O'Mandingo! Before Mandela was Mandela was written in the years prior to Mandela's release from jail, the author has chosen these pieces to follow up on his previous title O'Mandingo! The only black at a dinner party. Read this and remember when, as the author says in his introduction, "..under apartheid one had to hide one's meaning and hope that it will still be discovered." Miyeni writes in fact and fiction of those years when our realities were skewed by apartheid, yet we knew one thing for certain, and it was that Mandela was Mandela. "You know, I wore a t-shirt with Viva Mandela written on it to work once and one of the drivers came up to me and said in Zulu, 'Sorry bra, but I really didn't know that Viva was Mandela's first name.' How's that hey? The guy probably didn't even know whether Mandela was related to Stompie or not. For those who cannot read (and I'm sure there are plenty in this country) Stompie is the stub that was put out in an ashtray placed a little too close ton our version of the Queen Mother..."