ROGUES GALLERY - An Irreverent History of Corruption in South Africa from the VOC to the ANC

If you reckon corruption in South Africa began with Zuma or even with apartheid, its time to catch a wake-up call. Rogues Gallery tells the story of some of the biggest skelms to grace our (un)fair shores, showing that dodgy dealings have been a national pastime for as long as South African history has been written down.

 

The action starts with the machinations of three colonial governors: rotten Willem Adriaan van der Stel and the twaddling British duo, Sir George Yonge and Lord Charles Somerset. Added to this is Cecil John Rhodess unparalleled success in poisoning the land with theft, fraud and war, and Oom Paul Krugers corrupt and compromised Volksraads (official and unofficial).

 

Readers are then treated to apartheids finest feats in corruption: from the Broederbonds perfect ten in state capture to the Department of Informations peddling of fake news and the apartheid states manufacture of no, not illegal cigarettes Class A drugs! And lets not forget the hotbed of corruption that was the independent homelands. Add to this a few murders, plenty of nepotism and a state president who started out as a Nazi spy, and the gallery of rogues is complete. On the flipside, every chapter also features at least one brave whistle-blower the true heroes of this book.

 

Irreverent, entertaining and impeccably researched, Rogues Gallery  busts the myth that the Zuptas were the first to capture the South African state, showing that corruption has always been around and that the tricks politicians play havent changed a jot.