Cape Town - From journalist, restaurant owner, correctional services employee and now author, Simphiwe Xako, draws us through his debut novel, into the darkness of one of the country's most notorious prisons, its gangs and the corruption that fuels it.
Xako, was the former spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services.
In 2019, Xako, a loving father and husband, decided he needed a career change and placed his government pension fund into his dream of owning a restaurant.
But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Xako was left unemployed and had to think quickly on his feet on how to sustain himself.
Now years later, Xako, who is also former journalist, is set to release his first book, titled: “HOSH NONGOLOZA - KILL OR BE KILLED,” which is expected to be launched later this month.
Weekend Argus was given a copy of the book which was published by NF Saliwa Publishing cc.
The colourful, dynamic, robust and descriptive read delves the reader into the reality of Pollsmoor Prison in the Western Cape.
Xako cleverly utilises a character, named, Themba Magubane, a 24-yearold law student with a promising future, who is arrested one night while attending a party of a relative and is flung into a situation of being guilty by association after the house was under surveillance.
Themba finds himself behind bars at the notorious Pollsmoor Prison having to fight to survive and showcases the reality of the justice system.
The book illustrates and describes prison lingo such as Hosh Nongoloza, what the prison numbers, 26 or 27 meant, to the various sections of the prisons.
In one extract of the thriller novel it reads, “Prison sections i.e. maxim or medium Inmates, crammed into the choking darkness, spend all but an hour outside their cages, and even that precious hour is marred by the all-seeing eyes of the gangs.
“Outdoor courtyards become arenas of punishment and trade, where drugs and weapons flow as easily as whispered threats.”
“Hosh Nongoloza! The words boom through the eerie corridors of Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison like the ominous toll of a funeral bell, reverberating off its decaying walls.
“They don’t just echo; they seep into every dark corner, slithering down the corridors like a resonant curse.
“Every man hears them, and every man feels the weight of what’s to come—fear crawling under their skin.”
Xako shares that he worked as a journalist for South African newspapers and government departments, including Correctional Services.
Xako said his career in the behind the scenes of prisons paved the way for his sizzling book and taught him perseverance.
He was also faced with the harsh realities of juvenile detentions to the innocent finding themselves imprisoned for a crime they did not commit.
“When I joined the Department of Correctional Services as a spokesperson in 2007, one of my responsibilities was to accompany the Minister and Deputy Ministry and senior executives to all prisons around SA. These included Leeuwkop in (Johannesburg), Durban Westville (Durban), St Albans (Gqeberha) and Pollsmoor,” he said.
“But the most shocking of these inspection visits was when I met an eleven year old boy at one of these crushing facilities in Benoni (GP).
“I was emotionally crushed by the hopelessness and despair in this child's eyes.
“Here I was in the company of powerful politicians visiting these helpless people locked up in cages like animals.
“What if that poor thing happened to be my son. There are a lot of these helpless souls currently locked up in SA prisons without any chance of ever getting out. Another of these harrowing stories happened when I spoke to an inmate in Leeuwkop prison who, he had been accused of murder and armed robbery, but when the justice system discovered that he had been wrongfully arrested, he had been already in jail for nine years, and because soos hulle se, die is nie dzou ma se huis, you have to "take the Number" by killing someone.
“So by the time the State wanted to release the poor guy, they couldn't, because he had now committed so many hideous crimes that he was facing what is known as "further charges.”
He said he soon learnt how prison life had shaped some into hardened gang members and the sensation of politicians: “The guy had become so ruthless and feared in prison and he had fought his way all the way up to "general" status.
“The main problem is that politicians only visit prisons not because they care, they are just hunting for the glory of appearing in the news, especially television news.
“The essence of Hosh Nongoloza is a cry out on behalf of these boys and girls, who risk being arrested and rot in jail.”
One reviewer wrote of the book, “This narrative pulls readers into the gritty reality of Pollsmoor Prison, where gang loyalties, violence, and survival intertwine in a complex web of power and control.
“With first-hand experience in the correctional system and an extensive journalism background, Xako has crafted a novel that feels as genuine as it is haunting, taking readers beyond the surface of prison life to the intricate and often brutal dynamics within.
“Xako’s writing style is bold and unflinching, capturing the raw and unsettling reality of prison life with a journalist’s eye for detail and a novelist’s gift for narrative.”