The Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg (South Africa)

ISBN: 9780955233999 Price: £8.99 Click image to BUY

By Sibusiso Nyembezi
Translated by Sandile Ngidi

A SUAVE urban swindler invites himself to the sleepy hinterland of Nyanyadu where he dupes a well-meaning but naive local notable into a deceitful partnership.

Pretending to be a modern-day Moses on a mission to save the people, CC Ndebenkulu is nothing more than a con man whose artifice exposes one man’s obsession with instant riches.

Set in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands of rural South Africa, The Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg is an enchanting tale of neurotic ambition that unfolds against the backdrop of the systematic destruction of the African peasantry and the loss of their land and liberties.

At times hilarious, at times tender, The Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg explores the fateful confrontation between pastoral benevolence and urban slyness in a countryside undergoing accelerated change.

Translated by Sandile Ngidi, it is a vibrant celebration of South Africa’s rich oral tradition and was selected as one of Africa’s 100 Best Books of the 20th Century. It is the first English translation from the from the Zulu original (Inkinsela yase Mgungundlovu).

“The book is often funny, with farcical incidents, and often moving. Despite the gentle pace, it has considerable narrative drive, and makes for an entertaining read.”
- The Witness, Pietermaritzburg

‘Surprisingly far ahead of its time, The Rich Man of Pietermartizburg narrates a familiar story of a man who has adopted the ways of the ‘white man’ to further his own nefarious schemes. Yet the story is told not as a tale of warning of a loss of culture, but is rather a celebration of a sense of community that apartheid assaulted, but failed to break’
- African Review of Books

REVIEWS
The Times, London
Book SA
Complete Review
The Witness, Pietermaritzburg