PRESIDENTIAL POWER, a Jacana pocket history

169pp., paperback, Jacana Media, Johannesburg, 2025

ISBN: 9781431435715

In this study of the complex nature of power in post-apartheid South Africa, Anthony Butler explores the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa, and demonstrates how each one has attempted to realise their political projects in the face of profound societal challenges and a rapidly changing global landscape.  

Anthony Butler is Professor of Political Studies at the University of
Cape Town. He has previously been a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Director of the Politics and Administration programme at Birkbeck College, University of London, and Chair in Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is a regular columnist for Business Day newspaper.