This comes as he has penned a collection of poems under a book titled “Emeralds of the Crazy Mind”. Speaking to OFM News, Makhele said the title of the book explains the fact that where society sometimes sees madness it is, in fact, a precious gem. He said that the works featured in the book cover a span of over twenty years and with every poem published, readers will have insight into his life philosophies, political ideologies, personal reflections and questions he has with regards to religion. As he published this book, he made a decision to go with a lesser known publisher, who is known in Mangaung circles as Charmaine Kolwane Mrwebi. Makhele elaborates on his decision to choose Mrwebi’s Charmza Literary Club. 

Listen to Makhele here:  

https://iono.fm/e/699308#

The book was published in December last year, then launched earlier this year in April and has received outstanding reviews from members of the public who have read it, including the former Minister of Home Affairs, Siyabonga Cwele, who on Monday bought the book.

Meanwhile, Kolwane says she believes that Makhele’s book will have a lot to offer readers in both the region and province as it provides telling insights into how the political and social landscapes have changed between 1997 and 2017. She adds that the book will also help readers understand how Makhele’s ideologies were shaped over the years as some of the poems in the book are some of the first he had ever written.

“This has been great for scholars in the city because at our launch earlier this year, 80% of those in attendance were scholars from grades 8 to 12 and they too were captivated by Makhele’s works and it served educational for them to learn about issues the author touched on or questions he raised in the book,” Kolwane said.

Meanwhile, she also said that as a small publisher, she is pleasantly surprised at how well the book has done in such a short space of time. “Yes, we have not sold millions but I love that it’s breaking the stereotypes that exist in small publisher circles and how well it’s doing,” she says. She attributes much of this success to Makhele’s willingness to work with her in marketing the book and says part of why it’s done so well, is because of this. The book is Makhele’s second poetry collection as his first was titled “Writings on the Palm Tree” and was published in 2006. This first work is now also available in all public libraries in the Free State, while those interested in ordering his second book, Emeralds of the Crazy Mind, are requested to contact Mrwebi at 073 291 1066.

OFM News