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South Africa is highly politicised; even small issues become politicised, and it becomes quite bitter.

There's a rising tide of concern among activists, economists, and artists about Africa. Theres a temptation to think of it as a monolith as opposed to all these different countries with different problems.

I feel no bond with South Africa, which is curious, since South Africa is where I was born.

For all its problems, I found South Africa a beautiful country, interesting and inspiring.

I should confess that I'm woefully under-read in South African fiction.

At the outset, I want to say that the suggestion that the struggle in South Africa is under the influence of foreigners or communists is wholly incorrect. I have done whatever I did because of my experience in South Africa and my own proudly felt African background, and not because of what any outsider might have said.

I thought that, post-apartheid, there would be absolutely no interest in South Africa. That has been both true and untrue. The major writers like Gordimer and Coetzee have produced major books. But some of the more minor writers have drifted away.

The history of apartheid-era South Africa is incredibly sad and at times infuriatingly incomprehensible.

All of our forebears contributed to what South Africa has become. That does not, however, mean that I must apologize to anyone for being born a Zulu, or for having that culture.

South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.