I AM APPALLED! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU TAFELBERG!!!

You have been conniving and

dishonest in appropriating a sentence from an entire article and placing it as a shout out for a book that
YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN, was the antithesis of what I believe and the complexity that I embrace when
analyzing historical figures. In Fred Bridgland’s book on Winnie Madikizela Mandela, you take a sentence
in an article I wrote, and place it prominently at the back of the book knowing that readers will assume it
would be interpreted as a ‘blurb’ or a ‘shout out.’ Even the most average reader would interpret a shout
out as a statement of endorsement. People hardly write unkind shout-outs. It is not customary to
spend time reading and writing shout- outs for writers who are not worthy of our time. A willingness to
write a foreword or shout-out is an indirect endorsement and YOU KNOW THIS. So HOW DARE YOU!

I am not the only victim of your nefarious, dishonest tactic. Prominent writers and commentators like
Sisonke Msimang, Aubrey Matshiqi and Palesa Morudu have been used by you in this most
unprofessional and unkind manner. Why did you do it?

I ask this question because you have, over the years, always managed to find me, to ask me to write
reviews and shout-outs for your authors. The most recent request from yourself was on Lukhanyo
Calata’s book about his father, Fort Calata. “My Father Died For This: A Story of the Calata Family.” You
had my email and Gill Moodie found me. It was only in January this year (2018). Why couldn’t you find
me this time?

Let’s rewind the clock further. I wrote two shout-outs for you last year (2017), for very prominent and
formidable South Africans; Professor Jonathan Jansen and Mark Heywood. My name and shout-outs are
at the back of both Jansen and Heywood’s books. This was in 2017. You found me. Why couldn’t you
find me this time?

Let’s go even way back. Judge Edwin Cameron’s Justice: A personal Account. My name is on the front
cover. And extract of my review is used quite prominently on the cover. I was on maternity leave when
Tafelberg asked for my review. You found me. This was Judge Cameron and it was an honour for me to
write about the impact of his story. You could not find me this time? You could. You just CHOSE not to.

So you (Tafelberg) and I, have a history. A history of mutual respect that led to you constantly seeking
me out and me always saying yes, unless, as in Calata’s case, my time simply did not allow. Why did you
not ask me this time around? I will tell you why. YOU KNEW I WOULD SAY NO. YOU KNEW IT. Because
those of us who understand Winnie’s complexity, those of us who have transcended the “BOTH SIDES”
politically-correct argument and have a clear stance on who she is in history, would never put our names
on a book that plays to a particular narrative about her. You knew this. So you got a group of respected
black people to endorse your book, which lacks nuance, empathy, complexity and a sense of history.
Interestingly, between Morudu, Msimang and myself, we disagree passionately about who Winnie is
and was. You have appropriated our writings and used them without the necessary context. Even more
jarring for me, you bypassed all dictates of decency and decorum. You violated a relationship of mutual
respect and abused my generosity. I have given you my time, read manuscripts when I had numerous
deadlines, and yet, on this particular book, you just conveniently forgot to ask me? You knew I would say
NO, and you knew WHY I would say NO. You went ahead and not only used my Sunday Times article
without context but used an extract from my latest book KHWEZI: The remarkable Story of Fezekile
Ntsukela Kuzwayo in the book to claim that the outcome of Winnie’s trial was a “triumph of law over
justice.” My argument about “the triumph of law over justice” in the Jacob Zuma rape trial, is
completely misplaced and misused in Bridgland’s book. In YOUR book.

I guess in a bittersweet twist of irony, you have proved my point above. You did not do anything illegal.
You did not break the law. And that is your defense, I guess. But you did break the moral code, the sense
of right and wrong, you DID disrespect us. You behaved in an underhand, dishonest way. A real triumph
of law over justice.

You knew where to find me. Why didn’t you do it? You knew which email address to use, which number
to dial and which author in your stable to call, if you were struggling to find me. You did not do it. WHY?
I know why. Because it was a book about Winnie Madikizela Mandela. And like many who were not
there, many who don’t come from our world, you were too busy cementing your politics. You were too
sold on YOUR story, to ask us how we REALLY felt about her. SHAME ON YOU TAFELBERG!