The true stories that follow describe what life was like in South Africa towards the end of the Apartheid regime. During the civil war and the struggle for freedom, 'The Song of the Township' is the sound of life – the sound coming from a battle-torn Black school where 1,500 young boys and girls were struggling to find a future. It is the story of the many peoples of our 'Rainbow Nation' who lived in the heart of a very poor township. The story begins in 1987, but one can't help but wonder if the song of the township is not exactly the same 30 years later in 2020! Umlazi Township in Durban is typical of all townships in South Africa. Here we find a quarter of a million African people struggling to survive from one meal to the next. They are caught relentlessly in the grip of protest marches, forced strikes and the ruthless killings of the innocent in the middle of a civil war. All the characters of this book are fictitious and the names of places have been changed but they are based on real people. When King Solomon wrote his immortal words in the Holy Bible, he could have been speaking about one of our little townships:"A time to be bornand a time to die.A time to plantand a time to uproot.A time to loveand a time to hate.A time for war and a time for peace.For everything under the sunThere is a season."(Extract from Ecclesiastes 3:2-8)
