Most powerful kings in africa currently

Can Themba was a journalist and short story writer who challenged the apartheid state by foregrounding the pain and the joy of black life. Siphiwo Mahala is well known as a South African short story writer, novelist, playwright and literary organiser. He is also an academic. We asked Mahala to tell us more. Can Themba was part of a generation of black writers that revolutionised journalism and the South African literary landscape in the s and early s.

This was a culturally dynamic and politically volatile period in South Africa. In apartheid was introduced by the white minority government, followed by the enactment of draconian laws in the early s, which sought to separate people according to race. This prompted the black oppressed majority to intensify its resistance struggle. Artists, intellectuals and the growing cohort of black journalists were at the forefront of finding platforms to speak against these socio-political ills and challenge the regime.

List of african kings

Drum was the most widely distributed magazine that foregrounded the voices of urban black people at this time. He was central in chronicling the black condition. Themba had a penchant for ordinary stories — of the neglected, the marginalised and even the resented — and he wrote them in such a sensational way that they would attract global attention.

He was a daring journalist, unafraid to put his body on the line in pursuit of a story.

List of african kingdoms

The kind of stories he covered included the impact on ordinary people of the bus boycott and of pass laws. One of his most documented stories was Brothers in Christ, where he investigated if white churches would welcome black worshippers in accordance with the Christian doctrine of brotherhood. He was assaulted and charged for trespassing in churches, creating a controversy that solicited international attention.