Books to Vote for Contextualising SA Politics

Why has land reform been such a failure in South Africa? Will expropriation without compensation solve the problem? What can be done to get the land programme back on track? In his new book, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi tackles these questions, and more. Going back in history, he shows how Africans’ communal land ownership was used by colonial rulers to deny that Africans owned the land at all. He explores the effect of the Land Acts, Bantustans and forced removals. And he considers the ANC’s policies on land throughout the twentieth century, during the negotiations of the 1990s, and in government. Land Matters unpacks developments in land redistribution, restitution and tenure reform, and makes suggestions for what needs to be done in future. The book also considers the power of chiefs, the tension between communal land ownership and the desire for private title, the failure of the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach, women and land reform, the role of banks, and the debates around amending the Constitution. Thoughtful and provocative, Land Matters sheds light on one of the most complex questions in South Africa today.

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South Africa has a complex relationship with rape. Pumla Dineo Gqola unpacks this relationship by paying attention to patterns and trends of rape, asking what we can learn from famous cases and why South Africa is losing the battle against rape. Gqola looks at the 2006 rape trial of Jacob Zuma and what transpired in the trial itself, as well as trying to make sense of public responses to it. She interrogates feminist responses to the Anene Booysen case, amongst other high profile cases of gender-based violence. Rape: A South African Nightmare is a necessary book for various reasons. While volumes exist on rape in South Africa, much of this writing exists either in academic journals, activist publications or analysis pages of select print media. This is a conclusive book on rape in South Africa, illuminating aspects of South Africa's rape problem and contributing to shifting the conversation forward. It is indebted to insights from available research, activism, the author's own immersion in Rape Crisis, the 1 in 9 Campaign and feminist scholarship. Analytically rigorous, it is intended for a general readership.

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Investigative journalist Jacques Pauw exposes the darkest secret at the heart of Jacob Zuma’s compromised government: a cancerous cabal that eliminates the president’s enemies and purges the law-enforcement agencies of good men and women. As Zuma fights for his political life following the 2017 Gupta emails leak, this cabal – the president’s keepers – ensures that after years of ruinous rule, he remains in power and out of prison. But is Zuma the puppet master, or their puppet? Journey with Pauw as he explores the shadow mafia state. From KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape to the corridors of power in Pretoria and Johannesburg – and even to clandestine meetings in Russia. It’s a trail of lies and spies, cronies, cash and kingmakers as Pauw prises open the web of deceit that surrounds the fourth president of the democratic era. ‘An amazing piece of work, stuffed with anecdote and evidence. It will light fires all through the state and the ANC.’ (Peter Bruce) ‘This is dynamite. Dynamite that will shake the foundations of the halls of power.’ (Max du Preez)

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When we say we want to be safe, what do we mean? Is the state capable of achieving this for us? These are important questions for anyone envisioning and building a future anywhere, but especially in South Africa. This book explores contemporary South African society through the lens of law and order, and with the goal of understanding what reform must look like going forward, in a way that is accessible to ordinary citizens who need this most.

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Qaanitah Hunter takes us into the heart of Cyril Ramaphosa’s rise to the ANC presidency, and the political balancing act he has had to maintain as president. Hunter shares fresh insights into Jacob Zuma’s removal as president and Ramaphosa’s ascendency. She takes us behind the scenes, and details Ramaphosa’s plans for South Africa, and his battles. This book seeks to contextualise what the current political climate could mean for both the ANC and the future of South Africa.

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In July 2021, with Jacob Zuma's imprisonment, dramatic and violent scenes of unrest and looting unfolded in KZN and Gauteng. More than 360 people lost their lives, and the damage exceeded R50 billion. Piecing together the full story, journalists Qaanitah Hunter, Jeff Wicks and Kaveel Singh sifted through hundreds of pages of leaked documents and intelligence briefs. Eight Days in July is a riveting first-hand account of what really happened, reported from the epicentre of the chaos.

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About 50km outside of Cape Town lies the beautiful town of Stellenbosch, nestled against vineyards and blue mountains that stretch to the sky. Here reside some of South Africa’s wealthiest individuals: all male, all Afrikaans – and all stinking rich. Johann Rupert, Jannie Mouton, Markus Jooste and Christo Weise, to name a few. Julius Malema refers to them scathingly as ‘The Stellenbosch Mafia’, the very worst example of white monopoly capital. But who really are these mega-wealthy individuals, and what influence do they exert not only on Stellenbosch but more broadly on South African society? Author Pieter du Toit begins by exploring the roots of Stellenbosch, one of the wealthiest towns in South Africa and arguably the cradle of Afrikanerdom. This is the birthplace of apartheid leaders, intellectuals, newspaper empires and more. He then closely examines this ‘club’ of billionaires. Who are they and, crucially, how are they connected? What network of boardroom membership, alliances and family connections exist? Who are the ‘old guard’ and who are the ‘inkommers’, and what about the youngsters desperate to make their mark? He looks at the collapse of Steinhoff: what went wrong, and whether there are other companies at risk of a similar fate. He examines the control these men have over cultural life, including pulling the strings in South Africa rugby.

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In September 1985 a group of white South African business leaders travelled to a game lodge in Zambia to meet with the exiled ANC leadership under Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki. The group wanted to establish for themselves who and what the ANC was, and they were led by Gavin Relly, executive chairperson of Anglo American. The Zambian visit set in motion a coordinated and well-resourced plan by big business to influence political change in South Africa. After the ANC was unbanned, their goal was to ensure the party did not turn the country into a last outpost of socialism. In The ANC Billionaires top-selling author Pieter du Toit investigates whether secret deals were struck between capital and the liberation movement to ensure the status quo remains in terms of economic policy. He also shows how the ANC was completely unprepared to navigate the intersection between business and politics. The book draws on first-hand accounts by major role players about the contentious relationship between capital and the ANC before, during and after the country’s transition to democracy. It also sheds light on the millionaires and billionaires who have benefited from their relationship to the party, and with business. After 1994, a cadre of politically connected businessmen, such as Tokyo Sexwale, Cyril Ramaphosa, Saki Macozoma and Patrice Motsepe, emerged who had access to preferential empowerment deals brokered by companies like Anglo American – all became very wealthy. The one thing these individuals have in common is the ANC - the party of government and patronage.

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PRAVIN GORDHAN has been at the centre of many of the political storms that have torn through South Africa's political landscape. He has been investigated by the Hawks, fired as finance minister, accused of running a 'rogue unit' at SARS and come up against the public protector, to name a few. Seasoned journalists Jonathan Ancer and Chris Whitfield take a magnifying glass to someone at the centre of this tumultuous period to try to understand the man behind the public image. They go back to Durban in 1949, when Gordhan was born, tracing the significant events and influences that shaped his life and prompted him to become involved in politics as a pharmacy student. The authors interview former fellow activists to build a picture of the role Gordhan played in the struggle, including his detention and torture. It was during this time that he worked closely with Jacob Zuma, the man who would become president and Gordhan's nemesis and, on the back of a bogus intelligence report, fire him as finance minister. The book examines why President Cyril Ramaphosa's right-hand man has been dragged into major controversies and made enemies such as public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, Julius Malema and many of those associated with corruption. Joining the Dots is an in-depth, insightful, gripping and satisfying read about a man who found the courage to stand up to the dark forces of state capture.

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'When I joined the struggle as a 13-year-old boy in Soweto, I would never have imagined that one day I would blow the whistle on a special kind of corruption that was destroying the party and the values I had been fighting for all my life.' In 2010, government spokesperson Themba Maseko was called to the Gupta family’s Saxonwold compound and asked by Ajay Gupta to divert the government’s entire advertising budget to the family’s media company. When Maseko refused to do so, he was removed from his position and forced to leave the public service. The life of this once-proud civil servant would never be the same again. Maseko, whose activism was forged in the Soweto uprising of 1976, is a product of the struggle, and has always been unfailingly loyal to the principles of the ANC. In 2016, when the party called on members with evidence of wrongdoing by the Guptas to step forward, Maseko was the only one to do so. For this courageous act of whistleblowing, he was ostracised, slandered and even threatened. As a former senior state official, with a distinguished record of public service, Maseko also offers a rare insider's view of the presidencies of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma and of the inner workings of government. Compelling and revelatory, For My Country shows what it takes to stand up for one's principles and defy the most powerful man in the country.

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Most South Africans have strong views on our past and present, often based on how we have been personally affected by history, and an understanding of the challenges that face us as a country. But how well-examined and solid are these positions? Have your views been properly thought through? Are you correctly informed? Do you even have the facts straight? Rattling the Cage takes the reader on an informed tour of the South African reality: from the highs and lows, the successes and failures, FW de Klerk’s gaffes to Fees Must Fall, the Oscar Pistorius trial, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, triple BEE, global warming, the Covid-19 pandemic, gay rights in Africa, and veganism. Among the questions Meersman asks are: Do South Africans still believe in their Constitution and democracy? Why do so many young South Africans say Nelson Mandela was a sell-out and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a dismal failure? Is outlawing hate speech and criminalising racist behaviour really a good idea? Why do communities still burn down their schools? How did the Marikana massacre happen in the democratic era? Why are African immigrants increasingly unwelcome in South Africa? Can our media be trusted to tell us the truth? And how do we embrace climate change? History, big-picture philosophy, grassroots journalism and a novelist’s eye – animated by a genuine sense of moral indignation at the current state of the nation – come together in these essays to provide critical perspectives on and insights into South Africa’s recent past and current political, economic and social undercurrents. No matter what your views are, you are sure to find your understanding of the country deepened, challenged and sometimes changed.

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This is a wide-ranging and trenchant critical account of South Africa since 1994, focusing particularly upon the follies and failures of the ANC government over the past 25 years. It anatomises an acute social, economic and political crisis, and argues that a series of events – including HIV/AIDS denialism, the Marikana shootings, the Nkandla funding scandal, mass student protests, the Esidimeni health tragedy, systemic corruption and state capture – are rooted in policy choices made by the ANC during negotiations and in power. This contemporary history is presented within a much wider arc. The author outlines the history of South Africa since the mid-17th century, discussing slavery, colonial rule and dispossession, the mineral revolution, the development of industrial capitalism, and apartheid. He also reviews the history of the ANC since 1912, emphasising continuities in the class character of the movement, and the extent to which its political objectives were always compatible with the capitalist order. This meant that the important democratic rights enshrined in the 1996 constitution left untouched the capitalist economic architecture. The contemporary analysis and the historical background are located within an overview and theoretical analysis of the concept of race and the history, ideologies and practices of racism and racialism. The author assesses the relation of racism to capitalism as a global phenomenon, and the specific forms of systemic racism that developed in South Africa under colonial rule and subsequently codified in apartheid. A separate chapter discusses the National Question. The author mounts a sustained critique of ‘Africanist majoritarian chauvinism’, making a significant and combative contribution to the prevailing discourse on race, identity and post-apartheid dynamics.

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How to Steal a Country describes the vertiginous decline in political leadership in South Africa from Mandela to Zuma and its terrible consequences. Robin Renwick’s account reads in parts like a novel – a crime novel – for Sherlock Holmes old adversary, Professor Moriarty, the erstwhile Napoleon of Crime, would have been impressed by the ingenuity, audacity and sheer scale of the looting of the public purse, let alone the impunity with which it has been accomplished. Based on Renwick’s personal experiences of the main protagonists, it describes the extraordinary influence achieved by the Gupta family for those seeking to do business with state-owned enterprises in South Africa, and the massive amounts earned by Gupta related companies from their associations with them. The ensuing scandals have engulfed Bell Pottinger, KPMG, McKinsey and other multinationals. The primary responsibility for this looting of the state however, rests squarely with President Zuma and key members of his government. But South Africa has succeeded in establishing a genuinely non-racial society full of determined and enterprising people, offering genuine hope for the future. These include independent journalists, black and white, who refuse to be silenced, and the judges, who have acted with courage and independence. The book concludes that change will come, either by the ruling party reverting to the values of Mandela and Archbishop Tutu, or by the reckoning it otherwise will face one day.

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Our Poisoned Land is Jacques Pauw's sequel to the bestselling The President's Keepers. A publishing phenomenon and South Africa's fastest-selling book ever, The President's Keepers fearlessly exposed former president Jacob Zuma's darkest secrets. Our Poisoned Land is as riveting and explosive as its predecessor. When he took office in 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed new heads for law-enforcement agencies and formed the Investigating Directorate within the National Prosecuting Authority to bring fraudsters and looters to book. Yet, five years on, crime has spiked, most of the looters still walk free and the law-enforcement agencies are in shambles. What went wrong? Once again, Jacques Pauw delves deep to find answers. Among his shocking findings are top police officers that had a hand in state capture still ensconced in the Hawks and police Crime Intelligence; a cabal of state-capture prosecutors within the NPA; a police minister cavorting with a convicted drug smuggler; and South Africa’s “own Guptas” living in the lap of luxury after the case against them “disappeared”. In his compelling narrative style, Pauw picks up where he left off in The President's Keepers to expose the shadows, deceit and debauchery of Zuma's cronies. On The President's Keepers: “The book that could change South Africa.” – The Washington Post. “Meticulously documented . . .” – Mail & Guardian. “A triumph of investigative reporting.” – The Conversation

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The Zondo Commission of Inquiry was one of the most important political developments in modern South African history. The commission sat for years, hearing the evidence of 300 witnesses and gathering a vast quantity of documents. The result is a damning and sometimes searing account of state take over: how the Gupta family found willing acolytes in the state, and set about systematically looting the country and destroying institutions of democracy. There is little doubt that understanding South Africa’s political history, its current malaise and its political future requires an understanding of the commission’s work. The commission’s final findings, however, run to over 5 000 pages. Reading all of this material is a daunting and overwhelming task for even the most dedicated citizen. Zondo at your Fingertips solves this problem. In straightforward and accessible language, author Paul Holden sets out the work of the commission, its findings and recommendations. Holden is well placed to do so: he gave evidence before the Zondo Commission over multiple days, tracing the ways in which the Gupta family captured and looted. Zondo at your Fingertips summarises concisely each volume of the commission’s final findings, and communicates the commission’s sometimes complex legal discussions clearly and candidly. But Holden does not just summarise: he also evaluates the commission’s findings, highlighting the good, the bad and the ugly of it’s work. In so doing, he points to stones left unturned, leads that must be followed and warnings to heed.

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‘By the early evening, the irresolute and weakened Ramaphosa slate left no one unscathed – not Mabuyane, not Lamola, not the Mkhize camp. The Ramaphosa caucus was tarnished by infighting. The Mkhize camp was initially none the wiser as to whether Mashatile, who saw an opportunity to mop up votes in the Ramaphosa camp, would contest the position on its list. The situation left a power vacuum in its wake. The bigger picture remained unresolved. There was no obvious successor to David Mabuza. ’For the first time in South African literature comes not just an insider book, but from someone who had ringside seats as political power changed hands at the all-important ANC NASREC 2022 where Cyril Ramaphosa was either going to consolidate his power or be ejected. Van Heerden’s book is not mere reportage, he does not simply give us the numbers, the money, the delegates, the switching, the promises and the backstabbing, but importantly, Oscar himself is part of the story, and he has to personally contend with the modern ANC. Ramaphosa’s fortunes have been in decline since he first came to power, having to deal with the RET group, COVID, the July 2021 civil unrest, and the brutal energy crisis. Over each crisis he has had to stand by his party’s glorious history and against its rapid decline into inner-party feuds, corruption and bureaucratic ineptitude. What legacy then has Ramaphosa left? How has he contended with a country coming apart at the seams? Will 2024 be the end of his presidency, and will the party be over for the ANC? Fast-paced and unputdownable, Is the Party Over? is a must read anytime, but in 2024, if you want to know what the politicians are up to in the backrooms, you must read this book!

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