Motimele

Aletta Matshediso Motimele

Well-known radio drama writer and actor. She wrote more than thirty radio dramas; serial dramas and one-act play. The SABC Commissioned her to write a horror. She wrote Lebone la lehu, which shook the listeners and forced them to switch their televisions off and concentrate on the horror infested with Zombies and witches. After the horror no one wanted to go outside for they were scared of meeting Serolorolo the most feared Zombi. She also acted the TV drama by the name of Mokgonyana mmatswale as Mmatsokotla.

She is a multi- award winner. In 1985 she received Astera award as Best radio

drama actor. In 1996 Bokamoso bja ka was nominated as Best Radio script for Artes. Both old and young loved her dramas. Steve Kekana the music legend, asked her to write a drama on the theme he gave to her. She wrote a bomb named Kanyakanya Moepong which forced the audiences to rush home when story-time approached.

She switched to book writing in 1994. Some of her dramas were compiled into books and read by learners. E.g. Nkgatoge, Mepipi ka moka e a na, Ngwana wa mpsa etc. Some of her books won the Maskew Miller Longman Literary awards, e.g. Podilane Mankga, Matsaka, Tsa malapa, Mepipi ka moka e a na and Ditokelo. Ngwana wa mpsa won the M Net Literary award in 2006.

She is now a judge for Maskew Miller Longman Literary competitions.

Because of her expertise in literature, she won many awards from different institutions. In 2006 PANSALB awarded her as Best radio drama writer. The National Arts Council also noticed her contribution in the arts and gave her The Living Treasures Award in 2004. Other awards she won are:

• Arts Achievers Award, Mapungubwe
• Lifetime Achievers award
• Eric Moloto Foundation award, Limpopo
• Heritage Foundation Award, Mapungubwe
• MEC Lifetime Achievers award
• Women in writing, Centre for the book award 2017
• PALA awards – 2014.

She facilitated in the Kgare ya Afrika poetry project at Cross Media Training Centre in 2006. Her poems were great and the project team selected her to present her poem during Women’s Day celebrations at the Union Buildings. Story- teller on the International Children’s Day at The Union Buildings where

former president Thabo Mbeki listened to her story together with the children. He remarked that a good story-teller is always a good singer.

A member of Limpopo Arts and Culture Council during 2006 +. She presented her powerful poems and stories during Mapungubwe Arts festival. New and upcoming authors consult her for guidance.

She was invited by UNISA communication Students Association to present on the theme “The Art of

Dramatic Writing”, which was a great success because she is a great playwright.

She read her powerful poem; Maragathetho during Limpopo Literary Festival which was held at New Peter Mokaba Stadium. The poem is specifically meant for women.

She represented Limpopo province at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown on the theme: How to conduct literary workshops in diverse languages of Limpopo province.

She delivered a powerful speech during Women’s Day celebration at Meropa Casino in Polokwane.

Advocate Thuli Madonsela was a guest speaker. She loved Aletta’s speech and always quoted her when

she delivered her speech. Since then, Thuli sends Aletta best wishes on special days.

In 1997 she was part of the crew that adapted/ translated OBE learning programmes into different languages. She was doing sepedi language. During the time of adaptation she wrote foundation phase series called Sediba sa Thuto with two co-authors.

She wrote more than thirty books of which some she wrote alone and some with co-writers. She write all genre in sepedi.