FORMER University of KwaZulu-Natal professor and honorary professor at Wits University, Professor Franco Frescura has recently released two research-based books titled Postal Officials of the Cape of Good Hope and Poste Restante at the Cape, which centre around topics about the colonial era in South Africa. Both books were published through the Phansi Press and released in February of this year and are available through the Phansi Museum at admin@phansi.com.
Included in Frescura’s academic legacy is his association and collaborative efforts with various universities around the world. He has also written numerous research articles, which have been published widely, and he is currently the education officer at the Glenwood-based historical museum, the Phansi Museum.
Speaking of his book, Post Officials of the Cape of Good Hope, Frescura says, “There is much about this little volume that will recommend itself to an audience whose ancestors once found employment in the postal establishment of the Cape of Good Hope.”
Also read: DUT to award honorary doctorate to world-renowned health expert
Frescura says there was a great deal of research that preceded the publication of the book. “As is only to be expected, a research project that has taken me 47 years to complete will have a number of unfinished issues to deal with. These, like dangling participles, are lists of data that have taken hundreds of loving hours to compile, and yet, without my assistance, would never have seen the light of publication.”
Frescura says the book is written in a listicle fashion and includes various chapters on the history of the postal system during the colonial era.
Fescura says his second book, Poste Restante at the Cape, and other essays, delve into the colonial history of the Cape of Good Hope. “The Cape of Good Hope is a land that was originally inhabited by Khoi and San First Nations; first visited by Portuguese mariners; invaded by successive Dutch and English colonialists; settled by German, armed farmers; prospected by Cornish, Italian, Australian and Californian miners; traded with by Jewish Lithuanian traders, and finally inhabited by a complex mixture of European, African, Chinese, Malay and Indian immigrants. It was inevitable that out of this complicated cultural mix should emerge a number of puzzles, contradictions and enigmas, many of which continue to colour our understanding of South Africa to this day.”
Also read: Durban architect awarded honorary doctorate
Frescura says he has tried to unravel some of the puzzles of what occurred during the colonial era at the Cape of Good Hope. “The result has been a narrative which often informs, solves, confuses and amuses the student of this infuriatingly complex and sometimes misunderstood era of South African history,” he concluded.
For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.
