Crispian Olver

Crispian Olver has been a medical doctor, political leader, environmental activist and public servant. He joined Nelson Mandela’s office in 1994 as head of planning for the Reconstruction and Development Programme, and went on to run the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism as Director General.

He has had a lifelong interest in local government issues, and in 2015 he took on the most challenging assignment of his career, heading up an intervention to clean up corruption in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro.

Author's books

A House Divided

It’s 2018 and Cape Town is wracked by its worst drought on record. The prospect of ‘Day Zero’ – when the taps will run dry – is driving citizens into a frenzy. Then the ruling Democratic Alliance removes control of the water issue from Mayor Patricia de Lille. While politicians turn on each other, revealing deep-lying faultlines and new enmities, it raises a critical question: who will lead the Mother City through the crisis?

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How to Steal a City

How to Steal a City is an insider’s account of state capture in the city of Port Elizabeth from an ANC member and former senior government official. Written as a gripping real-life thriller, it takes the reader into the rotten heart of a city.

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How to Steal a City (Audiobook)

The Battle for Nelson Mandela Bay

How to Steal a City is an insider’s account of state capture in the city of Port Elizabeth from an ANC member and former senior government official. Written as a gripping real-life thriller, it takes the reader into the rotten heart of a city.

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