Ronald Suresh Roberts

Ronald Suresh Roberts(born February 17, 1968), also known as RSR, is a British West Indian biographer, lawyer and writer. He is best known for his biographies of some of the leading figures in the “New South Africa” such as Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer and former South African President Thabo Mbeki. He currently lives in London, England.

Early life

Roberts was born in Hammersmith, London to an Afro-Carribbean father and an Indo-Malaysian mother. His parents met while studying law but decided to move back to Roberts fathers homeland of Trinidad and Tobago shortly after Roberts birth. In was in Trinidad where Roberts attended Fatima College high school before being accepted into Balliol College, Oxford, and attending on the same Trinidad Government scholarship previously awarded to V. S. Naipaul.^[1] He went on to graduate from Harvard Law School with his thesis, “Clarence Thomas and the Tough Love Crowd: Counterfeit Heroes and Unhappy Truths”, being published by New York University Press. Roberts left a promising career as a Wall Street lawyer to monitor South Africa’s first multiracial elections in 1994.

Life in South Africa

Roberts arrived in South Africa as part of a delegation of international election monitors, and quickly became captivated the uniquely change-making events of the new South African era. He stay on over two decades and became immersed in the re-architecture of the South African constitution and institutions, especially the new bill of rights. Through his work with ANC Lawyer Kader Asmal, he advocated for and advised upon a broadening of socio-economic rights in the new South African constitution^[2]/. It was through this work with Kader Asmal that he became involved with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.^[3] Asmal, Roberts and Louise Asmal later collected their thoughts in one of the first scholarly discussions of Truth and Reconciliation “Reconciliation through Truth: A Reckoning of Apartheid’s Criminal Governance” a book for which Nelson Mandela wrote the preface.^[4] Mandela’s Deputy and successor as President, Thabo Mbeki, spoke at the launch of the book in Cape Town^[5]

Biographies

RSRs first biography was of white South African writer, Nadine Gordimer. Roberts first approached Gordimer regarding a biography in 1996 shortly after the completion of his second book, which Gordimer had admired, describing it in a blurb as “blazingly honest, unafraid to be controversial” and “written with verve and elegance”.^[6] Gordimer agreed to co-operate with the biography, with the condition that she would read the resulting manuscript prior to its publication. After several years of exhaustive interviews and research, Roberts provided Gordimer with a draft; Gordimer objected to Roberts portrayal of her views on Israel, as well as a passage in which Gordimer recounted “making up” a famous anecdote^[7] She also objected to the quoting of derogatory comments Gordimer had made about such prominent South Africans as Ruth First and Doris Lessing. When Roberts refused to compromise, citing journalistic integrity, Gordimer blocked publication of the biography cite.^[8]

Publishers Bloomsbury Publishing in London and Farrar, Straus and Giroux in New York subsequently withdrew from the project^[9][10] In letters to RSR both publishers praised the quality of the writing but cited Gordimer's refusal to authorise the biography as their reason not to publish it.^[11] Roberts characterized Gordimer's attempts to prevent publication of the biography as censorship^[12] and subsequently the manuscript was published by a small South African publisher, which defied Gordimer’s threats against it.^[13] The saga surrounding the biography was told in a New York Time piece entitled “Nadine Gordimer and the Hazards of Biography” ^[14] The title of the book, “No Cold Kitchen”, was reference to Gordimer’s perceived inability to withstand any form of criticism.^[15]

Shortly after publishing “No Cold Kitchen”, Roberts was approached by South African President Thabo Mbeki to write the first authorized account of his intellectual and policy agendas. Called “Fit to Govern: the native intelligence of Thabo Mbeki” the book was controversial for its insistent post-colonialism and focus on Mbeki as an African leader as opposed to a Western one. In the book Roberts argued that Mbeki’s view on the link between HIV and AIDS, was not one of ignorance or denial but scientific curiosity—and that may of the points raised by Mbeki and initially controversial have since entered the orthodoxy.^[16]

Current Work

Roberts has continued to write for many South African publications on subjects as diverse as politics, book reviews and cultural events. Roberts is known for his challenging viewpoints, indeed in a 2007 column Mail & Guardian editor Ferial Haffajee said Roberts "tests my commitment to freedom of expression".^[17] He is Founding Director of Baliol Knowledge, an organisation through which alumni of Balliol College Oxford collaborate impact across the planet.^[18]

Controversy

In 2007 author Anthony Brink accused Roberts of using elements of his own unfinished work in Roberts biography of Mbeki.

For the full article see Fit to Govern: The native intelligence of Thabo Mbeki

An Acting Judge of the Western Cape High Court judgement, found against Roberts in a defamation case Roberts instituted against the Sunday Times (South Africa) newspaper. The judgement gives detailed descriptions of his behaviour in dealing with a complaint against the South African Broadcasting Corporation^[19] As a consequence of losing the action, Roberts had to pay the Sunday Times costs.^[20]

References