Introduction
Mark Mathabaneis a South African author and a lecturer who was born on 18th October 1960. He is popularly known for his famous publication known as Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa which he published in 1986[1]. The book documents his life in South Africa during the oppressive rule of the apartheid system that legally embraced racism. Apartheid loosely refers to the separation and it was infested under the ideology that God intended the races to develop separately. In actuality, apartheid was an attempt to control the blacks’ freedom and control their resources under the divide and rule aspect.Mathabane was born in an uptown slum known as “Alexandria” where he witnessed the oppressive rule first hand and he felt obliged to do something that would create a change to the regime.Previously, the outside did not view the apartheid rule as a serious issue until they read Mathabane’s book which forced countries such as U.S.A to rethink about their support to the South Africans.
“Kaffir” is a derogatory name that the white used to refer to blacks in South African which is borrowed from Arab language that refers to an infidel[2]. The book was positively received all over the world with iconic names such as Oprah Winfrey recognized his efforts by organizing a Mathabane’s family reunion on her TV show. In light of this, this paper provides a critical review of the issues raised in this book. It is segmented into two sections where one provides a summary of the two chapters, “The road to Alexandra’ and “passport to knowledge.” The second section portrays the feelings elicited by this story in relation to the societal perceptions and the aspect of integration and cultural diversity.
The road to Alexandra
In 1965 during the winter season, a five year old Johannes Mathabane is seen lying awake afraid of nightmares[3]. The environment is cold and the young boy is shivering but soon falls asleep after his parents leave the house. The boy has two other younger sibling who are also in the house but Mathabane is having terrible nightmares that would soon become a reality when the Alexandra Police Squad, Peri-Urban, announces a raid. He is awoken by his mother who jets back to the house in search of passbook which was a mandatory requirement for every “Kaffir.”Johannes aids her mother in looking for the passport and she soon finds it; surprisingly, she looks for a hiding place even after finding this important document.
The following day the raids continue and Johannes’ mother looks for a hiding place in a wardrobe as her husband is beaten and stripped by the police in full glare of his son Mathabane[4]. He is handcuffed and dragged half-naked among others where they are carried in a convoy of trucks. They are taken to a white’s farm where they are introduced to hard labor for two months. They are charges are absconding payroll and tribal tax and they lacked money to bribe the police.
One year later of Mathabane’s father release, the police raid happen once again and this time he is arrested for unemployment and is sentenced to prison. This moment proves to be challenging to the family as they struggle to meet daily needs with their father absence. They survive on a single meager meal a day and it reaches a time when the landlord threatens to evict them. As a result, Mathabanes mother results to odd jobs of cleaning houses in order to raise rent. She also gathers her three children on her way to her odd jobs and leaves them on the garbage sites to collect food and other “valuables” such as plates and knife.
Hunger remains a constant problem to Mathabanes until he indulges into petty crimes such as mugging[5]. Surprisingly, he finds out his mother is pregnant with the fourth child and it irks him very much. Another opportunity comes knocking where he could earn money to eat but he denounces it when he realizes it involves being a prostitute to a white migrant. His father gets released from prison but he returns home as a reckless drunkard and gambler who do not help the family. He turns out to witchcraft where he introduces his son. However, all hope is not lost because Mathabanes mother introduces them to church and this act as a turning point for Johannes Mathabane.
Passport to knowledge
This is the second part of the book that delineates how Johannes managed to quench the education thirst. His mother played a huge role in introducing the boy to school; actually, the mother and grandmother tie Mathabane up to bathe him and dress him in his father’s clothes and take him toShaangan tribal school. At first he is skeptical about school but soon gets adapted and starts loving the institution[6]. His father abuses his mother on a daily base for taking Johannes to school and refuses to take any responsibility such as paying school fees or buying books. Mathabannes is punished each day for failing to raise school fees and attending school without the school uniform.
He soon becomes an academic giant amid of all those endurances that makes him try to commit suicide. He witnessed an innocent person being brutally killed at the age of only ten years. His mother finds him with a knife but she consoles the young boy, “you are the only hope I have…now give me the knife.” Later he realizes that his mother is expecting the fifth child despite the problems they are enduring which makes him angrier. On the brighter side, receives help from Mrs. Smith who is her grandmother’s employer. She sends the young boy books and guides him towards understanding and communicating in pure English and gives him a tennis racket. Tennis becomes part and parcel of life that lands him a scholarship with an American university later in the book.
Analysis and personal reflection
To begin with, Kaffir Boy is an outstanding read that keeps the reader glued and highlights some issues that other people would fear to address. The book is written in a first-person prose since it is an autobiography. It aids in making the audience understand the strugglethat the speaker underwent under this regime[7].The writer is capable of handling the subject matter based on the tone and word selection for each theme. For instance, the book begins by describing the speaker’s age, five years old who is bestowed with responsibilities of watching his siblings amid the cold winter weather.
At the age of ten, the tone changes once again to depict an anxious child who is desperate to explore life. The tone changes once more when explaining the apartheid system portraying hopelessness[8]. Another significant thing in the book is how Mathabane develops the characters in his authorship. His mother remains an integral character in the book but she is only identified as “mama”; on the contrary, he gives his father’s name and the other five siblings. He showcases kindness and care by his mother and recklessness and physical abuse in his father.
There are several themes that can be depicted from this book as portrayed by the writer. Firstly, the theme of segregation is overly discussed in the book between blacks and the whites. For instance, Mathabanne is taken to a “tribal” school which means it only accommodates people of the same ethnicity[9]. Actually, apartheid system reflects racism where people are treated in accordance to their skin color and background. Secondly, family love can be seen through Mathabbane’s mother who is ready to acknowledge his son and husband despite their unpleasant actions. Another important thing to note is how black treat each other; for example, the police raids are conducted by black police who are used against their people. Mathabbane is involved in theft cases where he steals from black people businesses. This happens as Mathabbane lays all the blame to the whites and he equally hates all “colored human beings.”
However, this mindset changes when he is introduced to the school and a white lady helps her continue with his education. He learns that an individual’s skin color does not necessarily depict their character. In fact, Mathabbane shuns his collective hate towards the whites and realizes the liberating power of education[10]. This is when he learns to appreciate his mother for the effort she took taking him to school and going against all odds to ensure they fill their empty bellies[11]. Conversely, the book has still a limitation where it tries to cover many events over several years in a limited space. Similarly, the “poor side” meant for blacks is expositorily explained as compared to the affluent white people residents. This makes the story lose the contrast aspect that could have brought out the theme of segregation more vividly. Equally, Kaffir boy is a good read that depicts the dark side of the South Africa’s history under the oppressive rules of the apartheid system.
Bibliography
Booth, Douglas. “Beyond history: Racial emancipation and ethics in apartheid sport.” Rethinking History 14, no. 4 (2010): 461-481.
Limb, Peter. “Intermediaries Of Class, Nation, And Gender In The African Response To Colonialism In South Africa, 1890S–1920S1.” Grappling With the Beast: Indigenous Southern African Responses to Colonialism, 1840-1930 6 (2010): 47.
Kvalsvik, Raven Arungumar. “Remembering Apartheid.Investigating Resistance in Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy.” (2015).
Mason, Kenneth. “Race, Resistance, and the Boy Scout Movement in British Colonial Africa (review).” African Studies Review 49, no. 1 (2006): 160-161.[12]
Mathabane, Mark. 2008. Kaffir Boy The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Paw Prints
[1]Mason, Kenneth. “Race, Resistance, and the Boy Scout Movement in British Colonial Africa (review).” African Studies Review 49, no. 1 (2006): 160-161.
[2] ibid
[3]Mathabane, Mark. 2008. Kaffir Boy The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Paw Prints
[4]Mathabane, Mark. 2008. Kaffir Boy The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Paw Prints
[5]Mathabane, Mark. 2008. Kaffir Boy The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Paw Prints
[6]Mathabane, Mark. 2008. Kaffir Boy The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Paw Prints
[7]Limb, Peter. “Intermediaries of class, nation, and gender in the African response to colonialism in south Africa, 1890s–1920s1.” Grappling With the Beast: Indigenous Southern African Responses to Colonialism, 1840-1930 6 (2010): 47.
[8]Booth, Douglas. “Beyond history: Racial emancipation and ethics in apartheid sport.” Rethinking History 14, no. 4 (2010): 461-481.
[9] Ibid
[10]Kvalsvik, Raven Arungumar. “Remembering Apartheid.Investigating Resistance in Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy.” (2015).
[11]Mathabane, Mark. 2008. Kaffir Boy The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Paw Prints