FACES AND PHASES OF RESILIENCE A Memoir of a Special Kind

Tinyiko Maluleke Foreword by Dr Reuel J Khoza

Publisher: Tracey McDonald Publishers

ISBN: 978-1-0672288-7-3

Format: Trade Paperback

Genre: Memoir

RRP: R380

Book size: 235x153mm

Page extent: 372pp

Publication Date: April 2025 Also available as an eBook:

ePUB ISBN: 978-1-0672288-8-0

 

With wit, humour and an elegant turn of phrase, Maluleke straddles the arts, music, politics, business, education, traditions, culture and other spheres of a people’s existence. The master stroke in the book are the tributes Maluleke pays to ordinary people, especially mothers and grandmothers, who have played a critical role in nurturing the many figures we see in society and thereby knitting together the fabric of our nation.

DR MOSIBUDI MANGENA, Former Minister of Science and Technology

About the Book

In this captivating collection of essays, Tinyiko Maluleke invites his readers on a journey that begins with his eventful boyhood in Soweto and his life-changing upbringing in Limpopo. His heartfelt reflections on the roles of mothers, grandmothers and aunts in his own childhood and in the upbringing of his peers, heroes and heroines, will resonate deeply with readers. In the truest sense, this is a ‘feminist’ book – one that powerfully highlights and celebrates the vital contributions of women to national development.

This memoir traces Maluleke’s journey through academia, his rise through the ranks, and the invaluable lessons he learned along the way. Woven into his personal narrative is a broader reflection on the South African experience, encouraging readers to reconsider the history of the country – its villages, townships and even their own identities.

Maluleke delivers unflinching analysis of critical issues facing South Africa, blending rigorous scholarship with a masterful command of diverse literary genres and writing styles. More than just a memoir, this book is both a tribute and a testament to the moments, places, and people – both celebrated and unsung – that have shaped his perspective. His incisive profiles of fellow university leaders are particularly compelling.

Faces and Phases of Resilience will make you think, laugh, yell, and cry. More than just a personal memoir, it is the memoir of a country, a historical epoch, and a people – an invitation into the tragedy, beauty and hope that define South Africa.

Forty-nine chapters later, the book closes with a haunting essay on the scourge of xenophobia, culminating in a chillingly titled reflection, ‘The Day I Die’ – an ironic foretelling of Maluleke’s own death – that lingers long after the final page.

About the Author

PROFESSOR TINYIKO MALULEKE is the current Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) as well as the Deputy Chairperson of the National Planning Commission. He is a distinguished South African academic and an influential public intellectual.

He has judged prestigious literary awards, held various executive roles in several South African higher education institutions—such as Unisa, UJ and UP. Maluleke is also an Extraordinary Professor at Unisa.

His global academic footprint include guest lectureships and postgraduate student supervisions at such universities as the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Helsinki, Finland, University of Hamburg in Germany, University of Johannes Gutenberg in Germany and Calvin University in the USA. Beyond academia, he is a respected columnist, op-ed writer, and political analyst