Summary
The Road to Alexandra
In the chilling darkness of a 1965 winter morning, the tale of Kaffir
Boy unfolds. Young Johannes Mathabane, a mere five years old, lies awake,
paralyzed by haunting dreams that chase him even in his wakefulness. As dawn
breaks, his father departs for work and his mother heads to the communal
outhouse, granting Johannes a brief respite of sleep. But peace eludes him when
the dreaded Peri-Urban, the notorious Alexandra Police Squad, storms in with
their dreaded raids. His mother hurriedly returns, gently rouses Johannes, and
together they embark on a desperate search for her vital passbook—a document of
life under apartheid, full of incriminating details like one's name, address,
and tribal heritage.
Upon locating the passbook, she vanishes again, this time in pursuit of refuge. Johannes is left to shoulder the weighty responsibility of caring for his younger siblings—a three-year-old sister and a baby brother of one. That night, the patrol returns with a vengeance, targeting the Mathabane home. In an attempt to evade capture, his mother conceals herself within the confines of a locked wardrobe. Johannes, however, bears witness to his father's harrowing humiliation, as the man is mercilessly jeered at and dragged out of the house, clad in nothing but shame. Shackled, he is hauled away to endure grueling labor on a distant potato farm, his freedom sold for unpaid taxes and unfulfilled bribes. The shackles of poverty see him imprisoned once more in 1966, this time for the crime of unemployment.
With his father gone, Johannes's mother wages a relentless battle against hunger, scraping together enough for just one paltry meal a day. Threatened with eviction, she seeks help from her mother to stave off the landlord. As funds dwindle, she secures weekend work cleaning homes and laundering clothes. At the crack of dawn, she leads her children to scavenge from the local garbage dumps, seeking sustenance and necessities—food, clothes, household items. Yet, persistent hunger stalks Johannes, driving him to precarious exploits. He turns to petty theft, selling pilfered liquor bottles to survive, and even finds fleeting escape in the cinema. The news of a new sibling on the way fills him with despair, prompting him to lament to his mother, "I am not happy in this world." Her assurance, "It will get better," rings hollow in his ears.
As he drifts into the company of streetwise peers barely older than himself, he unwittingly falls into the clutches of a thirteen-year-old pimp named Mpandhlani. The promise of food and money lures him until the horrific truth of what is expected shatters his innocence, prompting a vow of silence over the ordeal.
Jackson Mathabane's return from incarceration marks the arrival of a bitter man consumed by drink. His children are forced to adhere to ancestral customs, and Johannes is swept away to visit his father's Venda roots. Despite his harsh upbringing, the primitiveness of village life and the sight of his father yielding to a witch doctor's rituals baffle him. He recalls with skepticism the Christian baptism of his childhood, where God was portrayed not unlike the oppressors he knew, while the devil wore the face of his own people.
In stark contrast, his mother's evenings were filled with a treasure trove of wisdom—riddles, fables, and songs that nourished the children's moral compass. Resolute in her desire to educate her son, she endures hours in line across three dawns to secure the necessary birth certificate for his schooling.
Passport to Knowledge
Two years later, another icy dawn sees Johannes's mother waking him, coaxing him into his father's oversized attire. Hands bound and led...
(This entire section contains 1159 words.)
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by the guiding hands of his mother and grandmother, he is ushered to the Shangaan tribal school. The school day proves grueling, and he returns to a home where his mother bears the bruises of his father's rage for daring to enroll him. Comprehending her sacrifice, Johannes resolves to remain in school.
His father's refusal to fund his education leads to daily beatings for lack of uniform and books, yet Johannes persists, his academic brilliance shining through adversity. The brutality of life casts a shadow over him, and the sight of a murder at the tender age of ten leaves him teetering on the edge of despair. His mother, discovering him with a knife, pleads with him to consider the fate of his siblings, who rely on his protection. "Without you, I too would want to die," she confesses. Her words, imbued with love and hope, coax him to relinquish the blade.
Expecting her fifth child, Johannes's mother takes up a cleaning job to cover his school costs, allowing him to continue his education and maintain his position at the top of his class through Standard Six. His academic triumphs are not solely due to his sharp intellect and relentless effort, but are also nurtured by the kindness of Mrs. Smith, his grandmother's benevolent employer. She sends Johannes a treasure trove of her son's outgrown clothes, books, and toys, thus enriching his learning experience. Once Granny receives permission to bring Johannes along as her helper, Mrs. Smith’s generosity flourishes further, enabling Johannes to immerse himself in classic English literature beyond his school syllabus. She also gifts him an old tennis racket, sparking his initiation into the realm of tennis.
Passport to Freedom
Johannes's world soon orbits around school, reading, and tennis. He achieves a First Class pass in his final Standard Six exams and is awarded a government scholarship that covers all three years of his secondary education. In 1972, Johannes steps into the corridors of Alexandra Secondary School. Once more, he excels academically, acing the Form One finals and claiming the title of the top tennis player.
In June 1973, Tom, a teammate, arranges an interview for Johannes with Wilfred Horn, the manager of Barretts Tennis Ranch. As an employee in this all-white establishment, Tom has battled numerous white opponents on the tennis court. Navigating the complexities of crossing into the white world, Johannes introduces himself as "Mark Mathabane" and begins both working and honing his tennis skills at the ranch. By November of that year, Horn gifts Mathabane a ticket to witness the legendary Arthur Ashe at Ellis Park.
The following year, in 1974, Mathabane captures his first tennis championship. By June 1975, he is representing the southern Transvaal black junior tennis squad at the National Tournament in Pretoria. Come spring of 1976, Mathabane secures a matriculation and university scholarship from Simba Quix. As the black student-led Soweto protests ripple into Alexandra in June, Mathabane bravely enters a blazing school library to save books. The year 1977 sees him entering the South African Breweries Open, facing a lifetime ban from black tennis, and crossing paths with Wimbledon Champion Stan Smith. Stan and his wife Marjory extend their support, helping Mathabane obtain a tennis scholarship to an American college. On September 16, 1978, with a student visa in hand, he embarks on a flight to the United States—his passport to true freedom.