Henry Nxumalo (1917 – 31 December 1957), also known as Henry "Mr Drum" Nxumalo, was a pioneering

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

under

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Early life

He was born in 1917 in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, and attended the Fascadale Mission School. Showing early promise as a writer, he submitted various samples of his work to publications and as a result was offered a job by the ''Post'' newspaper in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, which had published some of his earlier contributions. He enlisted in the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out and was sent to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, where the South African forces were involved in the Western Desert of North Africa.

Career

He became frustrated upon his return to South Africa. There were few opportunities for black journalists due to the restrictions of

. Most black-focused publications were controlled by white business interests and none of them offered scope for the kind of investigative exposés that Nxumalo had in mind. In 1951, the publisher Jim Bailey established the legendary ''Drum'' magazine with

Anthony Sampson Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson (3 August 1926 – 18 December 2004) was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was ''Anatomy of Britain'', which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", upda ...

as editor, and asked Henry Nxumalo to become the assistant editor. Nxumalo by this time specialised in investigative journalism. He obtained employment on the potato farms so as to expose the squalid conditions (almost slave-like) experienced by Black labourers. Worried about the lawlessness in Johannesburg "the square mile of sin", he agitated for clean-up and appealed for support from the police. On another assignment he managed to get himself arrested and was sent to Johannesburg central prison. His resulting article, describing the ward conditions and the degrading naked search, was an international scoop. He later got work on a farm where an African labourer was beaten to death with a section of hose-pipe. His investigation into whether the church "supported" apartheid showed the difference between prejudice and the gospel of "brotherly love". In 1957, Nxumalo was investigating an abortion racket when he was murdered by unknown assailants.

Legacy

* In 2004, Goch Street in Johannesburg's cultural hub, Newtown, was renamed Henry Nxumalo Street. *

Sylvester Stein Sylvester Stein (25 December 1920 – 28 December 2015) was a South African writer, publisher and athlete. Biography Stein was born in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Durban, son of a mathematics professor Philip Stein and Lily Rolnick ...

's 2005 play ''Who Killed Mr Drum?'' (adapted from his 1999 book of the same title about his time as editor of ''Drum'') begins with Nxumalo's murder.Michael Billington
review of "Who Killed Mr Drum? , Riverside Studios, London" (review)
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 3 September 2005.

Awards

Nxumalo was posthumously honoured with the

Order of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is granted by the President of South Africa for achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports (which were initially recognised b ...

in Silver for excellence in South African journalism. The award was collected by his son, Henry Nxumalo Jr, on 27 September 2007.

References

External links