From clothing factory worker to deputy director-general of the Scorpions and executive secretary of the Human Rights violations committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Dr. Ruben Richards completed 4 degrees in 3 different countries ending with a Ph.D. in old testament studies. His book has been described as a brave endeavour in a country that only knows racism and the bastardisation of coloured identity and its indigenous Khoisan heritage. It is a story that undoes the limiting view of South Africa’s narrative as a struggle between white and black. He speaks to Amy MacIver.