Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh has released a South Africa’s hip-hop album and book combination titled Democracy and Delusion.
Mpofu-Walsh launched the book and album at Rosebank Mall on 25 October.
The book consists of 10 essays which seek to dispel what Mpofu-Walsh considers to be myths in South African politics, such as ‘Living conditions are steadily improving’ and ‘Free education is unachievable’.
“The book is centred on 10 myths in 10 chapters. Each chapter of the book deconstructs a long-cherished and long-held myth that has taken root in the South African public’s psyche. The album has 10 songs which mirror the chapters of the book so each chapter has a soundtrack,” said Mpofu-Walsh.
The author, who has been an outspoken activist, particularly during the Rhodes Must Fall movement, began working on the project in early 2014. “I started to think that despite the fact that we have this veneer of public debate, we actually agree on a lot of the fundamentals in South Africa. We actually have to challenge more fundamental assumptions that lie at the root of our political discourse.”
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Mpofu-Walsh hopes that the research in the book will help dispel some of the myths which he believes prevents South Africans from having a more fruitful debate. “These 10 myths are widely held and cross political divides and the only people these myths serve are the people who benefit from the chaos which grows day by day.”
Some of the other myths included in the book include, ‘South Africa has a free media’, ‘Elite schools benefit society’ and one which Mpofu-Walsh has received a lot of criticism for, ‘The ANC liberated South Africa’.
“The book sets out to challenge things which we hold dear and it is a personal journey because at one time or another I was also party to the mistake of accepting many of these myths.”
Mpofu-Walsh highlights various issues in the book such as the issues of land rights and the importance of improving the education system.
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