Could I Vote DA?, written by the evening’s host, Power FM radio presenter Eusebius McKaiser.

Mr McKaiser began the event by commending Mr Mashele and Dr Qobo on their contribution to South African literature and also noted that there is a lack of honesty by some political analysts and commenters who explicitly shy away from sharing their thoughts on the state the country is in.

In a brief introduction, Mr Mashele had this to say about why he thought this book was necessary – particularly in the lead up to the 2014 general election: “We wanted to demystify the ANC, because the ANC in our view over the last 20 years has been treated as an untouchable phenomenon – that you cannot honestly analyse the ANC – and we feel that is very dangerous.”

Dr Qobo then highlighted some key issues that the authors believe have shown areas of weakness within the ANC and have, as a result, come to define the ANC’s lack of good governance in the 20 years since coming into power. If not rectified, these issues would likely lead to the demise of the ANC.

“There is a leadership vacuum within the ANC and a disconnection between the leadership and the citizenry of South Africa,” said Dr Qobo.

The character of the ANC has changed dramatically over the years and its character cannot be judged independently of its leaders, because without them there is no ANC, said Qobo. The issue of leadership dominated much of the conversation, as did corruption, nepotism, maladministration in provinces, and incompetence in public office.

Audience members were given the opportunity to ask the authors questions relating to some of the prominent issues about their book – an opportunity that some used to challenge the book’s claim to a “falling” ANC. However, the question that stood out was: “where to next?” Who should South Africans vote for in the coming election and were the authors insinuating that people should not vote for the ANC?

The answer to this question was met with a great deal of laughter as Dr Qobo calmly said, “people need to vote for someone other than the ANC. You’ll be surprised; you might just have your break-through moment.”