Zuptasmustfall And Other Rants

Who are these Guptas who are so powerful, they’re distributing cabinet posts like matrons handing out condoms at a brothel? Who do Americans think they are, accusing Trevor Noah of ‘stealing’ a joke from one of their comedians? Is Sizakele MaKhumalo Zuma’s spaza shop a National Key Point? In #ZuptasMustFall, and other rants, Fred Khumalo runs riot, contemplating the pressing issues that continue to confound, infuriate and exasperate the nation – or to sink it into further controversy. Covering a wide range of topics, including politics, history, current events and celebrity gossip, this compilation of recent and new writings contains Khumalo’s trademark blend of humour and shrewd analysis, as well as his treatment of everyday issues from a uniquely South African perspective. This is an entertaining collection of thoughts from one of the country’s most seasoned journalists, offering many questions, and tongue-in-cheek answers, on who we are as a nation, where we are going, and how we compare to the rest of the world.

In this collection, South African journalist Fred Khumalo runs riot, tackling politics, history, current events and celebrity gossip. Full of humour and shrewd analysis.

‘Be quiet and be calm, my countrymen, for what is taking place is exactly what you came to do ... Brothers, we are drilling the death drill.’ – Reverend Isaac Wauchope Dyobha Paris, 1958. A skirmish in a world-famous restaurant leaves two men dead and the restaurant staff baffled. Why did the head waiter, a man who’s been living in France for many years, lunge at his patrons with a knife? As the man awaits trial, a journalist hounds his long-time friend, hoping to expose the true story behind this unprecedented act of violence. Gradually, the extraordinary story of Pitso Motaung, a young South African who volunteered to serve with the Allies in the First World War, emerges. Through a tragic twist of fate, Pitso found himself on board the ss Mendi, a ship that sank off the Isle of Wight in February 1917. More than six hundred of his countrymen, mostly black soldiers, lost their lives in a catastrophe that official history largely forgot. One particularly cruel moment from that day will remain etched in Pitso’s mind, resurfacing decades later to devastating effect. Dancing the Death Drill recounts the life of Pitso Motaung. It is a personal and political tale that spans continents and generations, moving from the battlefields of the Boer War to the front lines in France and beyond. With a captivating blend of pathos and humour, Fred Khumalo brings to life a historical event, honouring both those who perished in the disaster and those who survived.

Focusing on the epic love affair between a former amateur musician--who happens to be a bootlegger, mercenary, and killer--and a shebeen queen, this South African love story traces the couple's lives and loves through the interweaving of history and memory in the tradition of village storytellers.

Sis Lettie, the streetwise philosopher of the shebeens and entrepreneur par excellence, retires just a little in Fred Khumalo's new book seven steps to heaven. Her son Kokoroshe, street urchin turned lawyer, now takes centre stage. This is a family saga, a riveting tale of love, betrayal, and a search for identity - sexual and otherwise. Dark, yet with the boisterous and in -your-face humour that made bitches' brew a hit with readers and critics alike, seven steps to heaven is the work of a novelist of great talent.

"Twenty years since the closure of the Robben Island prison , former Islanders reminisce about their shared past. This book is a collection of anecdotal conversations that reveal the lighter side of life on the iconic struggle symbol, the Robben Island prison. The narratives offer a peak into a different side of prison life ; how political prisoners coped with the drill of a monotonous existence and how, with the march of time, their experiences have become a subject of comic relief among themselves. Their stories range from their sporting activities to music, fashion, politicking and inevitably, their love lives, both real and imagined, of men cooped up on one of the most notorious prison islands in the world."-- Publisher's note."