Biographer Anthony Butler: Decoding enigma that is Cyril Ramaphosa

LONDON — Is Cyril Ramaphosa the right man at the right time for a beleaguered South Africa? In 2008, Anthony Butler authored the definitive biography on SA's new president. – Alec Hogg

This is the Rational Perspective, I'm Alec Hogg. In this episode 'decoding the enigma – that is Cyril Ramaphosa.' Biographies account for at least half the books I own and a legacy of a long held fascination for learning about people. This accumulation was turbo charged by Berkshire Hathaway chairman and devoted bookworm, Warren Buffett, making small talk whilst signing autographs I asked how many books the then 80-year-old read? He told me he had slowed to two a day, and his favourites were biographies and as you really can't go wrong following Buffett. Well, my latest investment has been in the 413 pages of Anthony Butler's superb biography on SA President Cyril Ramaphosa. Classically trained Butler, who read a PPE at Oxford and has a PHD from Cambridge, wrote the book more than a decade ago, after taking a nine-month break from his academic duties at the UCT to interview those close to this very private, deeply thoughtful politician who has and is playing such a massive role in his homeland.

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