Affluenza. Niq Mhlongo

Fana’s eyes wandered from one corner to another. Joburg people! he thought. Why would a person buy such an expensive car but live in a place like this? He shook his head. This is Johussleburg and everyone here is suffering from affluenza. Almost every black person pretends to be rich while staying in a rented room. Didn’t he just pay for the ladies’ expensive drinks with his credit card when he already skipped two instalments on his car? Who was he to judge? In his first unabridged collection of short stories, acclaimed author Niq Mhlongo confronts the span of our democracy and the madness of the last twenty years after apartheid. He takes an unflinching look at urban and rural South Africa, which he explores through themes such as racism, xenophobia, homophobia, crime, land redistribution and economic inequality. Stylistically satirical and piercing, the stories combine Mhlongo’s street-smart realism with a truly South African magical realism.