I’m currently reading
“Good Morning, Mr Mandela” by Zelda la Grange. I was attracted to this book,
not by the uproar it brought about, but by curiosity to know what happened
behind the scenes in Mandela’s life. Who better to spill the beans than his
private secretary who was by his side at all times.
Zelda started working in the
presidential office at the beginning of Mandela’s term as president. This is
the time when the stringent wheels of change were vigorously spinning. She represented
every trait of an enemy and yet somehow she won his heart and trust. Her role later
extended to that of a source of comfort and an assurer, so much that he asked
her to continue working for him when he retired. They maintained a strong bond
until the end of Mandela’s life.
I therefore wanted to know
what influenced this strong bond between one of the most admired men in history
and this real boeremeisie (as Mandela
often teased her). I’m only in the
second quarter of the book but I’ve already zoomed into some juicy inside
information, from unpleasant exchanges between heads of state to paddling under
the water that seemed like calm waters in the public eye. When countless books have been
written about Mandela’s life, this is no doubt a fresh angle.
Zelda has been widely
criticized for taking advantage of her position to make money or to paint certain
members of the Mandela family black (no
pun intended).
Maybe South Africans and
interested people of the world deserve to know the stories she tells in this
book. Maybe as a former official of a
high level office she owed to keep some things to herself. I guess people will have their views.
Let me keep reading. I promise to give a full review once I finish this enticing book.
No comments:
Post a Comment