Restless nation

Corruption is commonplace in South Africa. The values that underpinned the ANC's liberation ideology appear to be collapsing and a new 'bling' culture, which has infected both politics and business, seems to be taking over in South Africa. William Gumede tackles these and other pressing issues head-on in his new book which brings together his best writing of the past three years. Included are opinion pieces written for overseas publications such as The Guardian, The Independent and The New Statesman, which have never been published in South Africa before. Gumede covers several hot topics, including black economic empowerment, the state of the ANC alliance, poor service delivery and the state of our democracy. His critique is most severe when he discusses the Zuma presidency and the scourge of corruption. According to Gumede there is a choking sense that the current generation in government do not have the ideas or political will to lead us out of this malaise. Only a spring-clean of leadership, ideas and institutions will lift the gloom. A powerful call to action.