A novel and an academic work are both launched this weekend, and both examine the uneven South African landscape.
? Sandile Memela, former journalist-turned-civil servant, will this weekend launch his new novel, His Master’s Voice. In this work Memela, using the character of a brash junior journalist, draws a portrait of power and where it lies in a newsroom that panders to corporate interests.
The novel is set in the 1980s, as apartheid is splintering. Black is fighting black, the education system is in crisis and white South Africans are increasingly taking an active part in the struggle. “Some stories haunt you and insist on being told to humanity. This story has nudged my conscience for almost three decades. We need to take a closer look at the experiences of young professionals who enter the corporate world that is characterised by greed, competition, rivalry and self-interest,” Memela said.
Museum Africa, 121 Bree Street, Newtown, on October 30 at 2pm. Telephone: 011 833 5624.
? Boekehuis remains one of the few shops in the country with an aesthetic that is close to ideal. Small, intimate and familial, it is a throwback to the bookshops of old, before the internet invasion took place.
This week Boekehuis and Wits University Press will launch New South African Review 2: New Paths, Old Compromises? The discussion will be chaired by the book’s editor, Devan Pillay, and will involve opinion by Steven Friedman of the University of Johannesburg and Eddie Webster from the University of the Witwatersrand. This volume examines concepts such as decent work, questioning whether it is “the best possible solution to South Africa’s problems of low economic growth and high unemployment”, as well as the greening of the economy.
Boekehuis, corner of Lothbury and Fawley streets, Auckland Park, on October 29 at noon. RSVP by Friday. Telephone: 011 482 3609.