Babilon : Johannesburg in Die Koloniale Tydperk, 1902-1910. Karel Schoeman, Eerste uitgawe, Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis, 2021. ISBN 9781485313052, R 420.00

Die derde deel van die reeks Imperiale somer word aan Johannesburg in die onmiddellike nasleep van die Anglo-Boereoorlog gewy, waarby alle dele van die destydse gemeenskap aandag geniet, met inbegrip van die swart stadsinwoners en die ontwikkeling van ’n eie stadskultuur onder hulle en die mynwerkers. Dit is ‘n vertelling – deur middel van anekdotes en klein kameebeskrywings – van die inwoners se uiteenlopende belewing van Johannesburg tussen 1902 en 1910. Schoeman maak gebruik van verhandelinge en bekom verdere inligting uit onder andere sosiologiese verslae, hofsake en sensasionele koerantberigte.

The Extraordinary Khotso : Millionaire Medicine Man from Lusikisiki. Felicity Wood and Michael Lewis. Second Impression , Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2021, ISBN 9781770093614, R 330.00

Khotso Sethuntsa, the near-legendary medicine man, was believed to be a worker of powerful and dangerous magic. Khotso was renowned and feared throughout South Africa and beyond, even after his death in 1972. He created a fabulous eccentric kingdom around himself. He has been surrounded by mystery: the origins of his fortune and the extent of his powers shrouded in secrecy.

This title takes us into the world of one of southern Africa’s best-known herbalists. Khotso was famed, especially, as a seller of ibangalala, a herbal remedy for sexual potency, and ukuthwala, a terrifying procedure for acquiring long-term wealth. Also, he claimed to be in spiritual contact with Paul Kruger, hinting that his fortune derived from the long-lost Kruger millions. Meanwhile, leading Afrikaner Nationalists politicians, including H.F. Verwoed and J.G. Strijdom, sought Khotso out – for his medicines for political power, it has been said.

Some believed that Khotso had entered into an occult pact with the mamlambo, the seductive mermaid woman who grants wealth at a terrible price. It is rumoured that the tragic twists and turns in his life sprung from this. Yet, as one of his many wives said, he was, too, ”a lively, joking medicine man who loved money, sex and laughter.”

This book unravels many of the mysteries surrounding Khotso Sethuntsa. It explores his unique empire and tracks his extraordinary career.

Kompoun : ’n Roman, Ronelda S. Kamfer, Eerste uitgawe ed. Kaapstad, Suid-Afrika: Kwela Books, 2021, ISBN 9780795710384, R 260.00

“Kompoun deur Ronelda S Kamfer is ‘n instant classic”, Ryan Pedro, Klyntjie

“Kompoun is timeless en tog stuck in time, for all the right reasons. Die roman is gracious. Dis ‘n great addition tot Afrikaanse Literatuur, maa tog oek ‘n answered prayer vi al die kinnes van ‘n ‘Mckinney-familie’.” , Veronique Jephtas, Spectrum

Nadia en haar nefie Xavie word op Groenplaas in die Overberg grootgemaak deur hul ouma, Sylvia McKinney, die “stammoeder van lieg”, die een wat die waarheid laat val het soos ? duur porseleinblompot. Hulle twee probeer die waarheid aanmekaar las, die dinge waaroor daar in hul familie geswyg word: oor middelmisbruik en mishandeling, maar ook oor Antie Diana, die verhouding wat sy met ’n swart plaaswerker van die kompoun gehad het en die tweeling aan wie sy geboorte gegee het.

Kompoun wordt in oktober behandeld in onze literaire leeskring.

Voor de recensie van Veronique Jephtas in Spectrum van vorige maand, zie hier.

The Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology, Vol. X, Mongane Wally Serote, Goodenough Mashego, and Pieter Odendaal. Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2021. ISBN 9781431431328 , R220.00

Now in its 10th year, the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award is a launching pad for upcoming poets.

From slam poetry to formal rhyme, the anthology is a celebration of language and cultural diversity. Assembled by a brilliant team of judges, from a blind selection, this year’s compilation contains the best poems from over 600 entries, in 10 of the 11 South African languages.

Named after Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876-1932), the award recognises the life and vision of this highly respected political and social activist. We always hope that it reveals the political and social attitudes of our time and reflects the complex, nuanced and uncomfortable truths of life in South Africa.

Hier Waar Ek Nou Is, Matty Strydom, Eerste uitgawe ed. Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis, 2021. ISBN 9781485312765, R 295

Hierdie boek is die kroniek van ‘n ma se reis ná die selfdood van haar 19-jarige dogter, Jessica. Dit bereis die intense fases van rou en verlies. Dié reis is verweef met haar eie fisiese reise na Suidoos-Asië en ander soms ongewone bestemmings. Jesse laat geen brief agter nie. Ma en dogter was na aan mekaar, al twee hoogs kreatief en passievol. Matty gaan op reis om huis te hou met haar smart. In dagboekinskrywings praat sy met Jess, probeer sy sin maak en probeer sy bo alles haar dogter se besluit en dood eer soos sy haar lewe geëer het. Sy vind troos in boeke en kunsmuseums. Dis ‘n aanhoudende gesprek; liries en kreatief. Dis fragmentaries soos ʼn spieël wat versplinter het, met baie lig tussen die skerwe.

Die manuskrip is in drie dele: Die eerste gedeelte handel oor die onmiddellike nadraai van haar kind se selfdood, dan ‘n verslag van die skrywer se ‘gap year’ in Maleisië waar Jessica haar onsigbare reismaat is, ten slotte is sy terug by die huis, stoei sy met borskanker en versorg sy haar 98-jarige ma tot dié se dood.

Dr Abdullah Abdurahman : South Africa’s First Elected Black Politician, Martin Plaut. Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana, 2020, ISBN 9781431430550, R 280.00

Dr Abdullah Abdurahman (1872-1940) was the first person of colour ever to be elected to political office in South Africa. He represented some of the poorest people in Cape Town on the City Council and then the Provincial Council. First winning a seat in 1904, he was to serve the city for 36 years. Beloved by the people of District Six, for whom he fought so hard, Dr Abdurahman is a forgotten giant of the fight for justice.

The grandson of slaves, he trained as a doctor in Scotland, returning to the Cape with a Scottish wife. Nellie and he were powerful partners – and their daughter, Cissie Gool, was among the most important political figures of her generation.

Dr Abdurahman led the African Political Organisation – the leading coloured party of this period. He was a friend and ally of key political figures of his time: Sol Plaatje, Walter Rubusana, Mahatma Gandhi and W.P. Schreiner. He was a leading advocate of black unity, working tirelessly to resist the onslaught of white racism.

The doctor was among the most internationally admired South Africans of his generation, arguing his case on delegations to London and India. He led South African Indians to Delhi, confronted the Viceroy and made a memorable address to the Indian National Congress.

At his death in 1940 Cape Town ground to a halt as the entire community paid their respects.

Drawing on previously undiscovered material, this biography lifts Dr Abdurahman from the obscurity into which he has so unjustly sunk – explaining his life against the background of the difficult times in which he lived.

When Morning Comes, Arushi Raina, Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2018. ISBN 9781431407132, R 220.00

“A riveting and accomplished debut.”- Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

“When Morning Comes is riveting fiction… its characters are engaging, its description of societal differences and injustice is thought-procoking and its action sequences are at times heart-stopping.”- Montreal Gazette

It’s 1976 in South Africa. Written from the points of view of four young people living in Johannesburg and its black township, Soweto – Zanele, a black female student organiser, Mina, of South Asian background working at her father’s shop, Jack, an Oxford-bound white student, and Thabo, a tsotsi – this book explores the roots of the Soweto Uprising and the edifice of apartheid in a South Africa about to explode. In the black township of Soweto, Zanele, who also works as a nightclub singer, is plotting against the apartheid government. The police can’t know. Her mother and sister can’t know. No one can know. On the affluent white side of town, Jack Craven plans to spend the last days of his break before university burning miles on his beat-up Mustang, and crashing other people’s parties. Their chance meeting changes everything. Already a chain of events are in motion: a failed plot, a murdered teacher, a powerful police agent with a vendetta, and a secret network of students across the township. The students will rise. And there will be violence when morning comes. Introducing readers to a remarkable young literary talent, When Morning Comes offers an impeccably researched and vivid snapshot of South African society on the eve of the uprising that changed it forever.

Escape from Pretoria. Tim Jenkin, New ed. Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2020, ISBN 9781431429868, R 320

“In this jaw-dropping classic of prison escape literature, Tim Jenkin tells of how he, Stephen Lee and Alexander Moumbaris, using a series of hand-made wooden keys, got through nine locked doors inside Pretoria Central, taking them to Mozambique and finally to London. This fast-paced thriller begins with Jenkin’s Cape Town childhood and the growth of his political awareness, his university days and his friendship with Stephen Lee.

Both men left South Africa after university for London to join the African National Congress. Jenkin and Lee, after training in London, became expert pamphlet bombers in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and it was after several successful years of raising awareness about apartheid and the ANC that they were caught and sentenced to 12 years in jail. It is after Lee’s father visits his son in prison, bringing him a copy of another escape classic, ‘Papillon’, that Jenkin begins to seriously form an escape plan. Months of planning, testing, failing, testing again and lucky breaks meant that, finally, the escape was on.

The recently late Denis Goldberg was a friend and supporter of the men, and kept a warder busy as they began their escape. Apart from locking the doors behind them, they never looked back…” 

Film van de maand
Escape from Pretoria. Regisseur: Francis Annan, Hoofdrollen: Daniel Webber, Daniel Radcliffe e.a. Dutch FilmWorks, 2020, Engels gesproken, Nederlandse ondertiteling. 1 dvd-video (102 min.)

Film op basis van de gelijknamige autobiografische thriller van Tim Jenkin.

Jeugdboek van de maand
Het Losgeld. Seiter Régric, Jacques Martin, and Bruno Wesel. Translated by James Vandermeersch. Lefranc, 31. Brussel: Casterman, 2020, ISBN 9789030376781

Op vakantie in de Elzas leren Jean-Jean en Lefranc Eline Van Dijck kennen. In Zuid-Afrika baat haar vader safaripark Van Dijck uit, een veilige thuishaven voor vele wilde dieren en een trekpleister voor nieuwsgierige en avontuurlijke toeristen. Maar de laatste tijd gebeuren er vreemde dingen in zijn domein: er worden dieren dood aangetroffen en er komen steeds minder toeristen. Na een lange dag op de ski’s worden Jean-Jean en Lefranc gewekt door geschreeuw: Eline is ontvoerd. Waarom is dit jonge meisje in volle Apartheidscrisis ontvoerd? Wie heeft het op Geert Van Dijck gemunt?