Fred Khumalo has grown tremendously in his lifetime not only as a journalist but as an individual as well. Having lived in the most unpleasant circumstances South Africa has to offer the writers aspirations were realized in high school; Khumalo realized that there are simply so many stories to tell and he wanted to tell them. He has had numerous short-stories published in commercial magazines and literary journals. Khumalo has also created some literary masterpieces in the form of novels; one that stands out in particular is his autobiographical novel Touch My Blood. It is a story of his coming of age in a township in South Africa during the 1980’s. The novel portrays the harshness of such a reality and his perseverance to overcome certain obstacles. This is just one example of how Khumalo has a pool of life experiences to draw on and this is exactly what he does. His idea’s come from real life experiences and such themes are evident in his moving novels. Fred Khumalo is an inspiration to the youth of South Africa who find themselves in a disadvantaged situation. He has shown that no matter your circumstances, with the right motivation one can lift themselves up and out and ultimately achieve their goals.
Career:
Fred Khumalo has been a columnist, on and off for approximately 18 years now.
In 1996 he started writing for the Times one his biggest successes in print med. He took a hiatus from that publication for about eight years of which he spent two of those years as the editor of Sunday World. He spent the other years working for a variety of newspapers including UmAfrika, City Press, This Day, Sunday World, and Toronto Star in various capacities as a reporter, columnist and editor. He has also published numerous short-stories in commercial magazines and literary journals including Staffrider, Tribute, Drum and Pace. He took up his position as a columnist at the Times in 2004 again where he splits his time between working as a columnist