Gawie Botma | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

This book makes a very significant, timely and relevant contribution to a very topical subject of immense local as well as global interest. Through tracing the evolution of media discourse about race and racism, which the author prefers to call ‘race talk’, the writer prised open a window to a panoramic, variegated and yet nuanced perspective of the perennial South African race question etched across the vistas of time and memory since Jan Van Riebeeck set up the first European settlement as a refreshment station for the Dutch East India Company, at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 up to the time of writing this book.

It lends a fresh lens through which to re-read South African society, not only to a studious scholar of media history but also to anybody interested in the general history of South Africa. Dr Zvenyika Mugari, WITS. This book is based on meticulous archival searching, presented in a new, fresh and highly engaging way. This is a book based on evidentiary-led scholarly principles that has lucidity as a goal. Unlike so many scholarly works which are turgid and very difficult to read because they are written in restricted codes meant only for other academics, this manuscript is wonderfully lucid, accessible and a pleasure to read.

The prime readership will be academics but its lucidity makes it appealing beyond a purely academic readership, hopefully reaching media professionals and students also and influencing debates on race policy. This is how academic books, in fact, should be written. Prof Keyan Tomaselli, University of Johannesburg. The author has embarked on a very difficult and complex task of understanding the race construct in the South African media context.

This is a highly contested and contentious space in South Africa and it is particularly arduous for a “white, middle-class, middle-aged, Afrikaans male” to navigate this space. The author has however eloquently managed to pilot this fine line of controversy. He offers a balanced view of the belligerent debate without treading insensitively on the toes of protagonists and at the same time challenges prevailing views. André Rose, National Cancer Institute.