Back Print this page
Legalbrief   |   your legal news hub Thursday 28 March 2024

A Simple Man – Kasrils And The Zuma Enigma

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.