Want to know who f***ed up SA in the past 10 years? Then this one’s for you

50 People Who F***ed Up South Africa: The Lost Decade by Alexander Parker and Tim Richman, with cartoons by Zapiro

It took 350 years to come up with the list of shame for the original 50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa, published to critical acclaim in 2010. Now it’s taken only 10 more years to come up with the next 50.

From Shaun Abrahams to Mosebenzi Zwane, 50 People Who F***ed Up South Africa: The Lost Decade is filled with the architects and beneficiaries of state capture who have defined The Lost Decade.

There’s former president Jacob Zuma and co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. There are the Guptas, Victoria Geoghegan and Malusi Gigaba. There’s a malady of “Ms” — David Mabuza, Ace Magashule, Supra Mahumapelo (and many more mofos and mamparas). There are the crony-corporate enablers and big-business abusers. Importantly, there are clean takedowns of those who represent the scandals that will live in infamy when the history of this time is written: Eskom, Nkandla, Marikana, Life Esidimeni, Steinhoff, Bosasa, VBS Mutual Bank ...

And then there is the joker in the pack (Carl Niehaus), the naked emperor (Iqbal Survé), the zombie killer (Oscar Pistorius), the Twittering twit (Helen Zille) and the twit who got past security (Thamsanqa Jantjie).

The end result is a readable, accessible, entertaining overview of SA’s recent political and socioeconomic landscape. Because sometimes humour (along with a clearly painted picture) really is the best coping mechanism ...

The 50 People series, which includes 50 Flippen Brilliant South Africans (2012) and 50 People Who Stuffed Up The World  (2017), has been described as: 

• “Entertaining ... enlightening ... comes highly recommended” — Business Day
• “A fantastic thought-provoking book that renews my appreciation for history” — Mandla Shongwe, SAFM 
• “Clever, informative, witty, well researched, engrossing” — Gorry Bowes Taylor 

Their latest book is just as riveting and a thoroughly good read — witty and well researched.

Bruce Whitfield (The Money Show, 702) calls it “a Christmas book that should be in every single South African’s stocking ... A decade after the first book, and this one is angrier, edgier, and could not be better timed.”