Abstract

Twenty years on from the fall of apartheid in South Africa, veteran analyst and activist John S. Saul examines the liberation struggle, placing it in a regional and global context and looking at how the initial optimism and hope has given way to a sense of crisis following soaring inequality levels and the massacre of workers at Marikana.

With chapters on South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique, Saul examines the reality of southern Africa's post-'liberation' plight, drawing on the insights of Frantz Fanon and Amilcar Cabral and assessing claims that a new 'precariat' has emerged.

Saul examines the ongoing 'rebellion of the poor', including the recent Marikana massacre, that have shaken the region and may signal the possibility of a new and more hopeful future.
'Saul combines in his person much of what is best about the international political culture of the left'
Aijaz Ahmed, Indian Marxist scholar and activist
'Saul's greatest contribution has been sharing ideas, criticising and giving advice - reminding us that we should base our ideology on the concrete realities of our country and people, not on ready-made manuals'
Jorge Rebelo, poet, long-time Frelimo militant, and cabinet minister in the first government of a liberated Mozambique
'Covers a great deal of ground in an accessible and lively fashion. Concisely and tightly argued, it is a powerful rebuff to 'Afropessimists' and neoliberals alike'
Leo Zeilig, author of Class Struggle and Resistance in Africa (2008)
'Saul's writing is as much the fruit of many decades of struggle and commitment to the cause of the working class in Africa as it is of careful scholarly work. Both as a scholar and as an activist he has taught and inspired many revolutionaries, myself included, and has been part of bold practical efforts to go beyond capitalism'
Trevor Ngwane, leading South African activist