Young Sepedi writer scoops award with debut book

Young Sepedi writer, Phuti Jorries Seboni, has scooped the an award with his debut book, Lesogana La Mahlale (Naughty Boy) at the African Honoree Authors’ Awards at the Mandela Square Sandton Library on Wednesday.

Born and bred in Bochum, Limpopo, Seboni, a radio presenting graduate and actor, has defied the odds that come with disadvantaged background to write his debut book titled Lesogana La Mahlale which he self-published in 2023.

The book, he says, is about a talented young man who experienced hardship during his upbringing in poverty and moved to Gauteng seeking better opportunities. However, Seboni says the young man, who eventually becomes an artist, fails to take advantage of the opportunities that come his way and eventually loses it all – the complete opposite of Seboni who himself seems to be making the best of his move from Bochum to Gauteng.

“So, the book is about encouraging people, who come from disadvantaged backgrounds like me, to be wary of the opportunities they get and take full advantage of them,” he says. “In my life, I have seen a lot of people, who didn’t have anything growing up, becoming lucky and having it all and then losing it all, which is actually very sad to watch. I am trying to conscientize people to such in my book.”

Seboni, who has just scooped the award in the Empowerment Category, says the award came as a huge surprise.

“To me, it’s something amazing. I couldn’t believe that I could win an award with my first book. I was expecting to only get some recognition maybe after writing a couple of books but this book called Lesogana la Mahlale just keeps surprising me. I’m still shocked that I have achieved this.”

From author to award-winning author is how Seboni says he will now be introducing himself.

It is an inspirational novel book pic.twitter.com/EUnK94gR8r

— Phuti Jorries Seboni (@PhutiSeboni) June 18, 2024

Lesogana La Mahlale is written in Sepedi and Seboni says this was to preserve the Sepedi language and encourage reading among children from poor backgrounds.

The book has also been nominated in the Best Sepedi Book category of the upcoming The Book Behind Awards which will be held later this year.

His latest work is a children’s book titled, Rakgolo Masoba.

“This book is for children and it is about a grandpa who likes to play with kids but not just playing with them, but also sharing motivational stories with them. The aim of this book is to motivate kids and to encourage them to respect every elders, which is a very important value in African culture,” says Seboni whose acting career has also seen appear on TV series like Skeem Sam and Isibaya, among others.

The 7th AfriCAN Honoree Authors’ Awards 2024 .

An award winner. I’m very much happy to be honerd pic.twitter.com/S4BAknDhKj

— Phuti Jorries Seboni (@PhutiSeboni) July 31, 2024