Book Review: "My Father, My Monster"

Written by Brendah Nyakudya
Tuesday, 13 December 2011 15:28

With his unique name, distinct accent and confident manner, MacIntosh Polela, spokesperson for the Hawks, could easily be mistaken for a man whose background is one of privilege, luxury and ease. However, his riveting memoir, My Father My Monster, reveals that his childhood and youth were the exact opposite.

Seemingly abandoned by their parents, five-year-old MacIntosh and his little sister, Zinhle, were left in the care of his mother’s extremely impoverished family in rural KwaZulu-Natal. From this point on their lives became a hellish nightmare of poverty, mistreatment and bullying by the older children and brutal physical punishment by the adults. MacIntosh’s only hope and encouragement for his sister was that their mother would return and take them home to the happy life he remembered. When he learnt of his mother’s death at the hands of his father, he began to plot his revenge and set himself on a path of self-destruction.

The understandable anger and confusion of his youth was eventually channelled into academic excellence, which helped him break free from the destitution of his youth. But even with the decision to forgive his father and the achievement of his professional dreams, MacIntosh still had questions, and he realised that in order to find peace, he had to confront his father about his mother’s brutal death.

Though his father led him to the spot where his mother’s body was found, he continued to claim that it was not by his hand that MacIntosh’s mother passed away. His father is revealed to be a callous man who abused his family for many years, an arrogant and repulsive character with no redeeming qualities. So it comes as no surprise that MacIntosh decided to change his name again to symbolise the cutting of ties with his father. The tales of abuse told by his half-siblings make you understand that even though he and Zinhle had a tough time growing up, they were probably better off than they would have been had they been raised by their father.

From childhood to adulthood, MacIntosh’s journey was riddled with difficulties, but he tells his story without self pity, and you are left with nothing but admiration for a man who has faced so many challenges and managed to overcome them to find professional success and personal peace.

Did you know that MacIntosh Polela:

• was born Steven Shezi.
• has changed his name twice – from Steven Shezi to MacIntosh Nzimande and later, to symbolise his cutting the ties with his father, to MacIntosh Polela.
• his first name was inspired by legendary reggae musician Peter Tosh, whose real name was Winston Hubert MacIntosh.
• and his last name is the name of a river that flows through the village of Pevensey, where MacIntosh spent much of his childhood and teenage years. It is also the name of the river in which he wanted to drown himself to end his miserable life.
• was a weapons maker, drug dealer and high school drop-out long before becoming a national law-agency spin doctor.
• briefly worked as a radio presenter on Ukhozi FM as a student.
• holds a master’s degree from the prestigious London School of Economics.
• collects cowboy hats.
• is a Sharks fan.