Science majors triumph in BUA! Poetry Slam

Risk management, mathematics, and behavioural science. These appear to be the ingredients you need to make a good poet based on the results in a recent poetry slam.

Students in these degree programmes made it into the top three in the BUA! Poetry Slam competition’s first prelim, which took place on the Potchefstroom campus. 

On 5 April 2023, A group of 20 poets competed for the top three spots in three rounds. Anga Nkhwashu, a first-year BSc in Quantitative Risk Management student, said it was fun having the opportunity to share poetry with people who enjoy it. Nkhwashu, who won first place, said that he was surprised at how many people showed up at the event. “I really thought there wasn’t much of a creative scene in Potchefstroom. I saw the posters all over campus. The biggest pull factor for me was the chance to win a prize.” 

Although Nkhwashu is studying something completely different to literature, he said that he was interested in public speaking from a young age. “I partook in eisteddfods as often as I could. In grade 9, I came across a show called ‘Russell Simmons presents brave new voices’, and I was hooked,” Nkhwashu said. 

Alenoy Molefe, a second-year BSc in Mathematical Science student, said he entered the poetry slam to showcase his talent and express his love for poetry. Molefe, who secured second place, got into poetry in primary school. “In the 6th grade, I wrote my first poem that was about love. When you express yourself, emotions are attached at the highest level,” Molefe said. 

Refiloe Motloung, a third-year BA in Behavioural Science student said, “I have been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone, so I had to use this platform to help me do that.”

Motloung, who came third, said, “Poetry has become my escape from reality, a safe haven. It is my way of painting my thoughts with no restrictions. Putting my work out there makes me feel like I was able to reach out to someone who wouldn’t want everyone knowing that they are not okay.”

Each round of the slam had strict time limits for the poets reciting their original poems. Round one had a time limit of one minute, round two,  two minutes and the third and final round, three minutes. Once the time had elapsed, the DJ played a song to signal that time was up. After every poem, a panel of three judges individually scored the poems out of 10 based on content, craft and delivery. The winners won student bursaries as prizes. The first place winner received R1,500, second place received R1,000, and the third place winner, R750.

Leading up to the prelims, a hybrid and multilingual poetry slam workshop was held to prepare students for the prelim by introducing them to the art of slam poetry writing and performance. Poetry slam judge and senior lecturer at North-West University (NWU), Dr David wa Maahlamela said that the workshop offered entrants an opportunity to learn and sharpen their skills.

Dr Pieter Odendaal, senior lecturer in creative writing at NWU, said that the bua [which means, speak in Setswana] poetry movement, started last year when he began lecturing at NWU. “We invited well-known powers to perform and also hosted an open mic for students which was really the start of the BUA! activity.” He thinks of the competition as a great way for students to share their work and get feedback from the judges to grow poetry culture on campus. 

Wa Maahlamela said, “Apart from the actual prize, the poetry slam holds a platform to launch a career in literature and languages, with exposure to the national and possibly international slam stages.” 

Odendaal agrees. “The poetry slam provides space for students to be themselves in front of others. It’s a way of artistically helping build an inclusive society where you can be vocal and address issues that concern you most.” he said. 

Most entrants followed this direction and addressed issues such as rape, animal poaching and heartbreak. “I could sense that many of the poets were speaking from the heart and sharing things they really cared about. It was obvious in the way they used the words and their body language,” second-year LLB student, Refilwe Ntshangase, said. 

The winners will compete against the winners from the Vanderbilijpark and Mahikeng campuses in the poetry slam final on the Potchefstroom campus in September 2023. By Martha Radebe and Tamry Esiri