QUIET ACTIVISTS, a memoir of love, purpose, family, and fighting for justice in South Africa

224pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2022

Peter Present grew up in Elsies River - a suburb designated for people classified Coloured by the apartheid government - in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1986 he and his wife left South Africa to join Umkhonto we Sizwe, received training in an ANC camp in northern Angola, and returned to join the underground movement.

A teacher by profession, Present was appointed as Director of Education Research at the Western Cape Department of Education in 2001, becoming Chief Director in 2007. In 2008 he joined Deloitte as a senior manager, and was promoted to partner in 2014. He currently works for HashData, a software development company, and lives in Kuils River.