Some incredible heritage talks will be taking place at the Lowveld Book Festival on the 18 & 19 August. Check out the list below for all the details:

Saturday 18 August 2018

10h00 - 10h45: Faith and Courage: Join Alison Lowry in discussion with Archbishop Thabo Makgoba on his journey towards faith, from his boyhood in Alex as the son of a ZCC pastor to Bishopscourt and praying with Mandela. He shares his feelings about his pastoral approach to the world icon, and how they influenced his thinking on ministering to church and nation. (R50)

Venue: White River Gallery at Casterbridge

11h15 - 12h00: Contested Rights to Land: Professor Peter Delius will deal with a number of key questions in the heated debate about Land Reform. Why has Land Restitution proceeded at such a slow pace? Will expropriation without compensation solve the problems? Who are the rightful owners of the land in the former Homelands? The state, traditional rulers or the people? His presentation will draw on his recent book Rights to Land co-authored with William Beinart and Michelle Hay. (R50)

Venue: The Barnyard at Casterbridge

11h15 - 12h00: An introduction to Xafrica: Marius Bakkes (Lowvelder) introduces Sandy Ferrar, who will talk about her book Xafrica, Volume 1: Letters from the Southern Rift, a unique memoir of Africa, fascinating wildlife, magnificent landscapes, and charming and surprising human stories. This journey of exploration, a personal record that blends scientific curiosity with happy accident, starts in South Africa and rapidly heads north, to be dominated by experiences gained during a three year stay in Malawi, “The Warm Heart of Africa”, beside the lake that fills the southern trench of the African Rift. (R50)

Venue: Casterbridge Cinema

12h00 - 13h15: Bravery and Battle-lines: Alison Lowry leads a discussion with Fred Khumalo (Dancing the Death Drill) and MK veteran Ronnie Kasrils (A Simple Man). Whose war is it anyway? With the men on the SS Mendi (Fred Khumalo’s book) and MK veteran Ronnie Kasrils’s brothers-in-arms as a starting point, we discuss the different kinds of bravery and battle-lines in which writers, including journalists, participate, whether investigating corruption within a state structure or covering conflict areas around the world. (R50)

Venue: The Barnyard at Casterbridge

12h00 - 13h15: I Remember Nelson Mandela: Sahm Venter, Vimla Naidoo and Kate Sidley share their memories and insights of one of the most beloved icons: Nelson Mandela. (R50)

Venue: White River Gallery at Casterbridge

14h45 - 15h30: Churchill and Smuts The Friendship: Adam Cruise in conversation with Richard Steyn about his book Churchill and Smuts The Friendship which tells of the remarkable, and often touching, friendship between Winston Churchill and Jan Smuts. (R50)

Venue: The Barnyard at Casterbridge

16h00 - 16h45: Forgotten Tracks and Trails of the Escarpment and the Lowveld: A presentation by Dr Gerrit Haarhoff. Join the author on a journey through time, and meet the people who shaped the tracks and roads of the region all those years ago. (R50)

Venue: The Barnyard at Casterbridge

This event will be followed by the annual Mpumalanga Heritage Awards, going to three recipients this year for their contribution in documenting the history of this region followed by a small reception with a cash bar in the foyer afterwards. 

Sunday 19 August

10h00 - 10h45: Heartbreaker: Nicky Manson (Editor Lowveld Living) talks to James Styan (Heartbreaker) about his Biography of the world-famous surgeon, Professor Chris Barnard. He charts his early years, through his studies locally and abroad to his prominent marriages – and divorces – but James Styan also examines the impact of the historic heart transplant on Barnard’s personal life and South African society at large. James Styan covers it all in this fascinating new account of a real heartbreaker. (R50)

Venue: White River Gallery at Casterbridge

11h15 - 12h00: The Kruger National Park, a History: Dr Sollie Joubert presents his book The Kruger National Park, a History (pre-Kruger to 1994) about the early developmental history of Kruger to 1994. (R50)

Venue: The Barnyard at Casterbridge

12h30 - 13h15: Makonjwa Trails: Tony Ferrar. Tucked away in the most ancient corner of our land, hard against South Africa’s border with the kingdom of Swaziland, lies a hidden and spectacularly scenic wilderness of immense geological importance. Tony Ferrar takes you on a journey into the mists of a distant past – more than 3 billion years ago. (R50)

Venue: Casterbridge Cinema