News & Articles

My name is Marilize de Wet. I am 41 years old, from Pretoria and work as a classroom assistant for Gr R pupils. I got hooked on reading stories when I was only 4 years old! My mom gave me a story book, with audio cassette, and although I could not read the words yet, I followed the pictures of the story while listening to…

My name is Madikapi (also known as ‘Pulane’) Mahlasela. I was born and bred in Heilbron, a small town in Free State. I currently stay in Cape Town. I became concerned by the most recent national survey of reading which shows that 78% of grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning, and this is attributed to the lack of reading material and…

To commemorate Literacy and Heritage Month, Nal’ibali – the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign – in collaboration with Standard Bank have partnered to bring South African families six free brand-new children’s stories in African languages to celebrate and understand some of the unique customs practised by different cultures in South Africa.     Included in the series titled, ‘Celebrating Mzansi’ is an isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho, Sepedi, Setswana, and…

Hello there! I am Karen Olivier from Nelspruit in Mpumalanga.  Being a primary school teacher and having two adorable grandchildren inspired me to write children’s  stories. I decided to publish stories with Nali’ibali because I have first-hand experience of the positive effect that stories have especially on less-fortunate children who cannot afford books or don’t have access to libraries. Apart from the wonderful imaginary world to which…

Since its inception in 2012, Nal’ibali, South Africa’s prime reading-for-enjoyment campaign, has partnered with numerous stakeholders to maximize its impact. Now, in its 10th year, the campaign has expanded its reach beyond South African borders. Its latest collaboration with international language-learning platform, Duolingo, will offer nearly 50 million active monthly language learners across the globe the opportunity to learn isiZulu for free.  Duolingo announced the launch of…

I am Zahida Wahab and I am proud to call myself a resident of the Bayview community, which is a vibrant, melting pot of diversity. It is also rich in the spirit of Ubuntu. This was my first foray into writing Children’s stories. I have always written for adults, so it was both challenging and enriching. I was inspired to write for children after joining…