ANC Gauteng statement on the gross deception of self-aggrandising Herman Mashaba

21 May 2023

The African National Congress in Gauteng has learned with great concern that the leader of ActionSA, Herman Mashaba, has pulled off one of the greatest acts of deception in literary history. Earlier this month, a book on Mashaba, The Outsider: The Unauthorised Biography of Herman Mashaba, by Prince Mashele, was released to much fan-fare. The book purported to be an unauthorised biography when in fact, Mashaba not only paid Mashele a mind-numbing R12.5 million towards its "research," but was also involved in the process of providing information to Mashele. This secret agreement that was entered into by Mashaba and Mashele is not only unethical, but it also raises some very serious legal questions.

An unauthorised biography is a book about a person's life written without their permission or involvement in the book. This means that the subject being written about does not grant permission for the writing and publication of the book, and does not sit down for any interviews or in any way get involved in the process of data collection and analysis.

Unauthorised biographies, even as they may not be privy to some information or corrections known only to the subject or the subject's close friends and family, are considered as more objective and thus, tend to be regarded as a relatively more truthful account than those in which the subject participates in the shaping of the narrative.

This is precisely what makes Mashaba's actions more problematic. He actively orchestrated a deception not only to the publishers of the book, but to the entire country and an electorate to whom he has presented himself as an ethical and moral person. Mashaba knowingly facilitated this unconscionable deception not only because he is a master of self-aggrandisement, but because he undermines the collective intelligence of South Africans, whom he has demonstrated great disdain with such an action.

Prince Mashele, on the other hand, has not only also knowingly participated in this great deception, but he has exposed himself as anything but an "independent analyst" and we daresay, a true scholar. Over the years, Mashele has been masquerading as a credible scholar and a researcher par excellence and yet, in entering into such an unethical secret agreement with Mashaba, he broke every rule in scholarship, not least of all being that of scholarly integrity.

Scholarly integrity would have demanded that Mashele acknowledge all his sources, including Mashaba, with whom he allegedly had many hours of interviews with during the process of writing the book.

Scholarly integrity would have also demanded that Mashele declare any conflict of interest, which is evident since the subject of the book was also its funder. Mashele did not do any of this because it would have required that both he and Mashaba admit the truth to the public:

that the book was nothing more than a self-aggrandising tool for Mashaba's insatiable need for fame and applause. Scholars and those who are invested in the ideational space should come out and make a strong statement about Mashele's conduct, for he has plunged academia itself into an ethical nightmare. Beyond the ethics of the book, there are also questions of epistemic injustice that must be raised. It is reported that Mashele hired a former employee of the City of Johannesburg, Brutus Malada, who is a senior researcher and consultant, to aid with the research component of the book, and yet, nowhere in the book is Malada acknowledged despite his contribution, for which he was paid R3.2 million from the budget that Mashaba funded. This is not only unethical, but it is injustice that has historically been done to Black people, whose intellectual labour is never acknowledged.

The fact that Mashele, who purports to be a social activist, perpetuated this kind of epistemic injustice on another Black person, is indicative of the regressive politics of both Mashele and his purse, Mashaba. In addition, Mashele has now resorted to bully tactics of unleashing lawyers on Malada, a man whose only crime was to blow the whistle on the greatest literary deception of our time. The letter from Mashele's lawyers to Malada, demanding a retraction and apology for what they know is a factual account of the book, is nothing more than an intimidation tactic from Mashele and Mashaba, who are both desperate to see this story disappear from public memory.

As the ANC in Gauteng, we call on Mashaba to come clean about how his "unauthorised biography" came into existence. We also call on Jonathan Ball Publishers to withdraw the book from the shelves and subject it to the necessary corrections. An authorised biography must not masquerade as an unauthorised biography, nor must a paid author be permitted to continue giving interviews claiming that he funded the project himself when it was in fact funded by the subject of the book. Jonathan Ball Publishers should recognise that by not taking action against this book, it is choosing to be an accomplice to a fraudulent and unethical product, and rubber-stamping a flawed and immoral process. No publisher with any semblance of credibility would knowingly stand by such a compromised book.

South Africans have been taken for granted by a man who wants to position himself as moral, ethical and honest — an "outsider" who does not behave like "the rest of them" who are supposedly morally bankrupt, as he so often refers to the governing party in particular. This incident demonstrates that what Mashaba is, in reality, an immoral, unethical and patently dishonest man.

It also demonstrates that Mashele is a morally compromised person — masquerading as an independent analyst — who is available to the highest bidder. Their collective egos, blatant disregard for ethics and endless capacity to tell lies is astounding. We must not allow them to think this is a lie they can get away with. If we do, we will be setting parameters for an amoral attitude to the integrity demanded of those who believe they should lead.

Issued by the Lesego Makhubele, ANC Gauteng Spokesperson and Head of DIP, 21 May 2023