By Ndalo Mbombo
“I remember seeing the subject line in my emails and thinking I’m about to see bad news. For a good two minutes I couldn’t even express any emotion, I was just shocked. And the first person I called was my mother with the words ‘you are never going to believe this!'” says shortlisted playwright Naledi Malotana.
Malotana has been shortlisted with three other talented playwrights for the 2025 National Arts Festival National Playwright competition. They are Thozama Busakwe, writer of Sasikhe Sabhabha (isiXhosa and English); Lwando Sindaphi, writer of I Will Teach You How to Share the Milk (English); and Campbell Meas, writer of The Mechanics of Play (English). All four will be paired with a mentor to refine their scripts in preparation for the final stage of the competition.
Malotana is an artist who is also pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Drama as her second major at Rhodes University. The title of the play that placed her in the top four finalist category is The Glass Ceiling. “The play was inspired by my mother; she is a soldier,” she shared. Through creative expression and deliberate crafting, Malotana highlights the exclusionary culture women are subject to in the professional world while dealing with the theme of women’s empowerment and challenging the lack of progress in society.
Written in both English and IsiZulu, the play also celebrates the rich and diverse linguistic tapestry of South Africa. She is an artist that is here to challenge the norm, Malotana says: “I am interested in sparking conversations about unconventional things.”
In addition to the R20 000 cash prize, the winning play script will be staged at the 2025 National Arts Festival, and all four finalists walk away with a refined, completed play. This competition carves out space for emerging playwrights to produce work they are proud of, honours their voices and their linguistic backgrounds and offers a space to explore the art of storytelling.
