Johannesburg - In an act of generosity and nation building for high school learners around the country, the authors of the book Breakthrough, which details the build up and negotiations that led to South Africa’s 1994 democracy, have donated 7 000 copies of the book to the country’s high schools.
Authored by anti apartheid Struggle veterans Pallo Jordan and Mac Maharaj, Breakthrough is described as an accessible and authoritative account of the power struggles and secret talks that led to the formal negotiations between the ANC and then National Party government.
Now high school learners from across the country will have an opportunity to delve into the treasure trove of South African history that led to what is now 27 years of a free and democratic country after the donation of the 7 000 copies to high schools in the country.
Ian Dennewill, from publishers Penguin Random House, said that because the book was an integral part of the country’s history, the authors approached potential sponsors to make it available to a high-school audience.
“Through their generous sponsorship, and with the approval of the national and provincial education departments, every high school in South Africa was sent a copy of the book, to be placed in their school library so that learners, educators and staff can access it,” Dennewill said.
He added that the total number of copies already distributed was 6 903 with high schools in Limpopo receiving the largest share of the book with 1 300 copies dispatched to that province, in Gauteng the high schools received 880, with North West high schools receiving 432 copies of the book.
In the Western Cape, high schools received 661 donated copies, while in the Northern Cape 154 copies were distributed to the province’s high schools, meaning it was the province with the least number of copies received.
KwaZulu-Natal was second, behind Limpopo as the province with the most books after it was handed 1730 copies while the Free State received 358 and the Eastern Cape’s share was 773 copies.
Political Bureau