black South Africans - The African Mirror

Mar

2023

Sex, intimacy and black middle-class Christianity in South Africa – a difficult history

A new book, Convening Black Intimacy, explores the history of Christianity, gender and precolonial marriage and sex traditions in South Africa in the late 1800s and early 1900s. To conduct her study, historian Natasha Erlank drew on court records of cases of seduction, church records, anthropological texts, and many sources from black authors, including black newspapers and novels as well as songs sung by black women. What is clear is that black South Africans had loving, intimate relationships that they fought hard to maintain under the destruction brought about by colonialism and apartheid. We asked her more about her fascinating…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

New book on South Africa’s history puts black people at the centre, for a change

LITERATURE

THULA Simpson’s new book, History of South Africa from 1902 to the Present, is an event-packed narrative history. It is reminiscent of the style of Eric Walker’s History of Southern Africa eight decades ago – a very influential book, prescribed for many university history classes – except this time black South Africans are central to the story, not confined to its margins. Author KEITH GOTTSCHALK, Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape The author, an associate professor at the University of Pretoria, most recently published the book, Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle, in 2016. This was also written…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

South African policies go some way to tackling poverty and inequality. But more is needed

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world. More than 50% of the population live in poverty. Despite notable gains in poverty reduction post-apartheid, poverty levels have remained consistently highest among women, black South Africans, people with disabilities, and those living in rural areas. SOPHIE PLAGERSON, Senior research fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg The government has committed itself to addressing poverty, inequality and social exclusion – understood as a disadvantage by gender, race, disability or place. The mandate is laid out in the constitution and in the government’s National…