Henry Nxumalo

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Henry Nxumalo [ nkǁɔˈmalɔ ] (* 1917 in Mvutshini near Margate , Natal ; † December 31, 1957 in Orlando , Johannesburg ; nickname Mr. Drum ) was a South African journalist.

Life

Henry Nxumalo was born in what is now the province of KwaZulu-Natal as the child of Lazarus and Josephine Nxumalo, the first of seven children. He attended the Fascadale Mission School and later switched to boarding school in Durban . As a schoolboy he was able to publish articles and poems in several magazines, such as Bantu World . He got a job as a journalist with the Johannesburger Zeitung Post . During the Second World War he fought in the South African army in western Egypt . After his return to South Africa there were hardly any job opportunities for black journalists like Nxumalo because of the apartheid that emerged in 1948 . His goal was investigative journalism , which at the time was undesirable in the publishing houses. Among other things, he wrote reports for European newspapers during this time.

Drum magazine was founded in 1951 as a lifestyle magazine primarily for black people. It was based in the Sophiatown district , the center of urban culture for South African blacks at the time. Nxumalo has been asked to act as assistant editor alongside Anthony Sampson . At first he was also a sports reporter and reported from the music scene. He worked with the German-born photographer Jürgen Schadeberg . In 1952 he was named "Mr. Drum “known as he walked through residential areas and presented a cash prize to the first person who recognized him. Together with other journalists from the magazine such as Lewis Nkosi , Bloke Modisane , Todd Matshikiza and Can Themba , he formed the “Drum boys”, whose motto Live fast, the young and have a good-looking corpse (“Live fast, die young and have one good-looking corpse ”) read. Nxumalo dedicated himself to investigative journalism and published his reports under the heading “Mr. Drum ". In 1952, as an undercover investigator for the magazine , he investigated the working conditions of blacks on potato farms near Bethal, which bordered on slavery . He was later arrested for violating a curfew and spent five days in Johannesburg Central Prison. He described the inhumane conditions prevailing there and thus became internationally known. He also examined the role of churches in the apartheid system and found discrepancies between the proclamation of charity and the de facto support of apartheid.

In 1957, Nxumalo discovered a Johannesburg doctor who was illegally performing abortions on black women in what was then the Western Native Townships in western Johannesburg , several of whom died. In the course of this investigation, Nxumalo was murdered by numerous knife stabs. The perpetrators remained unknown.

Awards

  • 2004: Renaming of the busy Goch Street in Johannesburg's Newtown district to Henry Nxumalo Street
  • 2005: South African Order of Ikhamanga in Silver for Excellence in South African Journalism (posthumous)

Movie

  • The 2004 film Drum - Truth at Any Price (original title: Drum ) is about Nxumalo's time at the magazine, especially his collaboration with Jürgen Schadeberg.

theatre

  • Fraser Grace, Sylvester Stein: Who Killed Mr Drum? Drama, Theater Communication, 2007, ISBN 978-1840026108 .

literature

  • Jürgen Schadeberg , Klaus Humann : Drum - The fifties. Rogner & Bernhard at Zweiausendeins, Hamburg 1991, ISBN 3-8077-0248-2 .
  • Sylvester Stein: Who Killed Mr Drum? Semi-autobiographical novel.
  • Mike Nicol : A Good-looking Corpse. The World of Drum. Jazz and Gangsters, Hope and Defiance in the Townships of South Africa. Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd., London 1992, ISBN 978-0436309861 .

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ according to other information in 1918
  2. ↑ a b marabout.de , accessed on March 23, 2011
  3. ↑ according to other information in 1956
  4. ↑ In the original Live fast, the young and leave a good-looking corpse in a film from 1949, quoted shortly afterwards in the form of have by James Dean
  5. ↑ Jürgen Schadeberg , Klaus Humann (ed.): Drum - The fifties. Rogner & Bernhard bei Zweiausendeins, Hamburg 1991, ISBN 3-8077-0248-2 , p. 15
  6. ↑ Acknowledgment at thepresidency.gov.za (English), accessed on April 14, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Nxumalo, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mr. Drum (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African journalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Mvutshini at Margate
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 1957
Place of death Orlando