Business Day Raves About Recent Biography on Faculty Member Mac Maharaj

Columnist Peter Bruce of Business Day— a South African daily newspaper covering economics, commerce and industry—wrote “If you do nothing else between now and Christmas, read the Mac Maharaj biography, Shades Of Difference — Mac Maharaj and the Struggle for South Africa, by Padraig O’Malley. It is easily the best book I have read on the ANC before and during exile and it has re-ignited my admiration for a man.”
Shades of Difference chronicles Maharaj’s life as an African National Congress (ANC) freedom fighter. At 29 years old Maharaj was detained for his political activities and brutally tortured for months. He was sentenced to 12 years on the notorious Robben Island where he and Nelson Mandela met and formed a lifelong partnership and friendship. Eventually, he would smuggle Mandela’s autobiography out of prison, going on to design and lead Operation Vula, an innovative military offensive that drastically altered the landscape and effectiveness of ANC operations. Following Mandela’s election as President in 1994, Maharaj served as free South Africa’s first cabinet Minister of Transport.

The Tuesday, August 21 Business Day article concludes, “Maharaj’s story is one of such bravery and courage (and bloody-mindedness) that it beggars belief."

Maharaj has recently served as editorial consultant for the biography Mandela: The Authorized Portrait and co-edited, with Mandela, Reflections in Prison: Voices from the South African Liberation Struggle. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

To read the full Business Day review, click here.

For more on Mac Maharaj and reviews of his biography, follow the corresponding links.

To listen to Maharaj on National Public Radio’s Open Source, click here.

To access his abbreviated biography and course listings, click here.

To purchase Shades of Difference, in bookstores now, click here.