined with civil participation.
Question: If you had to invite three African authors for a dinner at ‘the place where people eat and fart a little’, who will that be?
Answer:
I wouldn’t invite anyone to The Place Where People Eat and Even Fart a Little because that would empower and incentivise Caesar the oppressor and, frankly, I have moved on from that dark period of my life. I would take them elsewhere for dinner, where I would have kept quiet and listened to them speaking: Professor Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and James Baldwin.
Question: Should your readers expect a second book soon?
Answer:
Yes, I’m writing my next book and I will most likely publish it by 2022.
Question:
Which book are you currently reading?
Answer:
At the moment, I’m reading Dr Jakkie Cilliers’ Africa First: Igniting a Growth Revolution. He shares great insights on what Africa might become by 2063 through new reforms in agriculture, education manufacturing and governance, et cetera.
Question:
Your message to all foreign African students studying in South Africa?
Answer:
Your journey will be absolutely tumultuous, but strife should never overpower your desire to succeed against all odds. Don’t sweat the discomforts, dredge in and focus on your dream.