Africa is the cradle of mankind and the first traces of modern man come from South Africa. But the country has also experienced waves of inward migration from the earliest times, and the turmoil and wars that accompany them. Dutch settlers landed at Table Bay in 1652. In the young colony inter-racial marriages were common but the segregationist trend was soon clear. Also clear was the relentless move north and east by the colonists - by the intrepid trekker would become the iconic figure of white South Africa. The 19th ...
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Africa is the cradle of mankind and the first traces of modern man come from South Africa. But the country has also experienced waves of inward migration from the earliest times, and the turmoil and wars that accompany them. Dutch settlers landed at Table Bay in 1652. In the young colony inter-racial marriages were common but the segregationist trend was soon clear. Also clear was the relentless move north and east by the colonists - by the intrepid trekker would become the iconic figure of white South Africa. The 19th century saw the rise of several African states, notably the Zulus under their leader Shaka; the Great Trek of 1834-38; the Zulu wars; the discovery of diamonds and then gold. And then in 1899 the Boer War, with its bitter aftermath. After 1918 Afrikaner nationalism began to gather momentum and in 1948 apartheid became official policy. These were the years of Dr Verwoerd and John Vorster, the high noon of apartheid. But soon the ANC had its own momentum.
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Seller's Description:
Near fine. Near fine condition. Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2004. First edition. Paperback(very small tear on the edges of the spine, a couple of small nicks and crease on the edges of the cover and spine) in near fine condition. Illustrated with b/w maps. Nice and clean pages with a small mark and a couple of ink marks on the outer edges, a couple of small creases and nicks on the edges of the pages.263pp including Chronology, abbreviations, index. A collectable first edition.
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New in new dust jacket. This mint, First Edition, HARDBACK, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004, has a mint, unclipped dust jacket that is now protected in an extra, bespoke, clear acid-free slipcover. The cover is dark green boards with gilt lettering to the spine. The book size is 6"w x 9"h with a chronology, 4 maps, a bibliography, an index and 244 pristine pages. ISBN 0297646729. "The result, by the end of the first decade of ANC rule, was that poor rural blacks were experiencing immiseration on an unheard-of scale. Huge numbers of unemployed and desperate people were dumped into rural squatter camps, with no prospect of jobs or social betterment of any kind. The tiny middle class of the Bantustans had, within the new provinces, become even smaller. Public facilities schools, hospitals, police forces, clinics, universities, had all decayed. Violence, poverty and social dislocation ruled the countryside. Those who wish to imbibe reality through literature will know this world through J. M. Coetzee's DISGRACE and Damon Galgut's THE GOOD DOCTOR. But this was only part of a larger social disaster. By March 2003 on a narrow definition (excluding workers too discouraged by unemployment to seek work) unemployment stood at 31 per cent. On the more truthful broad definition (including discouraged workers) the figure stood at 42.1 per cent and both figures were steadily rising. This was hardly surprising. As we have seen, the key motor of the economy for over a century has been the inward flow of foreign investment. When that slows to a crawl and when, simultaneously, large numbers of the middle class decide to emigrate, taking their capital with them, the consequences for South Africa's economy and society can only be catastrophic. Just as the post-1985 investment strike brought down apartheid, so the post-1994 investment strike is bound to have major political and social repercussions. Inevitably, this has also seen a considerable worsening of inequality, even though apartheid South Africa was already one of the world's most unequal societies. In any society the most efficient means of transferring resources from the have-nots to the haves is simply to increase unemployment and this has happened with extraordinary speed under the ANC government. When it took power unemployment, on the broad definition, stood at 32.6 per cent; nine years later, as can be seen, the figure was worse by almost one-third. On top of that, room has had to be made within the social structure for the new black middle class, including the tiny elite of black super-rich. By definition some of the resources they now possess have arisen as a result of redistribution away from others. Some of that redistribution has taken place at the expense of whites, but a great deal of it derives from the absolute immiseration of many blacks. For, of course, blacks are far more likely than others to be unemployed and the figures reach even more catastrophic proportions, 55 per cent and more among black women. This in turn has inevitable consequences for the growth of Aids, not only because so many women are forced into prostitution but because in general the weak position of women in society resulting from these rates of unemployment makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to insist on changes in male sexual behaviour. And Aids, of course, is the other key dimension of the social catastrophe suffered by South African blacks since liberation in 1994. By mid 2003 the Aids pandemic had secured its millionth victim and the death rate of 1, 000 a day was rising fast. … .." ( pg. 226 )
