With their trademark wit, levity and meticulous research, Nick Dall and Matthew Blackman have told the stories of South Africa’s long history at the polls in a compelling and entertaining way, bringing narratives to life through the protagonists and the juicy sideshows.’ – Mandy Wiener, journalist and author
If you paid even a moment’s attention during high-school history lessons, you probably know that 1910 brought about the Union of South Africa, that the 1948 general election ushered in apartheid, and that the Rainbow Nation was born when Madiba triumphed in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.
Spoilt Ballots dishes the dirt on these pivotal events in our history. But it also sheds light on a dozen lesser-known contests, starting with the assassination of King Shaka in 1828 and ending with the anointing of President Cyril at Nasrec in 2017.
Spoilt Ballots is as much about the people who voted in some of our most decisive elections as it is about those who didn’t get to make their mark. It explains why a black man in the Cape had more political rights in 1854 than at any other point in the ensuing 140 years and how the enfranchisement of women in 1930 was actually a step back for democracy.
The book will leave you wondering if Oom Paul Kruger’s seriously dicey win in the 1893 ZAR election might have paved the way for the Boer War and whether ‘Slim Jannie’ Smuts really was that slim after all. It shows how the Nats managed to get millions of English-speakers to vote for apartheid and why the Groot Krokodil’s attempt to co-opt coloureds and Indians into the system backfired spectacularly.
Entertaining and impeccably researched, Spoilt Ballots lifts the lid on 200 years of electoral dysfunction in our beloved and benighted nation.
The very concept of time has long fascinated us humans, with famous philosophers trying to make sense of it and how it all works. Einstein himself said that time is an illusion, while Cher wondered if there was a way she could turn back time and take back the words that would hurt whoever she was singing about.
Throw South African time into the mix and we confuse the rest of the world even more, with concepts like 'just now' and 'now now', neither of which actually mean 'now'.
Sometimes, it's best to not worry too much about philosophy or Cher lyrics, and just be content with being able to tell the time at all. And nothing could help you do that better than our deal on gorgeous ladies Élysées watches from Christophe Duchamp.