Bøger af Neville John Herrington

Growing Old in 'BLACK' South Africa is a sequel to Neville Herrington's successful earlier book Growing Up in 'WHITE South Africa, and is a continuation of his life's journey against the backdrop of a changing socio-political, and at times turbulent landscape as the country transitioned from nearly half a century of enforced segregationist policies to the inclusive democratic society it is today. Written in the same fresh, humorous style that is the hallmark of his earlier book, it takes the reader into a very personal experience of his years as an SABC journalist, city councillor, university lecturer, playwright and TV documentary producer during this period of radical change in which he did what he could to challenge the barriers created by the apartheid regime. His idealistic vision of the kind of society that a new dispensation could deliver in its promise of a better life for all its citizens has, however, been severely challenged along the way. The spirit of Ubuntu promoted by struggle heroes like Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela, in which there is a recognition of the interdependence of all South Africans as a single nation, has dissipated over time as racism and corruption have taken a grip on the country, dividing its people and creating large pockets of civil unrest among those whose expectations have not been met

South Africa is a country of shattered dreams. Since the country's inception in 1910, it has had a succession of leaders who promised a prosperous future, focussed mainly on satisfying a minority white electorate. But each of their dreams have been unfulfilled and woefully inadequate in accommodating the political aspirations of the majority black population. When 1994 dawned, and the country finally became a full-blown democracy with a greatly admired constitution and a positive redistributive policy to redress the wrongs of the past, there was unprecedented hope for a bright future. Thus, the Rainbow Nation was born to the acclaim of the international community, but over the past twenty- eight years those bright, hopeful colours have faded, and today the country is on the verge of collapse. Can the dream be saved by ordinary South Africans coming together to pick up the remnants of a broken democracy?

This story traces the history of CBC Pretoria from its inception in 1922 to 1957. Why 1957? Well, that's when I left the college and went to Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and lost touch with the school. The 1950s were regarded as the Golden Years of the college and therefore selected as a period of significant achievement and development. But to focus on the 50s in isolation doesn't make sense without seeing what went before that decade, so a retrospective view to the year 1922 includes a history of the city in which the school was founded and, to a lesser extent, the development of South Africa.Knowing that thousands of boys and, in more recent times, girls, have passed through the hallowed halls of CBCs throughout the world, I believe they can identify with an educational ethos that has shaped the lives of thousands of learners in their formation and maturity.When CBC Pretoria existed during this selected period, it accepted only boys, and its teaching staff consisted largely of ordained religious Brothers. Furthermore, the college existed during the height of apartheid when pigmentation determined its admission policy and contact with pupils of other race groups was rare.This story has a place in the annals of education in South Africa as it bears many unique hallmarks that, despite political constraints, are characteristic of what dedication and commitment to the teaching profession can achieve.

Elsie is a riveting story told with gut-wrenching reality of a woman's courage set against a torrid period in South African and world history.Growing up in a small diamond-mining village near Pretoria, South Africa, her secure, sheltered environment is shaken with the return of the two men in her life from fighting in German East Africa during the First World War... a shell-shocked boyfriend and an unemployed brother who gets involved in illicit diamond dealings with dire consequences. Rather than indulge in self-pity she puts her strong pacifist feelings to work by volunteering as a nurse at a military hospital in Belgium where she meets her husband to be and where exposure to the horrors and futility of industrial warfare changes her worldview, and she joins with other women calling for universal suffrage. After the war, she is thrown into further conflict when her husband is involved in the bloody confrontation of the 1922 miners' strike in South Africa. She later opens a care centre for abused women and single pregnant mothers, giving them protection and hope of a better future. Elsie is a fighter for justice and is prepared to go to any length to achieve her aims.