Mamkhize (ePub)

Shauwn 'Mamkhize' Mkhize is a larger than life personality who, like her father and brother before her, is loved and misunderstood in equal measure. Her combination of political and business acumen runs in her family, and so is her ability to garner the sometimes-grudging admiration of those who have followed her rise to fame and fortune in the democratic dispensation. In her memoir, Mamkhize: My World, My Rules, this remarkable businesswoman shares the details of her cloistered but privileged childhood, which was torn asunder by the assassination of her father and the subsequent quest by her brother to avenge his death. She tells the story of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from her unique vantage point, as a family member of a victim.

As a young accounting graduate freshly returned from an overseas experience, Shauwn lands what initially seems to be a dream job with the multinational corporation that had sponsored her training abroad. It soon dissipates into disappointment - work that receives insufficient pay and she bravely ventures into business. In this book, she dispels the urban legends about her wealth, family, marriage and subsequent divorce. She reflects on the much-publicized story of her reinvention as Mamkhize, the soccer boss, and shares the lessons that she has learned from the experiences that life has given her. A woman with incredible agency, Mamkhize allows the reader a glimpse into her family life and her formative years. She illuminates how they have shaped the woman that she is today. Not one to reveal every single trick of her trades (after all, she is the business), Shauwn Mkhize manages to regale without spoiling her aura of mystique. While touching the reader with her love for her parents, siblings and children, this memoir displays the dexterity with which she navigates modern life while striving to maintain a sense of tradition that keeps her grounded.