Beverley Naidoo - Journey to Jo’Burg

There’s another reason why the book is worth reading. Though Apartheid is finished, there are places all over the world where something similar is going on. A group of people rule a country for their own benefit and the poor people have very few rights – there are places they are not allowed to go, or certain kinds of mixing that are not allowed. When Beverley wrote Journey to Jo’burg , no one knew if Apartheid would be defeated. When she wrote it, for all she or anyone else knew, the system might last for ten, twenty or a hundred years more. But now, we know that it was defeated, and in its own way, this book helped in that. One thing that the rulers of South Africa hated was people around the world knowing how black African people were living. The book was of course banned in South Africa itself. If anyone tried to bring copies of it into the country, customs people seized and destroyed them. That’s how dangerous it was considered to be!

So, when we read the book today, we are reminded of the struggles that people had to face in South Africa during an oppressive and unfair system, and that in the end their fight for freedom was successful. But more than that, this book can help us think about other people living in brutal and controlling conditions, and how for them too, we can hope that it won’t last much longer.

Michael Rosen

Michael Rosen is well known as a poet and broadcaster, his work has won numerous awards, including the Nestle Smarties Prize for We’re Going On a Bear Hunt . He has devoted his life to entertaining children with his writing and performances and to informing teachers, librarians, parents, publishers and government agencies of the importance of supporting children’s books. Michael’s contribution to the world of children’s books was recognised in 2007 when he was appointed the Children’s Laureate.

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Can you imagine having to live apart from your parents for most of your childhood?

In South Africa for a long time the law forced many parents and children apart. Many fathers and mothers from the countryside had to go away to towns and cities to work. Their children had to stay behind. For this was the land of apartheid – where the broken families were all black and the people who made the laws were white. We didn’t often hear about the children who were cut off from their parents. We only got a glimpse of them through a short news item now and then.

Another report told of a boy who had always lived with his mother until he was caught up in a police raid and taken hundreds of miles away.

It will take a long time to repair the damage of apartheid. Journey to Jo’burg may help you understand why. But many people have planted their hopes, like seeds. now they need to work hard at helping them grow.

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CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication In memory of two small children who died far away from their mother … and to Kentse Mary Sebate, their Mma, who worked in Jo’burg.

Why You’ll Love This Book By Michael Rosen

Map

Chapter One – Naledi’s Plan

Chapter Two – The Road

Chapter Three – Oranges!

Chapter Four – Ride on a Lorry

Chapter Five – The City of Gold

Chapter Six – A New Friend

Chapter Seven – Mma

Chapter Eight – Police

Chapter Nine – The Photograph

Chapter Ten – Grace’s Story

Chapter Eleven – Journey Home

Chapter Twelve – The Hospital

Chapter Thirteen – Life and Death

Chapter Fourteen – Waiting

Chapter Fifteen – Hope

Footnotes

More than a Story

About the Author

Also by the same author

About the Publisher

Naledi and Tiro were worried. Their baby sister Dineo was ill, very ill. For three days now, Nono their granny had been trying to cool her fever with damp cloths placed on her little head and body. Mmangwane 1, their aunty, made her take sips of water, but still their sister lay hot and restless, crying softly at times.

“Can’t we take Dineo to the hospital?” Naledi begged, but Nono said Dineo was much too sick to be carried that far. The only hospital was many miles away, and Naledi also knew they had no money to pay a doctor to visit them. No one in the village had that much money.

“If only Mma 2was here,” Naledi wished over and over as she and Tiro walked down to the village tap with their empty buckets. She clutched tightly at the coins in her hand.

Each morning the children had to pass the place of graves on their way to buy the day’s water and only last week another baby in the village had died. It was always scary seeing the little graves, but especially this fresh one now.

As they came nearer, Naledi fixed her eyes on the ground ahead, trying not to look, trying not to think. But it was no use. She just couldn’t stop herself thinking of her own little sister being lowered into a hole in the ground.