South Africa is a country blessed with a diverse people who find it easy to indulge in each other’s languages and cultures and people are not shy to share these with others. We are also a people who try to find humour in our struggles and we have a lot of those, when it rains it pours – ziyakhala ke manje. Ziyakhala ke manje simply means when it rains it pours.

But we also have a lot of good things happening, and so Ziyakhala ke manje can also be used in a positive situation. So while, “He was sued for R500 000 – ziyakhala ke manje!” is of course being used when something bad has happened, the following is an example of the expression’s use in a positive context:

“There’s another exciting FunDza Friday story; ziyakhala ke manje!”

Ziyakhala ke manje comes from the Zulu language. When and where the phrase was coined is unknown, but it was popularized on social media – as is the case with all things these days.

The diversity of our languages allows us to have a number of phrases that allows us to easily and colourfully express how we’re feeling and what we’re going through.

We are blessed country. Ziyakhala ke manje!

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Tell us: Have you used Ziyakhala ke manje, either positively or negatively?