Ubuntu

by Mark Mathabane

This exciting thriller is so well researched and sticks so close to the truth about apartheid that it is difficult to sort the fact from the fiction. The two blend beautifully into a powerful story about an Afrikaner human rights lawyer (Liefling) who, with the help of a black eyewitness (Gideon), seeks to bring an unrepentant apartheid-era death squad leader before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and win a conviction. Liefling and Gideon soon realize their pursuit of justice could cost them their lives. Description of characters and the Makhado -- the African warrior whose inflexible sense of justice is severely tested when he learns the bitter truth about his beloved son. Liefling -- the Afrikaner human rights lawyer whose loyalty to her martyred activist father leads her to risk everything -- including her long-suffering mother's love -- in order to help black families whose loved ones were killed by apartheid-era death squads. Kruger -- the unrepentant believer in Baaskap (white supremacy) who will stop at nothing to realize his dream of an Afrikaner-only homeland -- even if it means igniting a race war. Thando -- the former guerilla leader struggling to uplift her impoverished community even as she is tortured by guilt over having ordered the execution of the brother of the man she loves. Gideon -- the schoolteacher who seeks redemption for a dark secret by risking his life to expose one of apartheid's most ruthless death squads. Freda -- the disillusioned verligte (liberal) torn between love for her daughter, Liefling, and for the man who wants to kill that daughter. Shaka -- the askari (double agent) and assassin bent on revenge against those who destroyed his soul. David -- the Jewish lawyer who's chosen to live in a dangerous ghetto as he searches for those who tortured and murdered his activist black girlfriend. These are among the memorable characters in Mark Mathabane's electrifying thriller set in the new South Africa. Using as background the controversial Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Mathabane -- as he did in Kaffir Boy, his best-selling memoir about growing up under apartheid -- makes the political and racial intensely human and gripping. In Ubuntu, Mathabane's formidable skills as a storyteller are at their best. He's painted a convincing picture of a vibrant and turbulent post-apartheid South Africa -- from the explosive opening scene of a carjacking in downtown Johannesburg to the heart-stopping final scene of a chase through a jungle in the Venda homeland. Ubuntu's plot and characters illuminate better than any history book or newspaper headline the corrupting evil of apartheid, the atrocities committed by ruthless death squads in its defense, and the heroism of many of its opponents, black and white. A tour-de-force adventure and love story that will leave you breathless with its many twists, Ubuntu combines fact and fiction in a way that informs and inspires as it entertains with page-turning suspense. Ubuntu is a powerful and unforgettable saga of divided loyalties, deadly treachery, forbidden love, unspeakable horrors, and heroic courage of individual South Africans who dare to reach across a deep racial divide to save their country's soul by bringing to justice one of the apartheid era's most ruthless killers. Mark Mathabane dedicated this novel to his father, who died of cancer in 1994. The dedication To my father, who confronted life without flinching – in the true spirit of Venda warriors. You were often hard to understand and difficult to get along with, but you taught me much about responsibility and honor.

Genres: Fiction

444 pages, Kindle Edition

About the author

Mark Mathabane (born Johannes Mathabane) is an author, lecturer, and former collegiate tennis player.

Dr. Mathabane touched the hearts of millions with his sensational autobiography "Kaffir Boy." Telling the true story of his coming of age under apartheid in South Africa, the book won a prestigious Christopher Award, rose to No. 3 on The New York Times best-sellers list and to No. 1 on the Washington Post best-sellers list, and was translated into several languages.

Reviews

[Gail Mathabane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This exciting book set in South Africa really opened my eyes to what happened during the apartheid era. I got totally caught up in trying to find out what would happen next to Liefling, Gideon, Kruger, Makhado and Thando. This novel is based on true stories that were revealed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission led by Bishop Tutu. I know for a fact that the author read everything he could about the TRC and read the witnesses' testimony and used it to shape this fact-or-fiction thriller. You might be wondering how I know this. It's because I copyedited the manuscript twice before it went to print, and again, recently, before it went to print again. You see, the author is my husband, and we have read each other's work since we met as struggling young writers at the Columbia School of Journalism in 1985!

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of "Kaffir Boy" (which told of his growing up as a poor Black in South Africa) reflects on Ubuntu as a key concept from his childhood and how it could help solve the racial issues in the United States. (He came to the States to play college tennis, married a white woman, is a public speaker.) I agree that the concept is very good, something to strive for, but it doesn't address how one gains perspective, compassion, etc., if you don't have them. I continue to be impressed by the values of a communal culture.

[Tim O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story on post apartheid South Africa showing how verkrampte ideas did not die just because there was an election. This edition really needs to be re-edited as there are many pronoun and tense errors.