Chris Whitcomb Mr. Falherty ELA 12 23 January 2023 Kaffir Boy - Abuse of Power The abuse of power in the book kaffir boy. Kaffir Boy, written by Mark Mathabane, is an autobiography. The book, “Kaffir Boy” is about the events that happen in a boy's life in the apartheid and the events that happen to a lot of the people that lived in the apartheid. The abuse of power in South Africa by the police. “I gasped and stiffened at the name of the dreaded Alexandra Police Squad'' (Mathabne 8). They raided Mark’s neighborhood at night, terrorizing families and arresting parents. “While student leaders argued about what to do to diffuse the situation, the police suddenly opened fire” (Mathabane 259). The police had no reason to fire upon the protester; …show more content…
The police killed a black activist in their custody and the press could not report on it because it was banned. The123 reason this is an abuse of power is because they start to kill more and more while not allowing the press to report any of the truth. “As a result, more than 90 percent of white South Africans go through a lifetime without seeing firsthand the inhuman conditions under which blacks had to survive” (Mathabane 3). The press keep saying that “they are well-fed and materially better off under the chains of apartheid than blacks in other nations' (Mathabane 3). That is the third reason that shows the government was abusing their power on the people in South America. In conclusion, that was the proof that the government abused their authority during the …show more content…
After serving a year in a harsh, maximum-security facility that treats its inmates like slaves, Mathabane's father is transformed and descends into sullenness, rage, and reckless behavior. How poverty and hardship can break a person's spirit until they sink so low that they become a burden on others is illustrated by Mathabane's father's descent. Even though his gambling and drinking cost the family money that they badly need for food and other essentials, they symbolize a desire to escape from reality. The fact that Mathabane's father refers to Mathabane's mother as "the woman he bought" shows that, in accordance with tribal law, he totally owns her. This puts such tribal ideas in a negative light and supports Mathabane's mother's desire to convert Mathabane to