GUEST: Dr Sifiso Mnisi – Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg and author of the book: "Performing Masculinities: Izikhothane in a South African Township

PERFORMING MASCULINITIES: Izikhothane in a South African Township, a book was recently launched the UJ Library, Nadine Gordimer Auditorium.

The book explores the vibrant and controversial world of ukukhothana, a subculture that shocked South African townships in the early 2000s. It gives the reader a view into the lives of these township youth as they are known to buy expensive clothes, sip on premium alcohol, and engage in high- energy dance-offs and verbal showdowns during mock battles.

Authored by Dr Sifiso Mnisi, the book offers a gripping ethnographic account of how young men from impoverished backgrounds use conspicuous consumption to shape their identities and assert their masculinity. All of this unfolds against a backdrop of poverty, where most participants come from working-class families, with some parents employed as domestic workers, general labourers, small informal business owners, administrative clerks, or are unemployed.