Attention: You are using an outdated browser, device or you do not have the latest version of JavaScript downloaded and so this website may not work as expected. Please download the latest software or switch device to avoid further issues.
27 May 2022 | |
Written by Lynn Swanevelder | |
Visitors to The Mitre |
Co-author of the newly published "Spoilt Ballots", Nick Dall (1999B) recently visited The Mitre to chat with Dr Murray and mentioned his upcoming book.
Spoilt Ballots
The Elections that Shaped South Africa, from Shaka to Cyril
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.
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.
Read more HERE
Writing a column every month for the last 15 years! More...
Des Bravington visits from Switzerland More...
Johan Loubser (1961O) captured this historic picture. His father taught at the Prep for 41 years. More...
Sons, James and Euan find out what school life at Bishops was like. More...
James is back at school to prepare for the European hockey season. More...
We spotlight the extraordinary story of Derk Crichton, a distinguished OD, who celebrated his 100th birthday in 2019. More...
The Archbishop of Cape Town awarded the Order of Simon of Cyrene to Mr Gardener. More...
An icon of the world of birding, Peter Steyn, acclaimed ornithologist, sadly passed away. More...