LISTEN | Bulelani Ngcuka and Albie Sachs reflect on ‘Bulelani Ngcuka: The Sting in the Tale’

27 June 2022 - 13:50
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'The Sting in the Tale' is a first-hand account of our most recent legal and political history.
'The Sting in the Tale' is a first-hand account of our most recent legal and political history.
Image: Supplied

After several years of serving on opposing sides of the law, former national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka and former Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs reconnect and reflect on Ngcuka’s story, Bulelani Ngcuka: The Sting in the Tale by Marion Sparg.

“[Bulelani Ngcuka: The Sting in the Tale is] is highly relevant today as prosecutors deal with the aftermath of state capture. Fascinating from the first page to the last,” says Sachs.

In this sweeping biography, based on many hours of interviews with Ngcuka, Sparg uncovers the roots of his fearless activism and tells his side of the story. She goes back to his modest beginnings in the Eastern Cape, to his lawyering years with the formidable Griffiths Mxenge, his periods of detention, exile and his homecoming.

About the author

Sparg obtained a Bachelor of journalism degree from Rhodes University in 1979 and worked briefly as a journalist at the Sunday Times before leaving the country in 1981. She joined uMkhonto we Sizwe and in 1986 was given a 25-year prison sentence for high treason. She worked for the ANC as publicity secretary and then co-ordinator of Cyril Ramaphosa’s office from 1991 to 1994. She was deputy executive director of the Constitutional Assembly, then CEO of the National Council of Provinces.

Listen to Sachs’ and Ngcuka’s conversation here:


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