Apartheid: A Collection of Writings on South African Racism by South Africans

by Alex la Guma

Genres: Africa

248 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1971

About the author

Alex la Guma was a South African novelist, leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO) and a defendant in the Treason Trial, whose works helped characterise the movement against the apartheid era in South Africa. La Guma's vivid style, distinctive dialogue, and realistic, sympathetic portrayal of oppressed groups have made him one of the most notable South African writers of the 20th century. La Guma was awarded the 1969 Lotus Prize for Literature.

Reviews

[Dorothy Himberc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently written essays, interspersed with poetry, offering a broad spectrum of the state of South African government apartheid in the early 1970s. At the end, the editor tucks in essays on the need for militancy and on cooperation with the Communist Party - it is interesting to remember that in historical reality, these approaches (although Nelson Mandela, for example, has also paid tribute to the consistency, selflessness and dedication of Communists' support for the cause of liberation) were not perhaps the main factors in defeating apartheid after all. A little depressing that it took over twenty more years.