Some of South Africa’s finest academic minds look back at twenty years of democratic rule. How far have we really come? Is race still an entrenched issue in our country? Why does gender discrimination continue? Why are the poor in revolt? Is free expression under threat? What happened to South African Marxism? What drives Julius Malema? How have the unions experienced the post-apartheid years?

These (and many other) questions run through pages that, amongst other things, bring back the voices of both Neville Alexander and Jakes Gerwel. Analytical and accessible, this book continues a long tradition of engaging South Africa’s politics and society in a non-partisan, but critical, fashion. It opens the way for innate explanations and provides insights that lie beyond the workaday accounts on offer by pundits.

Contributors: Raphael de Kadt, Kirk Helliker, John Higgins, Mondli Hlatshwayo, Sandra Klopper, Gerhard Maré, Richard Pithouse, Deborah Posel, Charles Simkins, Peter Vale Salim Vally, Cherryl Walker.