The writings OF NJ MABALE

In its research for stories to be included in South Africa’s leading heritage series, Our Story, which City Press has been running extracts from for the past few months, SA Heritage Publishers discovered a collection of writings that can only be described as a treasure trove of South African culture and history.

The collection is made up of 891 writings in seven indigenous languages – siSwati and isiNdebele were not written languages at the time the works were compiled – written between 1930 and 1950 by 187 people in their mother tongues.

It is estimated that there are between 15 000 and 20 000 typewritten A4 pages in the collection.

The writers