This book alerts readers to the dangers of tradition as a formal, structured politics, which enriches a narrowly elite minority while overriding democratic rights, effecting a 'state of exception' for the governance of millions who are rendered as 'subjects' in South Africa. Gerhard Mare sets his focus on three powerful men - Goodwill Zwelithini, Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Jacob Zuma - to illustrate how, from different social locations, each has relied on claims to Zulu tradition to occupy powerful and financially rewarding positions.

Print edition not for sale in Sub-Saharan Africa.