Episode 38 - THESE ARE NOT GENTLE PEOPLE

Award-winning author and veteran BBC broadcaster Andrew Harding was my guest a few months ago on a YouTube show, Cover to Cover, which I co-hosted with fellow journalist Joanne Joseph. I interviewed him about his brilliant second book, These Are Not Gentle People, which has just won the most prestigious non-fiction award in South Africa, the Sunday Times/CNA Literary Award for non-fiction. Just outside Parys, in January 2016, events occurred that led to a community in turmoil: two black farm workers ended up dead and several white farmers stood accused of murder. Andrew spoke to me in gripping detail about the subsequent tensions and drama of the court case, which put on display South African life in a multiplicity of ways, beyond our racial fissures.This book is undoubtedly, to my mind, one of the best works of non-fiction in the last few years, illuminating contemporary South Africa in visceral ways without judging any of the characters portrayed. It feels like a brilliant crime thriller, a work of great fiction. Yet, sadly, it is all too real. This is the kind of work that no one could dispute as a worthy winner of many book awards.  That is why I simply had to transpose the YouTube video into an audio episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser Enjoy the conversation, and then go buy and read Andrew Harding's brilliant book, These Are Not Gentle People