Anthony Fleischer is a South African author who lives in Cape Town. He has written eight novels, all set in Africa. He was born in South Africa, educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford. His first novel THE SKIN IS DEEP was published in I958 by Secker & Warburg, London, under the pen name Hans Hofmeyer. It dealt with the trials of a man from Lake Malawi who came to work on a South African gold mine. It was banned in South Africa. Anthony Fleischer and Shenge - Home Affairs Minister in the South African Cabinet, Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi at the TEBA Office.

Reacting to the ban, Tony became involved with the writers' organisation INTERNATIONAL PEN and campaigned against censorship in the 'old' South Africa. He is now President of SOUTH AFRICAN PEN and attends International PEN Congresses as a South African delegate . He was also a member of the PEN working group which prepared the INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION OF LINGUISTIC RIGHTS for presentation to UNESCO. Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, ex-President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu all support this international declaration.

Tony in Xhosa regalia at Kevin Fleischer's wedding, in California offering a white bull as lobola for Beth Mandel

The declaration talks of 'language communities' and the right to use mother tongues. Tony argues that, if free expression is important, so is the free expression of young children within their own communities in their own language. The market might demand the growth of the global language English, but at the same time the integrity and dignity of home languages should be respected. Today, as markets consolidate, so do communities become stronger in order to protect their own identity, their own languages. Tony Fleischer was General Manager of South African Associated Newspapers, Executive Director of the 'Financial Mail' and worked with Editors such as Laurence Gandar and Raymond Louw in the days of the 'Rand Daily Mail's' passionate opposition to the apartheid government He left the newspaper industry after the take-over of SAAN by Argus.

Subsequently he became an Adviser to the Chamber of Mines, and restructured the mining industry's labour organisation in southern Africa. He registered the name 'The Employment Bureau of Africa 'in order to preserve the names TEBA and KwaTEBA which were well known amongst African communities. His deep feeling for the problems that beset the rural peoples of Africa prompted him to continue writing about their struggles to survive with dignity in a harsh continent.

While Adviser to the Chamber of Mines he introduced an interest-bearing savings account for mineworkers  -  TEBA Savings.  With TEBA CASH this eventually became TEBA BANK.  The supporting TEBA network has now been acquired by Mr James Motlatsi, former head of the National Union of Mineworkers, and a member of the Board of Anglo American.

He has argued since the 80's that TEBA Bank should become the THE ENTERPRISE BANK OF AFRICA offering microfinance services throughout its office network in Botswana, Lesotho, Mocambique, Swaziland and South Africa itself.  Maybe this will now happen

Linked to this interest is his advocacy of microfinance for communities living in Transfrontier Conservation Areas. He is a Founder member of the Peace Parks Foundation which is an international partnership to promote job creation and biodiversity conservation throughout southern Africa.

Other international interests are reflected in his associate membership of the International Press Institute (IPI) and The American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Free expression, free press and free markets thrive together, and this is his hope for Southern Africa.Above all, he is a creative writer who is wary of censorship and of any kind or central control over creativity. He is stimulated by new open societies and new open communications - hence this web-site. He aims to carve for himself a tiny niche in the global intellectual property industry, through a fairly pure brand of private enterprise - creative writing.