WHAT HAPPENS ON TOUR STAYS ON TOUR. OR DOES IT? A PEEP INTO THE LIFE OF A BRAVE OR FOOLISH YOUNG MAN NOTHING LEFT TO STEAL, JAILED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH BY MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA, PENGUIN BOOKS. 2014. 1) Mzilikazi wa Afrika ( not his given name by his parents), is a senior investigative journalist with the Sunday Times. His given name is Leonard Ndzhukula. His parents were Simon and Deyiye Ndzhukula. His mother is a descendant of the great Nxumalo Royal family in Gaza province in Mozambique and eBush, Bushbuckridge. He grew up in what is today known as the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Mpumalanga= sort of, the place of the rising sun. 2) This book is what some people might call a tell all publication. I admire his courage but I am uncertain whether it is wise. Maybe let me say first what the book says and then offer a commentary. 3) The book is not a biography. It is a memoir. A memoir gives the writer a lot of license. In many cases broad brushing and not presented in any academic style. Some of the stories are difficult to verify, because in some instances, the characters are dead. But be that as it may, one has to read this book based on the intergrity of the author. I have no doubt that Mzi is pouring out his heart responsibly. A bit of a contradiction on my part. See (2) above. 3) the book is simple. It tells Mzis story from childhood, ANC/MKunderground roles, his parents parting of ways, his schooling days, his work as an investigative journalist with African Eye News Service (AENS) and his current role as a senior investigate journalist for the Sunday Times. 4) At the centre of this book is the emotional expression of a young man feeling that the revolution has been betrayed. Who betrayed the revolution? In his view, ANC people who steal and loot public resources and kill people who try and expose these shenanigans. He is still very much pained by his unlawful arrest and humiliation for no reason at all. You can feel his pain as you read through his ordeal. So many people, according to the book got hurt in that arrest process, including the fellow who was supposed to be his chief interrogator, who has since been exiled from Mpumalanga to Gauteng. He says that he cannot work it out as to how his comrade and friend, a former VIP protector to Premier Phosa and a former MK soldier died. Officially, he committed suicide, but Mzi does not buy that story. But he is dead and cannot speak for himself. He enumerates many killings in Mpumalanga that we know about but have seemed far away at the provinces. 5) He thinks the final straw was when he exposed the police HQ rental issues. Then he got arrested in a most embarrassing and humiliating manner, in front of the SANEF nogal!! Later he says that he smoked the peace pipe with the former police commissioner: apologies and sorries my bra everywhere. And tears too. Over dinner. They most certainly smoked something together. Will their peace last? I doubt it. 6) Just to give you a sense of the book. The rest one has to read the book. He says, and I quote him in extenso, writing a memoir is like ascending a theatre stage naked... it opens old wounds, exposes the skeletons in your cupboard and rubs salt into fresh sores. Ouch! I (grew up being) called names, labelled a thief, stupid and lazy. I was often abused physically and mentally. There have been several times in my life when I have died: shot to death with a gun loaded with lies and left to be buried under a heap of malicious propaganda. Anger mangement required here. And then he says: My obituary was written by someone with an evil and twisted mind and embellished with voluminous smear campaigns. Ja neh... And at the end of the book he says: If one was to name and shame some of the ANC members who have been caught on the wrong side of the law but still hold positions of power, one could write a book revealing an intricate web of lies and corruption.... Its a shame that most of our countrymen and women have forgotten the moral principles: THINGS FALL APART WHEN WE TURN A BLIND EYE TO REALITY, BLINDED BY LOYALTY AND PATRONAGE, AND WE LET OUR COUNTRY DOWN (my emphasis). Big issues here. But we should also write about the good comrades as well to get the balance right. 7) There are a few problematic issues about the book. Firstly) this thing of mentioning peoples names left right and centre, without regard to their privacy will cause Mzi lots of problems. In particular, as a jourmanist, do you name people who gave you information in confidence. Thats why Ranjeni is so upset and threatening all kinds of action. I suggest you look up Prof Anton Harbers article about the sacred confidentiality between journalist and source. The way he handles the Bulelani Ngcuka issue and the sources is probably not wise. I may be far off the mark but if it were me, I would have handled this differently, Secondly) His explanation about how he changed his name from Leonard to Mzi is not totally convincing. It leaves a kind of ms van Damme feeling. Its not that easy to change your surname from Ndzhukula to wa Afrika. Something is fishy there. But I wont judge him because of that, he is an African. Thirdly and finally) I dont know what has happened in the publishing industry. There is no INDEX and BIBLIOGRAPHY at the end of the book. I am finding this to be a growing trend and I hate it. A book must have an index and bibliography. For this, I blame Penguin Books. No people. 8) This book is a must to read. Thanks baMzilikazi wa Afrika. Uzaba strongo bhuti wa mina. Regards baTito 11 August 2014 Khokhotiva Country Estate Makgoebaskloof TZANEEN
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 20:29:50 +0000
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