Third World Child: Born White, Zulu Bred

by G.G. Alcock

GG Alcock's parents, Creina and Neil, were humanitarians who gave up comfortable lives to move to rural Zululand. In a place called Msinga, a dry rock-strewn wilderness and one of the most violent places in Africa, they lived and worked among the Mchunu and Mthembu tribes, fighting for the rights of people displaced by the apartheid government's policy of "forced removals". They also fought against the corruption of police and government officials, as well as local farmers, which did not sit well with their white fellow citizens. When GG was fourteen his father was assassinated by rival tribesmen. GG's early life in rural Zululand in the 1970s and 80s can only be described as unique. He and his brother Khonya, both initially home-schooled by their mother, grew up as Zulu kids, herding goats and playing with the children of their neighbours, learning to speak fluent Zulu, learning to become Zulu men under the guidance of Zulu elders, and learning the customs and history of their adopted tribes. Armed with their father's only legacy - the skills to survive in Africa - both young men were ultimately forced to move into the "white" world which was largely unknown to them. In many ways, GG Alcock's story mirrors that of many of his people, the journey of a tribal society learning to embrace the first world. He does not shy away from the violence and death that coloured his childhood years surrounded by savage faction fighting, nor how they affected his adult life. His story in Third World Child is one of heartbreak and tragedy and, paradoxically, of vibrant hope and compassion. A restless energy and sardonic humour permeate his writing, which is compelling in its honesty and spontaneity.

Genres: Nonfiction

329 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Mish Middelmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book touched me particularly because of the time I spent at Mdukutshani, the place on the Tugela river where GG Alcock grew up, learning from his father about rural development in the midst of a social, political and economic battleground. What GG Alcock does really well is to convey, no-holds-barred, his unusual blend of white and black culture and heritage.

The successful blending of many strands of race and culture is exactly what our country - and the world - desperately needs. Alcock carries the mix in his bones. He also tells riveting stories. These cover both himself and his family, and the black and white people of the Msinga district - at the sharp end of both apartheid and post-apartheid divisions.

What scared me a bit is the way he hardens up through his life, ultimately letting go of his parents' commitment to peace in order to fight for what he sees as justice, including to protect his own possessions. Perhaps this is what our world is asking for - finding the hardness that goes with the radical differences in wealth and opportunity we have created. For Alcock, it helps him nurture and protect his business, but what does it do for the next seven generations?

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this book! I think it gave me a really good insight into South Africa at that time period and has an raw, honest and unfiltered quality. Of course with that comes the fact that it pretty rough, and shocking at times.

[Nicolas de Wet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild & super interesting read! If you enjoyed Kasinomics you’ll likely enjoy this as well.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I don't think enjoy is the word one should use when describing the reading experience. I found some of the stories quite concerning. But I did want to keep reading. Perhaps engaging is a good word? Don't expect any literary greatness in the writing but, that said, GG tells a good story. Most of it happens when he's a young boy in the 70s and 80s, and I was old enough towards the end of the latter to recognize certain events even though at the time I was too young to understand them. This is not a hopeful story. In fact, in some ways I found it quite depressing. But it did give me new insights into certain elements of my country and its younger history.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book on Kindle last night and read it in one sitting from download - compelling in its brutal honesty. Alcock's book is free from so many of the cliche's and wishfull thinking that has come to characterise this genre of post liberation literature. Suffice to say that GG seems to have taken Rian Malan's advice on his writing style to heart - it was Rian's towering work My Traitor's Heart that first brought the amazing story of the Alcock family to a wider audience. The candour in which GG Alcock portrays growing up in the rapidly changing social and political landscape of South Africa as a mlungu/murungu/mzungu or mukiwa African is so welcome. His deep love of the amaZulu people of the unique Msinga District in which he grew up and his understanding of their incredibly rich cultures (his understanding that it is not a hegemonic Zulu culture simplified/portrayed by nationalist propaganda) and his continued deep loyalty despite the rage and sense of loss at losing his father to the violence so hardwired into those communities, is conveyed with raw integrity. A book that also raises many uncomfortable questions about the way in which the white African farming communities who co-existed with the people dumped into these areas by the process of land dispossession behaved. I strongly recommend this book to anyone passionate about Africa and the transition of traditional communities into the modern global world. A great read.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard about the Alcock boys from a friend from Pietermaritzburg living in London, who told me about them and about Rian Malan's great book A Traitor's Heart. Malan's follow up story in the late Noughties The Fabulous Alcock Boys (in Resident Alien) spurred me on to find out more and this is how I came across GG's book, essentially a collection of autobiographical stories. This work was a page turner for me. GG's passionate and heartfelt accounts of his early life living with the Zulu with his humanitarian parents is not only captivating but is an insight into the lives of the Zulu, their warrior spirit, their historic strength and their poverty plight due to the white man. But most of all their pride. GG's childhood and coming of age is set against a background of hardship, but also freedom of thought and a stance against Apartheid. Life was harsh, his dad brutally murdered, his mum beaten at gunpoint, his family robbed, but this made a toughie out of him mentally and physically. It also taught him the Zulu language. His dad s legacy of making him a man able to live in Africa is what ultimately helps him to find his calling in Marketing, his ability to fit in with a variety of people giving him a huge advantage post Apartheid in the boardroom. I liked his tough stance, take-no-shit attitude, his ability to just say it as it is. Although I'm sure he still edited out quite a substantial amount from his many encounters with violence and crime. There is at the end a sadder note in his realisation that his dads legacy of peace is somewhat impossible in the current violence. A gun is now with him at all times. His hope lies in the future generations, that of his children and his brother's children - showing them the way, remembering the past, with an eye to the future in SA. A great read.

[Cheewai Lai · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When police must investigate police, there will be no justice."

A memoir set against a backdrop of social injustice, violent crime and corruption in South Africa still prevalent today.

Author Alcock has apparently stared into the abyss all his life.

[Wilhelm Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only did this guy grow up where we did to. The Roman Catholic missionstation and outpost of the order of Mariannehill at Maria Raschitz is just behind Thlatikhulu, Glencoe and Uelzen Primary School is on the other. As young people we wandered to those Catholic ruins after the people had been forcefully been removed. Lenge Mountain was visible from Enhlanhleni - or at least it was just next to Mumbe, which was. Tugela Ferry was some distance from Pomeroy, but the mother of Dr. Sathaypaul Jhilmeet, whose death is mentioned on Pg 87 was well known to our family. We too heard those factions fights (Stammeskriege) going on, saw the burnt huts and smiled at those mothers, who would only relax after their sons were locked up in the relative safety of the prisons. It was the same troubled time. Time of compulsary military service. He got to KZN due to compassionate leave - and I was thus stationed up at Murrayfhill near Hammanskraal. It was the time of living on the edge and with constant vigilance. I wish I had learnt Zulu like GG and I admire his way of doing business in the new South Africa. The Alcocks are after all a roman catholic family of farmers, managers and doers like mechanics, but also peacemakers and negotiators - and GG's mother was a writer, publisher and poet after all. That's quite close to home too. The last chapters on organizing cycling events in Soweto and the specifically of GG going cycling with his friend and hunting those thieves with the 9mm brings back vivid memories of earlier days of hunting and being hunted. I'm impressed that GG still alive to tell the story. Perhaps it's time to gird that 9mm indeed and be ready even as one relaxes watching TV? Good read and strong motivation to keep learning isiZulu too - even if our time is running faster than we'd care for.

[Angela Tweddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting read. In close enough proximity to my own home to know that the work is authentic and real.