African History
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Albert Luthuli: Bound by faith R200.00
Much public historical mythology asserts that Chief Albert Luthuli, former President of the African National Congress (ANC), launched the armed struggle upon his return to South Africa after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. This misinterpretation sparks what is arguably one of the most relevant and controversial historical debates in South Africa. Due to Luthuli’s domestic and international prominence and impeccable moral character, liberation struggle icons, political parties and politicians justify in part their past actions and their contemporary relevance upon a contrived historical memory. Often that memory is not compatible with the archival record. Contrary to a nationalist inspired historical perspective, in this book Scott Couper argues that Luthuli did not support the initiation of violence in December 1961. Luthuli’s ecclesiastical tradition, Congregationalism, embedded within him the primacy of democracy, education, sacrificial service, multiracialism and egalitarianism, propelling him to the heights of political leadership. However, these same seminal emphases rendered Luthuli obsolete as a political leader within an increasingly radicalised, desperate and violent environment. While Christian faith fuelled his political success, it engendered the inertia for his irrelevance following the ANC’s resort to violence. By not supporting the ANC’s armed movement, Luthuli’s political career proved to be `bound by faith’.
Author(s): Scott Couper
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AMAMPONDOMISE, A Story of Resilience R250.00
The history of the AmaMpondomise nation: its origins, royal lineage and heritage, the wars it fought, its disintegration as a result of colonialism and apartheid, and its recognition and restoration as a kingdom in 2019.
Samkelo Callaway Mtwana is a descendant of Nkosi Cwerha, the eldest son of King Ntose of AmaMpondomise. He was born in the Tsolo district of the Eastern Cape province, went to Jongilizwe College for sons of traditional leaders, and studied law at the University of Transkei (now Walter Sisulu University of Technology).
Author(s): Samkelo Callaway Mtwana
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Don't Upset ooMalume! Original price was: R280.00.R230.00Current price is: R230.00.
Returning to the family homestead in the Eastern Cape these holidays, and worried that your city ways and less than perfect knowledge of Xhosa culture will get you a wagging finger in the face from oomalume – the uncles? No need to fret, Don’t Upset ooMalume! offers an easy solution. This book, written by Xhosa ambassador and agriculturalist Hombakazi Mercy Nqandeka, aims to capture the essence of Xhosa heritage and culture and explores the many unique characteristics of village life.
It covers a range of topics, from basic greetings and major Xhosa life ceremonies to traditional clothing, what to expect in and around the rondavel and Xhosa cuisine. Mercy interweaves her descriptions of Xhosa culture with references to her childhood and lessons taught to her by her grandmother and mother, who was the inspiration for this book.
She also identifies edible forage and medicinal plants and even shares recipes for how these plants can be used. Furthermore, Mercy shares stories about the central role nature and different animals hold in Xhosa culture. The book was born from the author’s concern that knowledge of Xhosa heritage and culture will be lost to future generations.
In writing this book, she hopes to help reconnect Xhosa people to their roots.
Author: Hombakazi Mercy Nqandeka
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The Bus People R220.00
This book is about the lived experiences of the bus commuters. The Bus People are the Black-working class who primarily reside in informal settlements. The book covers the impact of taxi violence on the bus people, the targeting of bus drivers when there are conflicts about public transport routes, the struggles of domestic workers, #FeesMustFall, access to water and dignified sanitation, policing, absent fathers and family planning.
Author(s): Chumile Sali
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The Man Who Founded The ANC - A Biography Of Pixley ka Isaka Seme Original price was: R300.00.R240.00Current price is: R240.00.
It is well known that the African National Congress was formed in 1912 and is considered the oldest political organisation on the African continent. What is often not widely known is that the person who founded it was one Pixley ka Isaka Seme, a thirty-year-old black South African from Inanda outside the city of Durban.
What is remarkable about Seme’s achievement in founding the ANC is not only that he succeeded where most had failed at forging black political unity. It is also the speed at which he did it. He had just returned to South Africa from the United Kingdom and the United States of America, where he had been a student since he was a teenager. In slightly over a year the founding conference of the ANC was convened and he was at its helm as the main organiser.Seme also established a national newspaper, became one of the pioneering black lawyers in South Africa, bought land from white farmers for black settlement right at the time when opposition to it was gaining momentum, became a sought-after adviser and confidant to African royalty, and was considered a leading visionary for black economic empowerment. And yet, when he became president general of the ANC in the 1930s, he brought it to its knees through sheer ineptitude and an authoritarian style of leadership. On more than one occasion he was found guilty for breaching the law, which partly led to him being struck off the roll of attorneys.
This book discusses in detail Seme’s extraordinary life, from his humble beginnings at Inanda Mission to his triumphs and disappointments across the continents, in his public and private life. When Seme died in 1951 he was bankrupt and his political standing had suffered greatly. And yet he was praised as one of the greatest South Africans ever to have lived. For all this, he has largely been forgotten. This biography brings the remarkable life of this extraordinary South African back to public consciousness.
Author: Bongani Ngqulunga
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Time Is Not The Measure - A Memoir R180.00
Vusi Mavimbela is one of South Africa’s foremost political adventurers and wanderers. A writer of singular verve, humour and descriptive power, his memoir provides penetrating pen portraits of many well-known South African and African political actors, including martyred uMkhonto weSizwe guerilla Solomon Mahlangu, Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo, Robert Mugabe and a galaxy of senior ANC exiles such as Joe Slovo, Chris Hani, Josiah Jele, Joel Netshitenzhe and Mac Maharaj.
He touches on and illuminates the personalities of many influential men and women in South Africa’s early democratic governments. But the heart of Mavimbela’s narrative lies in his unique experience of working as a top administrator and counsellor in the offices of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. In the most intimate detail, he describes the emergence and escalation of the conflict between those two flawed principals. He captures the drama of their struggle and its destructive fallout for the new South African state.Mavimbela offers a potent warning: loyalty and long service to a political party is no guarantee of wise and effective leadership.
Author: Vusi Mavimbela
