THE END OF NORMAL, a witness to the unravelling of white power in South Africa

319pp., paperback, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Cape Town, 2026

ISBN: 9781776195558 

In his deeply personal memoir veteran journalist and author Max du Preez explores South Africa's turbulent transition from the perspective of an Afrikaner who, after growing up in a middle-class Christian Nationalist family, broke from his conservative roots to become an anti-apartheid voice.

du Preez discusses his experiences over fifty years of frontline journalism, from witnessing the 1976 Soweto uprising as a young reporter to founding Vrye Weekblad, the first anti-apartheid Afrikaans newspaper. He explores how otherwise decent people came to implement and support the apartheid system, examines the long-term impact of 16 June 1976, and takes a critical look at the current socio-political landscape, in particular the resurgence of Afrikaner nationalism.

South African journalist, columnist, and documentary filmmaker Max du Preez is the author of several books, including the memoir, Pale Native: Memories of a Renegade Reporter (2004), The World According to Malema (2009),The Rough Guide to Nelson Mandela (2011) and A Rumour of Spring: South Africa After Twenty Years of Democracy (2013, winner of the Alan Paton Prize for non-fiction). His many awards include the Louis M Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism from the University of Harvard, the Pringle Award for advancing press freedom, the 2006 Yale Globalist Journalist of the Year Award, the Ahmed Kathrada Leadership Award and the Nat Nakasa Award for courageous reporting, as well as honoris causa degrees from the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Free State.