A Marvel of Nature

April 4, 2026April 4, 2026 / stidyatkusane / 2 Comments

*Blue Cranes, ritual dancing display, Curry’s Post*

I am walking through mistbelt grassland, following an old track that leads down past the Two Pines and eventually reaches the river. The saddle, I am now crossing, provides a suitable habitat for three types of Cisticolas, all of which I regularly see here – LeVaillant’s, Wailing and Zitting. Yellow Bishop Birds, various Widowbirds, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Grassbirds, Buff-streaked Chat, Rufous-naped Larks, Red-winged Francolin, Common Button Quail and, on rare occasions, the elusive Broad-tailed Warbler also occur here. In the firebreak-burning season, the African Pipit and Black-winged Lapwing also put in an appearance.

At the edge of the saddle, I stop to watch the swifts, diving vigorously above me with their swept-back wings. It is amazing to think they may have flown to Europe and back without once touching land.

Birds are a marvel of nature. Evolution has given them a particular combination of speed, stamina and agility that suits their lifestyle, be it in the air, on land or in water. Their diversity allows them to hold their own in virtually any environment on earth. The more you understand about them, the more wonderful they get.

My interest in birds and avian behaviour began at an early age. At boarding school in the Matopos in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and, later, Plumtree, on the Botswana border, I used to make regular weekend forays into the bush and surrounding kopjes with my elder brother Pete and a couple of his like-minded friends, looking for birds (and, I am now ashamed to admit, their eggs). At that stage, it was more my brother’s interest than mine. I mainly tagged along to escape the discipline and confines of the school. ‘Exeats’, as it was called, was an activity that both schools encouraged. They believed it would turn us into good, wholesome, patriotic Rhodesians. In my case, I am not sure it did.

Typical Matopos (now Matobo) scenery. It is good birding country.

Pete was more practical than I was, and his approach to birding was very systematic, thorough and scientific. He had specially designed and got printed a series of cards on which he recorded all the birds’ details and distinguishing features – their looks, their behaviour, the habitat they occurred in, the food they ate, the type of nest they built, the colour and pattern on their eggs, their calls, etc.

There was something a bit Victorian about this gathering of information, but I admired Pete to the point of hero-worship. I was never that conscientious, which probably also explains why he always did better at school than I did.

Being artistically inclined, I was attracted to birds more viscerally. I found them beautiful and took delight in their diversity and the rich pageant of brilliant colours they came in, as well as in their contrasting, often highly tuneful, birdsong. It is little wonder that birds have long been celebrated in poetry, prose, art and even music.

After I left school, my attentions became focused elsewhere. For about a decade, I did very little birding.

That all changed when I joined the Witness newspaper in Pietermaritzburg as its Political Cartoonist. There, I met Ken, the sports writer, one of the paper’s true characters and legendary journalists. Ken was passionate about birding (and sea shells – and a few more things besides). As I had never been to Kruger, he invited me to join him on one of his regular ‘bird trips’ there. For two weeks, we travelled the length and breadth of the park, from South to North, East to West. From sunrise to sunset, every day, we were on the road, scanning the bush for birds. Ken doesn’t believe in wasting valuable birding time sitting around in camp.

Ken’s enthusiasm was infectious, and he had a wonderful eye and ear for sightings. We saw hundreds of birds, many of them new species for me. It was a transcendent experience. By the time I returned to Pietermaritzburg, I had undergone a Damascus-style conversion. The spirit had re-entered me and taken possession of my soul. I had become a Born-Again Birder. In the next few years, my belief would border on fanaticism. I even started keeping notes.

(I have mellowed a bit since then, lost some of my single-minded focus, but not my love for birds.)

Thereafter, I joined Ken on many of his expeditions. Kruger, Mapungubwe and Ndumo became regular destinations. We began our one trip by driving down to Umhlanga Rocks on the East Coast of South Africa, dipping our feet in the Indian Ocean, and then heading cross-country, via Kimberly and the Augrabies Falls, to Alexander Bay on the West Coast, where we dipped our feet in the Atlantic. It was a lot colder.

From there, we headed, in Ken’s tiny blue Ford Laser, packed solid with camping gear, to the mountain desert of the Richtersveld. We made it all the way to the top, via Hell’s Gate and past Mount Terror, on what was supposed to be a 4X4-only route. We were the only ones there. When a highly organised convoy of fully purpose-built 4 X 4s, equipped with winches, jerry cans of fuel and a multitude of spare tyres (our only one had a puncture), later arrived, they couldn’t believe their eyes. I think they thought we were some sort of mirage. How on earth had we made it all the way up here in that ridiculous little car?! They looked a bit crestfallen. It took some of the triumph out of their own achievement. From our positions, under a large boulder whose shadow protected us from the worst of the sun, we raised our beers and said, “Cheers! Welcome to Kokerboomkloof!”

We also camped beneath the Blouberg, famous for its large vulture colony. We pitched our small tents on the side of the Soutspanberg, in a howling gale, and almost ended up in the valley below. We got chased down a narrow mountain pass in Marakele (famous for its vulture colony, as well) by an enraged elephant. We got drenched in the forests of Magoeberskloof, slept – or rather tried to sleep – through a hurricane in Mzimkulu. We narrowly missed being struck by lightning in Ndumo. We were hounded by a hyena in Bonamanzi, and I almost got bitten by a Mozambique Spitting Cobra the next day. On two occasions in Punda Maria, Ken had his malaria tablets stolen by monkeys. I lost a box of rusks to a Night Ape.

Generally, Ken and I avoided the organised birding groups because there is often a vague air of elitism about them, a sense of one-upmanship. Nor did we want to be identified with the nerds in their anoraks and all their paraphernalia. There is far more pleasure to be derived in heading off the beaten track and discovering a rare bird on your own, rather than having a paid guide find it for you (for example, we found the Pel’s Fishing Owl on our own, at Ratho on the Botswana border).

On our various travels, it wasn’t always just Ken and me. We had our own little birding group of good friends, like-minded twitchers and wildlife enthusiasts who would join us every now and again – Mark, Gavin, Gwen, Ant and, later, Carl. We were always a happy band of fellow travellers.

Part of the excitement of birding is, of course, that you never know what you are going to find. It also gets you outdoors and into the wilds. As well as birds, there is often new, breathtaking scenery to discover, new sights to see.

You can bird almost anywhere. Your back garden is as good a place as any to start. I live in the country, which means my local patch is bigger than that of most urban dwellers. Tramping back and forth over it, month after month, can make you more sensitive to the constant changes taking place around you. You build up a comforting familiarity with the landscape. You get to know the regular birds and those that come and go depending on food availability or, in the case of the migrants, the seasons. Sometimes, you stumble on a bird you didn’t expect to find in your area at all. I was recently amazed to see a European Roller, which is not a bird I would associate with our mistbelt grassland. It hung around for several months.

A few of the many birds seen in my garden…

Over the years, my bird list began to grow. I became relentless in my pursuit of new species. It is difficult to explain just what the lure of the rare consists in, but, as a teenager, I remember poring over the old Norman C. K. Lighton illustrations in Roberts Birds of South Africa and finding myself intrigued by such oddities as the Narina Trogon, the African Broadbill, the Eastern Nicator, the African Pitta and the Pel’s Fishing Owl. Now that I was back into my birding, I wanted to find them.

*Narina Trogon, Bonamanzi, Pic courtesy of Gwen Stokes*.

I did, all except the Pitta. I have a feeling it will forever remain “The one that got away…” because it only occurs in a remote part of the Zambezi, in Mozambique, and I don’t have the resources to get there…

Birding obviously requires a certain amount of skill, which you build up over the years. Noticing differences – shape, size, colour – is all-important. Political cartoonists, like myself, rely a lot on jizz. We have to decide which features to select as markers and then stylise them so the character we are lampooning becomes readily identifiable. In birding, you also look for distinguishing features, although not so that you can make a joke out of them. That would be rude.

Sound can help. With difficult species like the Cisticolas I encountered on my walk, it is often the best way to distinguish one bird from another similar-looking one (the Levaillant’s and Rufous-winged Cisticolas, for example). Habitat preference and distribution can also help here, but it becomes difficult when species overlap. Hence, in some instances, the Cisticola’s call is the only way to separate them in the field.

Because of the bewildering variety of calls, it can be hard to remember which one belongs to which bird. It can be absurdly satisfying to be able to put a name to an unfamiliar one.

All birders have their favourite calls. In my case, it is not just the skill or musicality but the associations. It is by no means our best songster, but, for me, there is something incredibly comforting about the Cape Turtle Dove’s repeated refrain “How’s father, how’s father…?” (or, depending on whether you want to be admonished, “Work harder, work harder…”). It takes me back to my childhood days on our smallholding outside of Salisbury (now Harare), which my father named “Dovery” because of it. Their sound was a constant, reassuring feature of the Miombo woodland that surrounded us. They also put on a marvellous spectacle, with the blowing out and deflating of their chests, coupled with the throbbing throat. The doves almost seemed to take an aesthetic pleasure in their own performance. I certainly did.

*Taking a break from calling: Cape Turtle Dove*.

Many people will choose the Fish Eagle as the bird whose call most captures the spirit of Africa, and it is hard to argue with that. The Black-crowned Tchagra is another one of my favourite songsters, as it was for my brother, who died not long after his farm was taken over in Robert Mugabe’s land grab. Whenever I hear its haunting, evocative call echoing across the veld, I think of him. It has become his ‘spirit bird’. Similarly, as a child, I used to regularly wake at dawn to the melodious, rising crescendo of the beautiful White-browed Robin-Chat (formerly, Heuglin’s Robin, a name I still prefer) coming from the deep undergrowth at the bottom of our garden in Nyanga North. It also rates high in the nostalgia stakes.

Finally, no favourite bird call list would be complete without the Fiery-necked Nightjar, whose plaintive, subtle, piercingly beautiful “Good Lord deliver us….” is one of the characteristic sounds of the African night, and touches a nerve deep inside me which no other bird song does.

With their complex behaviour and the startling feats they are capable of, it is little wonder that so many myths and legends are attached to birds or why we remain so fascinated by them. The more time you spend with them, the more you realise what astonishingly refined creatures they are. As any trip into the outdoors will reveal, they have many more tricks up their sleeves (wings?) besides their ability to fly…

*Combining birding with breathtaking scenery: Cape Vulture, Drakensberg Mountains*.

Book Reviews

January 10, 2026 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

published by UKZN Press

The spectacular rise of birdwatching over the last century has led to a proliferation of literature on ornithological matters, aimed at both novices and professionals alike.

Rather than dealing with the prehistory, evolution and habits of birds, a subject covered in many of the other books about birding, this one is slightly different, concentrating instead on how our various Southern African birds got their names. Because these names have often changed over the years, this, of necessity, involves setting the clock back repeatedly.

In lesser hands, this could have resulted in a muddle, but Adriaan Koopman (who is Professor Emeritus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal) and Eckhart Buchardt (an avid birder with a special interest in names) have successfully navigated the obstacle, providing a crisp and often witty guide to the subject. Given the confusion of names that existed back in history, it becomes understandable, too, why scientists felt a need to simplify things

Birdwatching, of course, begins with noticing differences. These differences help us to allocate names to the various types of birds and then to divide them into species and subspecies. All birds have at least two names: the standard common name and the Latinised scientific” name”. In addition to this, there can be national, dialect and popular/slang names. The main purpose of the scientific name, which always comes in two parts, is to enable scientists to communicate internationally without any possibility of confusion.

The popular or slang names (eg Toppie for Dark-capped Bulbul), are the ones that have fallen into common usage. Some of these slang names are very colourful, expressive or descriptive. There is an obvious rightness to many of them, in other cases, less so,

As a multilingual country, South Africa has an extensive range of bird names. Understandably, many originate in England, and this can lead to some confusion. In England, for example, there is only one kingfisher, and it does, indeed, live mostly on fish. In South Africa, there are seven species, of which several (such as the Woodland, Brown-hooded and Pygmy) can be found far from water and consume a different diet. They look like the English kingfisher, though, and are part of the same family so the name has been kept.

In Chapters 5 to 7, the authors examine the contributions made by various early English ornithologists, such as Edgar Layard, William Burchell, Richard Sharpe, John Gurney and the Woodward brothers. They would later give way to a new generation of pioneering South African ornithologists. Edward Leonard Gill was the first of these to meet the need for a new type of informative book to help people identify birds, publishing, in 1936, his A First Guide to South African Birds. The lodestar, however, was Dr Austin Roberts, whose “Roberts Birds of South Africa” remains the benchmark against which all other local bird guidebooks are measured. More recently, the adoption of IOC standardised English names has entailed changes to long-entrenched English bird names in southern Africa – a move that has left some birders lingering unhappiness (do they really expect me to go back and change all my old bird lists?).

Many birds are named after their most striking colours or physical appearance. Other names are based on their behaviour or are influenced by the birds’ favoured habitat or the sound they make. In many cultures, birds are used as markers of seasons or changing weather, and this also holds true amongst the names given to them by South Africa’s indigenous people. The booming call of the Southern Ground Hornbill, for example, is believed to presage rain.

Not to be outdone, various ornithologists, explorers and collectors have made sure their contributions were not forgotten by bestowing their own names on a bird (a familiar example is Burchell’s Coucal or “Rainbird”. Likewise, Gurney’s Sugarbird and LeVaillant’s Cisticola).

In the case of Cape Dutch and Afrikaans names, these often come from close observation of the bird in its natural habitat. Some of their names have slipped into popular usage (think Korhaan, Bokmakierie and Piet-my-Vrou).

Similarly, many of the African names link the bird to the natural environment. Others have their origins in myth, fable, custom and local beliefs, providing another interesting aspect to the whole question of bird nomenclature and linking it, in turn, to a common humanity.

In compiling this fascinating compendium on the subject of how birds got their names – obviously, such names mean nothing to the birds themselves – the authors have left no stone unturned. Full of insight, information, and imaginative sympathy with the natural world, South African Bird Names is a triumph of painstaking research. Handsomely produced, with a neat bibliography and index, plus illustrations, it looks set to become the authoritative work on the subject.

published by Jacana

David Bristow is a veteran travel journalist, tour guide and avid explorer, in the tradition of some of the great adventurers of old. He is also a natural storyteller with a gift for pinning down the smells and atmosphere of the African landscape.

In this rich and highly readable compilation of some of his best stories, he skilfully blends history with anthropology, as well as relating some of his own experiences in the wilds. In the process, he reveals a lively and compassionate engagement with his subject matter, while supplying discreet but telling characterisations that help bring the events he describes to life.

The scope of the book is wide – Bristow discusses his encounters with wild animals, the changing environment, and touches on various milestone historical events. There is an insightful and sympathetic portrait of the missionary David Livingstone, which, nevertheless, doesn’t spare us the great explorer’s personal failings. Two of his stories relate to the Wild Coast. Both are tragic in their outcome – the wrecking of the Grosvenor and its aftermath, and the great Xhosa Cattle Killing, inspired by a prophecy and which resulted in widespread starvation.

There are also some less familiar gems. He rescues from history, for example, the now all but forgotten story of Coenraad De Buy, frontiersman, renegade and Bastard King of South Africa. Equally fascinating and remarkable is the story of the quarrelsome and fiery, five-feet-tall, gender-bending Dr James Barry, who managed, for the most part, to keep her real identity hidden while serving as the Cape Colony Medical Officer in the early 1800s.

Amongst the wealth of similar engaging anecdotes is the story of the building of the Swartberg pass and the discovery of Die Hel, an isolated white settlement that existed in one of the more inaccessible parts of the mountains. The author’s enthusiasm for his subject is equally evident = in his descriptions of the rediscovery of the ancient city of Mapungubwe and the various legends and local folklore that surrounded it.

Generous, humane and moral, there are some wonderfully Boy’s Own humorous touches to the stories which relate to his own life in off-the-beaten-track places – like his encounter with an angry hippo. Written with professional assurance, Loony Birds, Lion Men and the Snake that was a Gerbil is a book bursting with incident, humour, humanity and a love for the African continent.

Book Review

October 18, 2025 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

published by Tafelberg

Ever since he first entered politics, Julius Malema has – like Donald Trump in America – been a divisive and controversial figure, a fact he has been only too happy to exploit to his advantage. Loathed by one section of the public, worshipped by another, over the years, a great deal of speculation has whirled around who he is and what drives his ambition. Many questions have also arisen as to how he has been able to underpin his lavish lifestyle. In this compelling, convincing and meticulously researched book, investigative reporters Micah Reddy and Pauli Van Wyk tear away the veil to reveal the unsettling truth.

Although not intended as a biography (Malema, unsurprisingly, refused to have anything to do with the authors), the book does give a brief resume of his career. Brought up in poverty, Malema became politicised at an early age. At school, he did not do well academically, although he would later explain this away by saying it was because he was too busy with politics. His less-than-stellar academic performance in no way dampened his unwavering thirst for power. He quickly made his presence felt. His personal charisma and larger-than-life personality went hand in hand with an instinctive feel for the masses which saw him rapidly rise through the political ranks until he eventually became president of the ANC Youth League.

As a member of the new elite, Malema openly displayed the self-regard and sense of entitlement that has become the trademarks of far too many of post-colonial Africa’s leaders. Like many others, too, he would use his new position to benefit from government tenders; in his case, mostly in Limpopo.

Malema was initially a fervent supporter of Jacob Zuma, vociferously defending the then Deputy President when he was charged with rape and playing an important role in his campaign to unseat Thabo Mbeki as president of the ANC. His outspokenness soon got him into trouble with the ANC hierarchy, however, and, despite his avowals of permanent support, he would later turn on Zuma after he expelled the young firebrand from the ANC for fomenting divisions and bringing the party into disrepute (ironically, Zuma would later suffer a similar fate).

Determined not to be silenced, Malema responded by forming the Economic Freedom Front (EFF), which advocated the radical redistribution of land and the nationalisation of mines. He was joined by his sidekick and former deputy president of the ANCYL, Floyd Shivambu, who would also become implicated in his share of shady financial and business activities (Shivambu would later deal a big blow to the EFF when, in a headline-grabbing move, he defected to Zuma’s newly formed MK Party. He did not last long there). As the undisputed leader and dominant member of the party, Malema was now able to unleash his demagogic talent freely.

Despite his pro-poor stance and professed aversion to Western capitalism, Malema has displayed few, if any, principles when it comes to accumulating wealth. Like many a populist leader, he has not been afraid to mix his political interests with his business ones or to use his political connections to bankroll both his party and himself. The proceeds from the latter went into luxury items, fleets of cars and a multitude of mansions, farms and properties.

Malema did his best to cover his tracks, but the press soon got wind of his activities and various investigations followed. Despite all the evidence that has been uncovered showing how he has benefited from his back-room deals, Malema has proved singularly adept at exploiting South Africa’s weak justice system and avoiding accountability.

In this deeply researched piece of investigative reporting, the authors provide a lengthy and detailed charge sheet of these. Looming large among the many cases is the scandal surrounding the Venda-based VBS Mutual Bank. A community-based bank, focusing on serving people with modest incomes, it collapsed in 2018 after being looted by corrupt municipal officials, middlemen, politicians, auditors, and even members of the Venda royalty, who had defrauded it of around R2 billion. As a result, many poor and elderly rural folk lost their life savings. Needless to say, both Malema and Shivambu were implicated in the unfolding scandal.

So far, the two politicians have managed to elude being brought to book for these and other corruption allegations, although investigations continue.

Engrossing and revelatory, Malema: Money. Power. Patronage provides a mountain of information on how Malema and other self-styled revolutionaries in the EFF have managed to enrich themselves, all in the name of the people. In doing so, the book also lifts the lid on the amoral careerism and licensed larceny that have become a defining characteristic of South African politics. Sadly, far too many members of the former liberation movements seem to have abandoned the fundamental values that first nourished them and learnt to tolerate the intolerable…

Published by UJ Press

In this well-researched, scholarly overview, the author provides detailed insights into the factors that led to the 2017 overthrow of the long-time Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe. One of the major focus points of the book is the often-overlooked role gender played in this and other military coups.

Tendi argues that Grace Mugabe – often sneeringly referred to as Gucci Grace because of her expensive tastes and extravagant lifestyle – was deliberately cast, by the coup plotters, as a scheming femme fatale, who had taken advantage of her husband’s frail health and declining mental state to position herself to take over the reins of power. This scapegoating of the First Lady was used as a cover for the general’s real motivations for the coup – to ensure that their preferred candidate, the recently sacked deputy president, Emmerson Mnangagwa (who they believed would protect their interests and positions. Mugabe was, reputedly, planning to get rid of some of them, and his rebuff of the generals when they sought a meeting with him to discuss their grievances was, undoubtedly, one of the main catalysts for the coup), would become president and not Mugabe’s own choice for successor – Dr Sydney Sekeramayi.

To bolster the case, as well as making it more appealing to the rank and file, the coup leaders portrayed Mnangagwa as a strong, bold, decisive, masculine figure as opposed to the more reserved, unassuming and, by implication, less manly, Sekeremayi. Mugabe was, likewise, feminised as “an old man” who had lost much of his former charisma and power and was, therefore, no longer up to ruling.

In addition to this, Tendi successfully demolishes the argument, put out at the time, that Mugabe’s overthrow was somehow not really a coup, in the strict sense of its definition, or that it differed markedly from how others had played out elsewhere in Africa. Because of Mugabe’s widespread unpopularity, both within and outside the country, coupled with the general feeling he had long overstayed his welcome in office, the AU and most Western leaders were happy to go along with this fiction. As a result, there was minimal public condemnation. There were even suggestions that Britain, for one, may have had a hand in what transpired or at least given tacit support to the Mnangagwa faction. The book includes personal testimonies and much interesting anecdotage from diplomats and politicians, in this connection.

Sadly, any hopes that the coup would usher in a better Zimbabwe would soon be dashed. As the author observes, most coups by generals tend to have conservative outcomes, and Zimbabwe proved no exception. There has been little meaningful change to the political status quo. Women’s participation in politics has declined, and there has been further repression and ongoing human rights abuses.

As Associate Professor of African Politics at the University of Oxford, Tendi has done his research, and his book includes a great deal of revealing behind-the-scenes detail. The most vivid parts of the book are those describing the fractured civil-military relations, and Mugabe’s failure to address or immediately deal with the generals’ grievances, an uncharacteristic lapse in judgment which resulted in the ageing president’s downfall. The author’s academic background does, however, occasionally show through in the numerous references to other scholars’ work and some rather dry theorising, which tends to slow down the pace of the narrative.

That said, The Overthrow of Robert Mugabe: Gender, Coups and Diplomats remains an important and engaging account of a pivotal moment in Zimbabwe’s recent history.

BOOK REVIEW

September 12, 2025 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

published by Tafelberg

Author David Williams grew up in sight of a railway line, at a time when train travel was still considered romantic. From an early age, he became an avid train-spotter, making himself familiar with the complicated business of timetables, locomotive types, gauges and lines. He developed a particular love for steam engines – in his words, “great creatures that seemed to breathe”- and all the lore and mythology that went with them. It helped, of course, that members of his family, including his father, were employed on the railways, as were many of the colourful characters he met through them. The pride they took in their work rubbed off on the young Williams. Wanting to experience their lifestyle for himself, he eventually found work as a steward in the catering division.

As well as describing his own experiences as a rail enthusiast, Williams, without burdening the reader with too much data, provides a lively, tactile history of the railways in South Africa.

One of the driving forces behind its establishment was Cecil John Rhodes. As an enthusiastic supporter of the Empire, he viewed it as a means of bringing the entire continent under British domination. If his motives were, by current wisdom, questionable, Rhodes was right about the economic benefits that flowed from this form of transport.

More than any other factor, the railway system provided the key to expansion, opening up South Africa to rapid development. In a matter of years, it helped pave the way for the country’s transformation from a primarily rural society to an industrial one. Later on, the need for electrification provided the spur for the establishment of the Electricity Supply Commission and, in turn, ISCOR. The railways also became an important source of employment. For thousands of young men, it was the only job available to them,

Its achievements were impressive. At its peak in the 1970s, it was the tenth-largest railway in terms of route mileage, surpassing the combined mileage of all other African railways. There was, of course, a less edifying side to all of this, and the author does not shirk from describing it. Racial discrimination had existed in South Africa long before the arrival of the railways, but when the National Party came to power in 1948, it was translated into rigid and detailed laws. The ugly reality of this legislation became only too visible when one arrived at a train station and was confronted with its hurtful and demeaning white and non-white signs, separate carriages and platforms. Apartheid also meant that black workers were denied work opportunities on the railways that were specifically reserved for whites.

Sadly, over the last several decades, the South African railway system has fallen into a state of chronic and possibly fatal decay. In part, this has been due to a marked decline in demand for its services, as well as competition from road transport, but poor management and unprecedented levels of vandalism and theft have also contributed to the gloomy overall picture.

The allure of South African train travel, which the author beautifully conveys in this book, is now fast slipping into the pages of history.

An engaging writer and experienced journalist, Williams has an eye for illuminating details, and his enthusiasm for his subject is infectious..Overflowing with vivid, highly pictorial phrases, his prose captures the heyday of train travel, as well as conjuring up the sound and movement of the old trains as they rumbled across the landscape. Fusing history and memoir, his book provides a fascinating look back at another era.

Book Reviews

August 9, 2025August 15, 2025 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

published by Jonathan Ball

Cecil John Rhodes has always excited a great deal of heated passion and fierce debate. In his time, he was both revered and reviled, in South Africa and abroad. More recently, he has come to represent the ugly face of white supremacy and European colonialism, which manifested itself in the “Rhodes Must Fall” movement.

In this exhaustive, meticulously researched study, William Kelleher Storey, who is Professor of History and holds the Sanderson Chair of Arts and Science at Millsap College in the United States, sets out to present a fully-rounded picture of a man who was one of the most influential figures in the history of the British Empire.

Rhodes was unquestionably a product of the Victorian era and shared many of the prejudices of the age. As Storey shows, much of his vision was developed during his time at Oxford. Like many of his colleagues, he believed in British racial superiority and shared the same messianic belief in the role of the empire. As ardent imperialists, they thought of the British as the true heirs of the Romans. They believed that they should play a similar role in bringing civilisation to decadent or barbarous people.

Rhodes originally came out to South Africa in 1870, to join his brother, Herbert, who was farming cotton in the Unkomaas Valley, in Natal. Later, he would follow him to the diamond fields of Kimberley. With fortune seekers streaming in from all over the world, they were colourful, chaotic times, and Storey paints a vivid portrait of what life was like on the diggings.

Unlike his contemporaries, it was not enough for Rhodes to make a fortune out of diamonds. As his wealth grew, so did his ambition. Having entered politics as a way of consolidating his power, extending his influence and protecting his corporate interests, he began developing a plan for settler expansion along the Road to the North. It didn’t stop there. By utilising the rail-road and telegraph, his ultimate vision was to extend British power across Africa. When (much exaggerated) rumours of immensely rich gold fields, to the north of the Limpopo, came to his attention, this would also include the creation of his personal country.

An important part of his plan to populate the subcontinent, which Rhodes openly advocated, included the disenfranchisement of Africans. Once he was elected prime minister of the Cape, he set about introducing racially discriminatory policies to further this goal, upsetting the more progressive elements in the Cape political scene, including the outspoken writer Olive Schreiner (who would later skewer him in her novel Trooper Halket of Mashonaland).

Oddly enough, when gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand, Rhodes initially had cold feet but later changed his mind. Again, his decision to become involved was not just about making money for its own sake. It was about furthering his vision by bankrolling exploration and further white settlement in the north.

It was here that Rhodes allowed his ego and grandiose dreams of recasting Africa in his own mould to get the better of his good judgement. Frustrated by the Boers’ attitude to and control of the gold mining industry, he attempted to provoke an insurrection against the government in Pretoria by organising the infamous – and calamitous – Jameson Raid. As a result of the attempted coup, Rhodes was forced to resign as prime minister of the Cape; the good relationships he had, up until then, so carefully cultivated with the Boers, lay in tatters, and he would never quite regain his old power and prestige. Worse was to follow. While Rhodes was attempting to resurrect his reputation and dealing with the fall-out from the raid, the Ndebele, taking courage from Jameson’s failure and the fact that the country had been denuded of troops, rose up in rebellion against his British South Africa Company rule in their territory. This would be followed, in turn, by a similar uprising by the supposedly more docile Shona. The hardening of relations between the British and Boers, which developed in the wake of the Raid, would also ultimately lead to the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.

In delving deeply into Rhodes’s controversial life, Storey has acquired a terrific knowledge of his subject and writes about it with flair. No row, crafty manoeuvre, shrewd manipulation, nor evidence of political wheeler-dealing is left unrecorded. Combining historical scholarship with a highly readable narrative, The Colonialist looks destined to become the authoritative work on Rhodes.

Published by Basic Books

Francis Fukuyama famously proclaimed that the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union marked “the end of history”. In his view, Western-style liberal democracy represented the final stage of social and political development and that ideological conflict would disappear. His bold prediction has proved to have been built on a shaky foundation. Contrary to the belief that the neoliberal precepts that became dominant in the 1970s were an unqualified success, life in the West has become harder for most people, albeit more comfortable for the thin tier at the top.

With this has come a gradual power shift. By the beginning of the 21st Century there were clear signs that American power had passed its zenith and that its economic and hence strategic dominance in world affairs was in decline. China and India, endowed with vast territory and huge populations, had become the rising stars of the show.

Unsurprisingly, given their belief in their exceptionalism, this has rung alarm bells in the United States. President Donald Trump was re-elected for a second term in office, on an electoral ticket in which he promised to “Make America Great Again”. So far, that hasn’t happened. Not only has the American economy weakened, but Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to foreign policy has alienated many world leaders and undermined, rather than enhanced, trust and respect for the country abroad.

As many countries seek to insulate themselves from Washington’s gravitational pull, a new post-Western order is emerging. In this scholarly, wide-ranging and critical overview. Amitav Acharya, who is the distinguished professor of international affairs at American University, argues that this will not necessarily result in a turn for the worse or lead to a collapse in the global order.

In making his case, Acharya delves deep into the realms of history. Taking ancient Sumer as his starting point, he shows how successive civilisations, across the world, contributed to the current world order over a long time. In doing so, he challenges certain long-held views, among them the common Western assumption that their civilisation began, essentially, with the Greeks.. As he rightly points out, this ignores the influence of the world to the East. Greece had strong Asiatic foundations and borrowed many of its ideas about science, art, sculpture, technology and government from these surrounding cultures, which they then passed on to Rome and the rest of Europe.

Thereafter, the author examines each continent, in turn, from the great civilisations of India and China in the east to the Aztecs and Incas in the Americas, weaving in frequent reminders of how each society synthesised and developed the traditions of those that had gone before. There is an insightful chapter on Africa, tracing its role in the global history of empire building and outlining how its indigenous economies were severely disrupted by the transatlantic slave trade and European colonisation, the effects of which are still being felt today.
This makes way for an analysis of the rise of the West, culminating in the global dominance of the United States. While the Western world order was, on one level, a force for modernity, it also has had its limitations and dark side, such as racism, exploitation and discrimination. Resistance to colonialism led to new actors emerging, who demanded a repositioning of how things were done and insisted on the establishment of a more inclusive world.

With the wheel of fortune turning away from the West, the obvious question arises: what will replace it? Acharya offers various scenarios but believes it will mostly be a shared enterprise and will not be dominated by any single nation.

It is a complex and nuanced subject, but Acharya navigates this fascinating journey through the centuries with great skill while offering a cool and well-reasoned critique of the current world order.

Book Review

June 21, 2025 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

Published by Jonathan Ball

One of the more worrying features of the shaky era we are living in has been a rising tide of authoritarianism, accompanied, in some instances, by a resurrection of many old white supremacist tropes, which date back to Charles Darwin’s time. It was Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton, who came up with the concept of eugenics, which popularised the view that races were real entities and that different races were unequal. His ideas gained widespread currency and were supported by many prominent figures, including Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Winston Churchill. On a more sinister note, they would also be latched onto by Hitler and the Nazis with their endless preoccupation with “the Jewish question”- how to rid Europe of the Jews – that led, ultimately, to the gas chambers.

The horrors of the Holocaust forced white supremacist ideas into retreat, but they didn’t disappear altogether. South Africa, for one, instituted its policy of apartheid that centred on its notions of separate racial cultures and separate racial frameworks. Behind all this was the belief that whites were inherently superior to blacks and should effectively control the reins of power. This line of reasoning led to the Group Areas Act, under which 3,5 million African and ‘Çoloured’ people were forcibly removed from their homes to make way for whites.

As usual, however, it is to America that we must turn for the big story about race and politics. Nowadays, geneticists say there is little scientific evidence to support theories of race difference. This hasn’t stopped them from finding a new protagonist in Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, whose obsession with refugees, immigrants and declining birth rates has seen the normalisation of what were once regarded as fringe views. Their fears about America being swamped by violent, criminal gangs and getting engulfed in ethnic conflict are, in turn, directly linked to populist Great Replacement thinking – the conspiracy narrative, first espoused by the French author Renaud Camus, that there is a secret plot, masterminded by some mysterious elite, to replace white populations in white-majority countries.

The growing influence of social media has led to a proliferation of alt-right sites and the widespread dissemination of their views, as well as the spreading of doomsday scenarios of a looming white genocide. (with some – including Donald Trump himself – pointing to what is allegedly happening in South Africa, even though these claims are not backed up by any solid evidence). Underlying a lot of it is a profound nastiness which has led, at the extreme end, to the emergence of lone white-male killers who hope that their violent actions will provoke civil war.

South African-born author, Gavin Evans, who grew up under the old National Party regime, with its policy of “separate development”, has made an in-depth study of this subject. In his eloquent, compelling and, at times, alarming book, he succeeds superbly in teasing out the links between the old ideas about eugenics and today’s Great Replacement theories. His conclusions are, by no means, all doom and gloom, however. Despite the growth of the alt-right, the frequency of race-motivated murders, the revival of race science and the election of right-wing politicians, research has shown that racial prejudice is, in fact, declining, especially where communities have become more integrated and people are exposed to other cultures, ideas and ways of life. There are still, however, powerful forces pushing the idea of “race realism”.

Topical, relevant and full of insights, White Supremacy deserves to be read by a wide audience.

published by Bloomsbury.

We live in an age of economic anxiety and instability. The cost of living continues to rise, real wages are in decline, and jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. Many people feel gloomy and fearful about the future. Trust is in deficit.

In this shrewd, thoughtful and hard-hitting polemic, author Ash Sarkar tackles the obvious question: how did we get here? Her essential conclusion is that we have allowed ourselves to become victims in a classic case of misdirection. Instead of confronting the big issue of our day – the unprecedented transfer of wealth from ordinary citizens and consumers to the very rich, the huge corporations and the oligarchs we have allowed ourselves to become sucked into a phony game of grievance politics. The whole concept of “culture wars” has been deliberately stoked to redirect attention away from the structural causes of our current economic hardships towards more nebulous feelings of cultural resentment. In this scenario, various minority groups are blamed for all the world’s ills.

An obvious example is the transgender issue, where the sexual leanings of a tiny minority of society are blown out of all proportion and presented as a form of contagion which will undermine the moral welfare of the majority. In a similar vein, we have the promotion of conspiracy theories, like the Great Replacement narrative – so popular amongst alt-right groups – which postulates that there is some sort of sinister plot to replace slow-breeding whites with immigrants from other racial groups.

Politicians like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage have become experts at whipping up fear and speculation and turning these once-fringe issues into mainstream ones. Other politicians have displayed a similar cynicism and hypocrisy. While professing concern for the poor, they are willing partners in a system that continues to enrich the extremely wealthy.

To an extent, the left has made it easier for them. Rather than looking at the larger issues facing society, they have become obsessed with policing what people say and whether it can be construed as an assault on someone’s personhood. Society has become divided into narrow subcultures, each defending its own turf. We have become mired in niche controversies.

At the other end of the spectrum, right-wing culture warriors seized on this to promote the vision of a ‘forgotten’ majority who have been socially gagged and culturally marginalised because of this focus on minority rights. As the author notes, the most trifling of conflicts get framed within much weightier battles of values, ideologies or identity positions with hundreds of talking heads pontificating about them”(she cites the case of Will Smith slapping the comedian Chris Rock)

Sarkar is a spry, pithy and impressively agile critic, and her well-argued book is very much a call to arms. While not suggesting that we ignore the injustices of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia, her main point is that we need to be aware of the tectonic economic and geopolitical shifts that are taking place all around us. At a time when ordinary citizens struggle with financial, health and housing insecurity, a huge wealth grab is taking place right under our noses, which erodes our rights and threatens to impoverish us still further…

Book Review

May 10, 2025 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

Published by Summit Books

Forming a great barrier that stretches for more than 1000 kilometres from the Eastern Cape province in the south through to Mpumalanga in the north and marking the western border for large chunks of KwaZulu-Natal, the Drakensberg is South Africa’s highest and most iconic range of mountains. From its base, one’s eyes are drawn irresistibly up its valleys to the massive, imposing cliffs and the jagged peaks which earn it its Zulu name, uKhahlamba, which translates to “barrier of spears.”

There are few people alive who know the Drakensberg as well or have photographed it as extensively as Malcolm L. Pearse. Raised in its foothills, from an early age, they have played a dominant role in his life. Like most children brought up in such an environment, he responded instinctively to the beauty of the dramatic scenery he found himself enmeshed in. The mountains imprinted themselves on him, became a place of the heart, a sanctuary he would be drawn back to again and again, as if pulled by some invisible force. His passion for its rugged terrain and breathtaking scenery was encouraged by his father, the well-known Reg Pearse, who authored three books on the subject, including the classic Barrier of Spears

Having spent a lifetime exploring and photographing them, Pearse brings the full force of his love and understanding to bear in this handsomely produced hardcover book. Writing in a chatty and informal style, he has produced a series of vivid chapters and vignettes which capture his relationship with the mountains, as well as revealing their unique character. Whether writing of nights spent sleeping under the stars (and the Drakensberg is a perfect place to view the night sky in all its glory) or of joining friends on long hikes he has the ability to draw readers into the experience through his descriptions of them.

As an experienced climber, Pearse is well aware of the mountain’s changeable moods and the danger they can pose to climbers. In summer, it is notorious for its ferocious thunderstorms. The weather can be hot and sultry in the morning and then suddenly change, in the afternoon, as dark thunderclouds roll over the mountains and the air becomes alive with electrical activity. In winter, it is often swept by snowstorms which presents its own challenges to those caught in them.

For thousands of years, the Drakensberg’s valleys provided a home for the San/Bushmen, a hunter/gatherer community who lived in close harmony with nature. The evidence of their occupation can still be seen in the exquisite rock paintings they left behind. The book contains many fine examples of these.

The remainder of Pearse’s tome is devoted to his exploration of other famous African landmarks. He covers a range of landscapes from the desert sands of the Sahara to the snows of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s near-mythical, stand-alone, highest mountain. In the process, he captures a comprehensive microcosm of the continent he so obviously loves. There is also a chapter on waterfalls and another one on volcanoes (including their two most active – Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira)

While Pearse admits the Drakensberg will always hold prime place in his heart, each one of these scenic wonders presents its own chaotic and edgy version of nature and appeals to his wanderlust and love of wild places.

Written, in a sense, as a tribute to his father, All the Hills are Home is a success in organisation, as well as observation. Heavy in the hand, lavishly illustrated with his beautiful photographs and rife with gleaned insights, it captures the rugged grandeur of these untamed wildernesses. His enthusiasm and knowledge (and the accompanying photographs) makes you want to grab your backpack and head out into the wilds yourself.

published by Struik Nature

With the world in such a gloomy state, the need to seek out solace in some happier, more bucolic space has never seemed more urgent. To do so, you don’t, in fact, need to go further, geographically, than a few steps out of your front (or back) door and into your garden. There, you can create what you are looking for.

If yours is an uninspiring, neglected mess, this comprehensive and telling, large-format book will give you all the information and practical help you need to turn it into an indigenous paradise, where you can escape – if only temporarily – from the woes of the world. Stuffed full of beautiful images of gardens and individual plants, its introduction lays the groundwork, covering climate, various garden styles, spatial planning and garden maintenance, and offers suggestions for attracting wildlife to the garden.

In South Africa, we are particularly lucky, too, to have one of the highest densities of plant species in the world, so there is plenty of scope to find the options that will suit your garden and needs best, whether it be formal or informal, big or small. The book introduces gardeners to over 2000 species of both familiar and unfamiliar species, pairing full colour photographs with brief descriptions that cover size, shape, flowering times and best growing conditions. The book also includes a handy Plant Selector, which helps gardeners choose the most appropriate plants for specific areas or functions in their garden or home.

All three authors are well-known experts in their fields with many publications and years of experience tucked behind them. As one would expect from such pros, the book is accessibly written and light in tone, but packed with information and authoritative advice, all mouthwatering presented. More than just a standard manual, South African Indigenous Garden Plants is a source of inspiration and should reignite that basic desire to return to a more natural, harmonious way of life. Although there have been many excellent gardening books produced in the past, it looks destined to become the standard and most authoritative work on the subject for years to come.

Book Reviews

March 8, 2025 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

Published by WildTrust

Africa is home to some of the world’s most iconic and threatened species. Despite its incredible richness and diversity in wildlife, a combination of sport and market hunting by thousands of hunters had decimated much of its vast herds by the end of the 19^th century. It was only thanks to the efforts of a few far-sighted individuals and organisations that this disastrous decline was slowed and then gradually reversed.

In South Africa, the province of Natal early on recognised the importance of wildlife conservation. It was the first part of South Africa to establish formal areas with the specific purpose of protecting individual large mammal species. It was also the first area in Africa to declare a national park.

In 1947, the Natal Parks Board was established and over the next fifty years, it would go on to earn a well-deserved, international, reputation for the important work it did in safeguarding nature and creating a healthier, sustainable future for both wildlife and people.

George Hughes has spent over forty years in conservation, rising through the ranks and eventually becoming the CEO of the NPB in 1988. His close association and long history with the organisation has placed him in an ideal situation to provide a broad brush picture of its establishment and subsequent evolution – and in this chunky, thought-provoking, nourishing soup of a book he has done just that..

A highly professional outfit with a dedicated staff, one of the NPB’s greatest success stories was, undoubtedly, Operation Rhino which saw hundreds of White rhino being reintroduced into their former habitats in southern Africa, including Kruger National Park. They NPB also pioneered various game capture and darting techniques that were later applied elsewhere. Despite some initial resistance from a few of the old hands, the NPB also came to realise the importance of employing an increasing compliment of trained scientists who – in the author’s words – “could provide thorough and clear research to support the confident management of Natal’s protected areas as well as provide trusted information to staff operating in the extension field.”

This meant that they could, in turn, share their knowledge and expertise with the increasing number of farmers and private game reserves who were now stocking game (many of these animals were purchased from the NPB game auctions, a win-win situation for both sides). Over time, the NPB also came to engage increasingly with local communities so that they, too, derive financial benefits from protected areas, while, at the same time, advancing environmental awareness.

Despite the many plaudits and accolades that have come its way, the story has not been without crisis, controversy or contested approaches to nature conservation.

One of the more notorious episodes, which attracted a fair amount of negative publicity at the time, was “The Petition”, a revolt by a faction of Zululand rangers, led by Ian Player and Nick Steele (two figures who had been closely associated with Operation Rhino), who took issue with the way Head Office was handling its mandate. Although he was closely involved in the conflict, Hughes endeavours to be as fair and as even-handed as possible in describing how the saga unfolded and was eventually resolved. (albeit with some lingering hostility), It is clear, though, that the issue still rankles and that he feels many of the charges were based on an incomplete understanding of the facts.

Hughes also unwittingly found himself engulfed in another storm when he invited then-president Nelson Mandela to an international gathering in Zululand to celebrate the centenary of three of the first protected areas in Africa (the Hluhluwe, Umfolozi and St Lucia game reserves) – without clearing it first with the IFP, who, at that stage, was in charge of the province. It took some skilful diplomacy and smoothing of bruised political egos – plus a bit of Madiba magic – to calm matters down.

Spiced with many other similar anecdotes and reminiscences, which add a great deal of colour to the text, Hughes also devotes much space to describing the structures, functioning and operational aspects of the NPB. As such, The Natal Parks Board: A Conservation Adventure provides an authoritative overview of the subject and should prove invaluable to future historians, archivists and interested members of the public alike.

It also fulfils another important function. With many species still hovering on the edge of extinction and faced with an ever-expanding human population that is placing huge pressure on the environment, the success of wildlife conservation depends, to an extent, on our understanding of the failures, as well as the achievements, of the past. By highlighting the goals and objectives of an organisation with the impressive track record of the NPB, as well as showing how it dealt with the various problems and challenges it faced along the way (it was disbanded in 1998), this extensively researched and wide-ranging book makes a meaningful contribution to that understanding as well.

published by Bantam

Fans of Lee Child will no doubt welcome the latest outing for his cynical, maverick hero, Jack Reacher. Written with the usual flair and elan, the story opens, arrestingly, with Reacher waking up with a broken wrist and a sore head. To add insult to injury, he is in a dark room and handcuffed to a bed. He has no idea how he got there. With his short-term memory gone, he has to find a way to free himself and then disentangle what happened to him.

Naturally, he is not too happy about this unfortunate turn of events and is determined to exact revenge on whoever put him in this position. And when Reacher, a towering, avenging angel, sets himself a task, he doesn’t stop until he succeeds, outwitting or out-muscling anyone in his way.

In the ensuing pacy, violent caper, he links up with a female cop who is also intent on revenge because she suspects one of the gang, who locked up Reacher, murdered her father. Together, they uncover a complicated sequence of events involving blackmail, double-dealing, cyber-hacking, top-level secrets, turned agents and a threat to US security.

The book shows little sign that, with many incredibly popular Reacher stories behind him, Child (who has now been joined by his brother Andrew, an established author himself) is now coasting. Written with veteran assurance, the plotting carries the narrative superbly along, making In Too Deep an entertaining addition to the long-running series.

Book Review

January 18, 2025 / stidyatkusane / Leave a comment

The surprise and audacity of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, in which roughly 1200 Israelis were killed and 240 taken hostage, once again refocused the world’s eyes on the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The Israeli response, Operation Sword of Iron, was, predictably, swift and ferocious with over 30,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, losing their lives.

In this crisp, informative and critical overview, Ilan Pappe, who is Professor of History at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies and Director of the European Centre of Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter, provides a concise history of the events leading up to the current conflagration, and a reasoned reassessment of it. Given the savage venom often directed at those who question the official line – with charges of anti-Semitism being thrown around with reckless abandon – his commitment to historical accuracy is to be commended.

Although the author disputes this (he places the date much earlier), many people see the origins of the current Israeli-Palestine conflict as dating back to 1948 when the Soviet Union amazed everyone by joining America in voting for the establishment of a Jewish state. Not surprisingly, both the Palestinians and the Arab world rejected the partition of a land that had long been occupied by the Palestinians (the author makes short thrift of the myth that it was largely empty when the Jews first settled there).

With partition endorsed by the UN, the Jews quickly set about establishing their dominance in the region. Thus began what the author calls a ‘repertoire of repression” – the Palestinians were systematically stripped of their rights, their property was forcibly taken or destroyed and they were regularly forced to flee from the land of their birth. In the face of this ghettoisation and ethnic cleansing, resistance was inevitable, The Palestinians were less well-armed and organised and the Israelis used their attacks as justification for further repression. Both sides have, at times, behaved ruthlessly although – as the current Israeli offensive has only too clearly shown – there is little doubt who has inflicted the greater casualties and done the most damage.

Throughout all of this, America’s policy towards Israel has continued to be driven by the powerful pro-Israeli lobby which has resulted in successive administrations virtually granting the country a blank cheque. As such, there has been little incentive for the Israeli government to moderate its behaviour (this has proved especially so under their current leader, Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu). The fact that the US embrace of Zionism has often harmed their other interests in the Middle East, as well as encouraging terrorism in their backyard has, for the most part, been brushed aside.

Since its outset, the conflict has been beset with rival lies and it is often difficult, for the ordinary observer, to sift through all the propaganda and falsehoods and establish where the real truth lies. While it is clear who his sympathies are with, Pappe does as much as anyone can do to reconstruct the reality behind the myths and controversies that continue to surround the whole Palestinian tragedy. What becomes clear from his analysis is that military prowess alone cannot provide a solution to this seemingly endless conflict. Sadly, that is something that neither side shows much willingness to acknowledge at the present moment.

published by Zaprock

By any standards, 2024 has been a tumultuous year, here and abroad. In South Africa, the ruling ANC lost its parliamentary majority and was forced into a shaky Government of National Unity (the GNU of the book’s title) with the DA, IFP and several smaller parties. The year also marked the return of two controversial, divisive ex-presidents – Donald Trump in the USA and – closer to home – Jacob Zuma. While insisting he remained an ANC member, Zuma launched his own political party, the MK Party which shocked the pundits by doing surprisingly well at the polls, pushing firebrand Julius Malema’s EFF into fourth place. Clearly put out by this loss of support, Juju’s mood did not improve when many of his members promptly deserted him for the new party.

With little going right and so much going wrong, South Africa’s motley collection of political cartoonists had a field day, not least the veteran political commentator, Zapiro. As this, his 28^th Annual, shows he has lost none of his satirical flourish and his cartoons are as sharp and as acerbic as ever. Producing cartoons on a day-to-day basis can be gruelling work but he is more than up to the task.

Zapiro has never been afraid to express his views even when they touch on highly contentious subjects such as the Gaza conflict where his dislike of the Netanyahu regime comes through strongly. He is also not one to be easily pigeonholed, sharing much of the modern cynicism about politicians. Nor is he selective in his targets, his dislike of them is spread across the board. .

Cartoons have always had the astonishing power to encapsulate a historical moment, and once again, Zapiro’s annual collection provides a fascinating, revealing—and often very funny—snapshot of the past year. It is an ideal Christmas present.

Book Reviews

December 21, 2024 / stidyatkusane / 4 Comments

Published by Bedford Square

When the First World War broke out, there were few, amongst the thousands who enlisted who could have foreseen the new type of modern warfare they would face. Chlorine gas, explosive artillery shells, rapid-fire machine guns and other heavy weapons were to inflict carnage on a scale never witnessed before. By the end of the first year, the war had become more or less static with the opposing armies facing each other in trenches which stretched from the Belgium Coast, across France, to the Swiss border. Numerous massive offences were launched, by both sides, but the toll of human life and suffering was out of all proportion to any gains made

As the war dragged on, many soldiers, living in appalling conditions and forced to the limits of their endurance, developed “shell shock”(known today as PTSD). Crippled in mind and body, some were sent back to Britain for treatment. Amongst them, were two men who would become renowned for their war poems, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. The story of the friendship that sprang up between them while receiving treatment at Craiglockhart War Hospital, in Scotland, has been told before (not least in Pat Barker’s superb re-imagining Regeneration, which won the Booker Prize), but Glass both broadens the scope and provides new insights into it.

Outwardly, the two were very different. Tall, aristocratic, athletic and a keen huntsman, Sassoon had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His reckless bravery in the face of the enemy had earned him a Military Cross, as well as his nickname “Mad Jack”. For his part, Owen was a good foot shorter, shy, hesitant and with a stammer. He also came from a much more humble, lower middle-class, background than the patrician Sassoon.

Despite his heroics, Sassoon, would, as the war progressed, develop an increasing ambivalence to both the nature of the conflict and the direction it was taking. Invalided back to England, with a sniper’s bullet through his chest, he decided to make an act of ‘wilful defiance’ by refusing to return to military duties. Worried by what he saw as his friend’s naivete, the poet Robert Graves intervened and used his influence to get Sassoon declared ‘mentally unbalanced’, thus avoiding the possibility of seeing him imprisoned for his actions. Eager to avoid a scandal, the military authorities were only too happy to go along.

At the time of their meeting, Sassoon was already an established poet and it took Owen – who was a big admirer – some time to pluck up the courage to show his poems to him. A warm friendship would grow out of this initial encounter. Under Sassoon’s creative and constructive criticism, Owen’s genius flourished. Both refused to glorify the war, as so many civilian poets, were doing but insisted on showing it in all its harsh reality. As Owen wrote: “My subject is War and the pity of War. The poetry is in the pity.”

The two poets were fortunate to be sent to Craiglockhart, an enlightened institution not dominated by the antiquated and hidebound thinking that characterised much of the military hierarchy (it is shocking to think of the number of men who were shot by firing squad for supposed cowardice}. Both Doctor William Rivers (who treated Sassoon) and Doctor Arthur Brock (Owen) disapproved of painful practices like electric shock therapy, cold-water ducking and convulsion-producing drugs. Instead, they relied on Freudian forms of analysis. Rather than indicating a lack of moral character or being a sign of weakness, they realised that the men’s mental breakdowns were often a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. In many cases, their treatments were successful but they then found themselves in the morally ambiguous situation of being forced to send the men back to the very conditions that had caused their breakdown in the first place.

In this compelling and captivating account, author Glass shows, with a novelistic vividness, how the initial patriotism and idealism the war engendered soon lost its edge, as the soldiers, who fought in it, came to terms with a new style of war fought on an unprecedented scale. More than a straight biography, he uses the lives of the main characters (and those of others who were treated at the hospital, such as the author and journalist,s Max Plowman) as a plank in a fascinating study of the war that was supposed to end all wars.. His telling characterisations evoke not only the agony and seeming pointlessness of much of it, but the profound effect it had on both the men who fought in it and those who tried to help them deal with the trauma and the emotional scars it left.

Published by Yale University Press

At the time of the collapse of the old Soviet Union, there was a general mood of optimism in the West, coupled with a belief that democracy and market capitalism had triumphed over one-party states and socialism and would, in future, prevail against any autocratic challenges. And with more democratic elections being held than ever before that certainly did appear to be the case. Alluring as this assumption is, the evidence actually points in the opposite direction – over the last decade or so our hard-won liberties have become steadily eroded and the world has become less, not more free. Everywhere, democracy is on the back foot.

One of the reasons for this – as the authors demonstrate in this carefully researched, sharp and utterly convincing book – is because the despots have adapted their strategies and learnt how to use democracy against itself, finding ways to manipulate and “win” elections even though they may not enjoy majority support. In so doing, they are able to give themselves a veil of legitimacy while reinforcing their grip on the countries they rule. As such, elections have become a useful tool for them – “…so long as autocrats can tightly control the political process, their regimes have a better chance of survival if they hold elections and rig them than if they avoid holding elections altogether.”

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is the past master at this. The various methods he and other power-hungry world leaders have used to hold onto their positions form the core subject matter of this book. Many of the tactics (gerrymandering, voter-buying, political violence, ballot-box stuffing etc) have been around for a long time (although they have become far more fine-tuned) but the new digital tools of hacking, spreading misinformation online and social media manipulation have all presented fresh opportunities to play dirty, especially as it is often hard to track down the sources. The Cambridge Analytica scandal and the allegations of Russian involvement in Donald Trump’s first election campaign are but two recent high-profile examples of rigging through the control of information. There is an irony in this – the digital revolution was initially widely hailed as a great democratising force.

Probably the most worrying aspect of all this is that these “counterfeit democracies” are not a minority – rather, they now constitute the majority of states. The implications are obvious. Once elections become corrupted, political rights collapse, civil liberties decline, and responsive government disappears. Instead of advancing the equal rights and freedoms of the people, those in high office come to regard government as a means to preserve their own status and privileges.

We should be under no illusions as to the scale of the problem. With America (especially under Trump) less willing to promote democracy abroad, and Europe focusing on its own problems, China is increasingly setting the world agenda, and they are certainly not committed to pushing pro-democracy reform.

There is still some hope though. Having clearly laid out the dangers facing democracy, the authors marshal practical evidence from across the globe to show ways we can push back against the rising tide of authoritarianism and restore, protect and strengthen the electoral system. It is advice we can ill afford to ignore.