Alf Wannenburgh

Alfred ("Alf") John Wannenburgh (1936-2010, Cape Town) was a South African author, journalist, and anti-Apartheid activist of Anglo-Germanic and French Huguenot descent.[1][2] Wannenburgh attended Rondebosch Boys' High School (RBHS) and received his undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology and African History from the University of Cape Town. During his undergraduate degree, he worked as a land surveyor's assistant, salesman, clerk, and window-dresser in the Cape Town City Bowl. Wannenburgh worked for many years as a reporter, columnist, and sub-editor for the Cape Times (for nearly two decades) and a variety of other newspaper houses and other diverse publications (including Animan, New Age, "Negroes Digest", and the South African Sunday Independent). Spoken of by his colleagues in his 2010 Cape Times' staff obituary as an "affable activist" and "laid-back hero" who perpetually underplayed his contribution to the anti-Apartheid struggle, as a member of the Congress of Democrats, the armed (military) wing of the African National Congress (ANC), and the Communist Party in South Africa[3][4] Wannenburgh is most significantly associated with the Sophiatown Renaissance, his role as one of the thirty Congress Alliance delegates chosen to travel to the historic 1955 Congress of the People (political) gathering held in Kliptown in June of that year, wherein a vision for a new democratic South Africa would be realised and explicitly expressed through the drawing-up of the Freedom Charter ("the [actionable] vision of the South African people").[5] He was a covert member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation") noted for his part in the Underground Movement (wherein one of his duties involved bomb-making for the resistance).

During his involvement with the broader anti-Apartheid movement he became romantically involved with Stephanie Kemp (former SA Communist Party and ANC veteran), and also became a close friend of Dennis Goldberg (Rivonia trialist and Struggle veteran). Wannenburgh remained in South Africa in the early 1960s rather than going into exile.[1] A close friend of Richard Rive at this time,[6] he contributed stories to anthologies edited by Rive for Heinemann's African Writers Series: the short story anthology Quartet (1963) and the prose anthology Modern African Prose (1964). Having published a total of twelve books spanning the varied subject matters of ecological, anthropological, revisionist (more Afrocentric and non-Hegelian) historical studies, as well as geological and gemological studies which yielded a significant amount of primary research data on the cultures, histories, and natural wonders of Southern Africa. Wannenburgh's book The Bushmen, looks into how the last of the Kalahari Bushmen are being drawn irrevocably into the vortex of our contemporary "civilisation"—glancing back at their animistic beliefs, fragmented cosmological traditions, and assorted parables inherited from oral tradition. Aware of the urgency of the task, Alf Wannenburgh, Peter Johnson and Anthony Bannister searched deep in the Kalahari thirstlands to find those few remaining Bushmen who still live as their forefathers have done for the past 20 000 years. The book has been exalted as a superb record of that experience: the last of the Bushmen as hunter-gatherers.,.[7] Outside of his major publications, he has also authored texts to accompany numerous instances of photojournalism and a range of periodicals. He wrote Forgotten Frontiersmen which centered around the much-marginalised history of the Griqua and other Nama subgroups descending from the Khoikhoi and San peoples, still greatly eulogised (cited) by politically active members of South Africa's "First Nation" indigenous groups. In 1987 he wrote The World of Shooting, a detailed historical account of wildlife conservation in Europe and the "New World" (the Americas), with a comprehensive investigation into the role of controlled shooting ranges as primary contributors to global conservation initiatives. Described as a book that records in great detail, the venues of the most prestigious shoots around the world (a historically reflective study contrasted by a more contemporary appraisal) as well as the key figures and events that ensure their effective impact. Diamond people, a book on the multiplex history and trade of diamonds (the global diamond trade) which covers the inception and legacy of the De Beers mining company, examining the famous jewels of the world which and the stories behind their discovery. Wannenburgh wrote Diamond People (both a promotional and ambitiously educational publication on the history of De Beers and the legacy of Africa's diamonds) in consultation with the Oppenheimer family and various other contributing parties involved in the business of mining precious stones and rare earth elements.

Synopsis of works

(The paragraphs below descend in non-chronological order)

The world of shooting

The American sportswriter John Steinbreder reported on the book as follows; "It is an extraordinary celebration of wing shooting, rich with sumptuous photographs, fine writing and elegantly bound in green suede and leather."- 9 April 1990, Sports Illustrated. Three years were spent on the book-making process, an originally intended 2000 copies were to be printed but only 1000 were ever printed. When first released in the U.S., it appeared on the market at a staggering $480. "The Author Alf Wannenburgh and photographer Peter Johnson's interest in this project laid not in a lust for blood but rather their love of sport and conservation". The purpose of the book was to acknowledge the contributions of those all over the world who manage and safeguard wildlife, including those who employ environmentally sustainable harvesting methods (alternative approaches), especially the contributions made by sportsmen. During the research and interviewing portions of this book, Wannenburgh was given privileged access to private tracts mostly owned by families who had owned the land and so nurtured it for generations as well as having met with King Juan Carlos I of Spain along with various members of European aristocracy (mainly from Austria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy—to name a few) involved in the real-life sports world of shooting. The book is divided into three sections: "The Old World", "Outposts" and "The New World". The Old World segment covered a pheasant shoot hosted by the affluent Count Aleco Bulgarini at his Austrian estate of 7000 acres (the land has been in the Bulgarini family since 1630). In the Introduction Wannenburgh and Johnson say that the book is "a tribute to excellence...in sport, in conservation, in all that is closely associated with the world of shooting." The world of shooting today is regarded as one of the most elegant books printed on the subject of the sporting world. Copies of the book sit in the Royal collections of the British and Spanish monarch.

Quartet

An anthology was written by Alf Wannenburgh, James Matthews, Richard Rive and Alex La Guma during the Apartheid era. Wannenburgh's portion of the book is entitled "Echoes". Originally banned by the South African government for its political undesirability. The book was first published in New York in 1963 under the name of Quartet, being written in part by four writers hence its title. In 1965 Quartet was released in London by Heinemann, and remained in print in their African Writers series for the next 20 years. The only copies present in South Africa at the time were those smuggled in by individuals. The official re-launch of the book in South Africa took place in 2008 at the Cape Town District Six Museum. The two surviving authors, Alf Wannenburgh and James Matthews were in attendance. Richard Rive having been murdered on the Cape Flats in 1996 and Alex La Guma having died in Havana Cuba in 1985. Professor Brian O'Connell (former Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape) praised Quartet—describing it as a book of both literary and historical importance. O'Connell said: "Here is a piece of Cape history recorded some 40 years ago, in compassion and truth of mood. The Cape and Cape Town, are changing at a more rapid pace than ever, and Quartet offers us a hold-fast to whom we were."

Rhodesian Legacy

Published in 1979 by Struik. The book speaks of old Rhodesia, not in terms of the socio-political dilemmas it would soon face, but instead, its human achievement and natural endowment. Wannenburgh's writing and the photography of Ian Murphy in unison, create a detailed re-telling of the wonders of the Rhodesian landscape such as the Victoria Falls, The Great Eastern Highlands, and the Matobo Hills. In summary, a book capturing the natural wonders of Rhodesia and the achievements of their people.

The Forgotten FrontiersmenA book on the ancestry of the Griqua and their history starting from the Hottentot to the fall of the Griqua nation in East Griqualand following its annexure by the British. Wannenburgh's research upon his writing of this book has been used in part in the writing of the following books - The Cape Herders and The Battles of South Africa.

Diamond People

Published in 1990 by Norfolk House. The book centers around the diamond Industry and trade around the world and was written with the close involvement of the Oppenheimer family and the De Beers mining company of South Africa. Photos were taken by Peter Johnson.

Personal Life

Wannenburgh grew up in the Cape Town suburbs of "Little Mowbray" and Rondebosch. His father, Malcolm Wenzel Wannenburgh, was a human computer employed by the city's mapping department situated in Mowbray. His mother, Dorothy (née Wood), was a secretary at the Offices of the Mayor of Cape Town. For much of his adult life he resided at his fixed South African address of 212 Dartmouth Cottage, in old "Millionaires' Mile" (the "Historic Mile") which runs along the Main Road in Muizenberg—featuring famous historical homes such as the Yokohama ("Japanese Paper House") and the former Muizenberg residence of Prince and Princess Natale Labia (Casa Labia). His wife, Celeste Mitzi Karin Wannenburgh (née Matthews) is a Fleur Du Cap award-winning actress, a professional Educator, and has served on both the executive committee and an expert advisory panel ("social cohesion") for the National Arts Council (national government). Alf Wannenburgh's only child is Matthew Alfred John Wannenburgh.

Works

• 'Awendgesang', 'Echoes', 'The snake pit' and 'Debut'. Stories in Richard Rive, ed, Quartet: New voices from South Africa, Heinemann Educational Books, 1963. African Writers Series 14.
• 'Echoes', in Rive, ed., Modern African Prose, Heinemann Educational Books, 1964. African Writers Series 4.
• Rhodesian legacy, Cape Town: C. Struik, 1978. (Text by Wannenburgh; photography by Ian Murphy)
• The Bushmen. Country Life Books, London 1979. ISBN 0-600-31575-4 (Text by Wannenburgh; photography by Peter Johnson and Anthony Bannister)
• Forgotten frontiersmen, 1980.
• The natural wonder of southern Africa, Cape Town: C. Struik Publishers, 1984. (Text by Wannenburgh; photography by J. R. Dickson)
• The world of shooting, 1987. (Text by Wannenburgh; photography by Peter Johnson)
• Diamond people, 1990. (Text by Wannenburgh; photography by Peter Johnson)

References

1. Negro Digest, January 1963, p.42
2. Steinbreder, John (9 April 1990). "A Sumptuous Hunting Book at a Sumptuous Price". SI Vault. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
3. "Writer and activist Alf Wannenburgh dies". Cape Times (20 December 2010). Cape Times. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
4. Vladimír Klíma et al., Black Africa: literature and language, 1976, p. 257
5. "Untitled Document". pzacad.pitzer.edu.
6. Wannenburgh, 'Memories of Richard', New Contrast 71. 18.3 (1990): 29-39
7. Christopher Heywood, A history of South African literature, 2004, p. 207

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