Pillay speaks here for the first time, of the days of exile and working with Oliver Tambo; of Operation Vula; the return home; and most tellingly of his time at SARS and the insidious campaign against him and others in the top layers of what once was a world-class tax institution. The story pulls back the curtains on a party and state which once held the moral high ground, but was debased.
The book reminds South Africans about the Constitutional values which are pillars against which human rights and constitutional obligations lean and how they guide deeper understanding of constitutional principles.
The book serves to help the public to understand the Constitution and its imperatives better – to understand what went wrong in the past 27 years (actions and omissions) in relation to the upholding of constitutional values – and to understand what ought to have been done! And how that ought to have been done.
It identifies the conduct that delayed and delays performance of constitutional obligations especially owing to lack of diligence and disregard for constitutional values and principles by those occupying public office.
It reminds all citizens and office bearers that the Constitution is not a document of convenience. And exposes how those occupying public office including public servants fail to: use and abide by the law; and uphold the Constitution to ensure the realisation of human rights and perform constitutional obligations.
Parliament, provincial legislatures, municipal councils, the Executive, boards, members of commissions, accounting officers, managers and employees are recounted what they out to have done and how they ought to have conducted themselves.
Court judgments, investigation reports and reports of commissions of enquiry are used to evince and expose how constitutional values were disregarded and weakened.
The book assesses and encourages a high standard of ethics, professionalism, integrity, good governance and constitutionalism, and diligence in the performance of constitutional obligations.
It further suggests interventions and recommendations inter-alia the restructuring of the constitutional and legislative framework of certain constitutional bodies and statutory bodies such as Chapter 9 institutions and PANSALB towards a diligent and speedy realisation of human rights and service delivery, and thus uphold constitutional values.
South Africa was born in war, has been cursed by crises and ruptures, and today stands on a precipice once again. This book explores the country's tumultuous journey from the Second Anglo-Boer War to 2021. Drawing on diaries, letters, oral testimony and diplomatic reports, Thula Simpson follows the South African people through the battles, elections, repression, resistance, strikes, insurrections, massacres, crashes and epidemics that have shaped the nation.
Tracking South Africa's path from colony to Union and from apartheid to democracy, Simpson documents the influence of key figures including Jan Smuts, Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, P.W. Botha, Thabo Mbeki and Cyril Ramaphosa. He offers detailed accounts of watershed events like the 1922 Rand Revolt, the Defiance Campaign, Sharpeville, the Soweto uprising and the Marikana massacre. He sheds light on the roles of Gandhi, Churchill, Castro and Thatcher, and explores the impact of the World Wars, the armed struggle and the Border War. Simpson's history charts the post-apartheid transition and the phases of ANC rule, from Rainbow Nation to transformation; state capture to 'New Dawn'. Along the way, it reveals the divisions and solidarities of sport; the nation's economic travails; and painful pandemics, from the Spanish flu to AIDS and Covid-19.
The ninth of eleven children born to political activists Ebrahim and Fatima Asvat, Amina Cachalia's political activism and championing of women's rights was almost a preordained path with her father's connection with Mahatma Gandhi, a family tradition that started with her father's explanation of racial discrimination. When hope and history rhyme explores Amina's remarkable life from her early childhood to the women's march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 9 August 1956, to her banning, in 1962, for 15 years, and the trials and tribulations when her husband, Yusuf, was placed under house arrest for 25 years. The title includes details of Amina's close relationship with Nelson Mandela, from their first meeting to their poignant encounters after his release from prison in 1990.
The book demonstrates how South Africa possesses a veritable cornucopia of resources, from minerals to people. But it is on the latter aspect that Mr Abrahams focuses. He has an appreciation of both the challenges faced by our diverse population and the potential, waiting still to be unlocked for it to achieve true 'rainbow' status.
This historic and educational book: For Their Triumphs and for Their Tears Women in Apartheid South Africa , it explains how the oppression and exploitation of the majority of South African women--as women, as workers and above all as black people--is an integral part of the apartheid system.
Flying with Pride tells the tale of the birth and universal adoption of the new South African national flag. This tale, told by author and journalist Denis Beckett, holds together a collection of art works, artifacts and photographs from throughout South Africa. These images tell, in their own powerful way, of how the new flag has been woven into the very fabric of South African society. And, as Flying with Pride shows, this has been done in more ways than with any other flag in the world!
