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Midlands: A Very South African Murder
‘ … The Mitchell property lies on the slopes of one of the most beautiful valleys I have ever seen. It is in the heart of the southern midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, Alan Paton country, and it is true that “… from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest scenes of Africa.” Later I will tell you more about that landscape, and of how it changed during the course of my investigations; a spectacular backdrop of giant shapes and colours when I first saw it, a myriad dramas of human anger and violence when I left …’
In the spring of 1999, in the beautiful hills of the Kwa-Zulu-Natal midlands, a young white farmer is shot dead on the dirt road running from his father’s farmhouse to his irrigation fields. The murder is the work of assassins rather than robbers; a single shot behind the ear, nothing but his gun stolen, no forensic evidence like spent cartridges or fingerprints left at the scene.
Journalist Jonny Steinberg travels to the midlands to investigate. Local black workers say the young white man had it coming. The dead man’s father says that the machinery of a political conspiracy has been set into motion, that he and his neighbours are being pushed off their land.
Initially thinking that he is to write about an event in the recent past, Steinberg finds that much of the story lies in the immediate future. He has stumbled upon a festering frontier battle, the combatants groping hungrily for the whispers and lies that drift in from the other side. Right from the beginning, it is clear that the young white man is not the only one who will die on that frontier, and that the story of his and other deaths will illuminate a great deal about the early days of post-apartheid South Africa.
Sifting through the betrayals and the poisoned memories of a century-long relationship between black and white, Steinberg takes us to a part of post-apartheid South Africa we fear to contemplate.
Midlands is about the midlands of the heart and mind, the midlands between possession and dispossession, the midlands between the past and present, myth and reality.
Midlands is a tour de force of investigative journalism.
In the spring of 1999, in the beautiful hills of the Kwa-Zulu-Natal midlands, a young white farmer is shot dead on the dirt road running from his father’s farmhouse to his irrigation fields. The murder is the work of assassins rather than robbers; a single shot behind the ear, nothing but his gun stolen, no forensic evidence like spent cartridges or fingerprints left at the scene.
Journalist Jonny Steinberg travels to the midlands to investigate. Local black workers say the young white man had it coming. The dead man’s father says that the machinery of a political conspiracy has been set into motion, that he and his neighbours are being pushed off their land.
Initially thinking that he is to write about an event in the recent past, Steinberg finds that much of the story lies in the immediate future. He has stumbled upon a festering frontier battle, the combatants groping hungrily for the whispers and lies that drift in from the other side. Right from the beginning, it is clear that the young white man is not the only one who will die on that frontier, and that the story of his and other deaths will illuminate a great deal about the early days of post-apartheid South Africa.
Sifting through the betrayals and the poisoned memories of a century-long relationship between black and white, Steinberg takes us to a part of post-apartheid South Africa we fear to contemplate.
Midlands is about the midlands of the heart and mind, the midlands between possession and dispossession, the midlands between the past and present, myth and reality.
Midlands is a tour de force of investigative journalism.
348 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
13 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 8, 2014
Jonny Steinberg is a South African treasure. Midlands had been sitting on my shelf for a long time, for no reason other than there are far too many good books to read. Finished it as social media was exploding with stories of not-the-brightest girls at University of Pretoria doing their black face routine. The Tukkies story along with Steinberg's investigation of a farm murder in the Natal Midlands illustrates one of South Africa's ongoing weaknesses - lack of understanding across the colour line. Knowing that there is more than one side to any story, Steinberg uses equal measures of balance, compassion and scepticism to try to get to the root of the distrust between white farmers and black tenants in rural South Africa. This is journalistic prose at its best.
July 14, 2018
Truly a complicated and powerful read. A worthy intersection of the double sided and clouded nature of historical racial tension and how untangling or understanding such situations is never an easy task. Humbling, gut-wrenching, and eye-opening, I feel like this book has merit for anyone who wants to further delve into understanding the tenuous relationship of post-colonial nations and challenge their internal compass.
May 21, 2025
I am always impressed by how Steinberg can weave a story about really complex issues… this book about farm murders in South Africa at this point in time is close to home and very interesting to have a different perspective.
February 18, 2010
After a son of white farmer is murdered sniper style on the edge of the farm, Steinberg interviews the family of the dead, and the tenants of the farm, and realizes that the murder didn't happen in a vacuum, could have many different causes, none of them easy to explain.
More than anything, this is a story about how little black and white South Africans understand each other in the post apartheid era. Both sides believe stereotypes about the other, and blame the other for the problems, crimes and death that is ravaging the midlands and the whole of South Africa. Interesting read for anyone interested in South African current affairs.
More than anything, this is a story about how little black and white South Africans understand each other in the post apartheid era. Both sides believe stereotypes about the other, and blame the other for the problems, crimes and death that is ravaging the midlands and the whole of South Africa. Interesting read for anyone interested in South African current affairs.
January 6, 2014
Finished this book just before a trip to Kwa-Zulu Natal. Even though the events in this book happened 15 years ago, the misunderstandings of culture, race and history that Jonny Steinberg brings to life to illustrate some of the reasons for the death of a white farmer's son, still ring true in present-day South Africa. Great read, though is at times a little patronizing when the narrator addresses the reader while telling the story.
September 27, 2010
Interesting look at the land issue in South Africa. It is, however, quite bleak--probably too much so. But Steinberg is a very good writer and researcher, and thus, it is worth reading, especially if you have some familiarity with South African history and culture.
September 28, 2011
This book deserved all the awards it won! Jonny has great insight into the racial challenges we South Africans all still encounter. I learnt a great deal about how Black South African's family structures and traditions work. Read it!
June 4, 2018
A gem.
If you want to know why things are going so wrong in South Africa, this book is a very good place to start.
If you want to know why things are going so wrong in South Africa, this book is a very good place to start.
August 21, 2024
Ostensibly about the murder of one young Afrikaner farmer, Steinberg’s book covers the tortuous cultural and political differences involved in the infamous ‘farm murders’.
He writes with the clarity of a journalist who is struggling to find truths for his readers and for himself. As he is told conflicting versions of things by people with vested interests, he winds a difficult path between the white and Zulu people involved, but he manages well to involve the reader in following that path in all its spirals.
I wonder if the book would lose some of its clarity for readers unfamiliar with South Africa, and therefore with words which are used assuming the reader knows their meanings. But some of those meanings might be derivable from context (e.g, ‘bakkie’) or might be trivial enough to ignore(e.g, ‘boerewors’), so perhaps clarity would remain unaffected.
I recommend the book to anyone with an interest in some of the post-apartheid changes in South Africa.
PS: The edition I read is not listed on GoodReads. It’s entitled just ‘Midlands’ and was published by Jonathan Ball Punlidhetd in South Africa in 2019, with a ten page afterword by the author about his return to the area some years after his original investigation. The book was originally published in 2002.
He writes with the clarity of a journalist who is struggling to find truths for his readers and for himself. As he is told conflicting versions of things by people with vested interests, he winds a difficult path between the white and Zulu people involved, but he manages well to involve the reader in following that path in all its spirals.
I wonder if the book would lose some of its clarity for readers unfamiliar with South Africa, and therefore with words which are used assuming the reader knows their meanings. But some of those meanings might be derivable from context (e.g, ‘bakkie’) or might be trivial enough to ignore(e.g, ‘boerewors’), so perhaps clarity would remain unaffected.
I recommend the book to anyone with an interest in some of the post-apartheid changes in South Africa.
PS: The edition I read is not listed on GoodReads. It’s entitled just ‘Midlands’ and was published by Jonathan Ball Punlidhetd in South Africa in 2019, with a ten page afterword by the author about his return to the area some years after his original investigation. The book was originally published in 2002.
December 14, 2023
An excellent book by Jonny Steinberg. I have read most of his previous books. He writes well, always about 'uncomfortable' but relevant topics. I don't think this was an easy book to write or research. So well done to the author.
Farm murders is a hot topic in South Africa, but for those of us who are 'white', we have to take stock of our history, think about how the 'other side' experiences the land issue, and then of course we have to take cognizance of our own emotions.
Things will have to be done differently if we want a different outcome. The book however did not leave me with much hope.
Farm murders is a hot topic in South Africa, but for those of us who are 'white', we have to take stock of our history, think about how the 'other side' experiences the land issue, and then of course we have to take cognizance of our own emotions.
Things will have to be done differently if we want a different outcome. The book however did not leave me with much hope.
December 14, 2024
“These cultural questions are so delicate, so explosive. Innocent words and gestures can lead to such terrible misunderstandings.”
A fascinating study of the fraught relationships between black and white in post-apartheid South Africa, and the sometimes fatal misunderstandings stemming from fundamental cultural differences. These are explored through the investigation of a white farmer’s murder in the KZN Midlands in 1999. Over 20 years later, the themes sadly feel all too familiar.
A fascinating study of the fraught relationships between black and white in post-apartheid South Africa, and the sometimes fatal misunderstandings stemming from fundamental cultural differences. These are explored through the investigation of a white farmer’s murder in the KZN Midlands in 1999. Over 20 years later, the themes sadly feel all too familiar.
January 13, 2026
Real History lies in writing about people on the ground and their daily lives lived out against the sociopolitical backdrop of the time.
This tale reads like a novel with intimate looks into people’s lives yet with journalistic intrigue and with Steinberg offering a look into himself and his politics and bias.
But how do you say that you thoroughly enjoyed a book when the subject matter is a fractured nation? I do, indeed, want to “Cry [for this] beloved Country”.
This tale reads like a novel with intimate looks into people’s lives yet with journalistic intrigue and with Steinberg offering a look into himself and his politics and bias.
But how do you say that you thoroughly enjoyed a book when the subject matter is a fractured nation? I do, indeed, want to “Cry [for this] beloved Country”.
March 3, 2020
Jonny Steinberg's Midlands: "White economic activity brought them here. They came as labor."
Steinberg writes a revolting revisit of the murder of a white farmer that was killed in the late 90s in KwaZulu-Natal. This re-account or re-analysis of this murder shows the alleged reasoning behind it, the culture of farming, the history behind land in the Natal area and the future that lies ahead.
Steinberg writes a revolting revisit of the murder of a white farmer that was killed in the late 90s in KwaZulu-Natal. This re-account or re-analysis of this murder shows the alleged reasoning behind it, the culture of farming, the history behind land in the Natal area and the future that lies ahead.
June 3, 2024
I love Steinberg's confessional and personal writing style. He is quick to admit that he doesn't know something and communicates his uncertainities about the different narritives in this book. That was engaging and honest.
The book is about the miscommunications between different racial groups in South Africa. Interesting: the only downside was that it felt at times meandering, as the case was not clean-cut
The book is about the miscommunications between different racial groups in South Africa. Interesting: the only downside was that it felt at times meandering, as the case was not clean-cut
June 30, 2016
As a journalist, this was really fascinating to read because it combines journalism and a tiny bit of fiction.
Steinberg certainly knows how to set a scene and get you into a topic. He digs really deep into this murder and the external forces that made it happen, going back decades. It's not a novel, it's a very long column about the midlands and race relations post-apartheid. He speaks from a very informal tone (ie I will tell you more about this later) which jarred me a little bit. I'm not used to that from a journalistic piece. Sometimes I wonder if he actually got back to the thing he said he would get back to.
Which was my only beef with this book. It's pacing is a bit off, and reads a bit disorganized. I would have to remember who a person was and his relation to the murder many, many chapters later.
Steinberg certainly knows how to set a scene and get you into a topic. He digs really deep into this murder and the external forces that made it happen, going back decades. It's not a novel, it's a very long column about the midlands and race relations post-apartheid. He speaks from a very informal tone (ie I will tell you more about this later) which jarred me a little bit. I'm not used to that from a journalistic piece. Sometimes I wonder if he actually got back to the thing he said he would get back to.
Which was my only beef with this book. It's pacing is a bit off, and reads a bit disorganized. I would have to remember who a person was and his relation to the murder many, many chapters later.
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June 3, 2008This book is by an anthropologist who is good at describing the dilemma of population pressure on limited land, post-apartheid generations, and white nativity. However, he also paints himself as a boob until the very end. Ultimately, this would have made a fascinating short story or novella, but is too long for its conclusions.
March 13, 2014
I think his more recent books are better. I expected this to be a bit more chilling, a little more In Cold Blood-esque. But still a good read.
October 30, 2013
A look into the culture of South Africa with all it's complexities. A novel written by a journalist - perfect.
April 14, 2017
Журналистическо разследване на симптоматично убийство на бял фермер от зулуси в Натал.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews