The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson

Description

Winner of Best Book in Africa Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2007

As a Native Commissioner through the 1940’s to 1960’s, George Jameson was responsible for the welfare of the natives’ in his appointed region. He prided himself on furthering relations between communities, speaking several tribal languages fluently and developing a reputation as a man to be trusted and sought after for help and advice.

With a thriving young family, a devoted wife and a quick succession of promotions, George is proud of everything he has achieved so far, in particular the understanding he is fostering between whites and blacks. Then, in the wake of the 1948 elections, George feels a shift in the Native Affairs Department’s agenda. As he is shunted from one outpost to another, his role becoming ever more hopeless, his place in South Africa’s future increasingly hazy, he feels the weight of his powerlessness and finds himself fighting off a crippling depression.

The Native Commissioner is a heart-wrenching portrayal of a kind and conscientious man who felt himself cast adrift under the weight of South African apartheid.