What we can deduce from the embarrassing and shameful saga of political analyst and author Prince Mashele is that the country has lost what was once believed to be an honest, transparent and accountable political analyst who gave what was respected analysis of the country's political landscape.
After all the lies and deceit we have been fed by Mashele, who initially denied being paid millions by ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba to pen his biography, what value should society attach to the so-called “words of wisdom” from the mouths of supposed pundits?
At the weekend, the Sunday Times reported how Mashaba's book, written by Mashele and purporting to be an unauthorised biography, was funded by the ActionSA leader himself, according to an agreement between the two. It has emerged that Mashaba undertook to pay R12.5m to Mashele to fund the research of the book, in a secret arrangement they reached in 2019.
The scandal was exposed by senior researcher and consultant Brutus Malada, who worked with Mashele on the book. Malada also happened to be a close family friend of Mashele’s of over 30 years before the two fell out.
Malada, who claims he was paid more than R3m for his contribution, accused Mashele of “duping” the public by not disclosing to publisher Jonathan Ball and the nation that Mashaba funded the book, which was ironically titled The Outsider: The Unauthorised Biography of Herman Mashaba.
He claimed Mashaba was committed to interviews for at least six hours a month. Mashele also committed to granting Mashaba access to the manuscript for comment and to make “necessary changes” before publication.
Had Mashele not been caught, he would have played a critical role in analysing the political landscape of our country in the period leading to important elections next year.
The book has since been pulled from the shelves.
After numerous interviews in which Mashele tried to conceal his deceit and further entangled himself in a web of lies, he issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon in which he finally conceded that he had lied.
“While I was bound by a non-disclosure obligation, I accept that I should have not stated that Mr Herman Mashaba had no role to play in the book. The correct fact is that the research that led to the production of the book was financed through a funding agreement with Mr Mashaba, to whom I am eternally grateful. I offer my apology to Mr Mashaba who has since been associated with controversy due to no fault of his own,” Mashele said.
Through his dishonesty, Mashele, who has for years told the country that the ANC is the worst political organisation in the country and wrote a book, The Fall of the ANC — What Next?, has single-handedly reversed and squandered years of a political career, influence and reputation that he had built. While he has apologised, it could be a little too late.
His conduct has raised questions of whether, all this time, he was not carrying out political spin made possible by R12.5m contractual agreements with non-disclosure clauses meant to serve a certain narrative.
The intention to mislead was clear.
While Mashele has now taken all the blame in regards to the lies over his agreement with Mashaba, the two — through legal documents and public pronouncements set out to mislead South Africans to believe this 370-page book is a true portrayal of Mashaba when in fact it is airbrushed, approved, sweetheart political commentary of Mashaba; with the 2024 elections possibly in mind.
On its website, Exclusive Books said of the book: “In his trademark opinionated fashion, political scientist Prince Mashele delivers a fascinating fly-on-the-wall account of Mashaba’s dramatic rise to the mayor’s office, managing the fragile coalition with the EFF, falling out with the DA and starting his own party.
“What emerges is a portrait of a pragmatic man with a passion for capitalism, but who defies ideological boxes. In Mashele’s hands, Mashaba is also the perfect foil for our troubling political machinery, revealing ever more sharply the fault lines of our government system and the rot of the ruling ANC party.”
What we now do know is that Mashele was indeed a fly on the wall as Mashaba penned his own story, crossing the t’s and dotting the i's of possibly each line and paragraph as he told his story how he wanted it to be told.
On Mashaba, of course we do expect that politicians will come up with stratagems to draw in voters ahead of elections, but we did not expect that Mashaba and Mashele would put a R12m price tag to the lie.
While we have always known that we must take what politicians say with a pinch of salt, we expected better from quasi-academics and analysts. As people attached to universities whose pursuits include knowledge, accuracy and integrity, we expected better. Mashele’s own ethics have been brought into question and his standing publicly undermined by his poorly conceived deceit.
It is a shame that even after Mashele was exposed, his big ego came in the way of his offer of an apology. He should have decided whether he wanted to apologise or not. As a consequence, it is unclear if he is now truly contrite about the lies he uttered to the nation or if he is just sorry that he got caught.
His reasoning, if you can call it that, that he was limited by clauses in his contracts from being honest, was woeful. Plain, unbelievable excuses.
It is unacceptable that someone who has spent an inordinate amount of time on our screens, quoted in newspapers, on radio, on news sites, castigating many for not being honest, has now been exposed for being a charlatan.
Is he the only one playing fast and loose with the truth?
Mashele’s sorry saga will no doubt leave a dent on the image of a community of analysts, with society asking who else will, like Mashele, be exposed. Mashele should have known that the truth, in his chosen field, is sacrosanct.
Had Mashele not been caught, he would have played a critical role in analysing the political landscape of our country in the period leading to important elections next year. Again, we ask, how do we know who to believe? How many other Masheles are out there?
What is clear is that Mashele is not an independent arbiter of the truth.
Instead, he comes across as a greedy puppet for politicians with questionable ethics and open chequebooks.
If Mashaba had any part in the lie about his autobiography being an unauthorised biography, who is to say what he is going to tell us next about how great his party, ActionSA is, is in fact the truth?
Once Mashaba saw the book was published as an unauthorised biography, knowing he funded it, he too had a duty to speak the truth. To be eager to speak the truth about other parties and to be self-effacing about clear lies about his book makes a mockery of his efforts to create an impression he is a champion of accountability, ethics, justice and democracy. This saga exposes him too for what he is.
In the end, it means all of us who love our country and our democracy must do everything possible to ensure that charlatans like Mashele are removed from the political playground and that dishonest politicians, from whence they come, are not rewarded with votes.
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