Catholic Hotelier Introduces Book on Pioneer Father, Stan Sangweni
Catholic hotelier and businesswoman Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo has written a book on her late father, Professor Stan Sangweni. She was profiled in the September 2022 edition of The Southern Cross.
The biographical book, titled The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives, opens a window into the life of a dedicated family man, an anti-apartheid activist, a devout Catholic, a pioneer of public service excellence in post-apartheid South Africa and an inveterate stickler for detail in every aspect of his life.
The book’s title was inspired by the story of land acquired by the family in the early 1900’s, marking a saga of a family’s lineage rooted on the land in Zuka on Suspence Farm, Newcastle, in what is now northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Professor Sangweni attended part of his schooling at St Francis College in Marianhill, KZN. The book traces his Catholic roots and life-long devotion from his rural upbringing to his many years of living in exile.
“Prof Sangweni opens a window into a past where his grandfather, with foresight and ingenuity, became part of The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives, a group that secured land for their families, including his family of seven wives, and for succeeding generations at a time when Black people in South Africa were being systematically dispossessed of their land,” states a press statement from the Pan Macmillan Publishers, the book’s publishers.
Lindiwe grew up in exile in a number of countries, including Swaziland, Kenya and Zambia, where she met leaders of the liberation struggle including Oliver Reginald Tambo, a devout Anglican, future SA President Thabo Mbeki, and Sophie and Benny de Bruyn (both Catholics).
She is currently a parishioner of the Church of the Resurrection in Bryanston, Johannesburg.
The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives is available at Exclusive Books bookstores. For more on the book follow Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo on Facebook and Instagram.
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