By ROB HOFMEYR AND BRUCE DENNILL
One Day in Bethlehem by Jonny Steinberg
The Insomnia Museum by Samantha Harvey
Die Laughing edited by Joanne Hichens
Fusi Mofokeng lives in Bethlehem in the Free State. In 1992, South Africa is moving inexorably towards either a bloodbath or a new political dispensation. The law-keepers of the old order are themselves unable to wade through the political maelstrom towards new territory. Equally the forces of insurgency are locked in deadly rivalry with Inkatha. The cadres are often acting without central control. A bakkie of men armed with AK-47s is stopped by two policemen on a farm road near Bethlehem. The policemen are gunned down. In the swift retaliation by the Security Forces, Fusi and his friend Tshokolo Mokoena are seized and brutally interrogated, despite the fact that they were nowhere near the scene of the shooting. They are tried along with some of the gunmen, found guilty and sentenced to hang. That sentence is commuted to life imprisonment when the death penalty is abolished,and Fusi spends 19 years in jail. Jonny Steinberg has spent countless days discussing the events with Fusi himself, with others who were participants in the drama, including witnesses at the trial and with lawyers and prison officers. What emerges in One Day in Bethlehem is an account of justice gone hideously wrong, a judge showing blatant racism, policemen lacking all integrity and professionalism, warders who showed huge understanding and compassion, a family wrenched apart and politicians who have been criminally negligent. Steinberg relentlessly seeks to establish just what happened on that day. There is no single account that endures scrutiny and ultimately we’re left with the sense that memory and truth are often discordant, even though a man may speak with absolute integrity about what he believes happened. A major contribution of this book is the light it sheds on aspects of that era that have escaped the majority of those who will read this book. Those who speak to Steinberg variously present a depth of suffering, incomprehension and human endurance. We have new understanding of the poverty and powerlessness of the rural people, the power and authority on the other hand of the white farmers; of the desperate pursuit of schooling; of the bonds of family and the willingness to share meagre resources. Steinberg has managed to bring to life the harshness of that existence and the endurance of the simple folk. Trapped in a harsh and unjust system, Fusi emerges, Joseph-like, as an extraordinary person. Taken on as an assistant and interpreter for a prison social worker, Gerrit Steyn, Fusi becomes in his own right a facilitator and mentor of amazing capacity. He doggedly pursues his own quest for justice, but enables others to see their lives in a new way. He is a charismatic figure, coping with one personal disappointment and set-back after another, never allowing himself to despair. The book is worth reading if only to follow Fusi’s own story, but of course it offers far more than that. – RH
The Insomnia Museum is a maze of rooms in a decrepit and otherwise deserted block, somewhere in a city. Anna land her father have lived there for 12 years without being allowed to venture out. Her father makes sorties, feeding his own addiction, bringing home supplies and broken artefacts of the world outside: china, toys, an aquarium, journals … whatever the world has thrown out. Anna is 17. Her father is ill, decrepit and insane. And then he dies, dies siting in an armchair in the living room. Completely incapable of rational behaviour at this point, Anna lives on, with the corpse in its chair. The book is the story of her rescue and her joining an almost equally dysfunctional household, where the father, Lucky, is a guilt-ridden Don Quixote figure, the mother voluntarily bed-ridden and the 13-year-old son Tick, intelligent but truant, wild and engaging. Under Lucky’s tutelage, she discovers the world she has heard shouting and hooting outside the flat. She walks the streets, confronts the denizens of the slum, visits shops and then visits a room where Lucky helps care for a half-alive boy in his teens. It is not an easy read, and it takes place in a surreal world, often beyond belief. Ultimately, Anna is told the story behind the lives of both her father and Lucky, and then redemption comes in a strange way. – RH
The fourth Short.Sharp.Stories Awards anthology, Die Laughing, collects 20 stories from South African writers (or writers resident in South Africa), who, as the title suggests, followed a brief to write stories of “wit, satire and humour” – the idea being to present experiences or perspectives through a filter or comedy or absurdity. The title, and the cover that supports it (covered in the words “ha ha ha ha”), are misleading, however. There is satire, absurdity and the occasional moment of black humour, but there are very few instances that inspire an actual laugh. Jim Goes To Durban by Anton Krueger and Pravasan Pillay and Raphael d’Abdon’s Don’t Give Up will, with protagonists who are so enjoyably ridiculous as to almost be caricatures, probably come closest, though there are many stories where a wry smile is an appropriate response. Some of the best work, though, is full of pathos. Gail Schimmel’s This Is Not A Joke, Maureen is arguably the best story here, and given a cheerful, naïve tone by its child narrator that might superficially be amusing. But its theme – the tragedy of dysfunction in flawed families – is heartbreaking, and beautifully crafted. These are generally good and occasionally superb stories; an entertaining, multi-faceted read. – BD
