Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred

by Mark Gevisser

This title is a story about home and exile. It is a story, too, of political intrigue; of a revolutionary movement struggling first to defeat and then to seduce a powerful and callous enemy, of the battle between unity and discord, and the dogged rise to power of a quiet, clever, diligent but unpopular man who seemed to take little joy in power but have much need for it. By the time he retires in 2009, Thabo Mbeki will have ruled South Africa, in effect, for the full fifteen years of its post-apartheid democracy: the first five as Nelson Mandela's 'prime minister' and the next ten as Mandela's successor. No African leader since the uhuru generation of Nkrumah and Nyerere has been as influential. The author's long-awaited biography is a profound psycho-political examination of this brilliant but deeply-flawed leader, who has attempted to forge an identity for himself as the symbol of modern Africa in the long shadow of Mandela. It is also a gripping journey into the turbulent history and troubled contemporary soul of the country; one that tries to make sense of the violence of the past and confusion of the present. As Mbeki battles, in the current day, with demons ranging from AIDS to Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and finds his legacy challenged by the ever-growing candidacy of his would-be successor Jacob Zuma, The Dream Deferred tracks us back along the path that brought him here, and helps us understand the meaning of South Africa, post-apartheid and post-Mandela.

Genres: South Africa, Africa, Politics, Biography, Nonfiction, History

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Mark Gevisser is one of South Africa’s leading authors and journalists. His next book “Dispatcher”, about his personal relationship with his home-town Johannesburg, will be published by Farrar Straus Giroux and Atlantic Press in 2013.
Gevisser has been awarded an Open Society Followship for 2012/13 working on The Sexuality Frontier. During his fellowship he will be looking at the ways ideas about sexuality and gender identity are changing globally, and how this is changing the way people think about themselves and their worlds. He will travel to United States, India, Nepal, Russia, Hungary, Poland, China, Turkey, Lebanon, Senegal, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Brazil, Argentina and Western Europe.
Gevisser’s book A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream was published by Palgrave Macmillan in the UK, and by Jonathan Ball in South Africa under the title, Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred. It was the winner of the Sunday Times 2008 Alan Paton Prize.
Gevisser was born in Johannesburg in 1964, and educated and King David and Redhill Schools. He graduated from Yale in 1987 with a degree magna cum laude in comparative literature and worked in New York as a high school teacher and writing for Village Voice and The Nation, before returning to South Africa in 1990. His journalism has appeared in publications and journals including Granta, the New York Times, Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, Public Culture and Art in America.
Gevisser has previously published two books – Defiant Desire, Gay and Lesbian Lives In South Africa which he co-edited with Edwin Cameron, and Portraits of Power: Profiles in a Changing South Africa, a collection of his celebrated political profiles from the Mail & Guardian. He has also published widely, in anthologies, on sexuality and on urbanism in South Africa. His publications on art include a biographical essay on Nicholas Hlobo and a response to William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx‘s The Firewalker. He has also published an essay on Thabo Mbeki‘s legacy.
Gevisser’s feature-length documentary, The Man Who Drove With Mandela, made with Greta Schiller, has been broadcast internationally, and won the Teddy Documentary Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1999. The film is an excavation of the life of Cecil Williams, the South African gay communist theatre director. Mark has also written scripts for the South African drama series Zero Tolerance; his scripts were short-listed for SAFTA and iEmmy awards.
Since 2002, Gevisser has been involved in heritage development. He co-led the team that developed the heritage, education and tourism components of Constitution Hill, and co-curated the Hill’s permanent exhibitions. He is a founder and associate of Trace, a heritage research and design company. His Exhibition Joburg Tracks was exhibited at Museum Africa. Gevisser works as a political analyst and public speaker; his clients have included several South African and multinational organisations and corporations.
From 2009 to 2011, Gevisser was Writing Fellow in the Humanities Faculty at the University of Pretoria, where he taught in the journalism programme and ran a programme on public intellectual activity. He is an experienced writing teacher, and has conducted narrative non-fiction workshops in South Africa and Kenya. In 2011, he was a Carnegie Equity Fellow at Wits University, and convened a major event at the university on creativity and memory featuring Nadine Gordimer, William Kentridge, Hugh Masakela, Zoe Zicomb and Chris van Wyk.[1][2][3]

Reviews

[Loyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Gevisser is a great writer. Wooow, that all I could say.

[Juma Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an extraordinarily well-written and detailed account of the life of one of the ANC’s foremost fixers – he always got the job done, whether as a diplomat, a charmer, a recruiter, a negotiator, or as President. It is a tribute to Mbeki’s lifelong dedication to the Party, his well-meaning motivations, and his pursuit of the dream deferred. Please see full review at http://jumabahati.blogspot.com/2013/1...

[Dr. Corey Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until I read Robert Sobukwe, I thought President Mbeki was the smartest guy in African history not withstanding the AIDS debacle...

[Recato · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mission. The book was good but a bit too long at 810 pages.

Very nice photos. And did learn a bit more about Former Honorable President, President Thabo Mbeki.

[Brian Pinnock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very heavy reading both figuratively and literally. This tome can't be read in bed easily unless you have strong arms.

[Sidney Luckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most insightful biographies that I've ever read.

[Diane Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love biographies and very interested in African politics so this was a must read for me. I thought the book was necessary and helped me to understand the character of the man. I kinda liked the analytic bits -- i think reflections on why people are the way they are, is important in biographies. It was long, but then I love to read, so really liked that about it. The understanding of "other" was well depicted

[Makgatla Thepa-Lephale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intriguing book that tells a story of a man with an unassuming character and intellectual that is out of this world. Mark Gevisser give details of who Thabo Mbeki is and I enjoyed the book as it gives much insights into Thabo Mbeki the human being than Thabo Mbeki the "the intellectual"

[Yolie Mdiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely the best biography I have ever read. I was not intrigued by the events more than Thabo's reasoning. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. A huge eye opener. Generally, the book has informed how I vote. The book taught me that leadership is key. Definitely a top 5 book.

[Charity Hlatshwayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is both informative and irritating. The author inserts his own narrative into the facts of Thabo Mbeki's life. He, however, provides more information than I've ever seen compiled on Mbeki. The book is worth the read despite the author.

[Zwelihle Mfundisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good insight into understanding someone who perhaps has had one of the largest contributions to building the post-Apartheid government in SA. Really good read!

[Sibusiso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very well researched, balanced and detailed book. It was a huge book but very educational and informative particularly as it relates to southern African history.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long read but brilliant.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great biography of Mbeki.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

deep research yields exquisite and human detail.Casts a strong light on every topic with which it engages.

[Chuma]

A good read on the histroy of the Mbeki's but I think it tended to be a little too psychoanalytical at times.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Nkululeko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opener

[Khaya]

Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred

[Itai Gurira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learn about a great man . . .

[Khumbulani Ngangelizwe]

What makes this an even more interesting book to read is that Mark Gevisser makes claims - in the book- that Thabo Mbeki now refutes through his letters.

"Aloof is on fire."

[Chidi]

Still reading...

[Fundiswa Booi kula]

I loved the book and its subject

[Greg Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense in subject matter and well written in prose. Highlighting one of the most important and relatively unknown figures in fight against apretheid and the founding of the modern nation of South Africa