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John Kumalo—Stephen Kumalo’s brother—moves to Johannesburg and becomes a businessman and politician. Unlike Gertrude or Absalom, who don’t write to Stephen out of shame, John acts as if moving to the city has made him too intelligent and important to explain his life to his brother. He serves as a cautionary character in the novel, a selfish opportunist who uses the real injustice faced by Black South Africans to bolster his fame and popularity but without any true desire to solve those injustices. His behavior surrounding the arrest of Absalom and Matthew epitomizes his insincerity. He focuses entirely on saving his own son, Matthew, not caring that Absalom faces worse consequences because of it. Instead of using his influence to support all three of the accused or draw attention to issues in the justice system, he distances himself from the trial so his son’s crime doesn’t reflect poorly on him. When Stephen visits him after the trial, John acts extremely defensive. This defensiveness implies that John understands he has done wrong but doesn’t want to acknowledge it.
The novel consistently notes that John’s voice is a unique asset and that his way with words has the potential to sway anyone. At the same time, he lacks the heart or conviction to back his words up, accomplishing nothing. Unlike his friend Dubula, who has given up paid work to tirelessly organize the bus boycott, John cares too much about money and fame to do such selfless work. On the one hand, because John Kumalo is insincere and self-interested, the novel states that he is ultimately incapable of spurring the masses toward truly radical action. Thus, the government is less afraid of him than they are Dubula. However, the novel also portrays this lack of heart as dangerous. When he gives the speech encouraging the miners’ strike, the narrator suggests that his empty words leave people to stew in feelings of injustice and anger, essentially creating hatred. By the end of the novel, not only does Stephen disapprove of John’s stirring up hatred and causing more violence, but the authorities also are beginning to look at him more closely.
