Henry Nxumalo

Henry Nxumalo (1917 – 31 December 1957), also known as Henry "Mr Drum" Nxumalo, was a pioneering South African investigative journalist under apartheid.

Early life

He was born in 1917 in Margate, Natal, South Africa, and attended the Fascadale Mission School. Showing early promise as a writer, he submitted various samples of his work to publications and as a result was offered by a job by the Post newspaper in Johannesburg, which had published some of his earlier contributions.

He enlisted in the South African Army when World War II broke out and was sent to Egypt, where the South African forces were involved in the Western Desert of North Africa.

Career

He became frustrated upon his return to South Africa. There were few opportunities for black journalists due to the restrictions of apartheid. Most black-focused publications were controlled by white business interests and none of them offered scope for the kind of investigative exposés that Nxumalo had in mind.

In 1951, the publisher Jim Bailey established the legendary Drum magazine with Anthony Sampson as editor, and asked Henry Nxumalo to become the assistant editor. Nxumalo by this time specialised in investigative journalism.