Isebe lenkawu alisinqabelanga ncam singabantu, kuba siza kutsho sithi intsha yonke le nto. Ngokwenza njalo, singqina ngqo oko kukhalinyelwa ngumbhali uSonwabile Mfecane kwincwadi yakhe ethi, Isabhokhwe, xa athi: english abstract: the study investigates text properties of the consumer--advice magazine article in xhosa within the framework of the genre--based approach to literacy and writing. the view of writing as component of the communication competence component in grabe and kaplan's (1996) theory of writing is assumed. it is argued that the analysis of (non--fictional) genres is a core ability in terms of the specifications of curriculum 2005 for outcomes--based language teaching for writing skills. the term genre as it is used within genre theory refers to a (non--fictional) text which has an identifiable social (or cultural) purpose, an identifiable form (including beginning, middle and end) and specific constrains on the possible deviations allowed in its form. this study will examine seven bona magazine articles to establish what identifiable generic properties can be attributed to these genretexts. the cognitive move structure of these magazine articles on consumer advice will be analysed to determine whether a typical move structure occurs for this genre. the text--linguistic properties of the various magazine articles will be investigated invoking grabe and kaplan's model of text--structure. in particular, properties like pronominal reference conjunctive devices, which contribute to text coherence and cohesion will be considered as well as lexical choices as a reflection of communicative purpose. finally, the study will briefly address the issue of the significance of the genre--text knowledge underlying writing skills as the relevant kind of knowledge to be developed in terms of the specifications of outcomes--based language teaching in curriculum 2005. the kind of analytic skills exemplified in the examination of the xhosa magazine articles are therefore necessitated for accomplishing the outcomes for writing. the nationale for developing such analytic abilities with respect to writing skills is to empower learners to be competent writers in their future career lives.