A Day In August by Palesa Mazamisa The phone rang. Mpumi watched the numbers flash on the screen, urging her to pick up. She didn’t recognise the number, so she ...

A man sits in a Johannesburg park by Arja Salafranca A man sits in a Johannesburg park on a late summer’s afternoon. He releases the lead attached to his red-haired ...

A Red-brown dog stands his ground by Frank Meintjies Even if you don’t like dogs, you would soon or eventually warm to Jack. With his distinctive colour, Jack stood out ...

A Township Child by Rahiem Whisgary Watching things die has always unnerved me. Then again, I’ve always been strange. I tend to notice rather unsettling subtleties that occur when a ...

A Waiting Room by Rory Kilalea 1979. Rhodesia is to become Zimbabwe after a bitter bush war. Britain has sent personnel to join the Commonwealth Monitoring Force to oversee a ...

A Writer's Lot by Zukiswa Wanner  So here I am in Sun City. I could tell you about all of them in my sleep but, I won’t. Well not a ...

African Feeds by David Kerr The stretcher bearers, too late, pull the blood-stained woman from the rubble.Garikayi closes the file, drags it into his Somalia folder, and mentally slots it ...

Alexandra Wallace by Abigail George Left behind, out on the edge, to smile with all walls closing in on me, interiors seeking closure, comfortable borderlines distinct and pretty, infinite and ...

An Act of Vengeance Rosemund J. Handler  ‘Pauline! The kitchen’s a catastrophe!’That big word is one of Madam’s favourites, Pauline thinks sourly. Everything is a ‘catastrophe’ to Madam. She tells ...

Apples for my Love by Hlengiwe Mnguni  When he was young, he was always trying to get in between the legs of women, in between their thighs. As though, if ...

Away From the Dead by Karen Jennings Rumours spread among the workers that the farm had been sold. The old man, dead two weeks previously, had left the farm to ...

Balondemu: The Chosen Conqueror By Joshua Omeke In the ancient kingdom of Buganda where the Bantu tribe resides, there roamed a joyous woman named Nantale, who fell for the charms ...

Beneath the surface by Onalenna Jantjie It was warm and lovely in Manyeding.  The sky looked beautiful with blue stripes.  The children were running around in the streets. Benjamin, a ...

Bheki Goes to Church by Bheki Mthembu My memories of going to church take me back over three decades. Indeed this is a long time for any single activity. In ...

Black Boy Fly by Thabiso Tshowa Black Boy Fly is a story or maybe it’s a game about the human race about how we can be loving and hurtful at ...

Burden by David Mann Auguste Rodin. Marsyas (Torso of The Falling Man). Permission: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Image Library: www.lacma.org "for here there is no placethat does ...

Cake by Jade Campbell  I did not know him but I liked the way he could make himself cry. I felt I knew him when he did, and that he ...

Cleo and Nic by Arja Salafranca It comes up quickly. Years roll on, and suddenly there’s a scar cut into your midriff where an appendix nearly burst at 55. He ...

Composer at Large – Fictional Diary-Memoir – Excerpt from Entry ‘Sex under Apartheid’ by John Simon My life at this time was a wild and exciting one. Johannesburg was a ...

Czardas by Noel King Dust dances in the light above my son’s violin. I am recalling the days I never heard him practise. Being a CEO, I was busy, away ...

Damien's Shoes by Ret’sepile Makamane My son, Damien, makes fires that flicker throughout rainy June nights. He moves about the shores of Lake Muhazi, lighting a new fire on a ...

Dust by Dina Segal She stood alone in the wilting room, her back to a dented formica countertop. All the furniture was sagging and grey. Her single bed rested in ...

Emotions Give Power to Words by Tebello 26th June 2002. It’s the morning of my 8th birthday. I run out of my room and throw myself onto the couch and turn ...

Encounters with Greed by Natasha Moodley On his left arm, there was a sore that festered in the heat. Trudging heavily, his breath came short and ragged. Red mush was ...

Extract from “The Birds know the postman” by Mxolisi Nyezwa The room at Livingstone hospital where I was now detained felt completely weird and exceedingly cold as if we – ...

George by Rory Kilalea. Rhodesia declared a unilateral declaration of Independence from Britain in 1965 to avoid black rule. A bush war erupted. Black freedom fighters attacked the white Rhodesian ...

Great Expectations by Wonga W. Bottoman It is indeed a remarkable thing to note how behavioural characteristics are passed from generation to generation.   Mandla Ngubane was, as far as he ...

Here Lies a Good Man we so Dearly Loved by Africa Boso I knew Zeph for only six months. In those months we only interacted on a few occasions – ...

His eyes were blue by Abigail George  “God took you out of my life for a reason.”Arms as pale as milk, black eyes, little foal, innocent and tender as Zelda ...

Honey by Allan Kolski Horwitz This time he does not wish to sink his tongue or his penis into her; he wishes to hold her and kiss her gently, so ...

In the foyer of the Market by Brent Quinn Excerpt from Fade to Black, a memoir of sorts. South Africa – the eve of our first democratic election. It’s an ...

In the Middle by Lendyll Naicker We’d enrolled. Little men in moustaches being suave around women that knew we were geeks. High school. Facial hair at thirteen. It was juvenile ...

Irony of Life by Yandisa Krobani Captain Mthethwa gazed at Mr Bhengu, seated on the opposite side of the table, where he could see both of the man’s arms. He ...

Joburg Gothic by Gary Cumminskey The midnight streets were empty. As Paul drove from his townhouse he shivered from the cold, but it would only be a short journey, especially ...

Johan de Kirk’s 'a series of unfortunate events' By Thabiso Tshowa  I Life is quite something, and it challenges billions of people on a daily basis. Some challenges are harder than ...

Kindness by Abigail George  The red seed of an abortion flowing out of the woman’s body. Nobody talks about backstreet abortions anymore in Johannesburg. You can go to any clinic ...

m.h.'s by Matthew Hodges and Sander Timmermans Strange times these are, strange times and cocaine, and it was times just like this that messed me up, so much so that ...

Maggie by Pamela Tommy How many blarrie times must I tell you stupid coloureds my name is not Meggie.  Look at my mouth, it’s Mag – gie, see, all you have ...

Matlapa by Carol Fofo Tori Moremi le Sofi ba ne ba tsamaya ka tsela e e tswang Tshwane ba tswa go boloka tsala ya bona. Fa ba ntse ba tsere ...

Moving day by Doug Downie “Are you ready? Let’s go.”It was lunchtime and the cleaning staff were lounging or lying around on the benches under the plane tree that I’d ...

Octopus Fingers by Arja Salafranca “Why don’t you smile at the customers?” Tammy asks her. “Smile at them, make them feel welcome, comfortable. Smile, then ask them if you can ...

On The Road (between Ixopo and Kokstad) by Mandy Mitchell Early summer and a frigid wind. Clouds are settling over the low mountain range, cotton white in the yellow sun ...

Pinky by Brian Khumalo The taxi conductor opens the door swiftly. Pinky is immediately confronted with a rush of a sweet musky scent. This precious moment is soon distorted by ...

Relapse by Thabiso Tshowa  “I am sorry, Nkele, but we ran the test several times. You can’t have kids,” said Dr Mosala with a grim face, seated behind her huge ...

Sex is the Opium of the People by uMonde iNxele The point is the longer you go, the deeper you see into your own sexuality. It is like coming face ...

Slave Labour by Allan Kolski Horwitz Piscator leans out over the railing. The flat is three storeys up and he can see the half moon above the building across the ...

The Acquisitionist by David Kerr As Kadar rolled out of the Kulturburo he glanced at the Pillage Permit flashing yellow on his pulsar.It took only two days to pick up ...

The Brink of Bursting: Confessions of a Balloon Fetishist by Ray Gary The very particular beauty of a balloon is inseparable from its fragility. For a number of people, most ...

The Famous Love Letter by Matome Senyolo TO: Lovely Mushibudi TladiDATE: 02-06-1992TIME: 20:49Many a times I have longed such an opportunity to pour my heart unto you.For since I first ...

The Left Hand of Prophecy (Part Two: The Perpetual Raising versus Christian Prayer) by Monde Mdodana “The Kingdom of Heaven is a condition of the Heart, not something that comes ...