Testify in Zulu

Fa-ka-za, give evidence or proof.

U-bu-fa-ka-zi is proof in Zulu, but I’m in a quandary.  Is giving proof and testifying in court one and the same thing?  Testifying can be anywhere, not just in court.  I suppose testifying is about the truth of the matter. 

Old Hollywood movies liked the story idea of the Mafia killing a potential witness, which sometimes led to a witness protection programme.  Such movies were so prolific, ordinary Italians had to fend off the stigma that they were all Mafia.  Whether the Mafia was for real, or just Hollywood’s imagination, we would never know.

Fa-ka-za.  The first syllable is pronounced like famine, the second like kamikaze and the last one like Zagreb.

ZULU	ENGLISH
Fakazile.	A girl’s name, the one who testified, or gave proof.  It depends on the circumstances of her birth.  Maybe the father said the baby was not his, and guess what, the little girl is his spitting image, like Malia Obama and her dad, Barack Obama.
Fakaza.	A boy’s name meaning testify or give proof.
Fakaza, wo-za la.	Fakaza, come here.
Fakazile, wo-za la.	Fakazile, come here.
O-ba-ni a-ma-ga-ma a-ma-we-le?	What are the twins’ names?
A-ma-we-le u-Fakaza no-Fakazile.	The twins are Fakaza and Fakazile.
A-bu-kho u-bu-fa-ka-zi.	There is no proof.
U-Dimitri wa-ni-ka u-bu-fa-ka-zi.	Dimitri gave evidence.
U-Lena wa-ni-ka u-bu-fa-ka-zi.	Lena gave evidence.
Ngi-ya-fa-ka-za a-ngi-yi-tha-tha-nga i-ma-li.	I swear, I didn’t steal the money.
Fa-ka-za e-bha-yi-bhe-le-ni.	Swear on the bible.
Ngi-fa-ka-za ngo-da-de-we-thu.	I swear on my sister.  The literal meaning is that I cannot sleep with my sister.  It’s more profound when it is said in the language isiZulu.

 By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang