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Native Merchants: The Building Of The Black Business Class In South Africa (Paperback)

by Phakamisa Ndzamela
ISBN: 9780624091592
Product in Stock: Yes
Original price R 360.00 - Original price R 360.00
Original price R 360.00
R 360.00
R 360.00 - R 360.00
Current price R 360.00
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What do Walter Sisulu, Paul Xiniwe, Bertha Mkhize and John Tengo Jabavu have in common?

They were all Black South African business people, and only a few of the names of the elite who were able to build successful enterprises against all odds in industries such as agriculture, media, financial services, retail, real estate, transport, hoteliering and more during the colonial and apartheid eras. In many cases, they were also political activists as necessitated by the oppressive conditions of the time in order to fight for equal rights to enterprise and markets. Here their stories as entrepreneurs as well as political actors are profiled, showing the inexplicable relationship between the two.

The history of Black South African enterprise preand postcolonially in areas like mining is also explored, showing that this was nothing alien or unexpected and instead, that oppression curtailed the majority of enterprise that was possible and blocked out competition through dispossession.

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