Nonfiction
When Nolitha Fakude joined the Woolworths training programme as a young woman in 1990, she was asked about her aspirations for the future. “I want to become a director at Woolworths,” she replied. The black facilitator laughed. Woolworths, he said, didn’t even have a white woman, or for that matter a black man, on its board. Fifteen years later, Fakude joined the Woolworths board as a nonexecutive director. With that and some additional information, such as the Watson family’s history, it gives a thorough account of what was known at that point about the company that, mostly by means of bribery, got R12billion’s worth of state contracts.
book,
(Jonathan Ball) goes wider, looking at the context and history of Bosasa (later renamed African Global Operations), and going inside the company to uncover the cult Watson developed within it to manipulate and control his employees, brainwashing and bullying them into submission — even as he went against his religious precepts by allegedly having an affair with one of his advisers. Basson has talked to a great number of the people involved, and derives fascinating perspectives on this huge scam operation and its front-style relationship with the ANC over the two decades of Bosasa’s existence.
In
(Tafelberg), political journalist Joubert tries to answer the question in his title by asking the “17 key questions” that he feels shed light on the chances of South Africa achieving the bright future it seemed to have 25 years ago, at the dawn of democracy. Among those questions are: “Why do people keep voting for the ANC?”; “What is wrong with the DA?”; “How big is the Ramaphosa factor really?”; “How can the ANC save itself?”; and, of course, “Can Eskom be fixed?” Drawing on information and contacts from all over the political spectrum, Joubert comes to some conclusions and, even if they aren’t definitive, offers his views on how everyone can help to ensure South Africa becomes a better place for all who live in it. (Kwela) is political reporter Qaanitah Hunter’s contribution to the great debate (or is it anxiety?) about whether President Cyril Ramaphosa, having reached the pinnacle of power, can actually deal with the corruption and bad governance that have so weakened and impoverished South Africa over the past decade. She looks in detail at how Ramaphosa fought his way to the presidency of the ANC at Nasrec in 2018, and, leading up to the 2019 elections in which he gained a larger majority for the ANC than his predecessor had been able to, what the delicate balance of power within the ANC’S top leadership says about how much room to manoeuvre Ramaphosa may have.
In
(Tafelberg),
and both formerly of Independent Media, chronicle the demise of the company since it was bought by Iqbal Survé’s Sekunjalo Group. The events depicted are well known, with many column inches over the past six years having been devoted to the ongoing fallout: Paper Tiger brings it all together in narrative form. The choice by the authors to write themselves in the third person is understandable but deprives the book of personal reflections that could’ve added more depth. Nonetheless, a good gift for the journalist in your life — or anyone who cares about media freedom in South Africa.
Youtube star Lesego Tlhabi parlays her hilarious Coconut Kelz persona into a full book’s worth of tongue-in-cheek advice for the aspirational black person (aspiring to be just like a white person, that is) in
(Jonathan Ball). In a whole lot of short, very sharp bites from this “Caucasian woman trapped in a black woman’s body”, Kelz advises on “how to live your best (white) life” in suburbia, including beauty tips, cultural practices (“and other nightmares”), how to be a madam, and how to “retain your Caucasity”, as well as giving a brief overview of South African history. “In short, corruption is what black people do. Corruption derives from the Greek word eruptos, which means black. So it is virtually impossible for corruption ever to be about white people. Also, white people are super-honest and just don’t lie, so there’s that.”