Search results for ""jacana media""

In this fascinating account of scientific study among forbidding wilderness, a husband-and-wife team describe their trek to the Kalahari to study the little-known brown hyena. The details of the scientific inquiry are provided while the daily challenges of living with children 420 kilometers from the nearest town are described. Despite the hardships, the couple becomes so enchanted by these intelligent animals that they stay for 12 years, documenting many hyena clans and observing behavior only a handful of people have ever seen.

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The little girl who didn't want to grow up retold by Veronique Tadjo and illustrated by Catherine Groenewald. Little Ayanda loves her father with all her heart. One day he goes away, and doesn't return. She is so sad that she decides she doesn't want to grow up. So she stays small for a long time, even when her friends tease her. One day her mom gets sick and she changes her mind. She grows bigger so that she can help her family. But when trouble strikes her village, is she big and brave enough to save everyone?

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Little Red Hen is feeling peckish and decides to make bread; she asks her friends for help but they all refuse. Will she have to do everything by herself? Engaging and beautifully illustrated, this story teaches children the importance of lending a helping hand and the value of sharing. A retelling of a beloved children's fable, this story reflects African contexts while maintaining the universal appeal of the original.

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The Gift of Gold has all the ingredients of a classic fairy tale; a curse, a missing lucky gold pebble, an inquisitive little girl and, of course, a happy ending. The characters are South African; a traditional tribe praying for rain, a talking chameleon, and a misunderstood tokoloshe. Mathews' illustrations are gorgeous, ominous, evocative and beautiful in turn. And Kowen's tale is simply and powerfully written. The lesson is one we should all adhere to; "You should never take back a gift. A gift is a token of love. How can you take back your love?"

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Examining the corruptive effects that money can have on politics, this book explores the challenges of party funding reform in South Africa. With input from leading analysts, academics, and journalists, key controversies in party finance reform—including one-party dominance, party-controlled businesses, corruption, and public financing—are analyzed. Thorough and candid, this account highlights the intricacies of contemporary South African politics.

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The Three Billy Goats Gruff retold by Carole Bloch and illustrated by Shayle Bester. The Three Billy Goats Gruff are hungry and tired of living in the dusty and thorny veld. Just across the bridge there is a koppie covered in sweet, green grass that they would love to eat. But they are afraid of the fierce monster who lives under the bridge. One day they are so hungry that they decide to be brave and cross the bridge. Will they outsmart the monster or will he catch them and gobble them up?

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With wry humor and a sharp eye on a contemporary and modern Muslim family, this narrative introduces the Cachalia family—mother, father, and twins Zakir and Zakira. While Zakira's parents try to keep her on a short leash and have set her up with the devout heir to a sheep fortune, she and her brother are much more interested in living a less-than-sedate and distinctly nonobservant lifestyle.

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This collection of essays by some of South Africa’s foremost HIV/AIDS writers, doctors, and activists takes readers down the rabbit hole of AIDS denialism when thousands of people died unnecessarily as their treatment became the subject of intellectual debate by politicians. Recounting the democratic, postapartheid government's questioning of the link between HIV and AIDS and the contention of the inefficacy of antiretroviral drugs, this history stands as both a chronicle of the past and a cautionary tale for the future.

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George Stow was a Victorian man of many parts- poet, historian, ethnographer and prolific writer. A geologist by profession, he became acquainted, through his work in the field, with the extraordinary wealth of rock art paintings in the caves and shelters of the South African interior. Enchanted and absorbed by them, Stow set out to create a record of this creative work of the people who had tracked and marked the South African landscape decades and centuries before him. Unconquerable Spirit reveals for the first time the beauty and scope of his labors.

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Within a generation, the wilderness of Zululand, with its spectacular array of mammals, birds and plants, came near to extinction. This is the saga of that decline and of the heroic and successful attempt, through establishing game reserves and enforcing environmental protection policies, to save one of Africa's surviving environmental gems. Enough elephant tusks to fill a thousand ox wagons - that's how much ivory alone was shipped out of Durban bay between the 1820s and the 1880s. It amounted to at least a million kilograms, or a thousand tons, of ivory and represented the slaughter of 20 000 elephant. Piles of elephant tusks were then a common sight at the dockside in Port Natal. But that was not all - rhino horn; buck horn; buffalo, hippo and wildebeest hide; lion, leopard and wildcat skin; as well as live wild animals, all were exported, much coming from the last surviving great African kingdom in southern Africa, Zululand. The three pillars of the Zululand and Maputaland wilderness were the wild game, the avifauna, particularly game birds, and the indigenous forests. This title charts both the onslaught on them and the efforts made to preserve them from the destruction that seemed imminent and inevitable. But the title also tells the story of the local African population and their attitudes; it looks at the white and African hunters who pursued the game; and it traces the foundation in the 1890s of the first Zululand game reserves and their struggle for survival against all the odds. Had not the pioneers of Zululand conservation embarked on this early conservation movement, the Zululand wilderness with its tremendous diversity of fauna and flora would have disappeared completely - and with it one of Africa's brightest jewels.

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As much a rigorous historical exploration as a culinary reference, this book offers a delicately compiled biography of Nelson Mandela through the recipes that have been the backdrop, and occasionally the primary cause, for momentous personal and political events. From the corn grinding stone of his boyhood and prison hunger strikes to presidential banquets, tales told in sandwiches, sugar, and samoosas speak eloquently of Nelson Mandela's intellectual awakenings, emotional longings, and constant struggle for racial equality.

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The South African-born Chinese community is a tiny one, consisting of 10,000 to 12,000 members in a population of approximately 45 million. Throughout much of the history of this most race-conscious country, the community has been ignored or neglected, and officially classed along with Coloureds (people of mixed race) or with Indians in that particularly South African category of 'Asiatic'. More recently, as China's aid, trade and investment in Africa grow and large numbers of new Chinese immigrants stream into South Africa and other African states, Chinese South Africans are beginning to receive both media and scholarly attention. For this reason it is timely to focus on the only resident community of Chinese on the continent. This title, based on a PhD thesis, focuses on Chinese South Africans by examining their shifting social, ethnic, racial and national identities over time. Using concepts of identity, ethnicity, race, nationalism, and transnationalism, and drawing on comparisons with other overseas Chinese communities, it explores the multi-layered identities of the South African group and analyses the way in which how their identities have changed over time and with each generation. As the title makes clear, Chinese identities in South Africa have been shaped by both external and internal forces. As regards external factors, the state - both that of China and of South Africa - played a key role in establishing the parameters of identity construction. Over time the weight of this influence changed, as a result of international political events, internal racial policies, and external trade and political relations. At the same time, individual and community agency, and the force of the 'China myth', played important parts in the construction of Chinese South African identity.

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The Little Explorers series takes children on a journey to teach them more about the world around them. Each title is beautifully illustrated and easy for children to read themselves. Approved by the National Department of Education as a Foundation Phase reader for Grades 1, 2 and 3. Shapes are Everywhere shows children how to find different shapes in the beautiful world around us. What are You Doing? introduces children to the many different ways that children can find the written word. Stop, Look and Listen shows children essential elements of road safety while dodging wild animals in a national park. It's Time! takes us through all the things that happen in a normal day. Oh No! is the story of poor Dangoes, who has many things to do but falls ill and can't do them. She gets better, but then it starts to rain! Lele Dreams takes the reader on a fantastical journey to the clouds and the sea.

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The Little Explorers series takes children on a journey to teach them more about the world around them. Each title is beautifully illustrated and easy for children to read themselves. Approved by the National Department of Education as a Foundation Phase reader for Grades 1, 2 and 3. Shapes are Everywhere shows children how to find different shapes in the beautiful world around us. What are You Doing? introduces children to the many different ways that children can find the written word. Stop, Look and Listen shows children essential elements of road safety while dodging wild animals in a national park. It's Time! takes us through all the things that happen in a normal day. Oh No! is the story of poor Dangoes, who has many things to do but falls ill and can't do them. She gets better, but then it starts to rain! Lele Dreams takes the reader on a fantastical journey to the clouds and the sea.

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At the heart of the title is an engaging, strongly drawn central character, Nossel, a Jhb Northern suburbs, middle age Jewish attorney who was involved in the struggle in the 1980's and more recently worked in the National Intelligence Agency until he overplayed his hand and was eased out in what he sees as an act of betrayal by his own people. His part in solving the crime that forms the main plot of the story restores him to favour and to a sense of self-worth. He's a captivating character - gutsy, passionate, vulnerable, smart, who wears his heart on his sleeve and uses his wit and charm to get out of tricky corners. More interesting than the surface plot is the bigger story of what it means, and takes, to live in the new SA post- Mandela. This problem is figured in the story of Nossel - he begins the title, a dillusioned, middle aged man who hankers for the lost idealism, clear-cut morality and comradely activism of the Struggle in which he played a role. But times have changed, and the moral crusade against apartheid and the honeymoon years of the Mandela era have been replaced by the ordinariness, the sordid power games and rampant pursuit of self-enrichment characteristic of the Mbeki years. Even the grand and generous compromises that made possible the transition to democracy have been shown up as strategic mistakes, for many of the villains of apartheid were allowed to get off scot-free and to continue their evil ways in the new regime, as compromising one's own values and without giving way to cynicism, whingeing or complete withdrawal? How does one find a place and a role as a decent and caring citizen committed to the long-term transformation of the country in line with the values that the struggle once espoused? This is the real story at the heart of the title.

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A war correspondent sets out from Amsterdam to South Africa to piece together the fragmented history of Ace and Rem, two brothers from South Africa. Their bizarre and disturbing scrapbook recounts a suspenseful tale of trauma and heartbreak that crosses two continents and leaves a trail of shattered lives in its wake. Six fang marks and a Tetanus Shot is a superb, multi-layered novel that investigates the eviscerating effect that intense trauma can have on a young boy's mind.

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The coastal guide of South Africa will take you on a magical journey along South Africa's coastline while exploring the beauties and hidden secrets of our natural heritage. The 3000km stretch of coastline in South Africa has contrasting climates and habitats that in turn accommodate an enormously rich and diverse array of plants and animals. The west coast has cold, nutrient-rich waters, kelp forests and low-growing, succulent scrub along the dunes, while on the east and north coasts conditions are more tropical with higher rainfall, warmer waters, greater marine diversity and tall, dense coastal forests. The coastal guide of South Africa is a basic guide to our coastline's biodiversity, from dune to ocean, developed in order to offer beach enthusiasts, holidaymakers and recreational anglers a simple guide for identifying the plants and animals most frequently or commonly seen or caught along South Africa's coastline. Although it does not cover all the species, it is a good introduction for those people who would like to begin to identify and understand some of the coastal life we come into contact with while using the beach. We also hope that this guide will create an awareness and appreciation of the diverse and contrasting biodiversity found on our rich and beautiful coast, including background information on tides, habitats and coastlines.

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Miss Kwa Kwa (or MK) is learning that in a country supposedly so black-and-white, there are a million shades of grey - 'Coconuts', 'Wiggas' and 'Buppies' are a few examples. But behind the simple facade of the rural, charming Miss Kwa Kwa lies a mind as sharp as a panga and just as deadly - and somewhere in this Rainbow Nation is a pot of gold with her name on it. Unaware that several people are chasing her, MK begins stalking a politician who has just checked his wife into rehab. Utterly charmed by MK, he takes her to the top-secret Studio 94 with its exclusive clientele. Throw in coincidence/fate, skulduggery, a crazed prostitute named Leeyann, a terrifying thunderstorm and a blackout, and it's a recipe for disaster. Everything comes to a head at Studio 94, resulting in comeuppance, fame and an unusual romance. And Miss Kwa Kwa becomes the host of her own new talk show called Kwa Kwa Konfidential.

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White Scars also explores the moments at which Hirson read the four books. They include the arrest of his anti-apartheid activist father, Baruch Hirson in the early 1960's; his own move to Paris in the 1970's; his father's death, and the end of a period of mourning for him. In weaving together these two strands in White Scars, Hirson has referred to many other texts, including other books by Breyten Breytenbach, Raymond Carver and Georges Perec. He has also explored a constellation of key words, which trace, in different ways, the political space of apartheid South Africa and the transience of one who is now looking back at that time through the prism of distance.

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Aimed at informing and educating on wildlife guiding in Africa’s many diverse parks and safari areas, this resource provides aspiring navigators with complete information on the necessary qualifications and requirements to gain access to this growing field. A wide range of subjects are expertly explored, including guiding principles and camp etiquette, medical supplies and safety tips, and details on the use of common field tools such as rifles, handguns, cameras, and binoculars. Real-life stories blend with artful cartoons—that add humor while emphasizing pertinent points—to round out this must-have reference for those looking for a career in guiding.

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There are two kinds of wars - one is external, a public war for all the world to witness; the other intensely private, glimpsed at by only a few. When Lieutenant Michael Fuller signed up to be part of the war, leaving behind a passionate yet vulnerable relationship, he had no idea that his experience would take him beyond the guns and bombs, deep into the heart of the human spirit. It is 1916 on the German East African frontier - surrounded by the beauty and oppressing heat of the African savanna with its guardian, Kilimanjaro, towering above the skyline, a war of words and prejudices flares up - these are early days for South African and Rhodesian regiments to be camping with men from the King's African Rifles and the Indian Baluchis. Private battles are waged as officers use the war to further their careers or cloak their pasts and a Boer War hero's son carries the weight of his father's reputation with him before he's even taken his first life. After a devastating defeat, Fuller, two men from the King's African Rifles, a Baluchi officer and Captain Carter are called to embark on a secret mission deep into enemy territory and the African bush. To survive these men are drawn into

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The quest for meaning and relationship in an alienated urban existence leads to a world beyond the mundane in this humorous, absorbing story. Fat and over forty, Ethne is not happy. In the flat above, Derek, thin and over forty, is frightened. When Mortimer comes into their lives with panache and pathos, he spins fantasies for them through which they discover surprising strengths. A variety of stressful human problems—unrequited love, sinister religions, astral travel, dog training, and homophobia—are made all the more poignant by the novel's lightness of touch.

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A new book on South Africa's political transition reveals that far from it being a home-grown strategy, foreign diplomats and organisations were intensely involved in making South Africa's "miracle" a reality. It takes the reader behind the scenes to witness how heads of state, politicians, diplomats and others worked tirelessly to help bring about our peaceful settlement. His focus on the process of changing South Africa's government from one of white-minority rule to a democracy, casts a new light on the diplomatic styles of former President Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki. Landsberg's insights, provide important links between particularly President Mbeki's brand of foreign policy and the diplomacy that made possible the new South Africa. "Having been on the receiving end of diplomatic efforts to help end apartheid, the post-apartheid government became a proponent and exporter of diplomatic efforts to help resolve conflict situations, especially in Africa," he writes. Most importantly, this book shows that the manner in which the Mbeki government has chosen to deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe, is not altogether different from the process of persuation which foreign actors used to convince the apartheid government to agree to relinquish power. "While Pretoria would not utter its concerns in public, certainly not while it engaged Mugabe, in private it did harbour very serious concerns about the nature and causes of the problem. For example, Pretoria was privately of the view that the violence and intimidation, and the handling of the land reform, appeared to be the main reasons for the loss of revenue, foreign direct investment and donor support," Landsberg writes. While not confining himself to the issue of Zimbabwe, Landsberg work does offer valuable clues as to "quiet diplomatic' persuasion towards our neighbour which seems, at last, to be showing results. In addition to looking at the post-apartheid governments' foreign policies The Quiet Diplomacy of Liberation considers the extend to which compromises made during South Africa's own transition focused more on appeasing whites at the expense of ensuring that black South Africans have the opportunity to express and fulfil their own aspirations.

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A powerhouse of South African and international scholars and activists reflect on the writings and theories of the late Jabulani Nobleman “Mzala” Nxumalo in this exciting new volume of essays. This book is both a tribute to and a deliberation on his intellectual work. Nxumalo’s death in 1991 robbed the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party of one of their most prolific writers, a revolutionary intellectual and thinker. His death was a huge loss particularly at a time when his thinking skills were much needed during both the negotiations period and the time of rebuilding the ANC in the country. This deeply thought book considers the value of Mzala’s work in the context of contemporary South Africa’s left politics. The contributors are Robert J. Balfour, Yul Derek Davids, Bernard Dubbeld, Pat Horn, Gregory Houston, Gunnett Kaaf, Rasigan Maharajh, Alex Mohubetswane, Sam Matiase, Percy Ngonyama, Bonginkosi Emmanuel “Blade” Nzimande, John Pampallis, Mandla J. Radebe, Jenny Schreiner, Vladimir Shubin, Noel Solani, Sigfried Tivana and Elaine Unterhalteriase.

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Leon and his twin Norman were born in August 1929, the youngest of four children born to Mary and Mark Levy, immigrants from Lithuania. His father died when Leon was six; to heroic degree, his mother carried the family – financially, practically and emotionally – in her widowhood. Leon was an intensely bookish boy but left school aged sixteen to help makes ends meet through a series of jobs. Deeply affected by the events of the Second World War and the Holocaust, Leon was radicalised in the Hashomer Hatza’ir, a left-wing Zionist youth movement. He was seventeen when he joined the Communist Party and became a committed young activist. In 1953, at the age of twenty-four, Leon became a full-time trade unionist. ‘It was a defining moment in my life story,’ he writes. ‘It gave practical form to my political beliefs; it also determined the shape and scope of my life. It transpired that I would spend the next six decades and more working in trade unions, industrial relations and mediation. A comrade in the trade union movement nicknamed Leon, TsabaTsaba – which means “here, there and everywhere”. Anyone who reads Leon’s account of his years as a full-time unionist will agree that the soubriquet was well earned. (Alongside trade union work, Leon was also committed to the remarkable Discussion Club, which he co-founded and ran throughout the 1950s; he was also secretary of the South African Peace Council from 1951 to 1961.) In the mid-1950s, he was part of a small group of progressive trade unionists who pushed for the formation of the first non-racial trade union federation in South Africa. These aspirations were realised in March 1955 with the launch of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). Later that year Leon was elected president and remained in that position for nine years. SACTU linked day-to-day concerns of workers with support for national liberation and the abolition of apartheid and was one of the five organisations which formed the Congress Alliance. As SACTU leader, Leon served on the committee that directed the activities of the Alliance; he was present at Kliptown when the Freedom Charter was adopted – and as SACTU president was one of the five original signatories of the Freedom Charter. Political activism of this order came at a high price. Leon Levy was served with banning orders and arrested several times; he was Accused No 4 of the 156 people arrested and charged with treason, and from November 1958 was one of the final 30 (and with Helen Joseph one of only two whites) who faced charges until the trial was finally dismissed in March 1961. He was detained for five months during the 1960 State of Emergency. In May 1963 he was the first person to be detained under the notorious General Laws Amendment Act, known as the 90-day Act. Unable to continue his work he chose to go into exile in the United Kingdom. There, he studied politics, economics and industrial relations at Oxford – and then applied what he had learned in a series of positions in industrial relations. After 1994, he was determined to make the skills and knowledge that he had acquired available to a democratic South Africa – and he and his wife Lorna returned to the country of their birth in 1997. In a remarkable final phase of his career, Leon took office shortly after his 70th birthday as a full-time commissioner for the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration – and spent the next 19 years in this capacity.

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The Discovery of Love, Nthikeng Mohlele’s debut short fiction collection, set the scene for a treatment of a multiplicity of themes while maintaining the stylistic registers of his novels. The intensity and range of the earlier stories is transplanted and further developed in A Little Light, stories that explore the complexities and contradictions of human consciousness. There is in A Little Light more overt focus on contemporary global historical events and personalities, the nature of the human heart, politics, human mortality and the afterlife. From the dusty streets of Tembisa township of the 1980s to Osama bin Laden’s lair in Abbottabad, Pakistan, Mohlele is cerebral, playful, speculative, incisive and, most of all, of a penetrating narrative gaze.

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Shudu’s happy and carefree childhood seems very far away when she moves towns and is bullied by her new classmates for being an outsider. But her special friendships help her feel like she belongs. Deep inside, Shudu has a spark, a special kind of strength that she didn’t even know was there. She finds her voice and can be herself. I am Shudu is an empowering coming-of-age story that will inspire readers to celebrate who they are and to dream big dreams!

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Hot Water is an intimate and daring look into the life of a young African woman from the Cape Flats with a chronic illness. The book investigates how endometriosis affects the way young woman function and navigate the world, and how this becomes especially complicated for those who are underprivileged and reliant on the public sector’s healthcare system. In Hot Water Nadine Dirks reveals the unique issues of racism, sexism, classism, fatphobia and slut-shaming that African women experience within the context of healthcare facilities, and how especially jarring it is when the stigma comes from medical staff who one expects to have the patient’s care as their primary concern. All of this has enraged Dirks and catapulted her into becoming a sexual reproductive health and rights advocate. Hot Water tells the story of how people with chronic illness are treated daily, at school, university and socially for being differently abled; how people are regarded as lazy, aggressive, disappointing, lacking, among multiple other things for being unwell in comparison to their healthy counterparts. One cannot look at seeking adequate healthcare as a young, black, underprivileged woman on the Cape Flats without experiencing racism in the most blatant of ways. Even with guidelines in place, the book shows that it is next to impossible to invoke those rights even if you are aware of them for fear of being victimised and excluded from the system.

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ruce McKenzie’s An Ecological Guide to the Bush captures the essence of what makes the bushveld tick. Here you’ll find the basic principles of how ecosystems work, with the emphasis on energy flow through the bushveld and the adaptations that the plants and animals make in facilitating this energy flow.

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A strongly truthful book. Oatway and Skuy have brought together this collection of photographs in a way that forces us to view the individuals as human. Unsettling and disturbing, it is unapologetic about the job of work it has been tasked to do. Xenophobia has to be considered, not just as another example of lawlessness, even though our leaders have responded by predominantly labelling xenophobia a crime. This is true. In an obvious sense. But also only partly true. The bigger, more horrendous truth is that it is crime-with-an-edge – anti-migrant crime, anti-African-migrant crime. As Edwin Cameron writes in his foreword, we are directed to view just whose stories are told – and whose are obscured; who is allowed to be visible – and who is erased? Photography entails more than record-keeping. It engages processes of world-making that organise how we understand our worlds, and ourselves, and how we engage with our communities. By engaging our attention on certain sites and away from others it frames what and who are worth seeing. In this way, the photographer helps produce a public knowledge about who should be made visible. South Africans know this acutely, for photographers, some of them heroic, some at cost to their own lives, made apartheid visible.

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Imbokodo: Women Who Shape Us is a groundbreaking series of books which introduces you to the powerful stories of South African women who have all made their mark and cleared a path for women and girls. These books recognise, acknowledge and honour our heroines and elders from the past and the present. South African women are silent no more on the roles that we have played in advancing our lives as artists, storytellers, writers, politicians and educationists. The title ‘Imbokodo’ was been chosen as it is a Zulu word that means “rock” and is often used in the saying ‘Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo!’, which means “You Strike a Women, You Strike a Rock!” These books were made possible with the support of Biblionef and funding from the National Arts Council. In 10 Extraordinary Leaders, Activists & Protesters you will read about women who fought against colonialism and oppression. Here are the stories of women heroes through history, whose stories are connected because of a shared passion for equality and justice.

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[…] Gugu smiled. “My darling child, you are already perfect. You just have to be yourself.” She pulled Shudu closer. “Just remember one thing, my child. If you are beautiful inside,” she tapped Shudu’s chest where her heart was beating, “then you will always be beautiful outside.” In this courageous and beautiful book, Miss South Africa, Shudufhadzo Musida, tells the story of her beginnings; of a singing and dancing and chatty girl in a small village named Ha-Vhangani, surrounded by love and most especially by her mum and Gogo Gugu. But things go wrong for Shudu when she moves to a new town and she is bullied by her classmates. Read how Shudu overcomes her sadness and her challenges, and becomes a girl, and then an adult, who has learned to love herself!

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Sol Plaatje’s Mhudi is the first full-length novel in English to have been written by a black South African and is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most important literary works. ‘Set in the 1830s it tells the tale of Mhudi and Ra- haga. A romantic story set against a violent backdrop of war between Baroleng and Matebele, complicated by the intrusions of Boer trekkers with whom the Baroleng form an alliance. ‘It is notable, among other things, for the way Plaatje uses the past to explore the roots of oppression and injustice suffered by his people a century later, when the book was written.’ From the introduction to Sol Plaatje’s Mhudi: History, Criticism, Celebration by Sabata-mpho Mokae and Brian Willan. Bessie Head called it ‘a beautiful book’ and added: ‘It is more than a classic; there is just no other book on earth like it.’ Mhudi has been translated into Setswana, French, Italian and Dutch and at least nine English language editions, some based on the original 1930 Lovedale text, but with footnotes added. Others have illustrations added, some have minor changes and others more extensive changes introduced by editor Stephen Gray. Editions currently available are based on the version with changes made by Stephen Gray.

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From the author of Death in the New Republic comes another thrilling crime story featuring hard-bitten Johannesburg detective, Jerome Nossel. A distress call from Nossel’s old friend, Alex, breaks into the detective’s lazy Sunday afternoon. He is propelled into the glamour and sleaze of the city’s underworld by a kidnap and a demand for an exotic ransom. Accompanied by Alex’s captivating Nigerian wife Ngozi, they scour the fleshpots of Johannesburg, from its mega-rich northern suburbs to its sordid core in the dark city. They are pursued by the crazed steroidal enforcer who answers to only one man – Yuri Kramerov, the pimpmeister of Doornfontein. With time running out, and in their desperate quest to recover the ransom, encounters, characters and places create a Chandler-esque story, with Johannesburg as the main attraction. The Maori approached Alex, who Nossel feared might fall backwards into the freezing black pool, as patently terrified as he was.

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Set over five days in an African Hereafter called “After Africa”, this story revolves around the British South African imperialist, Cecil Rhodes, awakening in an After African Limbo after being asleep for 120 years. Guided by Ghanaian writer Efua Sutherland, he is taken on a tour of After Africa’s five heavens, experiencing Africa’s great civilisations, its Nobel laureates, its writers, its musicians and its sporting legends. The novella centres on the grand trial of Cecil Rhodes in the fifth heaven for five crimes committed in the Herebefore.

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The sun begins to set and twilight falls over the Cape Town suburb of Salt River. The year is 1960, the year of the Sharpeville massacre. Three friends, Ainey, Haroun and Cassius, comrades in arms and merry pranksters, make a discovery that changes their lives. Mired in their troubled families, they valiantly struggle through their childhood. With the help of a mysterious yet powerful woman they confront an awful truth that forever changes their lives… The prologue of By the Fading Light sets up the story by an unidentified narrator who, it is later discovered, is one of the three main characters, now grown up, reflecting on the past. A young boy, Amin Gabriels, disappears, an event that creates fear and anxiety in the community, especially for his friends, the main characters, who are three eleven-year-old boys, Ainey, Haroun and Cassius. The boys’ adventures offer a poignant, compelling but also humorous glimpse into the world from their youthful perspectives. Ainey lives with his fussy grandmother and his authoritarian father who blames him for his mother’s death. Haroun lives with his depressed mother and bigamist father. Cassius lives with his sister and snobbish mother who wishes that she were white. Through these and other minor characters, a mysterious yet powerful older woman, a police officer, and a murderer, the reader encounters a spirited and robust community. With its elements of historical fiction, literary realism and absurdist humour, By the Fading Light weaves together themes of troubled families, vibrant Muslim culture, South African politics, the resilience of children, loss of innocence and coming of age. If only a young boy had not taken the long way home on a cold winter’s day. If only he had gone straight home, things might have been different. But he did not, and events in the tight-knit community of Salt River take a turn that inspire fear…

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Where is South Africa going now? And where will South Africa be in five years' time? Much has been written about the country's past, but is enough thought being given to its future? Is South Africa in danger of again losing its way, given its pressing socio-economic challenges? Prominent economist Raymond Parsons has drawn together a powerful collection of expert thinkers, economists and analysts who tackle these issues head on as well as offering timely solutions to several of South Africa's most pressing problems, drawing key lessons from the past in crystallising what South Africa needs to do to create a better future. After the so-called 'lost decade' under the Zuma administration, South Africans had high hopes that President Ramaphosa would deliver on his promise of a 'new dawn'. Yet despite high expectations that the country would finally turn the corner and settle onto a path of stronger inclusive growth and better governance, socio-economic conditions have deterioriated. Growth remains negligible, unemployment has worsened and the fiscus is under considerable strain. Will SA be able to break out of its present 'growth trap' without falling into a 'debt trap'? The country is also facing global headwinds in the form of volatile market conditions, shifting geopolitics, and a fast-changing and disruptive technological landscape which threatens to leave all but the most well-prepared behind. So how must the different strands of policy - ranging from purely economic issues to broader questions around education and the rule of law - now knit together to create a bigger, stronger and better SA economy in future? If the vision of a well-functioning society is to be realised, policy uncertainty about the road ahead must be generally tackled at the highest level to facilitate job-rich growth. And business and civil society, in its turn, must take a long-term view of South Africa's future and commit energy and resources to bringing about change which is both productive and transformational. Recession, Recovery & Reform will offer compelling new insights into how South Africa can unlock its potential in the years ahead. The publication of this title a month ahead of the ANC policy conference in June 2020, at which President Ramaphosa's political and economic 'track record' will be widely assessed, ensures it will be a must-read for all who are concerned about South Africa's well-being and who are willing to believe that a 'new dawn' is indeed possible.

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Khulu Radebe already had had a full life before discovering at the age of 50 that he was a king. As a teenager, he teamed with other Alexandra Township youth to carry out the 1976 uprisings just prior to the Soweto rising. Arrested and sent to Robben Island, he was one of the youngest prisoners there. He served six years on the island with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki, amongst others. After returning to Alex, he helped organise the township during the 1986 Six Days War. He joined the armed struggle, repeatedly dodging death from the enemy and fellow MK soldiers in Angola, and later travelled the globe as a drummer for the ANC’s Amandla Cultural Ensemble. At age 50, and proving a midwife’s prediction correct, Khulu Radebe learned about his royal roots. He was informed that he was ruler of the AmaHlubi people of the Embo Nation, a nation that stretches along the east coast of Africa. In chronicling Radebe’s extraordinary life and times, this landmark biography tells, in a humane, vivid and deeply political way, of the revolutionary path for freedom in South Africa, and the role traditional leaders can play in shaping the nation’s future. Gripping and original, Comrade King makes a powerful contribution to understanding South Africa’s past and present at a critical moment in the nation’s history.

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Now in its 9th year, the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award is a launching pad for upcoming poets. From slam poetry to formal rhyme, the anthology is a celebration of language and cultural diversity. Assembled by a brilliant team of judges, from a blind selection, this year’s compilation contains the best poems from over 600 entries, in 10 of the 11 South African languages. Named after Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876–1932), the award recognises the life and vision of this highly respected political and social activist. We always hope that it reveals the political and social attitudes of our time and reflects the complex, nuanced and uncomfortable truths of life in South Africa.

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South Africa's finest living contemporary artists, like William Kentridge, Nandipha Mntambo and Penny Siopis, Banele Khoza, Zander Blom, Billie Zangewa and many many more, grace the pages of this funky children's book. Let children jump into the lively and flourishing local art scene, see it in full colour, learn about the diverse paths of the artists and their fascinating artworks. In time your little wonder will soon have found their own South African art hero to look up to! Explore! Awesome South African Artists is an inspiring and educational read for 9-15-year-olds that will keep them entertained. For lovers of Splat! The Most Exciting Artists of All Time and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, this book will be a welcome addition to their shelf.

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Winging It: On tour with the Boks is an insider’s view of life on tour from one of South Africa’s most enduring sports writers, Liam Del Carme, while he follows the much-cherished national rugby team, the Springboks. Del Carme takes the reader across continents and time zones as he shares the helter-skelter atmosphere of meeting looming writing deadlines while finding ways to maintain his sanity. The book explores the ebb and flow of touring with one of rugby’s iconic teams since 1996, including three RWCs, various Tri Nations and Rugby Championships, as well as end-of-year tours, in destinations all over the world. He explores the characters, destinations, and his travel companions while sharing his highs and lows of covering great rugby moments. In the book, the reader gets to see the personal side of prominent sports personalities.

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16 to 20 December 2017 saw most South Africans and political pundits closely observing the African National Congress's 54th National Conference at Nasrec. There were plenty of international observers and local and foreign press who were closely tracking the ANC top brass and branch delegates as they jostled for political power and position. From all accounts the air was thick with anticipation and high with suspicion. Former student activist, member of the then Mitchells Plain Student Congress (Mipsco) and now ANC member in good standing, Oscar van Heerden, once again found himself doing duty as a scribe at the National Conference in Nasrec. What he witnessed in the period leading up to Conference and then the five days of high drama at Nasrec make for an enthralling and heart-stopping insider's view in his book Two Minutes to Midnight: How the ANC survived Nasrec 2017. Van Heerden's observations will lay bare a governing party that is at war with itself and at the heart of this struggle is deception, corruption and power-hungry politicians flexing their muscles. Factional in-fighting, money in bags exchanging hands in the dead of night, spies on duty and a political party in the clutches of state capture are some of political moves that Van Heerden witnesses, and now shares in his book. Van Heerden's assertion after the first two days of Conference is that the Cyril Ramaphosa camp, also known as CR17, did not stand a chance of winning. To him they seemed disorganised, at times not understanding the modalities of election politics at Conference, and had arrived at the gun fight with a knife. How then did the tide turn against the obvious pro-Jacob Zuma camp to favour CR17? What really happened behind closed doors? Allow Van Heerden to tell you the story of how the ANC survived Nasrec.

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Coach offers a first-class glimpse into the life of this extraordinary South African, Clive Barker. Author Michael Marnewick details everything from his pre-coaching days and how he avoided bankruptcy by driving taxis, to his early coaching jobs and making it into the professional ranks, and ultimately to the position of national soccer coach. The book is not only an in-depth look at Clive Barker the coach, but also gives insight into Clive Barker the man, the husband, the father, and the patriot. Coach captures the social and political upheaval in the country during the dark days of apartheid and leading into South Africa's golden period of international football when Barker led the team to their only African Cup of Nations success in 1996, before qualification for the 1998 Soccer World Cup.

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Rumors have abounded since the early days of South African democracy of a list given to Nelson Mandela by apartheid securocrats of their agents infiltrated into the upper echelons of the ANC. The List tells the story of a group of veterans of the intelligence services who are formed into a secret task team by the newly elected president to investigate the possibility. But just as the moment of optimism begins to blossom, the task team uncovers a ghastly betrayal. Is it too late to save the president and the country?

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I Remember Nelson Mandela is a collection of remembrances from those who worked with, for and beside Mandela. More than one hundred individuals, from household staff to bodyguards and presidential advisors, have offered their memories, which provide warm, poignant, and often humorous insights into what it was like behind the scenes with one of the most beloved political figures the world has seen. The collection is the dream-child of Mrs. Graça Machel who, some months after Nelson Mandela's passing on December 5, 2013, met with former members of his staff to thank them for their service. Listening to their stories inspired the creation of this book, providing readers with a glimpse into the man behind the title.

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Zapiro comes of age in this 21st annual. Zuma once again takes centre stage for all the wrong reasons along with his cronies the Guptas and his nemesis Malema. It’s the year of the hashtag. #RhodesMustFall begat #FeesMustFall, also #Racism/#Sexism and #ZumaMustFall. With Nenegate and SARS wars, it’s the rand that’s really falling. Meanwhile, Pravin and Thuli fight the good fight. Each cartoon is worth a thousand words and helps us make sense of our crazy, beautiful country where fact is indeed stranger than fiction.

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Permanent Removal is a beautifully written political thriller focusing on the nature of justice, truth, betrayal, socio-political and ethical quandaries, complicity and moral agency. The novel introduces readers to a cast of players whose destinies intertwine in a particularly gruesome murder. The novel is set in apartheid South Africa and fictionalizes the events leading up to the assassination of the Cradock Four. South African security forces set up a roadblock to intercept a car near the city of Port Elizabeth. Two of the four anti-apartheid activists in the car were secretly targeted for assassination. The police abducted the four and murdered them in cold blood. Their burnt bodies were found later near the Port Elizabeth suburb of Bluewater Bay. These murders are one of apartheid's murkiest episodes. On the day of the funeral of the Cradock Four, President PW Botha declared a State of Emergency. It was the beginning of the end.

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Early one morning three tired, dirty, hungry elders – Blessing, Wisdom and Love – knock on the door of a family home. The family wishes to invite them in but they can only choose one visitor to enter their home. Which of the three do they pick? This fable is told across the continent and belongs to all of Africa and its people. Although the setting and characters are quintessentially African – from the rhythms of their speech to the patterns on their clothes – the message is universal. This is a book for every child and family. Well written and beautifully illustrated, this book will have children wanting to read it over and over again. This story originally appeared in the Sunday Times Storytime: 10 South African Stories for Children in 2014.

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