Press release from Penguin Random House SA:

Breakthrough is an accessible and authoritative account of the power struggles and secret talks that led to the formal negotiations between the ANC and the NP government, written by Mac Maharaj and Z Pallo Jordan, two ANC veterans who were close to these events.

Because the book is an integral part of our history, the authors approached potential sponsors to make it available to a high-school audience. Through their generous sponsorship, and with the approval of the national and provincial education departments, every high school in South Africa was sent a copy of the book, to be placed in their school library so that learners, educators and staff can access it.

The total number of copies already distributed is 6903 and the provincial distribution is:

Limpopo 1300 copies
Gauteng 880 copies
North West 432 copies
Western Cape 661 copies
Northern Cape 154 copies
Mpumalanga 615 copies
KZN 1730 copies
Free State 358 copies
Eastern Cape 773 copies

The authors would like to thank the following sponsors who made this donation possible: Sivi Moodley of Macrocomm, Loganathan Naidoo of the Capital Hospital Group, Vikash and Anju Narsai from VNA Consulting, Abdool Karim (AK) Khan of Merit Clothing and Suresh Naidoo of Accensis.

Breakthrough was published in September 2021 and is available in all bookstores.

Mac Maharaj has been involved in the freedom struggle since 1953. After serving a 12-year sentence on Robben Island from 1965 to 1976, he was appointed secretary of the department charged with organising the ANC within South Africa. He served on the Revolutionary Council from 1978 and the NEC of the ANC from 1985 to 2000. He was joint secretary of CODESA, the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum and the Transitional Executive Council. He served in the first democratic cabinet and retired from active politics in 1999. President Zuma appointed him special envoy in 2009 and spokesman from 2011 to 2015, when he retired from that position.

Z Pallo Jordan has been a political activist since his student days. The ANC sent him to Luanda, Angola, in 1977 to revive Radio Freedom. He was elected to the NEC of the ANC in July 1985. He served on the ANC’s Constitutional Committee, established in 1986, and was its liaison with the NWC and the NEC. He was appointed to head the ANC’s Department of Information in 1988 and served as its principal spokesman until he entered Parliament in 1994. He served in various cabinet positions until 2008.

Categories Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Breakthrough Mac Maharaj News Penguin Random House SA Z Pallo Jordan