The Misery Merchants is a hard-hitting exposé of G4S, the company running one of South Africa’s private prisons in Mangaung. Hopkins presents up-close encounters with the gangs who run the prisons, and a unique insight into the minds of the men on the torture squad, who doused inmates with water before electrocuting them, and in some cases, strapped down ‘unruly’ prisoners and forced anti-psychotic medicines into their systems.

In the Free State of Ace Magashule, both the gangs and the prison bosses competed to run Mangaung Prison, one of South Africa’s few private prisons. Torture and forced medication were the order of the day. Hopkins, a seasoned journalist, has interviewed over 100 prisoners and many prison warders in order to understand what makes this prison so dysfunctional. Her insights and revelations will astonish you.

This book follows several characters who were held in or worked at the prison. L. is a prison gang general and an advocate for prisoners’ rights. He smuggled information on assaults, injections and corruption out of the prison for the author. Dan is a prison guard and a shop steward for the union. He led the workforce during two strikes and paid for it with his job and union membership. Setlai is a Department of Correctional Services official who blew the whistle on the abuse at Mangaung Prison in 2009. His reports were ignored and he was punished for speaking out. He was criminally charged and moved to another DCS post. Shakes is a member of the Emergency Security Team (EST) also known as the Ninjas. He engaged in torture and abuse but now feels ‘what we did was wrong’.

G4S is the largest security company in the world, and has its claws deep in SA’s government and private companies. Drive down any street and you’ll find a G4S van collecting or delivering money.

David loved his big brother Jake. When Jake left to join the military, David looked forward to the day that his brother would return home. One day, 2 military officers came to their house to tell his family that Jake had been killed in an explosion in the war zone. David was very sad. His grandmother, best friend, Malik, Mr. Louis, and the kids of the neighborhood, heard the news, and wanted to help David get through it all. This book is in essence of the ministry of Little Hometown Soldiers, a non profit children's organization of kids 5-12 years, that reach out to kids whose parents are away at war. These children feel very honored to learn at an early age the preciousness in association with sharing. They also do shows for Veteran's Hospitals and Veteran's Nursing Homes in appreciation for veterans that have put themselves in harm's way to help maintain a strong, and safe environment for them to grow.