Raising the Bar

by Songezo Zibi

South Africa faces enormous challenges brought about by the legacy of its horrible past and the actions of its present. In the twenty years since the advent of democracy the country has come to believe that the ailments of its soul will be solved by state bureaucratic interventions. While at a material level this may be true, at the core of its failure to confront its demons successfully is a missing moral and philosophical foundation to the future it wants to build. Desperate to build a new, positive and uplifting narrative of itself, South Africa has failed at the task of constructing a society and instead sought to maintain a fragile truce between bitterly competing interests.
Raising the Bar provides a fresh, unencumbered analysis of the topics that pervade our daily lives, including race, leadership, politics, government, violence, the position of women and the taboos that haunt us. It explores why we are the people we have become and the future our present state is building. Uncomfortable and littered with vulnerabilities and problems, this is a task we can no longer delay. It is the only way to lay a solid foundation to ensure that we become a prosperous nation.

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

Reviews

[Robyn]

If more of us were able to adopt the same holistic, unfiltered and realistic approach as Songezo Zibi I dare say that we may actually have the potential for an entirely different future than the one we are currently looking at.
Brilliant book that has me looking at not only the past, but also the present, with far more critical eyes.

[Njabulo]

Revolutionary

A much needed exploration into the moral and ethical quagmire South Africa finds itself in. Songezo courageously tackles the difficult topics pertinent to the world today.

[Geoffrey Abrams]

A well researched, throughly engaging book by one of our own. A good tool for those interested in the social and political issues of South Africa.