A Simple Man – Kasrils And The Zuma Enigma
Publish date: 13 November 2017
Issue Number: 751
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: General
A Simple Man – Kasrils And The Zuma Enigma
By Ronnie Kasrils
Jacana. R199
Was Jacob Zuma truly this ‘simple man’ people are making him out to be? A working-class hero (in the most simplistic sense); or someone with ulterior motives, who succumbed to the allure of power? Kasrils’ memoir explores their shared history in exile, and covers his years as Minister of Intelligence, the overthrowing of former President Thabo Mbeki, and his current views on the state of affairs in contemporary South Africa. Kasrils’ initial impression of Zuma, upon meeting during their years of exile in the 1980s, is far removed from the one he now holds; he remembers Zuma as an engaging, pleasant man; 'a well-dressed activist'. In A Simple Man, he attempts to gauge how Zuma’s flaws went unnoticed, and what led to his demise as an immoral, corrupt politician.
