Justice Malala: When I was 15 a government van arrived at my school and unexpectedly delivered a case full of books. The books were promptly locked up in the "library" - the space behind the school clerk's desk - and we were not allowed to touch, read or borrow any of them.

From the window of the school clerk's office, one could see and read the names of the books and authors on their spines. They were exotic, strange, and attractive. Foreign names would come hard to our lips: Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Sembene Ousmane, Chinua Achebe.

Incredibly, the bantustan Bophuthatswana government had delivered a full set of Heinemann's African Writers' Series to a rural middle school. Many of the books were considered so incendiary - like Wa Thiongo's work - in "South Africa" that detention followed possession of such literature.

What I remember about that set of books, with their trademark orange covers and spines, was how I longed to get my hands on them. My friends and I would loiter outside the clerk's office, hoping she would go to the loo, and we would hop in and have a quick read. Much to our disappointment, she seemed to be chained to her desk.

I was reminded of my thirst for those books this week, when I heard that protesters in Siyathemba township in Balfour had burnt down their library. I was staggered by the news. How can people who believe in a future, people who love themselves and their children, burn down a building that carries the knowledge that would without doubt carry them out of the poverty they currently experience?

Worse still, the protesters are not allowing pupils to go to school. In a province notorious for the failure of its education system, last week was crucial for those kids who had failed some matric papers and were writing supplementary examinations to make an improvement.

Mpumalanga's education MEC, Reginah Mhaule, issued a statement saying: "I am making a humble call to the community of Balfour to allow teachers, learners and non-teaching staff to be in schools so that teaching and learning can progress unhindered." She was ignored.

It is unclear, at least this time around, what the people of Siyathemba want. At first, protesters demanded work at a local mine, saying foreigners are stealing their jobs. Then the demand changed swiftly to demanding that the mayor step down.

Siyathemba might very well have legitimate demands. But not a single one of them is so pressing that a library should be torched. Such an act is the work of a deeply sick and backward mind.

Books, for the people of Siyathemba and those among our leaders who do not see the seriousness of what has happened, are freedom. It does not matter where you find yourself, in happiness and in sorrow, books are the one thing that can lift you out of your circumstances and catapult you forward.

It is ironic that books and knowledge are under attack at a time when Nelson Mandela's emergence from prison is being celebrated. Mandela, who studied for his law degree by candle-light while working as a security guard, is true testimony to what books can do for you: the knowledge he gained through books took him from his village and enabled him to become an acclaimed lawyer and international icon.

Mandela won a Nobel prize. Mandela's education, both formal and life-long learning, is emphasised in the Nobel's citation, in which the role of literature in building up Robben Island prisoners is referred to.

"Shakespeare was a common denominator for the prisoners at Robben Island. Only a few of them were Christian believers; a few were Moslems or Hindus; a few, communists; and their origins were different. They all knew Shakespeare, however."

And they read the bard, and performed his works. That is why Robben Island was regarded as a university: they devoured the classics and found revolutionary ideas inside them.

Mandela and the other prisoners drew inspiration from these works, with Mandela's favourite lines being: "Cowards die many times before their deaths;/The valiant never taste of death but once."

Mandela and his comrades' strength was inspired and reinforced by books. They might have been in prison, but their minds were set free. Because they read, they were way ahead of their jailers. They were free.

This is something the petty thugs who burnt down the library in Siyathemba do not grasp. When they burnt down that library, it was an act of betrayal of everything that we as a nation should stand for. It displayed a mentality that is unfortunately being fostered by many in our country today.

This sort of barbarity is what is dragging our country down.

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