Apartheid on Tuesday

Written in 1972 by a nineteen-year-old white girl, Apartheid on Tuesday is the true story of her daily encounters with the system imposed on South Africa by the apartheid regime. By recording her experiences she reveals the absurdity, hypocrisy, and injustice of apartheid. She argues with Whites who support apartheid, she describes the plight of those who are classified "Bantu", and she socialises with people who are classified "Coloured".She attends white student activist meetings, runs away from baton-wielding police, unwittingly speaks with security police spies, and has incidental adventures like accidentally catching a bus labelled "non-whites only". The events are described with zest and humour, while at the same time conveying the underlying sense of oppression.She stays in a youth hostel in Cape Town with foreign backpackers who are aghast at what they see, and she spends a few hilarious days in the Afrikaner heartland. Throughout the book the writer describes the magnificence of South Africa and her love for the land. Apartheid on Tuesday paints a clear picture of how the apartheid system worked, and there are 204 photos from the time that reinforce the compelling narrative.