Guest: Qingqile Mdlulwa Correspondent at Everyday Xhosa

Today’s isiXhosa phrase is “IKATI ILELE EZIKO” (the cat is sleeping on the stove). IKATI
(cat) ILELE( is sleeping) EZIKO (on the stove). Before you start calling the vet or the SPCA, or rising to applaud this brave cat. Allow me to explain, the stove is cold, because it hasn’t been used in a while.

There’s no food to cook. IKATI ILELE EZIKO, is a figure of speech used to describe the desperate situation which many families in South Africa and around the world are in.
Covid-19 and the lockdown has left a lot of people with nothing to eat. How I look forward to the day when the cat goes back to sleeping at their owners’ feet.