Dr. Malose Langa’s book has gained critical acclaim for bringing a focus and care to an often-neglected group in society.
- Professor Malose Langa’s book highlights the importance of healing and intervention for young black men
- Dr. Langa’s work is critical for understanding collective violence and masculinity in post-apartheid South Africa
- Safe spaces can be established once we give grace to young men in society and acknowledge all expressions of masculinity
Toxic masculinity, patriarchy and hypermasculinity are some of the popularised phrases that have come to dominate discourse on violence and manhood in South Africa.
The Wits Division of Student Affairs held a Postgraduate Book Club first meeting in April, at Senate Room-East Campus hosted the book Becoming Men: Black Masculinities in a South African Township, authored by Wits academic & Professor of Psychology Dr. Malose Langa.
The book follows thirty-two boys from adolescence into early adulthood, capturing their evolving identities and masculinities amid the pressures of absent fathers, peer pressure, and systemic poverty as they grow up in Alexandra, one of Johannesburg’s most complex and crime-ridden townships.
In the aftermath of the robust discussion at the book club, Wits Vuvuzela looks at the man behind the engaging book.
Dr. Langa has nearly twenty years of experience as a private practice psychologist with a background in psycho-legal work, leveraging his LLB in his research of masculinity, collective violence and abuse. Langa is a board member of Gun Free South Africa and has authored research reports about the Marikana Massacre and the Community Work Programme (CWP) for the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR).
Additionally, Langa contributes to various academic and media platforms, including The Conversation and Bhekisisa and, he is an associate researcher at the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP). Listen to Langa discuss some of the insights he learned during his study for the book:
His research focuses on risky behaviours in youth, collective trauma, and developing black masculinities in post-apartheid South Africa. Langa has co-authored The Smoke That Calls, a research report analyzing collective violence and protests in post-apartheid South Africa. Langa has recently been appointed as the lead researcher for a concept paper on positive masculinities for the upcoming G20 Summit 2025, hosted in Johannesburg.
In response to a question about his career highlights, Dr. Langa expresses gratitude over watching the boys choose better life paths, despite their circumstances, noting his pride in wearing a suit designed by one of the boys during an inaugural lecture.
The Sunday Times CNA Literary Award for Non-Fiction winner for 2021 notes that the messages society gives young boys in their early development often shapes large portions of their identities. Langa’s approach is both analytical and compassionate, using psychoanalytic insights to reveal how young men grapple with conflicting models of manhood by often embracing negative behaviours like aggression and risk-taking, while also yearning for gentler, more emotionally intelligent alternatives.
Langa’s work is a critical resource in understanding the complexities of black male youth in South African townships and beyond. His best-selling book is a greater call to action for creating spaces where young men can redefine what it means to be a man.
FEATURED IMAGE: Dr. Malose Langa at Wits University’s Postgraduate Book Club – Senate Room Photo: Katlego Makhutle
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