A blessed man is he who is able to see through and live his childhood dream, and Dan Moyane is absolutely that blessed man. It was his dream to never die unknown, and today he is one of most recognized faces on television throughout the country and across the globe.
In I Don’t Want to Die Unknown, Bra Dan takes the readers on a journey of his remarkable life: from his humble beginnings in Soweto, joining the fight against apartheid in exile, and to his rise in the media industry.
The good thing about reading a story of someone as widely known as Bra Dan is that you get to know things you didn’t know about them.
I need to admit that before I read this book, like so many young people I grew up watching Bra Dan on television more than listening to him on the radio (I was young when he was on Talk Radio 702), and I ended up thinking that I know him because I watched him on my screen on a daily basis as he would often share a little part about himself – like the fact that he is long suffering supporter of Liverpool.
However, inside the pages of this book I was amazed, discovered, and introduced to who Dan Moyane is.
I was introduced to a son of a Mozambican miner and Coloured woman, comrade, father, husband, businessman, freedom fighter and overall a good human being.
Perusing through the pages of this well-written memoir, I liked how Bra Dan shared his story with such openness and honesty throughout without leaving any detail out.
How he missed a seat in that plane that saw president Samora Machel of Mozambique killed by the apartheid government, left me appreciating the fact that God saved Bra Dan’s life so that he can be an inspirational figure and a role model to so many people like he is today.
I Don’t Want to Die Unknown is not just a book about Bra Dan’s successful career in the media industry, but one that will make everyone just appreciate the role that this man had played in bringing the freedom that many of us enjoy today.
This book highlighted the fact that we, and I mean particularly our government and the media industry as a whole, should give Bra Dan his flowers while he is still alive.
I think the only disappointment for me was how the scribe shied away from talking extensively about the racism that he experienced inside and outside of 702 in his days. He just touched the surface on this issue. To this day, the station still houses many racists inside and outside. And his extensive account on the racism at the station would have helped so many to change their behaviour, because it is the media elder who is doing the talking.
Besides that, I Don’t Want to Die Unknown is a inspirational, courageous and riveting account of Dan Moyane’s life of struggle and living his dream of being known.