South Africans share honest father stories in new book

IN A COUNTRY where fatherhood is often defined by absence, silence and struggle, a new book titled Lessons From My Father seeks to rewrite that story.

- LUTHO PASIYA

Published by Melinda Ferguson Books and co-edited by author and publisher Melinda Ferguson and educationist Steve Anderson, the collection gathers 32 essays from prominent South Africans who reflect on the men who shaped their lives.

The contributors include Proteas captain Temba Bavuma, Springboks legend Nick Mallett, Olympic champion Chad le Clos, activist Zelda La Grange, musician Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, singer Zolani Mahola, Lindiwe Hani, chef Karen Dudley, radio personality Darren Simpson, humanitarian Imtiaz Sooliman and television presenter Maps Maponyane, among others.

Each essay offers a personal story about fatherhood - not as an idealised role, but as a complex, human experience marked by love, loss and imperfection.

The book's introduction describes it as “a tribute to fathers who got it right and those who got it wrong.”

For Ferguson, Lessons From My Father is more than a literary project. It is a personal journey. “I lost my father when I was four years old,” she said.

“Later, when I became a drug addict, I tried to fill that fatherless void by getting high and wasted. When I got clean, I had to do a lot of inside work to heal.”

That healing process, she explained, inspired her to help create a space for others to explore their relationships with their fathers - whether nurturing, painful or absent.