While guarding cars at the busy CapeGate Shopping Centre in Brackenfell, Cape Town, refugee Eric Kabanga always keeps his notebook and pen close by – just in case inspiration strikes for one of his dystopian novels or movie scripts.
Written in his home language, French, four of Eric’s scripts have already been translated into English. His stories imagine a bleak future shaped by climate collapse and nuclear war. A world where survival hangs by a thread, and humanity is forced to reckon with its choices.
Now 40, Eric fled war-torn Congo a decade ago in search of safety in South Africa. Amid the noise of shopping trolleys and passing cars, he finds solace in exploring futuristic themes that mirror the painful truths of our present.
Though his work is mostly fiction, Eric sees his writing as a mirror held up to society – a way to expose the uncomfortable realities we often choose to ignore.
“We talk a lot about nuclear war and climate change,” he says, “but how deeply do we really understand the consequences?”
In one of his imaginary tales, intelligent beings from outer space hold a Q&A session with humanity. Their mission? To help humans comprehend the irreversible damage they’re doing to the planet, and to themselves.
“Using their advanced knowledge, the beings paint a picture of a post-nuclear, overheated Earth that is no longer fit for life,” he tells TygerBurger.
These ideas, and the memories of the war he escaped, are never far from his mind as he spends up to ten hours a day out in the elements, directing cars.
Erratic weather changes
He recalls the Congo of his childhood, where rain only fell for six months of the year.
“This year, it’s been raining all year, even during what’s meant to be our summer. The country hasn’t experienced winter at all,” he says, pointing to the increasingly erratic weather patterns across the globe.
“When will we finally realise the consequences of our actions?” he asks, thinking of his own three children, and what their children will inherit.
“It’s like we don’t think that far ahead. Through my writing, I hope to shake people awake. We hear about nuclear bombs on the news almost every day, but can we truly imagine a world where nuclear war becomes reality?”
Eric began writing at the age of 20 as a way to process the trauma of the war unfolding around him at the time.
“I started by writing about my life to get the constant thoughts out of my head and onto paper, so they wouldn’t be forgotten,” he says, recalling a time of immense pain, during which conflict that started in his home country in 1996 had claimed millions of lives. He managed to escape.
He shared his writing with someone who was deeply moved by it, a moment that pushed him to keep going.
“Since then, I haven’t stopped. It’s my dream to inspire as many people as possible with my stories. I want people to hear them, and truly understand.”
He has written nine movie scripts, several books, and even a few songs he hopes to one day share with the world, and perhaps even sell.
To learn more about his work contact Eric at kabangaeric0@gmail.com
