Product Description
The Battle of Bangui
Authors: Warren Thompson, Stephan Hofstatter, James Oatway
Format: Paperback
The inside story of South Africa’s worst military scandal since apartheid
In March 2013, South Africa suffered its worst military defeat since the end of apartheid. After a battle that lasted almost two days, 200 crack troops who engaged 7 000 rebels in the Central African Republic were forced to negotiate a ceasefire at their base. Thirteen South African soldiers died in the battle, with two more later succumbing to their wounds.
The mission was shrouded in mystery from the start. The deployment and the diplomatic machinations that led to it were kept secret from the South African public and Parliament. So, too, were an assortment of shadowy commercial interests held by businessmen, some with close ties to the African National Congress.
In an investigation spanning more than seven years, the authors gained exclusive access to the soldiers who fought valiantly against overwhelming odds; travelled to Bangui to obtain documentation and meet the rebel leaders who took part in the battle; interviewed a deposed dictator living in exile in Paris; and spoke to the widows of the fallen soldiers.
They also met influen¬tial fixers and dealmakers, and unearthed secret files containing bribe agreements to unravel an intricate web of corruption and patronage reaching the highest echelons of power in South Africa and the CAR. After close to a decade of speculation and rumour, The Battle of Bangui lays bare for the first time both the litany of strategic, tactical and logistical blunders that ended in military disaster, and the secret diplomatic and commercial deals that led to South Africa’s worst foreign misad¬venture of the democratic era. It’s also a cracking war story filled with heroism, camaraderie, terror, pathos and triumph over adversity.
About the Author
Warren Thompson is a financial investigative journalist at the Business Day and Financial Mail. He has been at the forefront of exposing fraud and corruption in the private sector, most notably in unearthing what happened at Steinhoff. He has also contributed to the understanding of 'state capture', including the nefarious business dealings of the Gupta family with the state.
Stephan Hofstatter is an award-winning investigative journalist with a long track record of uncovering corruption at state entities. In a journalism career spanning more than two decades he has worked or written for various publications, including Business Day, the Financial Mail, Sunday Times, Mail & Guardian, Farmer's Weekly, GQ South Africa and Der Tagesspiegel, and contributed to two books by renowned photographer Jürgen Schadeberg. Hofstatter's stories, produced alone or as part of a team, have won many accolades. These include several Journalist of the Year awards for work on land reform and corruption in the police department and communications ministry, two Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism and two Taco Kuiper Awards for Investigative Journalism for exposing government corruption. James Oatway is an award-winning independent photojournalist and former chief photographer of the Sunday Times. Most of his work revolves around themes of political and social inequality, migration and conflict. His photographs of the murder of Mozambican migrant Emmanuel Sithole by South African men during a wave of xenophobic violence in 2015 sparked outrage and made international headlines.
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