South Africa Books

As a fan of cartoons, politics and history, I was delighted to find these three favorites of mine all fused together in this mind-numbing collection of South African political cartoons which goes back to the Anglo-Boer War through to the modern day. All sides are represented, conservative and liberal, Afrikaans and English and pro- and anti-apartheid, with extensive commentary to help explain the political climate in which the cartoons were born. Love it love it love it!

This book intrically discussed many of the ethnic groups in Africa including, The Suku, Swazi and Tiv. Unlike other books I have read about Africa, this provided an in depth acount of a few tribes, instead of rushing to cover them all. My only complaint would be that it could've been updated to get more current information on the AIDS crisis, etc. Photos and charts helped in understanding the cultures of these tribal groups.

A fascinating novel regarding the damage done by keeping family secrets.

This is a good introduction to post-apartheid South African politics. Deegan reviews the implosion of apartheid in the 1980s and early 1990s, and then analyzes the national elections of 1994 and 1999. The book is crammed with tables on everything from voter attitudes to crime rates. The writing is pedestrian and repetitive but also clear and jargon-free -- something of an accomplishment for a book written by a political scientist. My only real complaint is the unbalanced choice of topics. For example, Deegan devotes pages and pages to gender issues and to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; however, she has nothing on HIV/AIDS, foreign policy, or the internal workings of the ANC. For a book on politics, there is also a weird lack of political biography, with the exception of sections on Nelson Mandela.

Much of the research done on feminism and women's issues has been performed in the societies of North America and Europe. Likewise, most of the researchers are themselves of European descent. This book attempts to redress some of that imbalance. the authors study groups of poor women in South Asia and West Africa. Nor are the authors of European descent. This helps add diversity in the analysis of how marginalised groups of women can cope. While the regions surveyed are developing countries, the groups described here are typically regarded as poor, even by the prevailing standards of their countries.

A key finding is that the women are often marginalised in multiple ways. That is, they may have little access to health care, banking or other financial services, formal education or even political rights. The informal networks in which the women are part of, thus can be seen as a survival mechanism and perhaps one of the few ways in which the women can achieve some modest means of empowerment.

Overall, the book seems cautiously positive in describing how these women are coping, and perhaps improving their circumstances.

This nice little book gives a brief look at some of the many facets of Ngoma, a shamanistic healing cult (or rather cults, as the phenomena consists of numerous seperate movements) popular throughout much of southern Africa. More specifically, it looks at some of the political aspects of Ngoma. The concepts, beliefs and rituals of Ngoma are part of the greater whole of African culture, and the introduction does a good job giving a brief introduction to Ngoma, it's history and study of it by westerners. It then goes on to the different sections, covering Ngoma & gender in Zambia, the Mhondoro cult of Zimbabwe as social commentary, Ngoma in the Mdzimu Zionist churches of Zambia, Sangoma as shaman in Swaziland, ritualized scapegoating and the clash between Ngoma and born-again fundamentalist Christianity in Malawi. Throughout the book, the reader becomes aware of how deep and complex Ngoma is, consisting of ritual, healing, spirit possession and, most importantly, as a common link between the community. It is as much religion as it is a way of life, taking many forms throughout southern Africa, and has many parallels with Voudon, Santeria, Palo Mayombe, Candomble and other African religions transported to the Americas. This is pretty deep, involved reading aimed predominantly at anthropologists and other educated people, though certainly anyone should be able to read this and come away with a deeper understanding and respect for the healing shamanistic traditions of southern Africa.

Evelyn Waugh compares his 1930 trip to Abyssinia to cover Haile Salessie's coronation to 'Alice in Wonderland', but there's something 'Brigadoon' about his whole journey to alien Africa, where intolerable heat, unreliable timetables and capricious inhabitants seem eminently preferable to the noisy social inanity back in England, so familiar to us from his classic comic novels.

Waugh divides his African travel book into two sections (one dealing with the Abyssinian trip, the other with an extended tour through Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda, the Congo and South Africa), and three nightmares, vividly detailing the various, accumulative problems that beset the traveller, such as unhelpful officials and lousy food. Waugh is a much more sympathetic voyager than the more heroic likes of Chatwin or Raban - his whining about lack of bath water or pesky mosquitos is more refreshing than some writers' spiritual journeys.

Despite his attempts at objectivity, 'Remote people' is written, as we might expect, from a very jaundiced viewpoint. Waugh's experiences aren't really 'Alice' at all, simply a concatenation of minor mishaps, local eccentricites and cultural differences in very poor countries that only a very insulated Englishman would blow up and find surreal. Some of Waugh's ill-advised political theorising, especially his unconvincing defence of the notorious white settlers in Kenya's Happy Valley, make for distinctly ncomfortable reading, although one is grateful for Waugh's evident and lucid integrity to his own beliefs. It is surprising in a book of 1931 to see how many of the issues raised by post-colonial theory were already being painfully argued about.

Of course, we don't read Waugh for politics or sympathy to foreigners. Although written in a more descriptive, less dialogue-driven style than the novels, we find the same account of bewildered, uprooted Modern Man faced with the problems (and comedy) of the simple fact of other people (American professors absurdly reverent of Ethiopian religious practice; Seventh Day Adventists prone to seasickness; colonial magnates encouraging staff and guests to climb life-threatening volcanos etc.). The travelogue is less interesting than the rich set-pieces - the Abyssinian coronation; the bathetic trip to an ancient monastary; a rooftop cinema where the audience wilt sleepily in the sun; the efforts of native scouts to light a fire; a berserk ship journey down river with the captain trying to shoot game from his cabin, his passengers leaping off to search for any hits.

There can be no doubt that, of all the books written on Zulu history, this is the kingpin of them all. It is doubtful that any author will exceed the work done here by Laband. The book is painstakingly written, with an incredible eye for detail, and it remains at all times entertaining and absorbing. There are also shortcomings, although these cannot be construed as downfalls. The most striking is that while Professor Laband is the ultimate expert on the reign of Dingane and beyond, he does not dedicate nearly as much attention to the early years of the Zulu kingdom, particularly from 1787 to 1828. This is regrettable, but understandable considering that there is so much that remains unknown and mired in mythology with respect to Shaka's era. Lastly, Laband's attention to detail, particularly noticeable in the Notes section and in the index, makes this a book no self-respecting Zulu scholar can be without.

In his work titled The Rise of Africa Slavery in the Americas, David Eltis approaches the subject with the aim of highlighting "the tensions that emerge as people pursue goals, moral or material, that cannot be achieved at once or are at odds with some aspect of their individual or their system of belief." Here, Eltis attempts to clarify the "How?" of slavery. While offering a great insight into the intentions and rational of European enslavement of Africans, Eltis does not provide a revolutionary new view of slavery. His work is centered around proving that "it was not just European power and resources that made overseas expansion possible, but also the subcontinent's odd social structure and values." Eltis adds support to the evidence that Africans not only played a significant role in the development of the Atlantic Slave Trade but that the success of the trade was more due to the strengths of the African traders and the strength of number among the enslaved.

First published in 1928 when his South African days were well over, this book provides invaluable insight into Gandhi's Satyagraha in South Africa. It is the place where his religious and philosophical commitment to non-violence began. Sadly an increasingly rare find, this book offers some mixed biographical overview with commentary about the strength and limitations of satyagraha, as well as the important first members to make it work. Gandhi was not alone, but had invaluable help from Muslims, European Christians, Parsis and many others.