Rugby, Resistance and Politics: How Dan Qeqe Helped Shape the History of Port Elizabeth by Buntu Siwisa is out now from Jacana Media.

‘I never thought that the friendly, loud and talkative Dan Qeqe – the old man who dressed rather dourly, like a non-descript door-to-door salesman on a lunch break, without a tie and jacket – was one of the wealthiest and powerful men in Port Elizabeth. I didn’t associate him with the people’s struggles. It never entered my mind that those adult talks had been shaping the political, cultural and sports liberation of the peoples of Port Elizabeth in profound ways.’

Daniel Dumile Qeqe (1929–2005), ‘Baas Dan’ or ‘DDQ’ – take your pick – was the Port Elizabeth leader whose struggles and triumphs criss-crossed the entire gamut of political, civic, entrepreneurial, sports and recreational liberation activism in the Eastern Cape. In this powerful and moving account of Qeqe’s life, Siwisa has, magnificently, written a people’s history of Port Elizabeth.

Qeqe paved the way for the mainstreaming and liberation of black rugby and cricket players in South Africa. He co-engineered the birth of the KwaZakhele Rugby Union (Kwaru), a pioneering non-racial rugby union that was more of a political and social movement.

This story is an attempt to understand this man of contradictions. In one breath, he was generous and kind to a fault. And yet he was the indlovu, an imposing authoritarian elephant, who could be brutal and aggressive. Then there was Qeqe the man, whose actions were not in keeping with the struggle, and this book tells of his role in ‘collaborationist’ civic institutions and in courting reactionary homeland structures.

Through all of that, Qeqe was the key actor in the emancipation of rugby in South Africa.

About the author

Buntu Siwisa obtained his DPhil in Politics and International Relations from St Peter’s College, Oxford University. Most recently, he was a Research Fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS). Siwisa is now a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPATC) at the University of Johannesburg.

Siwisa’s debut novel, Paperless, was shortlisted for the 2022 James Currey Prize for African Literature.

Book launch:

Join Buntu Siwisa, Mkhuseli Jack and Professor Janet Cherry at the launch of Rugby, Resistance and Politics: How Dan Qeqe Helped Shape the History of Port Elizabeth at Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha.

Categories Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Buntu Siwisa Jacana Media Rugby Resistance and Politics