Rainmaker

by Don Pinnock

In the sandblown wastelands of Cape Town’s ghettos, within sight of Table Mountain, adolescents fluctuate between public acts of dangerous bravado and private feelings of inferiority. It’s a dangerous brew. In gangs they terrorise the rest of the city and fight bloody wars for turf, drugs and money.
Rainmaker documents the extraordinary coming-of-age journey of a youth from one of these Bonteheuwel. Ky, a young gangster, knows that township power is in the hand that cocks a 9mm pistol. But one day this power gets him into more trouble than he can handle and he is forced to flee his community and the way of life he knows.
Saved from certain death in the gutter by a man who recognises ancient strands in a dream the young man has had, Ky is spirited away deep into the forbidding mountains and into the care of Zimry, a /Xam shaman. Zimry is a Bushman, but the reason Ky pulled the trigger on a gang boss was because he was taunted as being one. It was a taunt he had lived with all his life and a name he despised. The old man attempts to teach Ky the ways of his ancestors, but Ky’s rejection of his own link to this ancient wisdom jeopardises his life, and the future of his people.

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Chris Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the gritty reality of the Cape Flats to a magical, mystical life in the Cederberg mountains, we follow a young man's journey from gangster to shaman. Told in the first person, and seen through the young man's eyes, the narrative seamlessly incorporates the lore and mysticism of the /Xam (or San) people, the first South African people to inhabit the area, and explains the largely untold and untaught tragic history of this ancient race.

A beautifully told, touching story, I really didn't want it to end so soon.

[Jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a young man who discovers the powers he has inherited from his ancestors when he is forced to flee the city and hide in the mountains. As he gradually accepts his true identity he learns that the material goods and wealth that he thought would bring him status and respect are worthless in comparison with the ability to heal, make rain, and communicate with nature.

[Siyabonga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an easy to read, rich and well written book about a spiritual and an ancestral pilgrimage into becoming. A preliminary scholarly about the /Xam people / the first Southern African people, their way of life and their war of resistance against colonialism and the preservation of their culture and tradition as a nation of people.

[Judy Croome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short-listed for the 2009 European Union Literary Award, this is a simply written, yet beautifully told, tale of a young man’s spiritual journey from a gangster in the Cape Flats to a shaman in the Chameleon Mountains. Ky’s growth and mystical experiences resonate with both the discordance of the modern world and the mysticism and myths of the land that is the Cradle of Mankind. This is Africa’s heart – deep, mysterious and wonderful. The evocative images of the African bush and the San shaman’s trances, which transcend ordinary experience, contrasted with the confusion of a young boy caught up in the violence and emptiness of life in the worst parts of the Cape Flats had me alternatively laughing and crying. A wonderful read.

[Josine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful insight into San history and spiritual beliefs. The San belief system is made accessible and relevant to today when seen though the eyes from a Cape Flats youngster who slowly realises he needn't consider being called a "Boesman" an insult.