Quote by K. Sello Duiker: “Hope is a tricky thing. It can be a balm or a burden.”

This nuanced observation highlights the dual nature of hope, capable of both healing and creating immense pressure or disappointment. It suggests that while hope can sustain us, it can also become a heavy expectation, depending on our circumstances and how we approach it.

Over a decade into democracy, South Africa was experiencing complex social challenges, and the initial euphoria of freedom was tempered by ongoing realities of inequality. This era prompted reflections on the sustainment and limits of national and personal hope.

South African novelist whose debut Thirteen Cents depicted the brutal street life of Cape Town's homeless youth and won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book in 2001. His work was a landmark of post-apartheid South African fiction.