Dancing with Hyenas

Dancing with Hyenas is a tour-de-force that blends excellent prose with fact-driven stories to give a fresh perspective of the black struggle against the oppressive conditions of apartheid South Africa. The reader is taken 'behind the scenes' to conversations and strategy sessions in which successive generations of black youths are conscientized about the ideals of the liberation struggle. In the book, author Mzi Mahola tells the stories in evocative, authentic, and thought-provoking narrative. Elsewhere he recounts the deep soul-searching exchanges among the black youth about the goals and efficacy of the Black Consciousness Movement in advancing cause of black liberation. His accounts are remarkably accurate, especially given the fifteen-year range over which the book is written. What is most refreshing about Dancing with Hyenas is the emic perspective it takes since most of the books on the topic are written by outside observers. This is a one-of-a-kind book- amust-read for any interested in learning from indigenous blacks how they were able to make meaning of the lives while confronted by vagaries and vicissitudes of that vicious system, which was finally brought down in the early 1990s. Mzamo P MangalisoProfesor, Isenberg School of ManagementUniversity of Massachusetts - Amherst MADancing with Hyenas is a bout rites of passage of a young man hurled into maturity in a troubled land. Mzikayise Mahola conveys the story choosing words with the precision and dexterity of a poet, recalling events and painting them with the skill reserved for great story tellers. The book enthrals as it enables the reader to journey with Lizo through the labyrinth of dark paths in a perilous South Afica. We do not know how he will, survive the wrath of the system whose vultures always hover with devilish zeal and sickening patience. Lizo thrives in a world that betrays taleneted and ambitious youth. Mahola lucidly captures the snippets of history, sharing hopes and shattered dreams in the trapping of the old South Africa. Indeed, this book is a piece of history that exemplifies how many young people experienced the rough ride into brittle futures. Vuysile T. MsilaProfessor and Head, Institute for African Renaissance Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA)