Books

Gems that stood the test of time

Wits University Press published its first book The National Resources of South Africa by RA Lehfeldt, in conjunction with Longmans Green of London in 1922. It became the first university press in South Africa.

This was the first book published by Wits University Press in 1922.

Wits’ historian Bruce Murray writes that it also published the highly successful “Bantu Treasury Series”, launched in 1935 as a “series of literary gems in the Bantu languages” edited by Professor Clement Doke (DLitt 1925, LLD honoris causa 1975) and later by Professor Desmond Cole (BA 1949, BA Hons 1950, MA 1952, DLitt honoris causa 1988).

The first dictionary, which Dr Vilakazi and Professor Doke collaborated on and first published in the 1940s, is still considered the most important dictionary of English and isiZulu today. Wits Press is re-issuing these foundational texts as the African Treasury Series to highlight the importance of indigenous languages and celebrate the early giants of African literature.

INKONDLO KAZULU BY BW VILAKAZI

WITS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2022

Inkondlo kaZulu (Zulu Poems) is the first volume of poetry by alumnus Dr Benedict Vilakazi (MA 1938, DLitt 1946), which was first published in 1935. Professor Mpume Zondi, from the University of Pretoria, writes it was the first book of poems ever published in isiZulu and “contains superb nature poems and also reflects Vilakazi’s contact with Western modernity. As both a traditional imbongi (bard) and a forward-looking poet who could fuse Western poetic forms with Zulu izibongo (praise poetry), he used his writings to express his resistance to the realities of capitalist exploitation of African labour and the appalling injustices of the migrant labour system.”

AMAL’EZULU BY BW VILAKAZI

WITS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2021

Amal’ezulu (Zulu Horizons), first published in 1945, was written during the 10 years Dr Vilakazi spent living in Johannesburg, in “exile” from his birthplace, KwaZulu-Natal. The poems in this collection represent a turning point in his life; they express yearnings for the beloved land, animals and ancestral spirits of his rural home, as well as expressions of deep disillusionment with the urban life he encountered in the “City of Gold”. In these poems he assumes the role of the voice of the voiceless and gives poignant expression to the stoic endurance experienced by labourers.

DES & DAWN: EVERY DAY IS AN OPENING NIGHT BY DES AND DAWN LINDBERG

BURNET MEDIA, 2021

This personal memoir about two Witsies Desmond (BA 1963) and Dawn (BA DA FA 1967) Lindberg, is a captivating glance at South African theatre, music and the related politics over the decades. The original manuscript was completed before Dawn passed away in December 2020. Its format offers different narratives from both about key events in their lives. “It was fun to do it. It became a dialogue telling our life story,” Des said during a radio interview before the official book launch. “We were fortunate to spend a year working on it together in Plettenberg Bay.”

There are differing versions of how they met, but both versions occur on the Wits campus. The first involves a haze of teargas at a protest march on 15 February 1962, in which Des emerges to protect Dawn from an aggressor with a sjambok. In the other story, they are both in the back row of the chorus of the Choral Society production of The Vagabond King, cast as courtier lady and knight. “I gave Dawn a plastic rose every night,” writes Des.

Des writes in the coda: “If this book achieves nothing else, I am determined that it will help me to sign off on our story in a way that does justice to the extraordinary leader, wife, mother, partner and lover Dawn was. Our story is a joyful one, and we tell it together as a celebration of life.”

COLLEGE OF THE LITTLE FLOWER: BROTHERS OF CHARITY COLLEGE – PIETERSBURG (POLOKWANE) BY BRUNO VERRIEST

WRITE-ON PUBLISHING, 2019

Dr Bruno Verriest (BDS 1976) writes that he considered himself fortunate to have been accepted to study dentistry at Wits, “after residing in South Africa for only 28 months, having arrived from Belgium in 1966 at the age of almost 17, previously not speaking a word of English”. Although he spent a relatively short time at the College of The Little Flower in the late 1960s and completed his matric there, the school so imprinted itself into his psyche that he felt compelled to undertake the huge task of writing its “memoirs”.

After 40 years as a general dental practitioner, he set aside his dental probes, mirrors and tweezers, choosing to trace back the history of the Pietersburg (Polokwane) Brothers of Charity College – previously known as The College of The Little Flower – from 1928 till 1976.

For the best of two years he unearthed the well-hidden secrets among the archives of the Brothers of Charity, situated mainly in Ghent and Rome.

This well-researched historical book is a tribute to the early missionary-teachers and sketches the early history of the Catholic Church in South Africa, spinning a wide web involving different religious congregations (Benedictines, Dominican Sisters of Newcastle, King’s Sisters, Sisters of Charity of Heule).

The preface of the book was written by Brother René Stockman, Superior-General of the Brothers of Charity worldwide and, gives a small insight into life at College. It also throws some light on the sudden and unexpected closure of the College in 1976.

SEEN, HEARD AND VALUED: WAM CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF THE STANDARD BANK AFRICAN ART COLLECTION, BY J CHARLTON, L COHEN, L LEYDE, K MOKGOJWA, A NETTLETON AND F RANKIN- SMITH (EDS)

WITS ART MUSEUM, 2021

This publication commemorates and celebrates an extraordinary 40-year partnership. Since 1979 Standard Bank has provided Wits University with annual financial support to build an acclaimed collection of African art at the Wits Art Museum. The resulting Standard Bank African Art Collection consists of over 5 000 items and is integrated into the research and education programmes at the museum. It is a diverse and rich resource that is archived in book form, following the successful exhibition with the same title in 2021 and earlier in 2022. The volume opens with forewords by Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University, and Thulani Sibeko, Chief Marketing Officer, Standard Bank Group. The body of the publication includes 42 essays and three appendices. It is a wonderful keepsake.

BONES AND BODIES: HOW SOUTH AFRICAN SCIENTISTS STUDIED RACE BY ALAN G MORRIS

WITS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2022

Professor Emeritus Alan G Morris (PhD 1984) is based in the Department of Human Biology at the University of Cape Town and has published widely on the origin of anatomically modern humans, and the Later Stone Age, Iron Age and historical populations of Kenya, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa, as well as forensic anthropology. He was born in Canada, obtaining his undergraduate degree in biology from Wilfrid Laurie University in Waterloo Ontario.

In Bones and Bodies Professor Morris critically examines the history of evolutionary anthropology in South Africa. He uncovers the stories of individual scientists and how they contributed to knowledge of the peoples of southern Africa, both ancient and modern. Using old correspondences, interviews as well as published resources, he argues that much of the earlier anthropological studies have been tainted with the tarred brush of race science. Modern methods in physical anthropology rely on sophisticated mathematics and molecular genetics but are difficult to translate and sometimes fail to challenge preconceived assumptions.

It is described by one reviewer as “an excellent read. In the contemporary moment of decolonial and Black Lives Matter thinking, it has particular resonance”.

ONE VIRUS, TWO COUNTRIES: WHAT COVID-19 TELLS US ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA BY STEVEN FRIEDMAN

WITS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2022

Professor Steven Friedman (BA 1974, BA Hons 1975) offers a searing analysis of South Africa’s COVID-19 response. The former trade unionist, political scientist and public commentator writes that South Africa is two societies in one – a “First World” which resembles Western Europe and North America, and a “Third World” which looks much like the rest of Africa or South Asia. The South African state, the media and the scientific community have, however, largely tried to deal with the virus through a “First World” lens in which much of the country was either invisible or a problem – not a partner.

Senior economist at Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, Neva Makgetla, says: “Friedman provides an important case study of the damage caused when we develop policies by copying ‘best practice’ from Europe and the US, without testing them consistently against South African realities.”

Professor Friedman is also author of Power in Action: Democracy, citizenship and social justice (Wits Press, 2018) and Prisoners of the Past: South African democracy and the legacy of minority rule (Wits Press, 2021).

THE DISCOVERY OF LOVE BY NTHIKENG MOHLELE

JACANA MEDIA, 2021

Nthikeng Mohlele (BADA 2002) is a writer and brand marketing professional who works and lives in Johannesburg. During his time at Wits he majored in dramatic art, publishing studies and African literature. The Discovery of Love is his first collection of short stories and is a format he found quite challenging: “The runway from which a short story must take off is quite short. The process is difficult because there so little room for error. If you have one line wrong, it can collapse your story. It’s like walking on the 100th floor of a skyscraper,” he said during the virtual launch of the book.

The overarching theme of the collection is love, but not in the traditional sense. For example one character contemplates finding love among widows, arguing that love emerges from absences and silences; other characters such as assassins, butchers and private investigators expose the distortion of love through crimes of passion. The stories have no formal beginnings, plots or endings, but rather are inner dialogues of the different characters.

Mohlele’s prose has been described as “liquid gold” and it has drawn many loyal fans and accolades. He is the author of six critically acclaimed novels: The Scent of Bliss (Kwela, 2008), Small Things (Picador 2013), Rusty Bell (Jacana, 2014), Pleasure (Picador Africa 2016), Michael K (Picador Africa, 2018), and Illumination (Picador Africa, 2019). Pleasure won the 2016 University of Johannesburg Main Prize for South African Writing in English as well as the 2017 K Sello Duiker Memorial Prize at the South African Literary Awards. It was also longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.

One of the stories in the collection, “I Am A Woman”, is being converted into a play that will be staged at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg in June.