Kader Asmal: Politics in My Blood: A Memoir

by Kader Asmal

The biography of a politician who played a profound role in the history of the African National Congress, this account follows Kader Asmal from his beginnings as the son of a small-town shopkeeper in Natal through his exile in the UK and his rise to Cabinet minister under Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. Honoring Asmal's lifelong dedication to freedom, equality, and justice--ideals enshrined in the country's Bill of Rights, which he played a major part in writing--this memoir is also the story of South Africa's transition from apartheid to freedom and democracy.

Genres: History

313 pages, Hardcover

First published August 22, 2011

Reviews

[Halldór Thorgeirsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asmal´s memoirs give first hand insights in the formative period of what later became a hugely important experiment in nation building and reconciliation in South Africa. I particularly enjoyed the fact that he was honest (not common in memoirs) about the fact that reconciliation was not the path he wanted to pursue initially (as a human rights lawyer his was an expert in the Nuremberg Trials). He changed his view and became committed to the truth and reconciliation path and was instrumental in drafting this into the Constitution. His insights into the early beginnings of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Europe and of the real world challenges of the first Mandela Government, on which he served, are a fun to read. Being an international civil servant, I found his analysis of the impact the support the United Nation gave to the struggle against Apartheid to be a source of inspiration.

[Gugu Maduna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an eye opening book on how the apartheid system had undermined the rights of Blacks, Indians and Coloured people. From his childhood to being the ministers' of Education, Water and Foresty. I'm inspired by his background he was under-privelaged but that did not deter him from his dreams and aspirations. His recognition of Chief A Luthuli and OR Tambo, I mostly salute that as the attention is mostly around Nelson Mandela as if he was the only individual who had worked hard fighting for liberation. In all he provided a brief backgroud of how the ANC life was like in exile and after the democratic elections.