Author Dr Berend Mets listening to a comment from the audience at the launch of his book "Truth & Conciliation".
Author Dr Berend Mets listening to a comment from the audience at the launch of his book “Truth & Conciliation”. Credit: Yaël Malgas

Crime, politics and the human condition in a post-apartheid South African encompasses the latest book from doctor and author Dr Berend Mets.

Mets launched his third novel, Truth & Conciliation, at the Hofmeyr Hall in Stellenbosch on Wednesday 12 March.

The book tells the story of an Afrikaans doctor and an isiXhosa police detective in Cape Town in 1996, during the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. Both had suffered loss and had been scarred by the violence in South Africa.

Together they embark on a relationship and seek the truth about a deadly crime committed during apartheid.

Despite the familiarity many South African readers may have with the period of the book’s setting, Mets says the narrative does’t aim to preach to readers.

“A novelist should never take a decision. You are writing the story as it unfolds; you are not truth signaling or virtue signaling. And so, this is historical, but it is a story,” he explains.

“The people who came out and told their stories should be honoured and, to some extent, bringing them out again is not a bad thing. Ultimately this book is about forgiveness and how people forgive but never forget.”

Genevieve and Dr Norman Miller with author Dr Berend Mets.
Genevieve and Dr Norman Miller with author Dr Berend Mets. Credit: Yaël Malgas

The Stellenbosch University alumnus used his background in medicine and wove his “day job” into the novel.

According to Mets, despite shuttling between South Africa and the United States, where he now resides, recalling the feeling of the period he wrote about was difficult to recall. “Covid was particularly difficult [to travel to SA] because I couldn’t come here, so for the Morality Act I had to reimagine District 6. In comparison I starkly remember the time of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, because I was here. I know what it felt like when we saw Mandela drive along the highway in Paarl; how we felt when he went to the City Hall and everybody was cheering. That is what I’m trying to capture.”

Readers at the event praised Mets for his ability to capture the time and place, while others suggested the book may be just what polarised Americans, under the Trump administration, may need to inspire hope.

Truth & Conciliation is published by Naledi. For more information on Mets and where to buy his books, visit berendmets.com.

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