A Xhosa song about working in the gold mines of Johannesburg. These short work songs are sung rhythmically by a group of miners to make the work easier. Rhini, Qonce and Tinarha are the Xhosa names for three of the local gold mines.
A mighty bell is six o’clock:
I went to Rhini and found the men
Driven by six o’clock:
I went to Qonce and found the men
Toiling at six o’clock:
Back at Tinarha I found the men
Bullied by six o’clock!
from Towards An African Literature:
The Emergence of Literary Form in Xhosa;
by A.C. Jordan
University of California Press, 1973.
