Short description
Nelson Mandela's inauguration as president of South Africa in 1994 seemed to usher in an age of peaceful, rational change. This book explains how this was not to be. It reveals how Thabo Mbeki and those around him brought South Africa close to 'failed state' status - and explores the implications for its future.
Long description
Nelson Mandela's inauguration as president of South Africa in 1994 seemed to usher in an age of peaceful, rational change. But R. W. Johnson's major new book explains how this was not to be. The profound damage of apartheid and the country's new leaders - in exile or prison for much of their adult lives - were a disastrous combination that poisoned everything from big business to education and AIDS policy to relations with Zimbabwe. At the heart of the book lies the figure of Thabo Mbeki, whose presidency led to catastrophic failure on almost every front. In South Africa's Brave New World Johnson reveals how Mbeki and those around him brought South Africa close to 'failed state' status - and explores the implications for its future.
Review
A relentless and pulverising polemic against the ruling African National Congress and virtually all of its leading lights Economist [A] ripping audit of the post-apartheid settlement ... especially good at skewering Mbeki's Africanist rhetoric -- Stephen Robinson Sunday Times Offers glorious detail on the political infighting and Mbeki's vindictive style of government -- Chris McGreal Observer