It’s part thriller, part history and entirely real… Mandy Wiener’s ‘The Deal’ exposes the human side of South Africa’s political negotiations. And it is fascinating.
South Africa (12 November 2025) – This week on Good Things with Brent Lindeque, I had the absolute privilege of sitting down with one of South Africa’s most respected voices in journalism (and a really good friend), Mandy Wiener.
We spoke about her brand-new book, The Deal, which takes readers deep behind the curtain of the political negotiations that followed South Africa’s 2024 elections, the ones that quite literally changed the course of our democracy.
It’s the story of what happened when the ANC lost its majority for the first time in 30 years. Fourteen days. That’s all the country had to decide its future. Behind closed doors, from the elegant halls of the Inanda Club to secret hotel basements, political leaders met, argued, negotiated and strategised while a restless nation held its breath.
Mandy pulls back the political veil and gives us the real story.
We spoke about what was really going on behind the scenes of those negotiations, what it felt like sitting down with the President, and what was asked to be removed from the book before it hit shelves. She even revealed why Gayton McKenzie was running around his house naked (yes, that actually happened).
We also chatted about whether the EFF or MK ever responded to her requests for interviews.
The conversation is fascinating, layered, and, at times, surprisingly funny.
Mandy, who currently hosts The Midday Report on 702 and Cape Talk and writes regularly for EWN, has spent over two decades earning her stripes as one of South Africa’s most credible journalists and authors. Her investigative work has covered everything from the Jackie Selebi trial to the murder of Brett Kebble, and she’s become a trusted name when it comes to unpacking the truth, no matter how complicated it gets.
The Deal is the truth, the backstory, about how personalities, politics and pressure shaped our Government of National Unity.
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