Eager to get a feel for South Africa, many start tracking down the best books about the country or written by South African authors. There are thousands upon thousands of books, but only the best ones catch the eye. As you read these books, you'll realize most of the themes are depressing, yet impactful. The stories and history will stay with you and leave you thinking well beyond the last page.
Nelson Mandela, a pivotal figure in South African history.
Johannesburg: A City of Contrasts
Johannesburg, more commonly called Joburg or Jozi, has it all from Africa’s richest Square Mile (Sandton) to the gritty CBD (Central Business District). It’s a city of contrasts and gives authors a fantastic backdrop for all adventures. I picked up a copy of Joburg Noir when visiting a bookstore downtown in the CBD. From drugs and crime to relationships, the stories focus on the underbelly of Johannesburg. I loved reading through the stories and identifying streets, shops, and restaurants that the authors include.
Yeoville once was the center of a thriving cultural and artistic community in Johannesburg. It developed into an eclectic community where both blacks and whites were welcome. Following the end of Apartheid, the community shifted and is now a “little Africa” within Joburg; many immigrants from Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Nigeria move to Yeoville. However, many of the cornerstone restaurants that characterized Yeoville have either moved or closed completely. Nowadays, tourists and ex-pats alike are told to avoid Yeoville for high crime. It’s fascinating to go back in time with this book.
The Gold Diggers is an interconnected story of African immigrants in Johannesburg and the discrimination and struggles they face. It’s a dramatic and depressing easy read.
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South African Writers of Indian Descent
Moving on from Johannesburg and going further back in time, South African writers of Indian descent have fascinated many. Why did South Africa need indentured labor in the first place? Well, basically there was no labor force willing to work the British government’s sugar plantations in the province of Natal in the 1850s. The Zulu people of the region refused to work for the colonizers so instead, they requested indentured laborers from India.
At first, migration was slow. However, when famines and epidemics (such as cholera) struck India in 1866, Indians grabbed at a chance of a new life in South Africa and boarded ships bound for South Africa. At one end, laborers were encouraged to stay on in Natal as they filled the labor gap in the country. They were offered free passage back to India if they renewed their contracts for 10 years. Additionally, laborers were typically not able to afford to return to India on their own; payment to laborers was often sporadic, withheld, or never paid out so they could not buy a return ticket or buy their own land once ‘freed’.
On the other end, between 1914 and 1930, the British government attempted a multipronged approach to, in essence, get rid of Indians by introducing repatriation back to India and emigration out of South Africa. Get a more complete picture and information by reading The Heritage Portal and the introduction of Jesus is Indian.
Jesus is Indian was the first introduction to the genre, describing the hidden culture of South Africans of Indian descent. Sam’s short stories describe the hidden culture of South Africans of Indian descent. The Lotus People by Aziz Hassim is an epic story of two families from India living in South Africa. It includes incredible historical detail on the experiences and struggles of Indians from the 1880s up to the 1950s.
For my birthday in 2022, Wilhelm (knowing my obsession with this genre) bought me the newly published Across the Kala Pani. The story follows four women as they decide to leave India for the promises of South Africa. This book takes inspiration from the author’s actual ancestors who journeyed to South Africa and their historical records. I was enthralled and read the book in two days.
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Books on Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa
Bitter Fruit by Achmat Dangor is a depressing and unsettling book following the black middle-class post-apartheid. It was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and the IMPAC-Dublin Literary Award. The story follows a black lawyer for the Justice Department who encounters the white police lieutenant who raped his wife two decades before. His marriage starts to fall apart and his son experiences doubts about who he is. Another depressing but dramatic book that’ll stay with you.
I loved Against an African Sky and Other Stories by Farida Karodia. The five stories are impactful, ranging from across South Africa, with a father who lost his wife and children to a disabled man in a small town. Jesus is Indian inspired my interest in this hidden history.
After much googling, a couple of links with book recommendations for this genre were found. Luckily, a single article with a short history and a list of books by South African authors of Indian descent was found. Mothers and Other Strangers is a contemporary book about a young woman living in NYC learning about her mother and her reasons for leaving South Africa after her death. Reads like a soul-searching mystery book.
Hum If You Don’t Know the Words is set in Johannesburg during Apartheid in 1975. It centers around a young girl and her relationship with her aunt after the sudden death of the young girl’s parents. At the same time, a black mother is searching for her daughter who is participating in student protests.
Notable South African Authors and Their Works
J M. Coetzee is one of South Africa’s most famous authors and was the 2003 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
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The Promise by Damon Galgut won the Booker Prize in 2021. It’s an epic family saga detailing guilt, broken promises, and hope of a white family outside Pretoria near the end of apartheid.
Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Patron is the passionate story of a Zulu pastor and his son set against the background of racial injustice.
William Kentridge is one of South Africa’s most prolific artists. His work is displayed around the world. To the layman, his most popular work may be the “Triumphs and Laments,” along the Tiber River Walkway in Rome. Kentridge is also known for his short animated/sketch movies and printmaking. He lives and works in Johannesburg.
The perfect coffee table book to inspire you to visit Joburg, Hidden Johannesburg is a collection of stunning photographs by Alain Proust, with an explanation of the historical sites by Paul Duncan. We were gifted this book by one of my best friends when we moved to Joburg as a housewarming present.
Autobiographies and Memoirs
Long Walk to Freedom: A book that barely needs an introduction, Long Walk to Freedom is the autobiography of South Africa’s first black president and the head of South Africa’s antiapartheid movement. Get it on the kindle version here.
Born A Crime: Written by veteran Late Night show host, Trevor Noah, Born a Crime is his autobiography. It’s a wild coming-of-age story that’ll keep you up at night.
Down Second Avenue by Es’kia Mphahlele was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1969. Mphahlele’s experience growing up in segregated South Africa. Vivid, graceful, and unapologetic, it details a daily life of severe poverty and brutal police surveillance under the subjugation of an apartheid regime.
Travel Guides
It goes without saying that Lonely Planet has the ultimate travel book guide to South Africa. Also, check out Bradt’s Highlight Guide.
Historical Accounts
Saul David is a historian and broadcaster. He specializes in wars of empire and is the author of The Indian Mutiny (shortlisted for the Westminster medal for military literature). His latest book, Zulu: The Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879, is published by Viking (£20).
The Battle of Isandlwana, a significant event in the Zulu War.
Here are some other notable historical accounts:
- The Boer War by Thomas Packenham: Exhaustive research resulted in a completely new take on many aspects of the war.
- The Washing of the Spears by Donald Robert Morris: A history of the rise and fall of the Zulu nation and a no-holds-barred account of British colonial and military policy in South Africa.
- My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan: A fascinating insight into apartheid South Africa by a young Afrikaner who tried to shed his inbuilt racism.
- The Broken String: The Last Words of an Extinct People by Neil Bennun: An account of Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd's labor of love, and the remarkable culture they saved for posterity.
- The Afrikaners by John Fisher: A majestic history of the white settlers of Dutch, German and French descent who dominated South African politics for more than 300 years.
- The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation by John Laband: The history of the 'Black Spartans', from their rise under Shaka to their deliberate destruction by the British in 1879.
- Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela: Riveting memoir by one of the great moral and political role models of the 20th century.
- Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War by Denys Reitz: Rivals The Storm of Steel as a war memoir of brutal frankness.
- The Bang-Bang Club: The Making of the New South Africa by Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva: A compelling and honest account of South Africa's transition from apartheid to black majority rule.
- Jameson's Raid by Elizabeth Pakenham: A groundbreaking study of the famous raid that foreshadowed the Boer War.
Additional Reads
With the passing of Nelson Mandela, ‘the father of the nation’, comes the end of an era, and the moment to look back on his remarkable saving, and remaking, of South Africa. Embark on an exhilarating journey through the pulse-pounding narrative of South African history.
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun is a stirring memoir of the disintegration of a family set against the collapse of a country. This book challenges those who are choosing attitudes that knock South Africa down rather than build it up.
Rhodesia, 1964: a small boy witnesses the death of his neighbor, murdered by guerrillas - it is the beginning of the end of White rule in Africa.
Step into the untold story of resilience, perseverance, and hope in The Son of a Sharecropper by Roger Leaks Jr.
APARTHEID 46 YEARS IN 90 SECONDS - BBC NEWS
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