Financial Times world news editor Russell (Big Men, Little People:
The Leaders Who Defined Africa, 2000, etc.) offers a cogent study
of the political perils ensnaring South Africa since the fall of
apartheid.The author admits that he, like many other interested
observers, was "seduced by the outward signs of change" when the
serene reign of moral leader Nelson Mandela was followed by
technocrat Thabo Mbeki in 1999. At this time, a black middle class
seemed to be emerging. However, by 2008 Mbeki had lost touch with
the people and was ousted by his party, the African National
Congress (ANC), paving the way for the populist insurgency of the
largely uneducated, scandal-ridden "Big Man" Jacob Zuma. (The
book's title is taken from Zuma's "signature anthem.") Having
observed the charismatic Zuma in action, Russell compares him to "a
revivalist preacher or the leader of a cult." The author tracks the
numerous political pitfalls since Mandela's "sainthood," covering
much of the same territory as South African journalist Mark
Gevisser's upcoming biography of Thabo Mbeki, A Legacy of
Liberation. Russell also considers some of the most pressing issues
that the post-liberation country faces: the incendiary problem of
race relations still plaguing whites and blacks, exacerbated by the
huge disparity in wealth; internal rifts within the ANC, which had
to adapt from a liberation movement to a modern political party;
the culture of violence and failure of law enforcement; the urgent
need for land-ownership reform; and the necessity of redressing
Mbeki's disastrous denial of the AIDS epidemic. Casting their
shadow over South Africa are numerous other sub-Saharan liberation
movements that have morphed into authoritarianism, corruption and
ethnic strife, such as in Angola and Zimbabwe. Russell offers a
sobering look at how South Africa must "buck [this] depressing
trend."An important dispatch from a journalist in the trenches.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Award-winning journalist Alec Russell was in South Africa to
witness the fall of apartheid and the remarkable reconciliation of
Nelson Mandela's rule; and returned in 2007-2008 to see Mandela's
successor, Thabo Mbeki, fritter away the country's reputation.
South Africa is now perched on a precipice, as it prepares to elect
Jacob Zuma as president--signaling a potential slide back to the
bad old days of post-colonial African leadership, and disaster for
a country that was once the beacon of the continent.
Drawing on his long relationships with all the key senior
figures including Mandela, Mbeki, Desmond Tutu, and Zuma, and a
host of South Africans he has known over the years--including
former activists turned billionaires and reactionary Boers--Alec
Russell's "Bring Me My Machine Gun" is a beautifully told and
expertly researched account of South Africa's great tragedy: the
tragedy of hope unfulfilled.
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