The life and work of seminal South African writer, intellectual and politician Sol Plaatje seems more relevant than ever. We look into some of the latest scholarly inquiry.
Support for land redistribution tends to be stronger among economically disadvantaged South Africans.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludrick
After South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, the previously oppressed and dispossessed black majority hoped for constitutional restitution of their land. This has largely failed.
Sol Plaatje at his writing desk taken from his book Native Life in South Africa.
Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand A979 Fca3.
The centennial publication of Sol Plaatje’s seminal, ‘Native Life’ is a timely reminder of his estimation of intellectual work, in contrast to the current disparagement of ‘clever blacks’.
Research Director: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) research division, and Coordinator of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Human Sciences Research Council