Black Tax by Niq Mhlongo

Vuyiswa Fumba

Black Tax is a nonfiction compilation book edited by awardwinning author, Niq Mhlongo. It is composed of short stories from 19 talented South African authors who narrate their personal experiences on the infamous subject of black tax and discuss the nuances that surround it in the Black South African community.

This book frames the case of black tax in the duality of its nature: what it has immeasurably given to the communities that hold it as an unchangeable law and what it continuously takes from the modern young adults who are inconvenienced by it. One view is that it is rightly labelled as tax and the other believes that it is greatly insulting to the Ubuntu-esque nature of this tradition - which has upheld entire families for generations.

This book is evocative enough to leave the reader with a clear view of the effects of black tax in their own life and also elicits the desire to understand it as meaningfully as the authors of this book do. The book’s commendation reads, “in giving voice to so many different perspectives, Black Tax hopes to start a dialogue on this widespread social phenomenon.” This is a great read for anyone who is desperate to get out of their head and into the deepest musings of various writers.