Henry Nxumalo, (b. 1917, d. 1957) also known as Henry "Mr Drum" Nxumalo was a South African journalist. Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

Overview

He was born in 1917 in Margate, Natal, South Africa 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 by a job by the Post newspaper in Johannesburg who had published some of his earlier contributions. Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Ramsgate Margate is a seaside resort town in the south of the KwaZulu-Natal coast, just about 20 kilometres northeast of Port Shepstone. ... KwaZulu-Natal (often referred to as KZN) is a province of South Africa. ... City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ...

He enlisted in the South African Army when World War 2 broke out and was sent to Egypt where the South African forces were involved in the Western Desert. The South African Army is the army of South Africa. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

He became frustrated upon his return to South Africa. There were few opportunities for black journalists due to the restrictions of apartheid. Most Black-focused publications were controlled by white business interests and none of them offered scope for the kind of investigative exposes that Nxumalo had in mind. A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

In 1951, the publisher Jim Bailey established the legendary Drum magazine with Anthony Sampson as editor and asked Henry Nxumalo to become the assistant editor. 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Drum is a South African family magazine mainly aimed at black readers and contains market news, entertainment and feature articles. ... Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson (August 3, 1926–December 18, 2004) was a British writer and founding member of the SDP. During the 1950s he edited the magazine Drum in Johannesburg, South Africa. ...

Henry specialised in investigative journalism.

He obtained employment on the potato farms and exposed 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. He managed to get arrested and was sent to Johannesburg central prison. The resulting article describing the ward conditions and the degrading naked search was an international scoop . He 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. ^[1]

In 1957, Henry was investigating an abortion racket when he was murdered by unknown assailants. 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 2004, Goch Street in Johannesburg's cultural hub, Newtown was changed to Henry Nxumalo Street. ^[2] 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Newtown is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. ...

Awards

• South African The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver for excellence in South African journalism (Posthumous)

See also

• Good-looking Corpse: World of Drum - Jazz and Gangsters, Hope and Defiance in the Townships of South Africa, Mike Nicol, Secker & Warburg, 1991, ISBN 0-43-630986-6

• Writing from South Africa, edited by Anthony Adams & Ken Durham, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-52-143572-2 contains The Birth of a Tsotsi: Henry Nxumalo

External links

• Henry Nxumalo’s profile for National Orders

References

1. ^ Struan Douglas. Drum Magazine. Worldonline. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
2. ^ Ndaba Dlamini (2004). The word on the street is change. Johannesburg News Agency. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.