Born Freeloaders: A Novel

by Phumlani Pikoli

‘Born Freeloaders is an excoriating look at the impotence of youth and millennial privilege. Pikoli is an urgent new voice in South African fiction.’ – Efemia Chela

Born on the cusp of democracy, the crew of young friends in Born Freeloaders navigates a life of drinking, wild parties and other recklessness. The siblings at the centre of the novel, Nthabiseng and Xolani, have been raised in an upper middle-class family with connections to the political elite. Nthabiseng is lauded by her peers as she whimsically goes through life, unable to form her own identity in a world that expects her to pick a side in the fractured classifications of race. Xolani, not having known his late father, longs for acceptance from an uncle who sees him and his generation as the bitter fruit borne of a freedom he and countless others fought for.

As the story moves across multiple spaces in the nation’s capital over a weekend, Born Freeloaders captures a political and cultural moment in the city’s and South Africa’s history. Interwoven is an analogous tale of the country’s colonisation and the consequences that follow. And alongside the friends’ uneasy awareness of their privilege is a heightened sense of discomfort at their inability to change the world they were born into.

137 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2019

Reviews

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phumlani Pikoli is a young talented emerging voice to watch.

Born Freeloaders captures events of a group of young privileged SAfrican group over a weekend. Starting from Friday to Sunday. The group is multiracial, a true-life depiction of most of our children's friends. At first, they appear to be your stereotypical moneyed young people - carefree, overzealous, too much freedom tendencies - whose parents are mostly BEE'd up to their eyeballs but, on closer scrutiny, and Phumlani doesn't hold back from dissecting these young ones' lives and lifestyles and politics, you realise that these are fragile human beings longing for love and acceptance and validity and affirmation.

Click here for more https://www.instagram.com/p/B3_RoykjT...

An excellently written and multifaceted piece. The 3 part metaphorical lore added a different sad texture to this narrative.

Highly recommended.

[Clare Grové]

I’m going to hold back on giving this novel an overall rating. While the ideas are relevant and need to be aired, the writing is unnecessarily descriptive. I reckon its style is worth two stars and the content three to three and a half.

It felt like reading an essay forced out of a high school writer who then becomes proud of their creation and inserts an adjective for every detail in order to show off their extended vocabulary. Who cares for the irrelevant “katabatic wind”? The technical insertion feels as if the writer is attempting to showcase, and for me, it falls flat.

It was tedious to read the first 100 pages but I purchased the book and I always finish books no matter how pedestrian.

Then the arrival at the presidential compound. The dialogue about pertinent societal issues is good and it brings to light many matters that need open discourse.
But then where does it go?

I want character development of those who are needed, and culling of the characters who are on the fringe and add zero to the narrative.
It could be argued that the lack of character mimics the shallowness of the born frees but I doubt the intentionality.

I want less redundancy, and, for pete’s sake, please rid the narrative prose of the split infinitive - keep it for the dialogue if you must mirror colloquial speech.

Style, for me, is equally important to content.

The title is alluring, and the book offered much in its promise but did not deliver.

[AfroBonVivant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snippet
"The survivor's guilt that comes with privilege is overwhelming and we all just want to say "f#%* it" and live our lives, free of the suffocating noose of communal burden and expectation."

Review
"The Born freeloaders" depicts what transpires when sacrifice births privilege, and privilege consequently births resentment. The story follows a group of "born frees" as they navigate life as involuntary benefactors of this privilege; a blessing that has afforded them all the perks life could offer, but also the burden of what is expected of them to "recompense" this gift.

Take your time reading through Education, Knowledge & Wisdom; the analogy is absolutely breathtaking.

Thank you for writing our stories Mr. Pikoli!👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿

[Arehone Ramaru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly being a Pretoria boy and seeing references to bits and parts of my city, ah the sense of pride!

This book is the dream of every "visual reader" like myself, the detailed scene and character break down is done soo well that it all seems soo tangible. Super easy to identify and if not so to emphathize with each character.

The Tsholo character, her calm, demeanor and unsuspecting hold of authority. I really enjoyed reading through that segment. Tsholo actually does seem like the kind of person who casually hangs around the State Theatre.

The 3rd world conversation, oh wow. From the detailing of Gangi's motions and expressions to the conversation itself I felt as though I too were sitting at that table and needed to voice my views on the matter though be it to myself.

Overall it was great to get inside view of the "other world" and to learn that privilege aside we are all just people trying to figure this life thing out.

[Sthembile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follow this link to read my full review: https://sthembilm.com/2019/11/12/born...