Ray Hartley – författare

For a long time, Cyril Ramaphosa was the nearly-man of South African politics. He was Nelson Mandela's preferred successor, but the ANC opted for his rival, Thabo Mbeki, as the second post-apartheid president. Ramaphosa had led South Africa's huge mineworkers' union against the apartheid regime and was the key architect of the much-praised 1996 'rainbow' constitution. He later prospered in business on the back of the first big empowerment deals with white-owned enterprises, before returning to politics and the ANC in 2012. His eyes firmly on the prize, Ramaphosa played a long game as President Zuma became mired in scandal. In early 2018, Deputy President Ramaphosa persuaded the party to throw out Zuma and install him in his place. Announcing a 'new dawn', he has captivated the nation, but now faces his greatest challenge: fixing a broken economy, weeding out Zuma's corrupt minions and the legacy of 'state capture' by the Gupta brothers, and delivering on the promise of a better life for the poor. This captivating biography outlines Ramaphosa's extraordinary political and business career. It tells the story of one of the greatest political comebacks of modern times.

On a cold Highveld morning in May 1994, Nelson Mandela took the oath of office to become South Africas first democratically elected president. A new era had begun. The promise of those heady days of political transition soon gave way to a more sober view on the magnitude of the challenges facing the new government. Under Mandela and his successor, Thabo Mbeki, the country grappled with the restructuring of the state, massive inequality and poverty, rising crime, battles over economic policy, the arms deal, the HIV/AIDS crisis, the BEE era, the cancer of political corruption and the rise of a new and predatory political elite. With the removal of Mbeki, followed by the interregnum of Kgalema Motlanthe, the stage was set for the coming to power of the controversial Jacob Zuma. These are all key threads in Ray Hartleys rich and complex narrative history of the democratic era. As a leading political journalist and newspaper editor, Hartley had the best seat in the house for the unfolding drama of the new South Africa, as well as privileged access to many key players, including Nelson Mandela himself.Admirably concise but rich in detail, drawing on a wide spectrum of interviews, documents and experiences, this book offers a bracingly critical look back at the achievements and the failures of two turbulent decades, during which South Africa took its place at the table of free nations but lost something of its moral authority.

Everyone has wonderful memories of the 2010 Fifa World Cup...In June 2010, the richest World Cup ever kicked off as delirious South African fans gathered in a rare act of national unity to make the worlds biggest sporting event a success. The magnificent new stadiums were packed and the streets were safe. It all went off like clockwork. But behind this impressive achievement lay billions in wasted public money, crooked companies rigging construction tenders and the fixing of a string of matches involving the national team. Tragically, one of those who blew the whistle would pay with his life. Then, in May 2015, the arrest of Fifa executives revealed that the tournaments very foundations were rotten. Evidence emerged that South Africa had encouraged Fifa to pay money to a corrupt member of its executive to secure three votes in favour of its hosting the tournament. As Sepp Blatters Fifa edifice crumbled, a web of transactions, from New York to Trinidad and Tobago and the Cayman Islands, showed how money was diverted to ensure that South Africas bid to host the tournament succeeded.In The Big Fix, Ray Hartley reveals the truth about the rotten foundation on which an epic national achievement was built, exposing the people who used the event to amass wealth and power. This is the realstory of the 2010 World Cup.