Mandla Langa

Jag har upptäckt hemligheten att när man har bestigit ett högt berg så är det bara för att upptäcka att det finns många er berg att bestiga. Nu harjag satt mig här en stund att vila, och se tillbaka på den långa väg jag gått. Men jag kan bara vila ett ögonblick för med friheten följer ansvar, och jag vågar inte dröja mig kvar, för min långa vandring är ännu inte slut. Nelson Mandela i Den långa vägen till frihet År 1994 blev Nelson Mandela det demokratiska Sydafrikas första president. Han bestämde sig redan från början för att bara sitta en mandatperiod. Under hans tid som president blev alla Sydafrikas medborgare lika inför lagen, och grunden lades för att omvandla Sydafrika till en fullt fungerande demokrati, från att ha varit ett land sönderslitet av århundraden av kolonialism och apartheid. Fortsätt framåt är berättelsen om Mandelas årsom Sydafrikas president. Boken bygger på det memoarutkast han påbörjade när han förberedde sig för att lämna presidentposten, men aldrig fick tillfälle att slutföra. Nu har den hyllade syd­ afrikanska författaren Mandla Langa slutfört uppdraget med hjälp av Mandelas ursprungliga utkast, detaljerade anteckningar som Mandela förde under händelsernas gång, och en stor mängd tidigare okänt arkivmaterial. Boken är en livfull, ärlig och inspirerande skildring av Mandelas presidentperiod och den nya demokratins födelse. Den berättar den enastående historien om ett land i omvandling, och om de utmaningar som Mandela ställdes inför i förverkligandet av sin vision om ett befriat Sydafrika. Bokens förord är skrivet av Mandelas änka, Graça Machel.

‘I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.’ Long Walk to FreedomIn 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first president of democratic South Africa. Five years later, he stood down. In that time, he and his government wrought the most extraordinary transformation, turning a nation riven by centuries of colonialism and apartheid into a fully functioning democracy in which all South Africa’s citizens, black and white, were equal before the law. Dare Not Linger is the story of Mandela’s presidential years, drawing heavily on the memoir he began to write as he prepared to finish his term of office, but was unable to finish. Now, the acclaimed South African writer Mandla Langa has completed the task using Mandela’s unfinished draft, detailed notes that Mandela made as events were unfolding and a wealth of previously unseen archival material. With a prologue by Mandela's widow, Graça Machel, the result is a vivid and inspirational account of Mandela’s presidency, a country in flux and the creation of a new democracy. It tells the extraordinary story of the transition from decades of apartheid rule and the challenges Mandela overcame to make a reality of his cherished vision for a liberated South Africa.

‘I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest . . . But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.’ Long Walk to FreedomIn 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first president of democratic South Africa. Five years later, he stood down. In that time, he and his government wrought the most extraordinary transformation, turning a nation riven by centuries of colonialism and apartheid into a fully functioning democracy in which all South Africa’s citizens, black and white, were equal before the law. Dare Not Linger is the story of Mandela’s presidential years, drawing heavily on the memoir he began to write as he prepared to finish his term of office, but was unable to finish. Now, the acclaimed South African writer, Mandla Langa, has completed the task using Mandela’s unfinished draft and a wealth of previously unseen archival material. With a prologue by Mandela's widow, Graça Machel, the result is a vivid and inspirational account that tells the extraordinary story of the transition from decades of apartheid rule and the challenges Mandela overcame to make a reality of his cherished vision for a liberated South Africa.

The lost colours of the Chameleon is set on the fictitious island of Bangula in the Indian Ocean - an island populated by an indigenous community that coexists uneasily with Creoles, mainly descendants of ancient Portuguese colonizers. The half-a-million inhabitants live under the twin shadows of an impending cyclone and an outbreak of the blood plague. The novel follows the story of the Colonel Gondo, a patriarch who is the father of the newly reformed nation of Bangula, and the biological father of three sons (one legitimate and two illegitimate). Following their father's death, the Colonel's three sons become embroiled in a bitter succession struggle. Abioseh succeeds the Colonel, but has to contend with the Colonel's love-child, a boy called Zebulon. Zebulon grows up embittered and poverty-stricken, with an aim of avenging his mother, Madu, who died of official neglect. Zebulon, Abioseh's half-brother, is popular among the people for the simple reason that he has made it his life's mission to comfort the bereaved, even strangers. Abioseh also has to contend with the Colonel's third son, Hieronymus Jerome, his childhood friend, who rises in the police ranks and becomes his head of security. However, Hieronymus also has ambitions of power - not so much to wield it conspicuously as to control the wielders of power, an eminence grise - who liaises with an undertaker to topple Abioseh and install Zebulon as leader of the island. This struggle for power is fuelled by the varying and personal motives of the Colonel's three sons, and reveals the fundamental divisions tearing apart the fragile nation.