to me until very late. 0k. let's fast forward a bit from then, but presumably at this point you're still not making much money writing, 1994, you were sent by the guardian to south africa to govern the country's first democratic elections. why did they choose you, and what was it like to be a witness to such historic change? well, they chose me because they were — first of all, i had got a bursary from the guardian, so i was known. and i was — when i... when i interviewed for the bursary, i talked about my work in the anti—apartheid movement to alan rusbridger, who would become the editor. and it was a kind of typical liberal dilemma. they knew that there were stories that white journalists couldn't get in south africa in the run—up to the elections, but they hadn't employed enough black journalists that they wanted to send, actually, barely any that they wanted to send.