after the party tells the human story of a cosmopolitan, white, jewish south african, married to a bangladeshi muslim, who was deeply committed to be the anc until he was expected to choose between his principles and the party. the circumstances surrounding his agonising decision to reveal extraordinary insights into the state of the contemporary south and the battles currently raging within the anc.

Andrew Feinstein became an active – and ardent – member of the ANC in the 1980s, and campaigned energetically for the party in the first democratic elections. He was elected to parliament and rose swiftly through the ranks, earning the label 'Mr Clean' for his unstinting work against graft and corruption. But his feelings of euphoria at being part of the new South Africa slowly soured. Initially disappointed by the constant jockeying for power and the denialist AIDS policy of President Thabo Mbeki, Feinstein’s disillusionment grew as he sought unsuccessfully to investigate the corruption surrounding the Arms Deal. Isolated from his former comrades, Feinstein was forced to choose between his principles and the party he had so admired.