BOOK REVIEW: The Zuma Effect Asks Us To Look In The Mirror

If you grew up in the township, as I did, your first lesson in life was learning to appreciate the strange contradictions surrounding you. Just a few streets from my home, a looming billboard advertised an alcohol brand named "Ship Sherry" with the tagline, "A friend that will never let you down." Yet right below that billboard were broken families and children who had been deeply let down by those who believed the sales pitch.

To the right of our home towards Njoli Square, the economic heartbeat of our community, stood another billboard. This one was for a furniture store, featuring an elderly balding white man sitting on a couch with the words, "You’ve got an uncle in the furniture business: Joshua Doore." This was deeply confusing to me as a young boy. If my mother or a neighbour missed a single payment, a truck would roll up and ruthlessly repossess everything that "Uncle" Joshua Doore had supposedly loaned us.

As a child, I turned these contradictions into a funny little game, constantly comparing what was marketed to me against the harsh reality of the world. I would contrast the glossy catalogues of the clothing store "Sales House" with the actual fashion choices and worn-out clothes of the adults living on my street. Over time, this game evolved into a unique ability to analyse anything presented before me.

Today, I use a specific set of tests to determine the accuracy and relevance of any document, manuscript, or piece of historical information.

I imagine you have your own tests to gauge the historical reliability of the books on your desk. For me, I approach texts with the same critical lens I would use for the works of the major Greek philosophers. I think of Socrates on morality and justice; Plato on the execution of justice and the ideal state; and Aristotle on ethics, literature, logic, and governance. I must also admit that I am deeply fascinated by Epicurus, who explored happiness, friendship, freedom from fear, and the pursuit of tranquillity, as well as Diogenes, who famously challenged social conventions on wealth, hypocrisy, and political authority through the cynic school of thought.

These ancient thinkers gave us history and perspective on civilization. Yet the book currently on my desk, The Zuma Effect -- much like the historical commentaries written a century before Christ -- exposes timeless human flaws: greed, unchecked political ambition, and the decline of basic morality. This work has passed all of my rigorous tests.

To look at our modern landscape, former President Jacob Zuma remains a phenomenal figure. It would be a mistake to overlook his presidency and his subsequent influence on what can only be described as a brainless elite. Michael Jackson once famously sang about the "Man in the Mirror."

When we look at how leaders like Zuma are voted into power, perhaps it is time we look inward. We need to take a critical, unforgiving view of our leadership choices and see how they directly relate to our current living conditions.

This book implores us to interrogate those choices and to be brutally honest with ourselves as a people. It is an extremely necessary piece of literature, and its message is urgent. It challenges stereotypes and forces us to do our own thinking; a vital job that we have lazily handed over to politicians for far too long.

Thank you, kind Sirs, for this long-awaited work of literature. This book doesn’t belong on the bookshelves, but on our laps, on coffee shops, buses and taxis while commuting; challenging us and stimulating conversation about the destiny of our beautiful nation.

Receive my highest salutation from one patriot to another.