For a long time, Cyril Ramaphosa was the nearly-man of South African politics. He was Nelson Mandela's preferred successor, but the ANC opted for his rival, Thabo Mbeki, as the second post-apartheid president. Ramaphosa had led South Africa's huge mineworkers' union against the apartheid regime and was the key architect of the much-praised 1996 'rainbow' constitution. He later prospered in business on the back of the first big empowerment deals with white-owned enterprises, before returning to politics and the ANC in 2012. His eyes firmly on the prize, Ramaphosa played a long game as President Zuma became mired in scandal. In early 2018, Deputy President Ramaphosa persuaded the party to throw out Zuma and install him in his place. Announcing a 'new dawn', he has captivated the nation, but now faces his greatest challenge: fixing a broken economy, weeding out Zuma's corrupt minions and the legacy of 'state capture' by the Gupta brothers, and delivering on the promise of a better life for the poor. This captivating biography outlines Ramaphosa's extraordinary political and business career. It tells the story of one of the greatest political comebacks of modern times.

This book examines the ways in which political discourses of crisis and ‘newness’ are (re)produced, circulated, naturalised, received and contested in Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. Going beyond the ordinariness of conventional political, human and social science methods, the book offers new and engaging multi-disciplinary approaches that treat discourse and language as important sites to encounter the politics of contested representations of the Zimbabwean crisis in the wake of the 2017 coup. The book centres discourse on new approaches to contestations around the discursive framing of various aspects of the socio-economic and political crisis related to significant political changes in Zimbabwe post-2017. Contributors in this volume, most of whom experienced the complex transition first-hand, examine some of the ways in which language functions as a socio-cultural and political mechanism for creating imaginaries, circulating, defending and contesting conceptions, visions, perceptions and knowledges of the post-Mugabe turn in the Zimbabwean crisis and its management by the "New Dispensation". This book will be of interest to scholars of African studies, postcolonial studies, language/discourse studies, African politics and culture.

If South Africa were a cat, it would be rapidly running out of its nine lives. In 2024, voters sent a clear signal to the fractured ANC that they had run out of patience. It lost its majority and was forced to enter a difficult multi-party coalition. Broadcaster, author and public speaker Bruce Whitfield consistently looks for opportunity in times of uncertainty. The author of the 2020 bestseller The Upside of Down, and Genius (2022), now brings you The One Thing, which draws on his unparalleled access to a network of business leaders, founders and deep thinkers. Bruce challenged his contributors to identify ‘One Thing’ that, if they were president for half an hour, they would order to be implemented so it could have a catalytic effect throughout the economy. You will hear from a host of people, including: Sean Summers, tasked with turning around Pick n Pay, on the first step he would take to turn around the country; Mining CEO Mike Teke on what he learned playing football on the fields of KwaThema, and how he would apply that to the country; Wits Chancellor Judy Dlamini on the power of education; and Chair of the Businesswomen’s Association Mandisa Nkwanyana about harnessing the power of women as a catalyst for change. You will also hear from those who inspire us to be more than we think we can be, such as maestro Ralf Schmitt, who took the raw talent of a group of children from Limpopo to the finals of America’s Got Talent, plus a range of money managers, editors, CEOs, academics and founders of some of the country’s most successful startups. Bruce also challenges readers to define their ‘One Thing’ and yes, he offers his own ‘One Thing’, too. Probably the simplest and most achievable action of all, it requires just one behaviourial change.

Political cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro s personal tribute to the great man of our time