Kaffir Boy

The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa

By: Mark Mathabane

Narrated by: Mark Mathabane

The classic story of life in apartheid South Africa.

Mark Mathabane was weaned on devastating poverty and schooled in the cruel streets of South Africa’s most desperate ghetto, where bloody gang wars and midnight police raids were his rites of passage. Like every other child born in the hopelessness of apartheid, he learned to measure his life in days, not years. Yet Mark Mathabane, armed only with the courage of his family and a hard-won education, raised himself up from the squalor and humiliation to win a scholarship to an American university.

This extraordinary memoir of life under apartheid is a triumph of the human spirit over hatred and unspeakable degradation, for Mark Mathabane did what no physically and psychologically battered “Kaffir” from the rat-infested alleys of Alexandra was supposed to do - he escaped to tell about it.

Mark Mathabane was born and raised in the ghetto of Alexandra in South Africa. He is the author of Kaffir Boy, Kaffir Boy in America, Love in Black and White, African Women: Three Generations, Miriam’s Song, and The Proud Liberal. He lectures at schools and colleges nationwide on race relations, education, and our common humanity. He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.

©1986 Mark Mathabane (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Like…Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land.… In every way as important and exciting.” ( Washington Post)

“This is a rare look inside the festering adobe shanties of Alexandra, one of South Africa’s notorious black townships. Rare because it comes…from the heart of a passionate young African who grew up there.” ( Chicago Tribune)

“In this powerful account of growing up black in South Africa, a young writer makes us feel intensely the horrors of apartheid.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Wonderful read.

All young South Africans regardless of race need to read this book to provide a context for the events and affairs of the country and people at large.

Exceptional True Story of Apartheid

Another must read, especially for whites who want to educate themselves on racism and the struggle for blacks.

Insightful

Thanks for sharing your story Mark/Johannes! Both you and your mother are absolutely inspiring people.

A gripping true story

A real life story written so you can emotional feel the senseless and appalling apartheid policy in South Africa.

A story every person should hear

This is an incredible story of a boy’s triumph over apartheid. It’s a real eye opener to the reality of life for a black person under apartheid law. It will definitely help any person to have compassion for all oppressed people and want to help their plight. If you are finding yourself at all ungrateful or complaining about your life, this book will change that very quickly. I am grateful Mark/Johannesburg put this story to words.