Book launch: Writing the ancestral river

The Society, Work and Development Institute and Wits University Press will host the launch of a book, Writing the ancestral river by Professor Jacklyn Cock.

This biography of a river shows how the ravages of the past are congealed in the present. The Kowie River runs through the center of what was known as ‘the Zuurveld’, the area between the Fish and Sundays rivers which was the crucible of settler colonialism.  During 100 years of conflict the amaXhosa were dispossessed of their land and livelihoods, defeated and absorbed into the settler economy as a source of cheap labour. Today this pattern continues as most of the African population of the area still do not own the land on which they live, and are denied the resources necessary for a dignified and productive life. The area of the Zuurveld, now called Ndlambe Municipality is one of the poorest parts of South Africa.

Discussant: Mazibuko Jara

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