Search results for ""jacana media (pty) ltd""

An adventure in extreme endurance sport, as well as an inquiry into the unique story of South Africa, journalist Kevin Davie shares his story of mountain biking in remote, wide-open South African spaces, as he endures a 10,000 kilometer journey that tested his courage and determination through blizzards, lightning, and hail storms, as well as 104-degree heat. Riding in minimalistic fashion—carrying all of his equipment without the aid of a backup vehicle—Davie’s story explores the question of why athletes push themselves to rise to the challenge of extreme sport and provides a stirring account of the South Africa and the incredible warmth and support from locals who reached out to help.

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Poetry lovers - those who enjoy reading it and those who are compelled to write it - will find in this collection a truly splendid experience of the country's soul. So much of the ineffable human spirit and experience that usually remains untold is gently lifted above the surface with care, attention and honesty. Here, for the reader who must yet write of his or her own intimate recovery and sacred journey, are guideposts on the way. Here, for those who are already on the journey, are good and wise and funny journeymen and women to keep them company on the road. This year's compilation features several distinguished names of the South African literary world, including (among others) Vonani Bila, Julian de Wette, David Maahlamela, Anthea Garman, Chris Mann and last year's award winner Dawn Garisch.

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In 2001, in Unfinished Business: South Africa, Apartheid and Truth, Dumisa Ntsebeza and Terry Bell complained that 'like so much of South Africa's recent brutal history, we shall probably never know exactly how many people were banished and what happened to all of them'. Saleem Badat's The Forgotten People: Political Banishment under Apartheid answers many questions about banishment and shines a bright and welcome light on a largely hidden and unknown aspect of our indeed 'brutal history'. It shows how apartheid's political opponents from rural areas were condemned to the living hell of banishment: a weapon used to expel rural opponents to distant and often arid and desolate places for unlimited periods. These rural opponents were plucked from their families and communities and cast, in the late Helen Joseph's words, 'into the most abandoned parts of the country, there to live, perhaps to die, to suffer and starve, or to stretch out a survival by poorly paid labour, if and when they could get it'. They were strangers in strange areas who could not speak the local language, and often had little in common with the locals and even less in common with those under whose surveillance they fell. This is the first study of an important but hitherto neglected group of opponents of apartheid set in a global, historical and comparative perspective. It looks at the reasons why people were banished, their lives in banishment and the efforts of a remarkable group of activists, led by Helen Joseph, to assist them. Indeed, this book originated in a promise made by the author to Helen Joseph, who had undertaken an epic journey in 1962 to visit all those banished across the length and breadth of South Africa. The work is illustrated with stunning photographs by Ernest Cole, Peter Magubane and others.

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Two years after her father’s death, 11-year-old Redi Tlhabi meets Mabegzo: handsome, charming, and smooth, but also a rumored gangster, murderer, and rapist. Against her family’s wishes, Redi develops a strong and sometimes uncomfortable attraction to him; she herself doesn’t understand why she is drawn to Mabegzo. When he too is found lying dead in a pool of blood, as her father was, Redi has to try to stay sane. Following her emotional journey into the past to finally humanize Mabegzo, this account interviews the alleged criminal's family and friends. As she fits together the pieces of the puzzle that was Mabegzo, Redi also finds peace and allows her demons to rest.

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Presenting a superb account of a man characterized by his reticence, this biography offers rare and thorough insight into the life of one of South Africa’s most powerful men: Kgalema Motlanthe. From Motlanthe’s ancestral family to his political awakenings as he discovered the African National Congress, this account traces Motlanthe’s political path to becoming the third president of the Republic of South Africa. With impeccable timing and a real sense of history, this book contains wide-ranging interviews with Motlanthe himself as well as with family members, friends, comrades, and leading figures in political organizations, civil society, academia, and the media. Unsparing in its scope, detailed in its revelations, and rigorously critical in its analysis, this biography reveals not only the complex politician but also the very human nature of the man.

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The primary intention of this book is to provide a nexus of theory and practice of governance and public accountability in democratic South Africa. The book focuses mainly on public accountability and the state, institutional design and measures of public accountability, decentralised governance, leadership and management of public and private economies and industries, democratic accountability and political parties and participation, civil society and voice. The basic assumption of the book is that without comprehensive, integrated and functional democratic accountability measures in place, the constitutional democratic state will collapse. The book from the contributors' perspectives answers broad questions: What is the nature of the architecture and discourse of governance and public accountability in South Africa? What are the challenges to the design, dilemmas and prospects of governance and public accountability measures? How does South African society ensure a state with competing interests continuously strives towards good governance and public accountability? How does society ensure that leaders and institutions - political, economic and social - are kept answerable for responsibilities and obligations assigned to them?

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South Africa's transition to a post-apartheid democracy has been widely celebrated as a triumph for global human rights. Yet, less than a generation after the achievement of freedom, the future of human rights and constitutionalism in South Africa is uncertain. This book seeks to explain how and why the apartheid government and the ANC both 'discovered' human rights in the mid-1980s. It does so by exploring several rights 'regimes' over two centuries: African nationalist, liberal, and republican. Although fragmented and episodic, these traditions help explain why rights discourse and constitutionalism gained broad acceptance in the last decade of the twentieth century, and momentarily aligned South Africa with broader global trends.

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The African National Congress was founded a hundred years ago, in January 1912. But the roots of the ANC run even deeper in South African history. In fact, the ANC's founding was the culmination of more than sixty years of organisation by a new class of African modernisers. These were men and women educated in local mission schools and in universities abroad, who sought a place for themselves in the new South Africa emerging at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Much of their history is unknown but their story has been painstakingly recovered by Andre Odendaal, who has pieced together the astonishing achievements of this new class and the broad vision they proposed for a new society. Today, only a few of the founders of the ANC are still well known - John Dube and Sol Plaatje among them. But they were only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, for, across the length and breadth of the country, educated Africans were emerging in numbers and claiming their rightful place in the new South Africa. This is the epic story of that development. Many of the individuals and families who were prominent at that time are the forebears of leading African politicians and political families today. This is their story too. When the Union of South Africa was finally formed in 1910, Africans found themselves largely excluded from the new society. In protest, Africans from throughout the country came together in Bloemfontein in 1912 and formed their own organisation to represent their interests and advance their claims. It would take another eighty years before they achieved their aims. When he cast his vote in 1994, Nelson Mandela is reported as saying at the nearby memorial to John Dube, first ANC president: "Mission accomplished, Mr President."

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A creative and engaging tale, this book presents a fable to justify Dog's frightened behaviour around storms. Accompanied by delightful illustrations, it explains why Dog's eyes grow wild and why he shivers and shakes and hides away.

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A unique literary journey through select critical moments in South African history, this collection of short stories opens in Sophiatown of the 1950s—one of the most definitive periods in South African urban culture—and concludes by exploring the social fabric of contemporary society. Simple yet profound, the stories span generations, demonstrating the painful rhythms of a society in distress in the 1980s through the eyes of a child as well as the transitional period of the 1990s through the life of young man torn between the old and new world, eventually exploring the first decade of South African democracy. Informative and engaging, the narratives examine the interplay of past and present, and prompt a re-examination of the future.

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In the fetid depths of a Jamaican prison, the half-caste bastard son of an eighteenth-century Jamaican sugar planter is turned into a zombie and banished to the diamond-hungry colonies of the Cape. Thwarted by an unrequited love he unleashes a dire curse, which reverberates across the continents and generations. From the imagination of Peter Merrington, author of Zebra Crossings: Tales from the Shaman's Record, comes an eclectic tale, woven with folklore, fairy tale and magic, that draws urban shaman Malibongwe Ngingingini and his beloved apprentice, Anna Persens, into a quest to heal their land of the zombie's curse: a foul emanation of fog and narcolepsy. The Zombie's curse affects two family dynasties on either side of the Atlantic. Guided by Maria Juanita - the shape-shifting Sister Moon - Malibongwe and Anna's journey takes them from Cape Town to Great Bushmanland, and on to the mystical deserts of New Mexico and the voodoo-fuelled New Orleans, where Lord Tantamount, the Zombie Prince, haunts the highways. The Zombie and the Moon is a blend of real social issues and deep spiritual symbolism that includes a fanciful exploration of astral travel, the role of the ancestors, animist earth spirits, utopian visions, quotidian squalor, social injustice and an aged goat.

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Zapiro on Sport is a collection of more than 200 iconic cartoons from the nation's sharpest bestselling cartoonist telling the curious, glorious, calamitous and chaotic story of sport in the New South Africa. With incisive text from journalist Mike Wills, this new Jacana title provides a keen-eyed, irreverent look at everything from Kamp Staaldraad to Bok World Cup glory, from cricketing chokers to champions, from SAFA bungling to the emotional success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. An extraordinary cast of colourful sporting characters has been captured by the pen of Zapiro over the past twenty years - Louis Luyt, Hansie Cronje, Caster Semenya, Herschelle Gibbs, Benni McCarthy, Bryan Habana, Lucas Radebe, Peter de Villiers & Oscar Pistorius among them - and this book promises a comprehensive and entertaining look at our nation's favourite pastimes.

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A new anthology of writings, this collection contains stories with varying themes from 21 different writers. Including an assured and professional piece of writing about a seemingly simple interaction between two men in which the true drama takes place beneath the surface, this book will give insight into what African writers are experiencing and writing about in the new decade.

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Heartwarming yet tough, this unforgettable story centers around a brave, young black girl named Joonie from Grassy Park, South Africa. When both her uncle and local priest attempt to take sexual advantage of her, Joonie refuses their advances. For all her fortitude, however, Joonie is slow to learn from the past—especially with respect to relationships—and she soon finds herself single and pregnant. A journey of self-discovery, this narrative chronicles Joonie’s coping with a shocking revelation about her identity in a foreign country and celebrates her indomitable spirit.

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In this collection of letters between a South African political prisoner and a community organizer in Durban, two people who have never met become dear friends during the last decade of apartheid. Ahmed Kathrada is being held in Robben Island when he sends a letter to a former flat mate and receives a reply from the man's sister, Zuleikha Mayat, the "Betty Crocker" of South Africa and the editor of the best-selling cookbook Indian Delights. Virtual strangers, these two have in common their small-town Transvaal childhoods, and they find much to explore in their different approaches to culture, politics, and religion. The letters are written with wit and style as they discuss both the issues of the day and the sustenance found in memory.

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Interweaving the stories of two families in colonial Africa, this novel explores parallel crises and hardships experienced from distinct cultural perspectives. Through the eyes of Richard and Kaunu, the Colony of Natal comes to life with an authentic sense of place and historical time, with the drastically changing circumstances of life in the British empire bringing their families inevitably to explosive conflict, with devastating consequences for both.

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It is commonly held that the ANC – after its banning in 1960 and the imprisonment of its leaders – largely disappeared off the face of South Africa until public support for it revived in the wake of the Soweto uprising of 1976. This book takes issue with that view. Drawing on substantial oral testimony, Raymond Suttner develops a convincing case that internally based activists, sometimes working independently of the ANC in exile and sometimes in combination, were able to reconstitute networks within South Africa after the organization's banning.

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The author, interviews some South Africans of different hues, about the idea of race, what it has meant to them and how they envision a future South Africa, steeped as the country and its people are in a highly charged and often unacknowledged world of racial sensitivity. Amongst the interviewees are Naledi Pandor, Minister of Education; Wilmot James, executive director of the African Genome Education Institute; Rhoda Kadalie, journalist and human rights activist; Melanie Verwoerd, former South African ambassador to Ireland; Phatekile Holomisa, president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa); and Carel Boshoff, the founder of Orania, an Afrikaner homeland established in 1991 in the Northern Cape.

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The author takes the reader into a phantasmagoric world where streets are paved with human remains and men are apocalyptically condemned to death by the fire of their loins. And yet, despite recurrent nightmares, the world is also home to calligraphers who continue to record dreams that encompass the past, present, and future in a sort of Borgesian circularity. The absolute certainty that life begins in dream, that the world beyond is what lends ours a semblance of reality, that only the meditation of ancestors offers a link to the gods, has seldom been expressed with the depth of conviction one finds in this work. For all its contemporary relevance, it has at its core a dialogue between the living and the ancestors that creates a powerful resonance between the bones of the dead and the echoes of their survivors.

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Sappi Tree spotting is a new, easy method of tree identification, written for the newcomer to an area, as well as the experienced tree enthusiast. It won't take long before you are able to recognise almost three-quarters of the larger trees you see in the bushveld. Innovative, accurate maps provide precise location information, Colour-coding lists the likely trees you will encounter in each area. The title is based on three innovative concepts - It keeps the terminology simple. The average recreational tree spotter will never use 'pubescent' when 'hairy' will do! Most trees are easy to find, as long as you look for the right trees in the right places. Some trees can be identified easily because of the striking features. These trees do not need a complex system of 'keying' because they are instantly recognisable.

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Jacana Media presents Mpho Dagada, a young, self-made millionaire who in his memoir, Mr Bitcoin, shares his story of triumph and failure. He tells his story from the beginning: being brought up by business-minded and accomplished grandparents who planted in him the seeds of what it means to be successful in business. This book is both motivational and practical, examining the errors and pitfalls that Dagada had to go through in his business pursuits which included falling for Ponzi schemes like Kipi. Through these many lows were lessons of great value which ultimately led to the endless possibilities that Bitcoin presents for those interested in creating wealth through trading cryptocurrencies and running a successful business. Dagada is confident in the viability of Bitcoin and ascertains that 'we will never understand the money of the future without learning how money came about in the first place. Blockchain and Bitcoin are now pioneering a new online financial world. Cryptocurrencies will replace fiat money in the end, as they are faster, better and more convenient than all the earlier forms of currency.'

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Ronnie Kasrils's insights into Jacob Zuma, both shocking and revelatory, are vividly illuminated through this story—from their shared history in the underground to Kasrils's time as minister of intelligence and his views on South Africa now. This fast-paced, thriller-style memoir outlines the tumultuous years that saw Mbeki's overthrow and replacement by Zuma, Nkandlagate, the growing militarization of the police and the Marikana Massacre, the outrageous appointment of flunkies to high office, the ""state capture"" report and his relationship with the Guptas. We relive the Schabir Shaik corruption trial, Kasrils's relationship with Fezeka Kuzwayo (Khwezi), Zuma's rape trial accuser, the email and spy tapes saga, conspiracy, and betrayal. While Kasrils explains the enigmatic contradictions of Jacob Zuma, he also explains that corruption and the abuse of power did not begin with him. His story points to the compromised negotiations of the 1990s, which he refers to as a ""Faustian Pact."" This is a story told from the inside, exploring the many machinations of power and how one man's struggle for the truth can have such an impact on the political outcomes of a nation.

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Safaris & Spices takes you on the same journey Nico Verster experienced while travelling to all corners of Africa. It captures the essence of African food steeped in tradition and ancient recipes, while highlighting the modern diversity in the current gastronomic scene. On our food safari we start in North Africa among the Kasbahs and medinas of Morocco, following the ancient trade roots all the way past East Africa, Mozambique and Madagascar down to southern Africa. Nico effortlessly guides the reader through a colorful range of magnificent but easy-to-follow recipes. With stunning photography from award-winning Joe Dreyer, the recipes will inspire you to make your own stocks, spice mixes, chutneys, and sauces that can be used with an array of local dishes, as well as give you simple tips on making the most delicious cakes and desserts.

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This essential guide to the animals of southern Africa has been written specifically for young outdoor enthusiasts. It is filled with fascinating facts about the extraordinary animals living in the area. Discover the amazing adaptations that animals have developed in order to survive. Find out about their lifecycles, the places they live, why some keep territories, why they migrate or hibernate, how they find a mate and escape predators, and how they interact with one another. There is an important section on conservation matters that all the future generations on our planet stand to gain or lose depending on the solutions that are implemented today.

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Based on South Africa’s beloved comic strip, this special volume features Madam & Eve's favorite grandmother, Mother Anderson, as she shares her thoughts on surviving life’s twists and turns with a little help from her old friend, gin and tonic. Cantankerous yet warm and witty, Mother Anderson is depicted watching television and fighting with both Eve, her daughter’s maid, and the mielie lady—who frequently wakes the combative granny from her naps while selling ears of corn on the street. Entertaining and politically aware, this book provides a cynical and lighthearted perspective on life in South Africa.

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Alma Nel leaves her home on the edge of the Kalahari to retrieve the body of her gay son in Amsterdam. Driven by guilt and grief, she resolves to reconstruct Staal's life and the events leading up to his death, undertaking a bizarre quest in a strange and surreal world. Guided by a coke-dealing Rastafarian, Alma opens a psychedelic can of worms, meeting many of Staal's friends and acquaintances - scissor queens, leather men, rent boys, daredevils. But not everyone is sympathetic towards Alma, and some of Staal's friends would prefer to keep their secret histories hidden in the darkrooms of the night. As her quest progresses, Alma discovers that a mysterious stranger is several steps ahead of her, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle. The mysterious stranger turns out to be Staal's friend Remco de Heer, the accident-prone leading man from Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot. Rem seeks Staal's help after fleeing from his brother's attic at the end of Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot. Now Rem descends into the underworld again to find Staal's rent-boy lover Janusz, who was with him the night he died. Rem is driven by the need to know whether his malignant accident-proneness played any part in Staal's death. The Big Stick is poignant, comical, suspenseful and (strangely) sexy. Two telling compliments from Dutch reviewers give us a snapshot of their reactions: "Characters I'd love to meet in the flesh" and "How can a straight author write so accurately about the gay scene?"

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In the wake of political unrest across various nations, democratic governance systems need strong and well-established political parties to channel the demands of citizens, govern in the public good and satisfy the basic needs of societies. Therefore political parties are crucial in aggregating and articulating interests, recruiting leaders, presenting election candidates and developing competing policy proposals that provide a voice – and a choice – to citizens. To fulfil these functions, however, trust in how the political system functions and in political parties as cogs in this machine of government is critical. But, across the African continent, there are low levels of confidence and trust in political parties, notwithstanding the monumental changes taking place among citizen attitudes, especially recent trends towards greater direct political action.

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A year’s anthology of South Africa’s best political cartoons, this hilarious compilation also narrates the story of the country’s epic hosting of the FIFA World Cup. Corruption scandals, counterfeit currency, dodgy judges, eco-disasters, lifestyle audits, paternity scandals, and all the usual gaffes and catastrophes are momentarily sidelined by a month of deafening soccer madness. An interesting reexamination of South African society, this unique chronicle covers all of 2010’s notable occurrences.

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"Discovering Home" is the third collection of stories from the Caine Prize for African Writing and includes works by writers from Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa. This volume also contains the stories written by participants at the first African Writers' Workshop held in Cape Town in March 2003.

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Provides a simple method of tree identification for the beginner or tree enthusiast.

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The A-Z of South African politics 2004 is an essential and entertaining guide for navigating the corridors of power in South Africa today. The title will give readers an under-the-skin look at the country's political movers and shakers.

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This is an African story of a boy and a baby elephant, and their unexpected friendship as they journey to reunite Zoya with his elephant herd. The baby elephant is guided by the intrepid boy and a growing coterie of animals. A tender, often amusing, take on the age-old African story of nature and humankind existing together in mutual respect. Their conversations are filled with beautiful African proverbs and life lessons that raise awareness of the plight of Elephants and the need to protect them. The text, by Caroline Montague, is evocative of the African bush, its people and wildlife and their vital importance in the fast-disappearing natural world. Beautifully illustrated by the artist Richie Ryall, this book which will appeal to adults and children as a compelling tale of friendship, courage and hope in the face of adversity. Published in partnership with Elephants Alive, Zoya and Naru is a book which will raise awareness of the plight of elephants and the urgent need to protect them before it’s too late. Elephant lovers and conservationists are currently working against time to tackle the ivory trade, and to create new corridors for animals to move safely across borders as they once did. We are all, as this poignant story reminds us, custodians of our precious environment and the wildlife of Africa. This marvellous book, with its backdrop of survival in the wilds of Africa, makes our duty crystal clear.

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Do you see that big tree on our right? asked Isaac, as soon as we had crossed the river. Wellington used to have lunch and rest there when he was ploughing the fields. It was him, Jambren, and Monyebere.

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In this a no-holds-barred account of her post addiction addictions, Ferguson becomes enslaved by self-help fads, Oprah, 12 step meetings, dodgy men and social media. She finds herself trapped in a world where instant gratification and narcissism is the norm. She struggles to break the cycle of "more, more,more", of use and abuse which is deeply embedded in her DNA.

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Things even Gonzalez can't fix is the shockingly brilliant debut memoir of a 24-year-old Greek South African girl, Christy Chilimigras. It is nothing like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Although there are old women in black, plucking stray hairs from their chins, the nuts in the baklava appear by way of a dash of crack cocaine, a sneaky brand of sexual abuse and cereal Tupperwares, packed to the brim with dagga. It is also very funny. It is the story of a young girl growing up in Johannesburg in a space of pure chaos, raised by two addict parents. In reality Christy, otherwise known as Mouse (who becomes a Furious Masturbator), is raised by Tiger, her older sister. Their childhood is strange, made up of crack excursions to Hillbrow at 3am, courtesy of their father on second weekends, and a dope smoking mother, Old Lass, who raises the two young girls single-handedly while starting her own business. Tiger and Mouse's worlds are overturned when Old Lass proceeds to marry an alcoholic control freak under an unsuspecting tree, only to get arrested following an invasion by the Hawks. "Children of addicts are curious things. We are deathly serious. We tinker on the edge of the worst case scenario. We are manic in our joy. We mean to dip our toes, but rather dive head first into extremes. We despise drugs ... and people who do drugs. So what then does it say about me when at 16 I fall desperately in love with a boy who perpetually has a joint dangling from his lips?" Things even Gonzalez can't fix is also a disturbingly brutal story about two sisters, raised by a father who has been sexualising them since they were toddlers. "We are desperate for answers and the knowledge of where to place our discomfort. If it feels like abuse and hurts like abuse, but it doesn't look like the abuse we read about in magazines, does it even count?". At 16 Christy falls in love with Olive Oil, a dope head addict, then, at 22, with a much older sado masochist, The Italian, who introduces her to a world of dangerously rough sex. "The book is my attempt at reclaiming my sanity and sexuality, which was colonised a long time ago. It involved countless bowls of pasta, glasses of wine (which best you believe I overthought) and a compulsion to be honest; very honest. Like oh sweet Jesus it hurts to spill your guts. It hurts to be this honest." A book that simply pulsates with edgy originality, that unleashes a Millennial's unapologetic perspective of our world, Christy Chilimigras is a new voice that demands to be read. Not since Kopano Matlwa's Coconut has a book promised to shake perspectives and overturn the way we see things. Things even Gonzalez can't fix, published by MFBooks Joburg, will be launched in May 2018.

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Upon giving birth to twin girls in rural Uganda, Nyakale’s mother decides to send one away to her sister in South Africa for a shot at a better life. In the heart of this beautifully woven coming of age story, is the story of twins growing up in two different worlds one in rural Uganda and the other in South Africa. The novel follows theirs lives and journeys of navigating the politics of their respective worlds. Nyakale and Achen grew up despising each other for what they imagine the other to have because of their mother’s drastic decision. When they finally meet , how mirrored will they feel by the other?

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“Come to me...,” she said, softly, “and I will make your pen sing again.”Bandile Ndala is a once-successful scriptwriter who now struggles with substance abuse, anxiety and depression as he starts to lose his tenuous grip on reality. His career has stagnated with the rejection of his literary work and life at home with his family is under strain. His life starts to descend into a living nightmare, literally.Bandile is desperately searching for inspiration so he can make a much-needed comeback. When Bandile finds himself in room 28 at the Cariba Inn with a sultry temptress he wonders whether he has gone crazy. Has the formerly brilliant writer who churned out hit TV show after hit TV show lost his mind? Is he on drugs? Or is it all in something he ate at a dinner a few years back…?

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Set in the taxi industry, the story's main characters are a poor taxi driver, a wealthy taxi owner and the taxi driver's girlfriend. As crime fiction featuring paranormal elements, The Last Stop combines gritty realism with the magical. It shows what happens between people in times of taxi violence and deals with themes of lust, betrayal and revenge. The Last Stop is an engaging, clever, interesting and darkly enjoyable read with an incredible plot twist at the end.

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Legendary music icon writes tell-all book. 'Show business as we know it is very unpredictable. For a few years I was the talk of the town. It was getting hard to even go shopping without being mobbed by fans.' – Marah Louw. With a career spanning over 40 years, Marah Louw is counted among South Africa's musical and entertainment industry royalty and has a powerful and memorable story to tell. This book is the reader's front-row ticket to the joys, sadness, triumphs and setbacks that have been part of this legend's life. Even though she is a celebrity, her story aims to show that stars, no matter how bright, are human too. It also delves into her family secrets and her search for truth. As one of South Africa's most iconic entertainers, Marah has had an illustrious career. She performed at the Mandela Concert at London's Wembley Stadium and she sang at the Newsmaker of the Year Awards, presented to Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk, and in honour of the late Chris Hani.

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“This edited volume is a significant academic achievement. The book offers a comparatively enriched account of debates in higher education transformation across South African, African, and African-American epistemic contexts. The text offers perspectives on how the humanities could be reformed in the quest to decolonise curriculum and free the higher education from Eurocentrism.” Aslam Fataar, Distinguished Professor, Stellenbosch University, South Africa “The book’s strength came from its diversity of countries, theories, and histories. I came away from the book feeling not only inspired but also guided and prodded. While it is a much-needed text for all of us in higher education, I think it will find a quick and large audience of readers. I do not know of another competing book at this scale.” Wayne Hugo, Associate Professor of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Despite two-and-a-half decades of black majority rule after 1994, much of South African higher education in the area of humanities continues to embrace European models and paradigms. This is despite concepts such as Africanisation, indigenisation and decolonisation of the curriculum having become buzzwords, especially after the #MustFall campaigns, student-led protests from 2015. This book argues that, beyond the use of internally constructed strategies to foster curriculum transformation in South Africa, it is important to draw lessons from the curriculum transformation efforts of other African countries and African-American studies in the United States (US). The end of colonialism in Africa from the 1950s marked the most important era in curriculum transformation efforts in African higher education, evident in the rise of leading decolonial schools: the Ibadan School of History, the Dar es Salaam School of Political Economy and the Dakar School of Culture. These centres used rigorous research methods such as nationalist historiography and oral sources to challenge Eurocentric epistemologies. African-American studies emerged in the US from the 1920s to debunk notions of white superiority and challenge racist ideas and structures in international relations. The two important schools of this scholarship were the Atlanta School of Sociology and the Howard School of International Affairs.

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Despite the more general social, political and economic advances that have been made under the ANC's rule since 1994, power has not only remained in the hands of a small minority but has increasingly been exercised in service to capital. This has seen the ANC become the key political vehicle, in party and state form as well as application, of corporate capital; both domestic and international, black and white, local and national and constitutive of a range of different fractions. As a result, 'transformation' has largely taken the form of macro-acceptance of, combined with micro-incorporation into, the capitalist system, now minus its specific and formal apartheid frame. This book tells that 'story' by offering a critical, fact-based and actively informed holistic analysis of the ANC in power.

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Six years after the Marikana massacre, we have still seen minimal change for mineworkers and mining communities. Although much has been written about the days leading up to August 16, 2012, and how little has been done, few have analyzed the policies and system that make such a tragedy possible. Lonmin Platinum Mine and the events of August 16th are a microcosm of the mining sector and how things can go wrong when society leaves everything to government and ""big business"". Business as Usual after Marikana is a comprehensive analysis of mining in South Africa. Written by respected academics and practitioners in the field, it looks into the history, policies, and business practices that brought us to this point.

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Nigeria and South Africa account for about a third of Africa's economic might, and have led much of its conflict management initiatives over the last two-and-a-half decades. Both account for at least 60% of the economy of their respective sub-regions in West and Southern Africa.The success of political and economic integration in Africa thus rests heavily on the shoulders of these two regional powers. Nigeria and South Africa have also sought to give Africa a stronger global voice, while competing as rivals on issues such as peacemaking in Côte d'Ivoire, Libya, and Guinea-Bissau. This book assesses Nigeria/South Africa relations in the areas of politics, economics, and culture within the context of rivalries and hegemony.

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Scholars agree that a direct correlation can be made between poor governance and the emergence of extremist movements. This book challenges both the efficacy and wisdom of purely militarized responses to extremist movements typified by the Global War on Terror, as well as the cursory replication of international counter-terrorism frameworks promulgated by the UN and EU in Africa. Emphasis is given to the importance of understanding local history, culture and regional geopolitics, among a variety of context-specific factors, to effectively address the emergence and spread of extremisms in Africa. As such, it draws on contributions from a range of thematic and regional experts, including security-sector specialists, conflict analysts, journalists, international relations and governance specialists, political scientists, social anthropologists, psychologists, and theologians.

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It is a great privilege to launch our series with A Working Life, Cruel Beyond Belief, by Alfred Temba Qabula, with a new Foreword by the original translator, BE Nzimande. Qabula was a central figure in the cultural movement among working people that emerged in and around Durban in the 1980s. It was an innovative attempt to draw on the oral poetry developed among the Nguni people over many centuries. Alfred Temba Qabula was a forklift driver in the Dunlop tyre factory in Durban at the time this book was developed. He used the art of telling stories to critique the exploitation of black workers and their oppression under apartheid.

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