Biographer Anthony Butler: Decoding enigma that is Cyril Ramaphosa

Rational Perspective

Biographies account for at least half the books I own, a legacy of long held fascination for learning about people, a subject to which I devote a good chunk of my leisure time. Latest investment was in a 413 page masterpiece by Anthony Butler - his superb biography on South African president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Classically trained Butler, who read a PPE at Oxford and has a PhD from Cambridge, wrote the book in 2008 after taking a nine month sabbatical from the University of Cape Town, where he is a professor in political studies. He used the time to interview those close to this very private, deeply thoughtful politician who has, and is, playing such a massive role in his homeland.

Butler returned to the manuscript in 2013, providing an insightful postscript. He is working on another update, but waiting for the updated edition makes little sense. Because his biography opens an important window into an enigmatic statesman, offering a perfect antidote to the fake news and whispering campaigns of our times – and providing balance to the knee-jerk of event-driven reporting which often misguides perceptions.

I’d wager that, like me, by the end of Butler’s book you'll end up feeling that Project Rebuild South Africa couldn’t be in better hands.

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