Reality Journal: The Voice of Radical Liberalism.

Ex libris: Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie (1979)

This journal is an unusual piece of South African intellectual and resistance history, combining a key anti-apartheid publication with a highly significant provenance.

Reality: A Journal of Liberal and Radical Opinion, anti-apartheid publication founded in Natal. Associated closely with prominent figures like author Alan Paton and political activist Peter Brown (who edited it after his banning orders were lifted), Reality served as a critical platform for non-racial, dissenting voices during the grimmest decades of National Party rule. Because it fiercely attacked both the policy of apartheid and the creation of the independent "Homelands," carrying or subscribing to it was a clear marker of political defiance.

A Landmark Shift in South African Historiography

The table of contents shows that this January 1979 issue was specifically produced to mark the centenary of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War.

What makes the articles listed here historically vital is the line-up of contributors, which includes Jeff Guy, John Wright, and Peter Colenbrander. In the late 1970s, these scholars were at the forefront of a revolutionary "revisionist" movement in South African history. They actively dismantled the old colonial and Eurocentric myths surrounding the Zulu Kingdom, replacing them with rigorous, empathetic analyses of Zulu political structures and the devastating socioeconomic impact of British imperialism (such as Dick Cloete's piece tracing the transition from "Peasants to Wage-Slaves").

The Signature: A Direct Connection to Gandhi

Handwritten signature by ⁠Uma Dhupelia.

Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie is an eminent South African historian, professor, and author known for her pioneering work on forced removals, biography, and the history of the Indian diaspora in South Africa. Crucially, she is also the great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi (her grandfather was Manilal Gandhi, who remained in South Africa to manage the Phoenix Settlement near Durban and edit the Indian Opinion newspaper).

210mm x 300mm

Some wear and creasing.

R1,000