‘Mmusi Maimane Prophet or Puppet’ is an invaluable unauthorized biography of Maimane written by one of South Africa’s experienced political journalists, S’thembiso Msomi. Mmusi Maimane was elected as the first black leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) on May 10, 2015. The DA is a South African political party and the official opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

The title of the book is a play on Maimane’s dual role as a lay preacher, hence “Prophet”, and as the leader of a previously largely “white” party, hence the “Puppet”. Political enemies of the Prosecutor’s Office have accused Maimane that he is nothing more than a puppet of “hiring a black man” in the party.

The book ‘Mmusi Maimane Prophet or Puppet’ is both an excellent academic work and the fascinating story of a man who succeeded the nonconformist former DA leader Helen Zille. It is part of (Maimane’s) biography and part of contemporary history of DA’s metamorphosis from an exclusive club of classical liberals to a ‘broad church’ that appeals to the party’s non-traditional base of support, primarily the black electorate. By charting Maimane’s life path, he sheds new light on the political transformation of the man and the district attorney from a ‘white’ political party to one whose new leader shared experiences similar to those of most voters. As the mantra says, Maimane seeks to turn DA into an oasis of freedom, fairness, and opportunity for all. The book seeks and manages to bring to light Maimane’s early successes in his quest to repackage the opposition party as a party for all committed to a shared future with the majority of South Africans.

Author, Msomi spent several months following her theme in her day-to-day political engagements with a variety of constituencies. In Msomi’s attempt to bring up a complete picture of the DA’s first black leader, she attempted to connect the dots in Maimane’s life, talking to her childhood friends, acquaintances, teachers, and family. He spent a considerable amount of time with the man who recruited Maimane into the district attorney. We learned that it took three years for the DA MP in Parliament, Ian Ollis, to convince Maimane of the ‘blue machine’.

Msomi also navigated a mountain of documentary evidence, such as newspaper clippings, Maimane speeches, and broadcast clips to bring us a full picture of Maimane. In her analyzes of Maimane’s speeches, Msomi was able to distinguish a man at ease with himself. It is clear that Maimane is personable, warm and a prominent speaker among South African politicians.

‘Mmusi Maimane Prophet or Puppet’ follows in Maimane’s footsteps from his birth in Dobsonville, a township in Greater Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, to his meteoric rise from obscurity to head one of the fastest growing opposition parties in South Africa . It touches on how he dealt with the idea of ​​joining a liberal political party considering that he had always identified with the ANC. Msomi brings to life the voices and places that made Maimane in a way devoid of bloat. Msomi is critical, but empathetic to her main character (Maimane), whom she believes is a rising political star.

On the macro level, ‘Mmusi Maimane Prophet or Puppet’ is a critic of the South African type of liberalism. At the micro level, it is a study of the evolution of the political strategy of the DA since Maimane took over the kidneys. It does well in providing a balanced analysis of the political fortunes of the Office of the Prosecutor; its ideological confusion and its growth strategy. However, he lacks the exclusive voice of Maimane as it appears that the author was unable to have an in-depth interview with him.

The result of Msomi’s work is a rich contemporary look at the current state of the DA, its perspectives and weaknesses in this accelerated contemporary politics of our country. The question of whether Maimane is a puppet is well interrogated, but not the ‘Prophet’ part of the equation. Msomi argues that Maimane could be a prisoner of the district attorney’s political past, hence the question: Prophet or puppet?