Born in chains

What is it like to be born dirt-poor in South Africa? Clinton Chauke knows, having been raised alongside his two sisters in a remote village bordering the Kruger National Park and a squatter camp outside Pretoria.

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Just like in the squatter camp in Atteridgeville, there was no electricity in our new home. But here it was very different: it was safe. Only years later I figured out why the crime rate was so low in our village: there was nothing to steal. Born in Chains is a fist-hand account of living in abject poverty in South Africa. Clinton Chauke was born in 1994 into a Vatsonga household and has faced all the challenges of growing up at the edges of society: first in rural Limpopo, then in a village bordering the Kruger National Park, and finally in a squatter camp near Pretoria. Navigating a world of racism and tribalism and confronting urban life as a country bumpkin, the author depicts the lifelines and pitfalls of a young life: going to school, coming to terms with tradition, religion and politics, becoming a man and ultimately finding his identity as a young black person in South Africa. Uncompromising, honest and witty, Chaukes memoir is a story of hope and perseverance and of succeeding against all the odds.