South Africa is in the dark. With electricity blackouts reaching unprecedented levels, the economic and political uncertainty of past years has returned with a vengeance. Where to now? What will the country look like when it goes to national elections in 2024?

Even before the pandemic and lockdowns that started in 2020, the SA economy was sickly. Unemployment, poverty, and inequality were on the rise. Business confidence was at historic lows. Policy uncertainty brought on by lack of clarity on land expropriation and other key policies was already seen as a deterrent to foreign and domestic investment.

How can SA recover from the pandemic, the July riots, and the devastation of state capture? Is the ANC in terminal decline and what comes afterwards? What about social cohesion – are we walking apart again due to race, class, and ethnicity?

Justice Malala has for more than 15 years been one of SA’s most perceptive and accurate political analysts. In his entertaining yet sobering latest talk he explores these pressing questions and other issues facing SA, Africa, and the world. For a sober, realistic, practical, and yet hopeful and entertaining assessment of SA’s political landscape, Justice Malala is the go-to analyst for South Africa’s most powerful businesses and organizations.

Justice Malala’s brilliant new book, The Plot To Save South Africa, was published in Canada, the UK, the USA, and South Africa in April 2023. The book reached number one on the SA best-seller list in April 2023 and was among the top five best-sellers for more than three months. It was hailed as “gripping and important” by The Guardian (UK), “trenchant” by Foreign Affairs (USA), “masterful, compelling, fast-moving” by The Conversation (Africa), while the Financial Times (UK) said it “wonderfully captures the spirit of the time”.

The book is the never-before-told story of how Nelson Mandela, with his political opponent FW de Klerk, had to confront a terrible deed—the 1993 assassination of Mandela’s protégé and most likely successor, Chris Hani.

The murder of the charismatic Hani by white supremacist Janusz Walus threatened to derail South Africa’s fragile democracy talks and plunge the country into racial war.

Following the actions of Nelson Mandela and others over the next nine days of growing chaos, protests, police brutality, reprisal killings, arson and calls for paramilitary units to get combat-ready, Malala illustrates the leadership lessons we can use in our work, in everyday life, and in key leadership moments. Malala shows us how Mandela taught us about collaboration, how stepping back is also leading, how leaders face up to their mistakes and weaknesses, and so much more.

Malala’s book has already been named by Publishers’ Weekly as one of its top ten most anticipated history books of 2023. It has already received the Booklist’s coveted starred review.

Malala is well known for his deep political analysis and his entertaining, predictive, talks. Malala has now developed a powerful new talk for leadership strategy sessions, sales teams, management breakaways and anyone interested in harnessing the power of leadership for the greater good of their organization.

In the 2000s international investors and analysts hailed the growth of Africa, with the Economist and TIME magazines running cover stories emblazoned with the slogan “Africa Rising”. This was a far cry from ten years before, when the Economist shocked the world with the cover that had an image of Africa and the depressing words “The Hopeless Continent”.

Now, many of those who heaped praise on Africa that this is the end of “Africa Rising”. They point to new conflicts in Burundi, presidents grabbing extra presidential terms, drought wreaking havoc across the continent, negative impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and poor economic growth.

In this talk South African political commentator and author Justice Malala looks at the setbacks on the continent and considers whether this is truly the end of “Africa Rising”.

While confronting the continent’s problems, Malala also highlights positive aspects of the Africa story: the new era of co-operation ahead as the continent’s 54 countries intensify implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement, peaceful elections continue to dominate, African-brokered peace deals are holding. While venture capital funding fell 35% globally in 2022, funding for the African sector grew 8% to $6.5 billion, with debt funding more than doubling to $1.5 billion, according to Partech’s 2022 Africa Tech Venture Capital Reads.

For American companies considering expansion, there is opportunity and good news. For example, the IMF forecasts that five African countries – Libya, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Niger – will be among the top 10 fastest growing globally in 2023. Malala says astute business leaders should not look at Africa as one monolithic structure, but must learn to identify opportunities where they lie in democracies that are strengthening and are innovative.