What Will People Say?

What Will People Say? (2015) is a novel by South African author and journalist Rehana Rossouw. Set in 1986 in the Cape Flats district of Cape Town, South Africa— Rossouw 's hometown—the book weaves together the lives of numerous individuals living in poverty during Apartheid, a system of state-enforced segregation and racism. The book takes its title from the fear parents have that their children will adopt a life of crime. In 2017, Rossouw published a spiritual follow-up to What Will People Say? titled New Times, which is set in 1995 at the dawn of the post-Apartheid era.

Though the book is populated by a large ensemble of characters, its central protagonists are Neville and Magda Fourie. With their three children, Neville and Magda live in Hanover Park, described as the heart of the notoriously crime-ridden Cape Flats district. Magda, who works as a manager at a clothing factory, leans heavily on her church community to keep her children away from indecent lifestyles. Neville, a bike messenger for a local law firm, seeks to protect his family and his community by joining a neighborhood night watch, a deeply perilous occupation given the heavy crime in Hanover Park. While Rossouw is quick to point out the vast cultural richness of the Cape Flats area, she does not shy away from harrowing depictions of the gang violence and desperation endemic to the district. itself, To protect residents from the worst depredations of the surrounding area, Hanover Park is barricaded at certain points along its perimeter by walls of burning tires.

The three Fourie children are Suzette, Nicky, and Anthony. The eldest, Suzette, is a strikingly beautiful 18-year-old who hopes to use her beauty to escape Cape Flats to a better life with a rich husband. The shy and introspective middle child, 16-year-old Nicky, hopes to do the same but with her intellect, not her looks. Finally, 13-year-old Anthony dreams of amassing wild amounts of wealth, feeling the only way to do so is by aligning himself with local gang leaders. As the Fouries struggle to find a way forward in their own ways, the neighborhood falls victim to a violent turf war between two gangs: "The JFK" and "The Americans." The town erupts into political demonstrations over the government's refusal to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, a massive 1976 student protest led by black high school students against the forced teaching of Afrikaans, which they perceive to be the language of their white oppressors.



Other characters include Aunty Moira, a seductive neighbor who sports a haircut in the style of Princess Di, an immensely popular look at that time. A preacher with highly suspect ethics, Pastor Williams complicates Magda's insistence that the church is the best avenue for maintaining personal decency amid the turmoil of Cape Flats.

As the book progresses, Nicky neglects her schoolwork in favor of her involvement with student political protests surrounding the Soweto uprising anniversary. This turn of events comes in large part as she begins to date Kevin, a young political activist. Meanwhile, Anthony continues to feel the lure of gangs who provide him with the illusion of safety, and over time, the Fouries lose him altogether to that lifestyle as he is formally initiated as a member. In the end, only Suzette escapes Hanover Park by attracting the attention of wealthy men, albeit after secretly quitting school four months before her final exams. While there may be hope left for Nicky to lift herself up out of the slums, it is suggested that Anthony is committed fully and irreversibly to the gang lifestyle at the conclusion of the narrative.

What Will People Say? is a tragic yet rich portrait of desperation set during a tumultuous and infuriating era of the 20th century.