Zuma : A Biography

by Gordin, Jeremy

• ISBN13: 9781868422630
• ISBN10: 1868422631
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-15
• Publisher: Intl Pub Marketing

Summary

'œWhy should anyone write about me? I'm not an important person. I'm not a rich businessman. I'm not from a politically famous or royal family.'-- Jacob Zuma to biographer Jeremy Gordin But of course Zuma has been at the epicenter of South African politics, and his life has spilt almost daily onto the pages of South Africa's newspapers. Often embattled, always controversial, Zuma rose to take control of the ANC in Polokwane last year, unseating President Thabo Mbeki. Now, he appears destined to become the next president of South Africa. In this unauthorized biography, veteran journalist Jeremy Gordin takes the reader beyond the daily and weekly reporting to capture something of the man: his ambitions; the political rollercoaster he has been on; his travails in his quest to bethe next president of South Africa. In addition, award-winning writer Gordin covers Zuma's early life as a herd boy, his adult life as a member of the ANC, his incarceration on Robben Island, his time in exile, and the transitional years of the early 1990s. But the main focus remains on the last seven or eight years ' Zuma's alleged corruption in the Arms Deal, his trial for rape, and his rise to power. This book promises to be immensely readable and, like its subject, highly controversial.

Author Biography

Jeremy Gordin, associate editor of The Sunday Independent, was born in Pretoria in 1952 and educated at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Unisa, A journalist since 1976, he has worked on many newspapers and magazines and has been business editor of the Financial Mail, editor of Playboy (SA), and managing editor of Business Report. From 1985-88 he was managing director of the Exclusive Books group. Gordin has written three volumes of poetry and co-authored two non-fiction works. Among his prizes for poetry and journalism was the 2007 Mondi Shanduka Journalist of the Year, awarded earlier this year. He is married to Deborah Blake; they have two children, Jake and Nina.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements	p. ix
1942-1959 Zulu boy	p. 1
1960-1963 Working-class warrior	p. 10
1963-1973 The Island	p. 16
1974-1990 Silence, exile and cunning	p. 24
1990-1994 The talking times	p. 44
1993-2003 The greasy levers of power	p. 62
1999-2004 Bring us our machine guns	p. 75
2003-2004 Hefer or: Hamlet without the prince	p. 86
2004-2005 Shaik goes down	p. 100
2005 Annus miserabilis	p. 113
November 2005 Interlude in Zuma-land	p. 132
2006 Rape trial	p. 144
2006 Days of dirty laundry	p. 169
2006-2007 The Floating Opera	p. 185
2007 Siyaya Limpompo! (We are going to Limpopo!)	p. 210
2007-2008 The Zuma tsunami	p. 234
2008 Let's kill all the lawyers	p. 254
September 2008 Let's fire Mbeki instead	p. 275
1942-2008 JZ	p. 291
Notes And Sources	p. 309
Index	p. 315
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