Ragged glory : the rainbow nation in black and white

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Title:

Author:

Hartley, Ray (Newspaper editor), author.

ISBN:

9781868425563

Personal Author:

Hartley, Ray (Newspaper editor), author.

Physical Description:

xiii, 297 pages ; 23 cm

Contents:

Part one: From liberation to governance -- Part two: The changing of the guard -- Part three: The tipping point -- Part four: Rise of the rogues -- A long and winding road.

Abstract:

"South Africa will have been a free nation for 20 years in 2014. This is the story of how three men - Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma - tried to shape its destiny in very different ways. Mandela helped usher in a new democracy with the formulation of one of the best constitutions in the world. But his leadership was not without its flaws as, under his watch, the first seeds of corruption were sown by the predatory elite. Mbeki brought a dark, complicated personality to the presidency and abandoned Mandela's consultative approach for a more confrontational one. His focus on building South Africa's economy was his greatest success but his failure to seriously address the AIDS epidemic in South Africa was an embarrassment and a tragedy. Jacob Zuma's presidency saw the rise of a chauvenistic elite which questioned the very foundations of the new South Africa and its constitution. Under him, a new, arrogant, security elite began to roll back the human rights culture"--Publisher.

Personal Subject:

Mandela, Nelson, 1918-2013.

Corporate Subject:

African National Congress.

Subject Term:

Political parties -- South Africa.

Democracy -- South Africa.

Post-apartheid era -- South Africa.

Social change -- South Africa.

Geographic Term:

South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-

South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025797388	320.968 H332R 2014	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

On a cold Highveld morning in May 1994, Nelson Mandela took the oath of office to become South Africas first democratically elected president. A new era had begun. The promise of those heady days of political transition soon gave way to a more sober view on the magnitude of the challenges facing the new government. Under Mandela and his successor, Thabo Mbeki, the country grappled with the restructuring of the state, massive inequality and poverty, rising crime, battles over economic policy, the arms deal, the HIV/AIDS crisis, the BEE era, the cancer of political corruption and the rise of a new and predatory political elite. With the removal of Mbeki, followed by the interregnum of Kgalema Motlanthe, the stage was set for the coming to power of the controversial Jacob Zuma. These are all key threads in Ray Hartleys rich and complex narrative history of the democratic era. As a leading political journalist and newspaper editor, Hartley had the best seat in the house for the unfolding drama of the new South Africa, as well as privileged access to many key players, including Nelson Mandela himself. Admirably concise but rich in detail, drawing on a wide spectrum of interviews, documents and experiences, this book offers a bracingly critical look back at the achievements and the failures of two turbulent decades, during which South Africa took its place at the table of free nations but lost something of its moral authority.