The Land Is Ours: Black Lawyers and the Birth of Constitutionalism in South Africa

“He writes the personalised histories of the first Black lawyers, who he claims were founders of constitutionalism and the universal Bill of Rights in South Africa. He showcases how they were affected by their naivety of thinking this would deliver universal justice, political and otherwise during the British colonial era of our history. They were trained overseas in the West, and they came back with the notion that they were going to change things because of their misconception, despite everything, that the British Empire had respect for the law. They had a rude awakening. They came to understand that not only did the British not respect the law when it came to people of colour, they manipulated it. They only respected it when it supported their purposes. So they were always kicking the can down the road. It’s so painful when you read about their personal histories because most of them died in shame. Out of the six of them, five died as alcoholics because they couldn’t even make money as lawyers. There was just no space for them as Black people in the system.” Read more...

The Best African Contemporary Writing

Mphuthumi Ntabeni, Novelist