Book review: The Black Diamonds

By Stephen Mbedzi

Author: Dr. Mulalo Nemavhandu

Publisher: Zambe Press

In spite of being ‘good income’ earners, most Black Diamonds in South Africa have small levels of accumulated wealth.

Many live from pay cheque to pay cheque. And most of the time, these people cannot survive for a month or two economically without a monthly income. Regardless of having lived expensive lifestyles, most of these people are likely to retire poor.

Dr. Mulalo Nemavhandu, an acclaimed author of the renowned and controversial international best-selling book: Mugabe’s Crimes Exposed, has yet again released another highly edifying book called The Black Diamonds.

Unlike his previous book, Mugabe’s Crimes Exposed, which appeared to have been written exclusively for consumption of the learned readers, the current book epitomizes the opposite. Its language is simplified.

According to Nemavhandu, he has decided to write this book in a remarkably simple language and used a lot of real life experiences. But in spite of that, his book remains a business book with a non-business language. It’s less technical and everyone can read and understand the message unequivocally”. Be that as it may, Nemavhandu is clearly alert that many readers would find his book disconcerting as he questions whether Black Diamonds are acquiring riches or wealth? Quoting Dale Carnegie who warned that, “When dealing with people, let us remember that we are dealing with creatures of emotions”; Nemavhandu says his book is bound to anger a lot of people because it tells the truth.

He argues, “Truth can hurt, but honest truth hurts even more. This is exactly what this book is all about – the truth and nothing but the truth.”

I can attest to that. By reading this book, there’s absolutely no way you wouldn’t find yourself in some sections of the book. It is so skilfully packaged, and you may even envision as if the author is telling you bedtime stories about real life experiences. In doing so, Nemavhandu correctly acknowledged and cited the data from Unilever Institute and other media reports and praised them for the keen research and branding of the Black Diamonds’ concept.

Apart from these reports, Nemavhandu also noted that with the demise of apartheid in South Africa during the mid-1990s, there was an explosion in the field of black entrepreneurship. These people, according to him, have unstable income, but they have strong spending appetite. Most of the people in this category – spend, spend, and spend – in anticipation of having money before they even earn it.

I recommend this book for everyone and surely it will change your life for the better. The title may be about the Black Diamonds, but I found this book to be for everyone, irrespective of race or age group. And needless to say, many will be angry at the truth.

The Black Diamonds is no doubt the best book in the market. I’ve never enjoyed reading a book in the same way before and could not stop laughing as I read through it.

I wish it can form part of our school curriculum one of these days.