Beyond the Miracle: Inside the New South Africa

by Allister Sparks

In Beyond the Miracle , a distinguished South African journalist provides a wide-ranging and unflinching account of the first nine years of democratic government in South Africa. Covering both the new regime's proud achievements and its disappointing failures, Allister Sparks looks to South Africa's future, asking whether it can overcome its history and current global trends to create a truly nonracial, multicultural, and multiparty democracy.

Sparks sees South Africa as facing many of the same challenges as the rest of the world, especially a widening gap between rich and poor, exacerbated by the forces of globalization. While the transition government has done much to establish democracy and racial equality in a short time, as well as bring basic services such as clean water to millions who did not have them before, many blacks feel it has not done enough to redress the continuing imbalance of wealth in the country. Many whites, meanwhile, feel disempowered and confused about what role they have to play as a racial minority in a country they used to rule and regard as theirs by divine right. Sparks also covers other burning issues, such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic, high crime rates, the diamond wars, the Congo conflict, and the Zimbabwean land crisis.

Writing vividly and often quite movingly, Sparks draws on his decades of journalistic experience and his recent insider access to key figures in the liberation government to take stock of where South Africa has been, where it's going, and why the rest of the world should not turn away from this country where the First and Third Worlds meet. As Sparks persuasively argues, the success of Mandela's vision of a peaceful "rainbow nation" is crucial not just for the salvation of Africa, but also for the world.


“Sparks, a grandfather of South African journalism, has fired one of the first volleys in the 10-year assessment. . . . It is an even-handed work, almost encyclopedic in its breadth. Sparks traverses all the important political terrain.”— Mail & Guardian 

“It is as good a guide to the new South Africa as any.”— Economist

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

408 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2009

About the author

Allister Haddon Sparks was a South African writer, journalist and political commentator. He was the editor of The Rand Daily Mail when it broke Muldergate, the story of how the apartheid government secretly funded information projects.

Sparks later wrote a number of critically-acclaimed books on South Africa's transition from apartheid, including Tomorrow is Another Country (1996), The Mind of South Africa (1991) and more recently Beyond the Miracle: Inside the New South Africa (University of Chicago Press 2006). Sparks founded the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in South Africa and was its executive director from 1992 to 1997.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and accessible writing, as one would expect from a veteran journalist.
Fair-minded and clearly anti-racist, but without much depth of understanding about mass movements (and their aftermaths).

[Will Corvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of the myriad difficulties of starting a democracy. Super intriguing and one of the few nonfiction books that I have not been able to put down. Gives a great overview of South African history, the end of apartheid, or nationbuilding.

[Mjb237 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great guide to all the current social and political issues facing this country by one of it's most famous journalists. I highly recommend this to anyone traveling to South Africa.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book on the end of Apartheid in South Africa. Sparks gives amazing insights.

[Barry Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably expert and well-written historical account of South Africa at the cusp of democracy. It also has a good eye to the future.