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From page to performance: Xitha Makgeta on the transformative power of art and literature

From page to performance: Xitha Makgeta on the transformative power of art and literature
Xitha Makgeta performing his poetry. Photo: Naji Copeland
Mick Raubenheimer
By Mick Raubenheimer
22 May 2025
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For the Pretoria-based poet who has a deep passion for anything art, his building of worlds contribute to the memory bank of the society he lives in, and he wishes to do so authentically.

Writer, poet and performer Xitha Makgeta is known for his poetry chapbooks Bits & Pieces (2010) and Pen Still Inking (2021). He is also an arts activist and the founder of poetry workshops, and has performed his work at various festivals and events.

When did you first identify as a creative artist?


It was a conscious and rebellious decision when I first started identifying as a creative. I was in Grade 12 doing my final year in high school.

But I’ve always been fascinated by words. I’ve always had a deep love for books. The smell of ink on paper stimulates certain senses I didn’t know existed. With books, through imagination, I could build worlds. I could feel myself existing in stories. I could deeply relate to different characters.

Poet Xitha Makgeta. (Photo: Blunt Moya)



Xitha Makgeta performing his poetry. (Photo: Naji Copeland)



That’s how I was captured by the power of literature. Reading also helped me to discover my voice. I realised that I too carry a lot of stories within that I needed to find a way to express, and that’s how I started picking up the pen. I was in high school, Grade 8 or 9, when I started journalling and writing poems.

Outside your medium, which branch of art most stimulates you?


It definitely has to be documentary film.

Which artist in said discipline has significantly inspired you, and why?


It varies from time to time. I’m currently drawn to the works of Omelga Mthiyane. She’s a South African documentary filmmaker. It’s always about the black experience throughout her films. I like the choice of subjects or issues that she confronts and engages.

Apart from just telling stories, there’s always an underlying sense of outreach for healing and closure in her work. I really enjoy watching her films – Ikhaya is one that stands out for me.

What, to you, is art’s most important function?


Art is the memory bank of a society. And apart from documenting the times, because of its reflective nature, art doesn’t take sides. It captures and exposes the beautiful and the most heinous of humanity. Art is supposed to be the silence when the world’s got a voice and the voice when the world turns silent.

Local creatives — in any medium — who excite you?


Through her Instagram account, my homegirl Fifi the RaiBlaster has been sharing some of the stuff she’s working on — some nice things that excite me.

I saw that there are some comic strips she’s been writing and obviously new music. We both come from Mamelodi, but I haven’t physically seen her in years. She’s one of the artists I hold in high regard — a very grounded and creative musician. Her last album, BlackMatter, (2017) is still on my playlist.

Which specific work, be it in literature, music, or visual art, do you return to again and again, and why?


GroundWorks Demolition: The MeStory (2002) and the compilation Pavement Special Volume 1 (2003). These are hip-hop mixtapes that feature some of my favourite rappers in the country: Ben Sharpa, Krook’d, Hueman, Hymphatic Thabs, to name a few. The illest time of the South African underground rap scene.

I rose from this era; it really helped me grow as an artist. It is also around this time that I got introduced to some of the best writers of our time. I return to any works by Dambudzo Marechera or Lesego Rampolokeng. Why? They’re genius. I’ve never met anyone who writes like they do.

What are your thoughts on the AI revolution?


Anything artificial intelligence (AI) generates lacks a human touch. There’s no authentic human experience attached to the machine. But we can’t be ignorant of the impact of AI and its potential in our daily lives. It has proven to be a game-changer in how people interact with the cyberworld.

It is a technological tool that can greatly advance us or catastrophically destroy us. There are specific industries in which I think AI can be exploited beneficially — the health and agriculture sectors, mining, etc. I find it difficult to reconcile with AI in the creative and arts sectors. I really believe that the most authentic and living artworks can be identified by the human experience that they embody.

Read more: Crossed Wires: AI — yeah, but is it art?

Any project you’re wrapping up?


Nothing in the pipeline yet. I’ve been trying to put together a small collection of short stories, but it’s been a struggle, a slow process that I’m honestly enjoying. I love how these stories keep evolving and mutating as I work and develop them further. I’ve been on this project for just over a year and hopefully, sometime soon, I’ll be able to share it with everyone. DM

Mick Raubenheimer is a freelance arts writer.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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