Homeland
- Reads 1,715
- Votes 17
- Parts 5
Ongoing1h 11m
Last published Thu, Jul 18, 2013
In 2010, as South Africa prepared for the World Cup, Time magazine contributor CL Bell travels to the old Transkei, Nelson Mandela's heartland, to report on how democracy has changed the lives for those who still live in tribal villages, under the rule of chiefs. The stories she uncovers, including those of women chiefs living in fear of assassination, give voice to South Africans who are rarely heard.
Homeland, however, is more than reportage. CL Bell was part of the last generation of white South Africans to grow up under apartheid. As she travels deeper into the Xhosa tribal lands, Bell comes face to face with the deep scars within her: the ignorance and fears born of an apartheid childhood.
Homeland does not set out to provide an exhaustive account of the complexity of contemporary South African politics, rather it is an essay on how we make sense of the present when we are shackled by our past.
It would sit comfortably on the shelf alongside Alexander Fuller's Scribbling the Cat and Doris Lessing's Going Home.
All Rights Reserved
#48
mandela
Join the largest storytelling communityGet personalized story recommendations, save your favourites to your library, and comment and vote to grow your community.
You may also like
Bloody Zulu Men
"You're my hero, Superwoman," he said, his voice rough like gravel - like he wasn't used to saying anything soft. I smiled, his gaze steady as I tied the last strip of the bandage around his shoulder. "How come my superpowers don't work on you and me?" I asked, quietly, like it wasn't already eating me alive. He didn't flinch. "Maybe they don't work on people who already belong to you." His callused hand brushed my cheek. My chest ached. "Sukhala mama, ungowami wena." And the tears came. Because I'd asked him to fake love me. And now I didn't know where the lie ended and the truth began. He said "mama." inqondo yagoloza,intliziyo yavuma. (my brain said no, but my heart said yes) Ngewami Mamba is a force-an award-winning gynecologist, tech mogul, and humanitarian with a passport full of stamps and a bank account in pounds, not rands. She's the woman every man wants and every woman envies. But when her younger sister announces an unexpected engagement, Ngewami's perfectly curated world tilts off its axis. She was supposed to be first. The wife. The bride. The standard. Now, with the spotlight slipping and her ego bruised, Ngewami will stop at nothing to beat her sister to the altar-even if it means faking a relationship with the one kind of man she's always sworn off: A Zulu man. Sharp-tongued, emotionally armored, and unapologetically ambitious, Ngewami isn't looking for love-she's looking for a win. But love has a twisted sense of humor. And it just might be written in bold, bloody Zulu.
Papa S'bu: There Are Seven Days in a Week
Look, this book? It's a love letter to the township - but don't get it twisted; you don't have to be from here to get it. Whether you're chilling in a fancy villa in Spain or hustling somewhere else, these stories speak to you because love and struggle? They don't check your address. This is a free zone. If you don't vibe with it, no worries, the township will still be here, doing its thing, surviving and thriving, with or without you. And me? I give thanks to the same streets that raised me. Even when I'm sitting in my office, switching between languages like a pro, deep down, I'm still that township boy - sharp, stubborn, and full of stories to tell. Each chapter is a day in the life of people who refuse to be boxed in by their pasts. It's messy, real, and sometimes raw - but always honest. So, pull up a chair, open your mind, and maybe, just maybe, you'll see yourself in these pages.
A Beautiful Mess.
We never notice something is missing until it's gone. We never know about the void until we know what was supposed to fill it. We never know the magnitude of the impact until it's felt. We never have regrets until we make mistakes. We never see rainbows unless there was a storm. We can never make peace without there being a conflict first. It might all sound bad at first but keep in mind that there's always good where there's bad. There's always truth where there's lies. Theres always life where there's death. And theres always love where there's hate. Put this all together and you have A Beautiful Mess...Complete
dewashed.
adrift in the alien landscape of suburban high school, a boy watches like from the margins. that is until a life altering party shatters his world and forces him to confront the monstrous truths hidden beneath everyday reality. the ones he never felt comfortable facing. ancient secrets and struggles centuries in the making boil to the surface, and choices have consequences for all. the boy is about to see just how alien this all really is... what IS power? and who actually holds it? what defines humanity? is survival losing yourself, or finding out who you truly are? how long can we accept the status quo without resistance? if we have been brainwashed, then it is time to dewash.Complete
The Cursed
The curse of the Norths to only bare sons finally have a daughter but with the cost of her becoming a destruction to all of the supernatural and humanity. Jena has ran from everyone since she could remember, except that's her issue, she can't remember a life she had a stable place to stay. Her farthest memory searches back to when she was 15, her hands stained with blood, bright blue eyes and a boy who she can't see his face. With that she searches for someone to help her, but she doesn't get what she was looking for. Instead of answers, she gets a possessive broken mate to add onto her problems of surviving.Complete
Terraria: Another Day Under the Glass
'Death never stops surprising you.' A sentiment Aria knows all too well. Her world on its surface is perfect. A completely enclosed ecosystem protected from the nuclear winter of the Outside World. No sickness, no famine, nothing to worry about. Nothing that is except for Spectre, the computer system that determines who lives and dies annually based on their importance to society. Somehow everyone around her seems to cope, but seeing as how Spectre has taken every member of her family, Aria struggles to fall in line with the status quo. Whether it's pressure from the powers that be, her first potential love, or full on revolution, Aria seems to be pulled in every direction, each one with drastic consequences, and no clue which way to go.Complete![ANSWERING THE RIVER'S CALL [Edited ✅]](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/392469520-256-k26201.jpg)
ANSWERING THE RIVER'S CALL [Edited ✅]
"Please don't ever do this to me again... I was so hurt thinking I'd never have you..." When life keeps tossing questions at Ashley, the only person with answers seems to be the one man she swore she'd never figure out - Michael. But the more she listens, the more she realises... some answers aren't spoken. They're felt. And some calls - like the river's - can't be ignored. "Now Ashley has to face the truth: answering the river's call might just change everything... but will she survive the current?" "© 2025 Ringnyu55"Complete
I Am Not My Skin
Words are powerful. If you turn a blind eye then you are just as guilty as the one who commits the crime. Drew is on a mission of self-discovery. Her journey embarks on matters she has taken to heart and one she cannot seem to avoid. The hate crimes and racism she and the rest of her family and friends face daily. It is until she decides she has had enough and that she cannot sit and watch while the ones she cares for are being tormented by the police ─ until one faithful night everything changed. . . 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥: 21 March 2021Complete
"You're my hero, Superwoman," he said, his voice rough like gravel - like he wasn't used to saying anything soft. I smiled, his gaze steady as I tied the last strip of the bandage around his shoulder. "How come my superpowers don't work on you and me?" I asked, quietly, like it wasn't already eating me alive. He didn't flinch. "Maybe they don't work on people who already belong to you." His callused hand brushed my cheek. My chest ached. "Sukhala mama, ungowami wena." And the tears came. Because I'd asked him to fake love me. And now I didn't know where the lie ended and the truth began. He said "mama." inqondo yagoloza,intliziyo yavuma. (my brain said no, but my heart said yes) Ngewami Mamba is a force-an award-winning gynecologist, tech mogul, and humanitarian with a passport full of stamps and a bank account in pounds, not rands. She's the woman every man wants and every woman envies. But when her younger sister announces an unexpected engagement, Ngewami's perfectly curated world tilts off its axis. She was supposed to be first. The wife. The bride. The standard. Now, with the spotlight slipping and her ego bruised, Ngewami will stop at nothing to beat her sister to the altar-even if it means faking a relationship with the one kind of man she's always sworn off: A Zulu man. Sharp-tongued, emotionally armored, and unapologetically ambitious, Ngewami isn't looking for love-she's looking for a win. But love has a twisted sense of humor. And it just might be written in bold, bloody Zulu.
More detailsContent Guidelines