Such a Lonely, Lovely Road

By Kagiso Lesego Molope

Kabelo Mosala has been the perfect child, bright and attractive.  In his small South African community, it is expected that he will return after university to join his father's medical practice.  But all the while Kabelo and his schoolmate Sediba have harboured a strong mutual attraction that dares not show itself in the open.  As they mature into young adulthood, and Kabelo becomes a doctor, they form a strong romantic relationship of intermittent secret encounters.  But Kabelo is torn between his love for Sediba and his responsibility to his family and community.  Can he return, openly declare his gay relationship, and yet serve his people who need him, at a time when young people are increasingly succumbing to the ravages of AIDS?  In this tender love story, in her characteristic, beautifully modulated voice, with razor-sharp clarity Kagiso Lesego Molope tackles an urgent issue in her country of birth.