Soweto Burning by Donald Emby

In the 1950s a routine underground inspection in a gold mine turns into a horrifying experience for a South African mining engineer. In the 1970s a young woman decides to hike the Fish River Canyon in Namibia; and an American Catholic priest journeys to Soweto to care for abused women and children. These seemingly unrelated strands form the foundation of a family’s journey to a day that would forever change them - and the country in which they live. Wednesday 16 June 1976, the day on which high school pupils in Soweto organised a riot to protest against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of education, marked a clear watershed for South Africa. Soweto Burning, is part factual history and part fictional novel, portrays the parallel journey of a family and a country to a crescendo that rocked the world. It starkly illustrates how this dramatic turning point, and the policy of racial segregation through Apartheid, affected one white family and the country as a whole; how our actions impact on others, and how even one courageous decision can change countless lives.