“There always seemed to be a ‘gotcha!’ quality to the prosecution of Jackie Selebi… We have to remember, this was a tragedy for our country; not a victory for our journalists,” said Ferial Haffejee, editor of City Press at the launch of Adriaan Basson’s new book, Finish & Klaar. Haffejee was the editor of the Mail & Guardian during the time that the revelations about Selebi’s relationship with Glenn Agliottti started coming to light – revelations that Basson helped break for the M&G
Basson’s new book has made a stir over the past week, revealing insights into the mind and machinations of South Africa’s former top cop that may not have been fully unpacked during the frenzy of his recent trial. (Selebi was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 15 years in prison.) Having spent so much time observing the man in court and investigating the finer details of his history, Basson emerges with a complex portrait of a man who fell so far from the heights of Interpol into the twisted manipulations of the underworld. The launch saw an introduction by Haffejee followed by a conversation between the author and 702 Talk Radio journalist, Redi Thlabi.
“His was a classic story of South Africa,” said Haffejee: he was a teacher, turned exile, turned ANC Youth League leader, turned MP, turned Police Commissioner. His role as Commissioner spoke to the heart of South Africa’s fears: ‘”e carried a dream, he was going to make South Africa a better country. This affected all of us, because crime is not just a middle-class concern. That he failed, that he didn’t have the moral backbone to succeed in this dream, is a deep tragedy for South Africa, a deep democratic tragedy.”
“I think we need psychologists investigating corruption in South Africa,” said Basson. “I think Selebi was desperate to make a name for himself as the first black police commissioner… When I saw him and Agliotti together in court, it was so striking what they had in common, how easily brand names rolled off both of their tongues. I really do think Selebi just ran out of money… Maybe it’s something we should debate – whether the police commissioners are being paid enough. It seemed very clear that Selebi was living beyond his means, trapped in a lifestyle he couldn’t afford.”
Basson indicated that the perceived glamour of the criminal lifestyle had affected Selebi, even from a young age. “What I heard was that even as a teacher, Selebi loved ganster novels,” said Basson. This sense of glamour, Haffejee earlier said, is one that remains troublingly strong in South Africa today – as revealed, ironically, in the coverage of the trial. “The underworld rolls so easily off our tongues,” she said. “Colourful tales fill our consciousness and our column space. Glenn Agliotti is a Twitter sensation.”
Thlabi and Basson debated the ANC’s reaction and involvement in the prosecution. Thlabi brought up the question, “Would Selebi have been prosecuted at all were it not for the fact that Thabo Mbeki was losing his grip on the party and the country at the time? I get the sense,” she said, “that the ANC chose to prosecute Selebi. There were deep politics involved.” Basson agreed. “We certainly are seeing a phenomenon of selective prosecution,” he said. “Selebi fell out of favour… It’s interesting to compare him with Jacob Zuma. Selebi was much cleverer: he took cash bribes and didn’t leave a paper trail. But the investigative teams successfully put a case together.”
However, Basson said, there were also some members of the party who still wanted to believe the best of Selebi. “What I saw was that people wanted to cling to their belief in him, ‘No, not the chief of police. He can’t be involved…’ but he was. It was an especially big shock for people in the ANC; people who were in exile with him.”
Despite the darkness of the topic, Basson ended the evening with a positive outlook. “What we’re seeing now is a regeneration of investigative journalism in South Africa. It’s important. We journalists, to some degree, have to become activists again. And in a wider sense, all South Africans have to stand up and make their voices heard. It’s even the little things like bribing traffic cops – they’re the small corruptions that slowly erode the layer of morality that we have. But I believe in South Africans. I believe in the citizenry of this country.”
“Fascinating, but frightening.” That’s how Adriaan Basson describes the 50 days he spent in court witnessing Jackie Selebi’s trial play out like a Martin Scorsese movie. The central characters were the lone, pathetic former top cop and Glenn Agliotti a suave, flamboyant gangster accused of murder, but testifying for the state. “It is seldom that journalists get a chance to see the important power brokers, and hear big organized criminals… to see them fighting it out in public,” says Basson. “It was fascinating and frightening at the same time.”
“Finish & Klaar: Selebi’s Fall from Interpol to the Underworld” may be a rare moment in South African history now that the Scorpions are but a memory. “I am sceptical about whether we’ll ever see this again. I am not sure if we’ll see a police chief on trial again, if there is a crooked police chief in town, now that we don’t have a unit like the Scorpions that is independent of the police. Internationally it is accepted that you have to have an independent parallel investigating unit that can ‘guard the guardians’. We lost that capability with the closing down of the Scorpions.”
In the upcoming weeks there will be two Johannesburg events for journalist Adriaan Basson’s Finish & Klaar: Selebi’s Fall from Interpol to the Underworld. The first will be held at Exclusive Books Hyde Park on the 14th of October, where Redi Thlabi will be in conversation with the author, and Ferial Haffajee will introduce them.
The second will be held at the Troyeville Hotel, and will feature a dinner as well as Antony Altbeker, author of Fruit of a Poisoned Tree, in conversation with Basson.
Finish and Klaar tells the gripping story of ex-police chief Jackie Selebi and his fall from grace after involving himself in the underworld dealings of Norbert Glenn Aglioti, and how he was brought down to justice by a team of prosecutors and investigators.
Imke van Heerden interviews Maya Fowler about the “haphazard” experience of writing The Elephant in the Room, her debut novel, which details the life of a teenager living with bulimia and anorexia.
Maya, first off, what is it about the act of writing that rocks your world?
Everyone has something they can do in this world; we’re all different. For some people it’s being good at organising things, for others it’s being a good parent or a leader. For me I think it’s writing. At any rate, I hope it is, because it feels like the most worthwhile thing I can work towards.
Your debut novel, The Elephant in the Room, tells the story of a teenager’s battle with anorexia and bulimia. What did you hope to achieve in writing this particular story?
I hoped to create a really compelling story. I wanted to present a damaged character and portray how things went awry for her from the earliest moments. I wanted to show how a young person’s self-esteem, body image and drive can be affected by family and warped friendships; I wanted to give insight into the addict’s mind.
Sam Campbell is barely surviving, focusing all her energy on raising her sister Melissa’s son, Khaya. Melissa died in a car accident near their family farm, Cedar Hills, in the Baviaanskloof area. Sam hasn’t forgiven Khaya’s father, Dylan, for leaving her to cope with Khaya to follow up his vague claims about searching for Melissa’s murderer. But now the future of Cedar Hills and the farms in the area are in question after a successful land claim by the family of Sam’s one time childhood friend, and a bid by the Department of environment to buy the land for a biosphere reserve. Whether she wants to or not, Sam will have to face her past.
The author will be in conversation with Tony Weaver. We’ll see you at the event!
Zukiswa Wanner is an author known for pushing boundaries – her own and those of her readers. In this interview with Janet van Eeden she discusses her decision to write her latest novel Men of the South from a male perspective and wonders if she will maintain the title of “chick-lit writer”:
It’s unusual for a female author to base her story on three male characters, and you did a great job. All three protagonists were believable and their voices rang true. This was a brave move, as I’m sure a number of men would be surprised to read about themselves described so completely by a woman. Male authors do it all the time by writing about women, but this is an unusual move for a South African female author. What made you decide to write this story from the point of view of three very different men? And have you been criticised by any quarters for taking this bold step?
I am lucky in that Men of the South has been enjoyed by both male and female readers. I realise that a woman writing from a male perspective is a bit of a change, but I am always curious to push the boundaries with my writing and bring something new to it. Plus, I was curious to know whether I would still be referred to as a “black chick-lit writer” after that.
The hits keep coming for new romance author Fezile Cokile, whose story was picked up last week in The Times – and who has now been featured, along with his Sapphire Press romance novel Wish Upon a Star, in the country’s largest Sunday paper, the Sunday Times!
Years of sneaking off to the library to read romantic novels have paid off for Fezekile Cokile – the 19-year-old has just had his first Mills & Boon-style romantic novel published.
Cokile, who is from the Eastern Cape, is one of a handful of authors who have published their stories under the new romance imprint of Kwela Books, Sapphire Press.
Modelled on the books produced by 102-year-old publisher Mills & Boon, the novels tell of love between a man and a woman, include several intimate scenes and always have a happy ending.
Cokile was also profiled for the Development Works blog, which emphasises the importance that libraries played in getting the young author started:
Many people believe that their background has an impact on who they will become in life. Young people (especially those born and bred in the rural areas) sometimes feel that their current situation will keep them from reaching their goals. But one 19 year old has shown that you can rise above your circumstances, with a little help from a good book.
Fezikile Cokile grew up in Mdantsane township in the Eastern Cape. A lack of resources is the main challenge that faces youth living in areas such as these. Computers are pictures that are only seen in magazines. Children are taught that a “library is a place where books are kept,” but the chances of setting foot in one are very slim.
But some people, like Cokile, work even harder in these circumstances and do not blame their backrounds for not acheiving their goal in life.
The day Cokile entered the library doors, was the day in his life that he will never forget.
Arguably South Africa’s most important newspaper – especially when its size-vs-impact ratio is factored in – the Mail & Guardian turned twenty-five at the weekend. Celebrate with the special feature published to mark the anniversary – and with 25 Years of the Mail and Guardian edited by Shaun de Waal!
On the front page of its very first edition in June 1985, The Weekly Mail carried an exposé, written by Janet Wilhelm, of how the apartheid security forces were recruiting Mozambican refugees to fight in its destabilising war against the Mozambican government.
Since then, the cornerstone of the paper has been its many investigations into various forms of dishonesty, skulduggery and malfeasance in (usually) high places.
In 1989, The Weekly Mail broke the shattering story of the apartheid state’s death squads. Their existence had long been suspected by activists, so many of their number having been mysteriously murdered, but it was Ivor Powell’s interview with Almond Butana Nofemela that finally cracked through the regime’s denials.
A few months after moving Thapelo into the boarding school Khutso changed cities – moving from Polokwane to Tshwane. It was then that I decided that Khutso needed a makeover.
He was dull, and for our purposes he needed to be a star – to stand out in a crowd. So, when we got to Tshwane the first thing we did was to lose the hair, the beard and moustache, lose his dull clothes and put on something vibrant, something that communicated with people. For our plan to work everyone had to want to associate with Khutso just by looking at him, he had to be a model on a catwalk.
In Gauteng we did away with the reliable Japanese car and bought something that was more than a car. Khutso loved the classic Voroso, so we got a ’98 model, blue in colour, and put in a sound system – worth twice the value of the car.
Brutally honest and beautifully brave Zukiswa Wanner says a thing as she sees it. In this article for the New Statesman she explains why South Africa is a place filled with hope, why it won’t fail it’s youth, why there is a future. Unsurprisingly she believes all of this will be, if people speak about their prejudices and fears openly:
In Afrikaans there is a saying: Jou se maak plaan, meaning “You make a plan”. It has become common usage in South Africa to encourage people when the odds seem stacked against them, or when people are convincing themselves and others how they will get through a particularly rough period. It is a beautiful statement.
I am the child of a former military wing operative of the African National Congress, so it may seem odd for me to begin by using a phrase in a language I grew up being told was the “oppressor’s language”, but it should not. For all our differences of language, race and culture, that saying is, for me, the best way to explain why South Africa will not fail.
“There always seemed to be a ‘gotcha!’ quality to the prosecution of Jackie Selebi… We have to remember, this was a tragedy for our country; not a victory for our journalists,” said Ferial Haffejee, editor of City Press at the launch of Adriaan Basson’s new book, Finish & Klaar. Haffejee was the editor of the Mail & Guardian during the time that the revelations about Selebi’s relationship with Glenn Agliottti started coming to light – revelations that Basson helped break for the M&G
“His was a classic story of South Africa,” said Haffejee: he was a teacher, turned exile, turned ANC Youth League leader, turned MP, turned Police Commissioner. His role as Commissioner spoke to the heart of South Africa’s fears: ‘”e carried a dream, he was going to make South Africa a better country. This affected all of us, because crime is not just a middle-class concern. That he failed, that he didn’t have the moral backbone to succeed in this dream, is a deep tragedy for South Africa, a deep democratic tragedy.”
