A Rumour of Spring. South Africa after 20 Years of Democracy

Title: A Rumour of Spring
Subtitle: South Africa after 20 years of Democracy
Author: Max du Preez
Imprint: Zebra Press
Publisher: Random House Struik
Cape Town, South Africa 2013
ISBN 9781770225435 / ISBN 978-1-77022-543-5
Softcover, 15x23 cm, 294 pages

Description:

In A Rumour of Spring, Max du Preez investigates and analyses the progress and lack of progress the country has made during these twenty years. He looks at the legacies of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki in an attempt to understand how we got here, and examines Jacob Zuma’s presidency to better understand where we are. In the context of blatant corruption, populism and tragedies such as the Marikana massacre, the book considers the current state of the ruling party and the opposition, and dissects the big issues currently afflicting our society, including the state of education, land reform, crime and policing, the judiciary, nationality and race. And then, with images of the Arab Spring fresh in our collective memory, it dares to look to the future and what it may hold. An honest and balanced account, A Rumour of Spring tackles the questions asked by ordinary South Africans every day: How are we really doing? What is really going on in our country? How should we understand what is happening here? And will it get any better?

Content: A Rumour of Spring. South Africa after 20 Years of Democracy

Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Multiply wounded, multiply traumatised
The Mandela factor
A silver lining
What did we expect?
A leopard and its spots
Triple challenges, triple failures
Jacob the survivor
THE BIG ISSUES
An undeclared war on our own children
The land shall be shared
Crime and policing
Fiat justitia
The 'national question'
WHAT LIES AHEAD?
A long winter, or an early spring?
Bibliography
Index