Koro (Paperback)

‘Koro’ is a fable-like telling in the tradition of old African ways of the coming of age of a black Zimbabwean boy, Wittington Mudeka.

Wittington has a close relationship to his mother, with whom he lives in a domestic set-up adjacent to the main house where his mother works. He travels across the border to find work once it becomes clear that his prospects for work in his home town are negligible and trusting that his dreams will morph neatly into reality, he finds himself embarking upon a life-changing path that leads him from the sheltered protection of his home-life in Harare to the bright prospects he imagines await him in Egoli, South Africa.

Interwoven, with a distinct taste of African magic, are threads of contemporary occurrence and concern: taboo, the administering of witchdoctor wisdom, muti healings and curses. The story is blended with the legend of Koro - the panic of genital theft by evil spirits - a curse that today still rattles the bones of any believers. Wittington witnesses a xenophobic incident directed at ‘makwerekwere’ - migrant labourers - as his train pulls into Johannesburg Central Station. This act of hatred fills Wittington with new, overwhelming feelings of fear and confusion and he immediately begins to question the wisdom of his decision to move. A taxi-driver picks up Wittington from the station and takes pity on the boy because he is aware of how dangerous Egoli can be for an 'innocent'. He offers Wittington a place to sleep and Wittington is introduced to Moses’ family; his wife Ruth and his three-year-old daughter, Selina.

Wittington is offered temporary employment at a Spar shop in one of Egoli’s townships - managed by Moses’ wife’s cousin, Lazarus - who it transpires governs a gang of men involved in syndicate robberies in the suburbs. Wittington is transfixed by Lazarus’ sense of style and his glamorous life and he is easily manipulated by Lazarus and his boys. The promise of money and status sees Wittington drawn deeper and deeper into Lazarus’ underworld without his fully realising the implications of his actions. Wittington spirals from despair into desperate chaos and ends up compromising his soul for the sake of the capitalist trap.