by Melanie Reeder (Penguin Books)

If asked to name a South African sangoma, most people would refer to Credo Mutwa, but Elliot Ndlovu is fast becoming as well known overseas as he is in South Africa.  A Sangoma’s Story: the calling of Elliot Ndlovu is a compelling account of Ndlovu’s life; one that has been filled with enormous highs and tragic lows demonstrating his faith and discipline under extraordinary circumstances. The advent of the Harry Potter books and the Da Vinci Code/Dan Brown series has launched a new wave of esoteric enquiry into alternative spiritual lore -  Melanie Reeder's account of Ndlovu’s life could be read in the same vein as a alternative fictional story or a look at one man's modern Zulu spiritualism.     

Most people have a vague idea of African beliefs and divining but are not aware of the stringent demands the spirits make of those they call to serve them, with failure to fulfil these demands being punished with bad luck, illness or even death.   Elliot Ndlovu has three different kinds of spirits who bombard him with chattering and whistling, sometimes arguing with themselves, but he learned to be faithful to their demands which have tested him to the limit.

From the humble background of a Zulu boy born in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains, Ndlovu has met some of the best minds in the world of botany and anthropology at various universities; he has met Queen Elizabeth II in England, and the ex-President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki in his home country.

Edited by M J Daymond and Corinne Sandwith. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2011.

In the Preface to Fine Lines from the Box (2007), Njabulo S Ndebele writes of his excitement when as a schoolboy, he found in a box in the garage a pile of banned books, and “copies of Africa South magazine”. Many of the books that he lists – Down Second Avenue, Blame Me on History and others – have long been republished; Africa South had to wait for M J Daymond and Corinne Sandwith to republish a selection of the essays.

It was a mighty task: 57 out of 460 essays originally published in Africa South now reappear, contextualised by an introduction by the editors and an interview with Ronald Segal, originator of the project, solicitor of many of the articles and editor of all the issues. The selection was made easier by the digitalisation of the set of 21 volumes, available at www.disa.ukzn.ac.za.

Appearing in 2011, the republication demonstrates the continuing relevance of commentary on and analysis of conditions in the `50s and `60s. Julius Lewin’s “No Revolution round the Corner” (168-73), must now be examined in the light of the `80s and `90s – it survives well, especially the quotation from Hardy: “if way to the better there is, it exacts a full look at the worst”. Edward Roux (188-9) argues for the importance of the decolonising process: changes of government where the preceding regime has been racist are taking place throughout Africa. He speaks of “a government [which] might attempt to rule by permanent martial law” and prophesises that “the strain of this would prove intolerable.,”

Part of the interest of the book lies in its re-presentation of long-ago statements by men and women who remain famous: Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu are the most eminent, but Alan Paton, Fatima Meer, Helen Joseph, Brian Bunting, Ruth First, Cyprian Ekwensi – these and many others involved themselves in the Africa South project in the years when the Nationalist government was closing options for South Africans and severing ties with the rest of Africa.