Rhodes and His Banker is an account of the remarkable friendship between a larger-than-life historical figure and a modest, unassuming banker, both of whom were personally involved in all the major political and financial developments in Southern Africa during the closing decades of the 19th century.
The financial institution that brought diamond and gold magnate Cecil John Rhodes and Sir Lewis Michell together – the Standard Bank – was at the heart of the country’s rapid transformation from an agricultural backwater to an industrial powerhouse thanks to the discovery of diamonds and gold. The book chronicles the activities and growth of the bank under the remarkable stewardship of Michell and recounts his role as the trusted confidant of Rhodes.
Michell published the first biography of Rhodes to be written after his death and offers many intriguing insights into the character and motives of one of the most controversial and self-driven of British imperialists. He also did everything he could to fulfil Rhodes’s ambition for a united South Africa and played a key role in setting up the world-famous Rhodes Scholarship programme.
Intertwining dual narratives of Rhodes as rapacious entrepreneur with the Standard Bank under Michell tiptoeing in his wake to become the biggest bank in Africa, Steyn recounts how colonialism and capitalism took root in South Africa and Rhodesia.
The first Italian POWs arrived in the Union of South Africa in early 1941, most of them being held in Zonderwater Camp outside Cullinan or in work camps across the country. The government of Jan Smuts saw them as a source of cheap labour that would contribute to harvesting schemes, road-building projects such as the old Du Toit’s Kloof Pass between Paarl and Worcester and even to prickly-pear eradication schemes.
Prisoners of Jan Smuts recounts the stories of survival and shenanigans of the Italian POWs in the Union through the eyes of five prisoners who had documented their experiences in memoirs and letters. While many POWs seemed to appreciate the opportunities to gain new skills, others clung to the Fascist ideas they had grown up with and refused to work.
Many opted to remain in South Africa once the war had ended, forging quite a legacy. These included sculptor Edoardo Villa, who left an important mark in the local and international art world, and businessman Aurelio Gatti, who built an ice-cream empire whose gelato was to delight generations of South Africans.
