Kabelo "Sello" Duiker, was a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n novelist. His debut novel

Debut novel

A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...

, Thirteen Cents, won the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book written by an Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n writer. He also worked in advertising and as a screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, at the time of his death he was working as an editor of drama for SABC1.

Duiker, the eldest of three brothers, was born in Orlando, Soweto

Orlando, Soweto

Orlando is a township in the urban area of Soweto, in the city of Johannesburg . It is the most densely populated area of South Africa. The township was founded in 1931 and named after Edwin Orlando Leake, Mayor of Johannesburg from 1925 to 1926...

 at the height of apartheid. Coming from a moderately wealthy family he was sent to a public school, where he was one of the very few black pupils. During his school-years the schools in South Africa were very much at the centre of the anti-apartheid movement. This personal experience of the social-struggles influenced Duiker greatly, his novels treated racial difference as largely immaterial, being basically cosmetic.

Duiker received a degree in journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

 from Rhodes University

Rhodes University

Rhodes University is a public research university located in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, established in 1904. It is the province’s oldest university, and is one of the four universities in the province...

, he also briefly studied at the University of Cape Town

University of Cape Town

The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...

. He suffered a nervous breakdown

Nervous breakdown

Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...

 in 2004 prior to committing suicide by hanging himself in Northcliff, Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, in January 2005. His death came a month after that of his contemporary Phaswane Mpe

Phaswane Mpe

Phaswane Mpe was a South African poet and novelist. He was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was a lecturer in African literature. His debut novel, Welcome to Our Hillbrow, was published in 2001...

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