Xolela Mangcu has earned a reputation as one of the most vibrant and engaging public voices in South Africa. This selection of his best columns, published locally and internationally over the past two decades, is vivid, polemical and poignant. It records the initial excitement - and growing disillusionment - about the ANC in government, and the leadership meltdown at the heart of the South African crisis. Placing South Africa in an African context, Mangcu examines political transitions and the limits to the politics of patronage in post-colonial societies. He also casts rare light on the relationship between black intellectuals and South Africa's black-led government.