'The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way': Anwar Mc Kay shares his journey of inner healing

Sara-Jayne Makwala King is joined by Anwar Mc Kay and Marc Lottering for the Profile Feature on CapeTalk Weekend Breakfast.

Around 18 months ago, musical theatre director Anwar Mc Kay told Sara-Jayne Makwala King about the book he was writing during a CapeTalk interview.

Now, Mc Kay is a recently-published author and his memoir The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way is already in for its first reprint.

For a boy who felt unseen, the adult Mc Kay is now very much in the public eye, especially being married to high-profile comedian Marc Lottering.

The pair join Sara-Jayne in-studio, for a heartfelt and also hilarious interview.

RELATED: Marc Lottering and Anwar McKay share their incredible love story

Adjectives being used over and over to describe Mc Kay's memoir, seen as a testament to inner healing, are 'raw' and 'authentic'.

To cite the Book Lounge's summary - "Labelled a ‘moffie’, this boy from Bramble Way gets buried alive under the weight of emotional violence targeted at him from members of his own community in Bonteheuwel on the Cape Flats, rendering him invisible and voiceless."

The author says it was a nine-month process to write the book and he never quite knew what he was going to type on a given day.

"It felt like a magical experience because it would just come pouring out of me... and I remember feeling that I would have to be very truthful if I was going to make it to the end."

Anwar Mc Kay, Author - The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way

He started writing during the COVID pandemic, a period that was traumatic for everyone, says Mc Kay.

The author himself was going through a particularly traumatic time, with his beloved mother in and out of hospital.

"Inevitably, the political context (of apartheid) just took shape... But, I also capture the very special relationship with my mom. I had a need to reflect on my heritage and that's when I would be calling her daily with questions about our history, and I think it was from there that the political narrative developed, including forced removals."

Anwar Mc Kay, Author - The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way

Mc Kay highlights how readers, particularly from the Cape Flats, connect with the story he tells, as evidenced at the first launch at the Baxter Theatre which was MC'd by Sara-Jayne. (The second launch is set for 17 September at Exclusive Books Cavendish Square - book here)

Mc Kay is also at pains to tell people, through his book, that communities on the Cape Flats were not always the violence-riddled ones that we see reflected in the headlines so often today.

"Bonteheuwel is no different to any other suburb on the Cape Flats that has gone up in flames. It was very important for me to paint the picture that it wasn't always like that, because there was a time when it was gun-free and gangster-free."

Anwar Mc Kay, Author - The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way

"I think it's important that this sparks a conversation."

Marc Lottering, Comedian

His childhood was wonderful in the close-knit Bonteheuwel community, 'until it wasn't', Mc Kay shares - when he was 'othered'.

"I was made to feel that I was different... When the children turned on me, I really couldn't make sense of it. I desperately wanted to protect those that loved me, from seeing me through these kids' eyes - 'oh, I believe you are a moffie', so suddenly you have a label slapped on your forehead... and you feel there's something very, very wrong with you."

Anwar Mc Kay, Author - The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way

After burying his pain inside himself for so long, Mc Kay says the catharsis happened for him over the past week, doing interviews and the Baxter book launch, feeling the public support of so many people.

"I absolutely believed that if they saw me in that way, my family would stop loving me so I was protecting them, especially my mother, and all my life I perfected the art of wearing a mask. And that's why when I was on stage (at the Baxter launch), it was the unmasking. It was counterintuitive - I felt the safest unmasking, I felt so free and seen."

Anwar Mc Kay, Author - The Invisible Boy from Bramble Way

Scroll up the audio player to listen to this fascinating, in-depth interview