By Steuart Pennington
How is it possible to write 145-page book about the history of a relatively minor river, 70 km in length – the Kowie River in the Eastern Cape – and keep the reader spellbound? That’s what Jacklyn Cock did with “Writing the Ancestral River – a biography of the Kowie” True, her great-great-grandfather William Cock was involved in the early development of the harbour at Port Alfred much to her chagrin, and the marina developed by Justin de Wet Steyn in the ‘80’s much to her distaste. But that’s not what the book is really about. It is a massively well researched description of the history of the Zuurveld, “an area of blending and mixing, a meeting point not only of river and sea, of fresh and salt water, but of very different people, identities and traditions that have shaped South African history: Khoikhoi herders, Xhosa pastoralists, Dutch cattle farmers and British settlers. Their interaction often involved intense and violent encounters and still today there are contesting claims and traditions relating to the land, the fertile sour-grass hills and plains of the Zuurveld, now known as Ndlambe Municipal Area, one of the poorest parts of South Africa.” Cock writes.
For me the book encapsulates South African history between the early 1700’s and the present day and gives a much better understanding of it. Cock’s research is deeper than just about anything on SA that I have read. What happened between the Sundays and the Fish Rivers during those years with the focal point being the Kowrie River is rich in interest, beautifully written and unusually informative.
“Writing the Ancestral River” is as special a book as it is unusual – and very personal.
Wits University Press 2018
ISBN -1-77614-187-6 (Print)
ISBN -1-77614-188-3 (Web PDF)
ISBN -1-77614-189-0 (EPUB)
The post Writing the Ancestral River – a biography of the Kowie – Jacklyn Cock appeared first on The Home Of Great South African News.
For me the book encapsulates South African history between the early 1700’s and the present day and gives a much better understanding of it.
The post Writing the Ancestral River – a biography of the Kowie – Jacklyn Cock appeared first on The Home Of Great South African News. Read More
