The First President: A Life of John L. Dube, Founding President of the ANC

by Heather Hughes

Overview

A full biography of the founding president of the African National Council (ANC), this account uncovers the inspirations for John L. Dube’s many public achievements. Tracing the history of his forbearers in the Zulu kingdom, this volume chronicles the politician’s life from his birth in 1871, and highlights his many achievements, including the founding of the Ohlange School, the key role he played in the Bhambatha Rebellion, and the authorship of the first Zulu novel. As it evaluates Dube’s five-year presidency of the ANC, this book shows that in spite of the many conflicts and ambiguities in his position, Dube’s central political belief—that Africans should be directly represented in the parliament of the land—remained remarkably constant throughout his long career.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770098138
Publisher:	Jacana Media
Publication date:	10/01/2011
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Heather Hughes is the Principal Teacher fellow at the University of Lincoln and a former African politics and history professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She has published in the areas of human rights and southern African history and heritage and has participated in a number of projects to refurbish and publicize South Africa’s neglected heritage, the most notable of which is the Inanda Heritage Trail in Durban.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

List of abbreviations xiii

Introduction xv

1 The inside people and the outside people 1

2 The python and the buffalo .20

3 An encounter with ice cream 41

4 Preparing for Africa's redemption 65

5 A gigantic scheme in their heads 89

6 Vukani bantu! 114

7 Playing with fire 141

8 Our gate post 166

9 A person's worst enemy 198

10 The Elephant of Inanda 220

11 The black ox has nowhere to feed 237

12 Where there was once a pool 256

Endnotes 263

Index 303