Pat Stevens

Democratic Dawn: the Nineties Pat Stevens

Publisher Marketing: The 1994 South African democratic election was a glorious achievement unparalleled in history, never before had a ruling elite willingly given up power, and never before had a single bold individual achieved it. Now it can be revealed who the mover and shaker was, who stepped into the breach when the liberal press faltered, who kept his head when the journalists panicked and threatened to derail the transition. This hero is of course the one and only Rupertheimer, the hidden hand who steered his country to an embryonic democracy, yet ask yourself if you have read of Rupertheimer in any newspaper or book? Newspaper articles and books on the historic 1994 negotiations, all credit the liberal press for the successful transition to democracy, these articles and books were all written by South African journalists. Perhaps this is why parliament controls the media in the Scandinavian countries, why the press councils in New Zealand and Ireland have recently been restructured, and why the South African government have proposed a Media Appeals Tribunal. The old liberal mantra of hands off our free press isn't working anymore, the entire spectrum of political parties in Britain are clamoring for more effective press regulation, hopefully the Leveson Media Inquiry will assist in deciding who guards the guardians. Contributor Bio:  Stevens, Pat Patrick John Stevens was born in Johannesburg in the same month Steve Bantu Biko was born, December 1946 was also the month Alan Paton completed his novel Cry, the Beloved Country, so some characters in the early Pat Stevens novels derive from both these sources. The four books in the Greatest Game series, describe the events leading to the 1994 South African transition to democracy, detailing the scepticism of the press that almost derailed the process. A fictional hero named Rupertheimer masterminds the transition, and leads South Africa to a fledgling democracy, despite the interfering liberal journalists. Unfortunately these purveyors of doubt still operate in South Africa today, so a fifth novel titled Hero of the Struggle is set against the rise to power of Jacob Zuma, it describes the complicity of the press in his eight year persecution. This time the hero is the writer Will Powers, who succeeds in overcoming the dark forces, who threaten to engulf his land. A semi-autobiographical sixth book titled White Bird Under the Sun is also available, as is an anthology of short pieces Parables and Poems, while the mythical novel Zulu Vampire has now being posted. Waiting in the wings is a book titled Dice of Life, which introduces an Afrikaner seer, who makes some startling predictions.