Search results for ""Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd""

This fearless collection of stories takes the reader on an odyssey of love and grief. Terry-Ann Adam’s peerless writing brims with fire and wonder. You will be provoked and you will exult. Above all, you’ll remember where you were when you read White Chalk.

Read more less

Meet Wanda, with her glorious head of hair. Today, Wanda is visiting the hair salon where she’ll use all the hair secrets Makhulu taught her. But Aunty Ada wants her to straighten her hair with a white chemical. Wanda and her friend Sandra come up with a plan and both girls stand strong and brave in the face of this big challenge. Bold and zesty, Wanda The Brave is a celebration of girl power, and a reminder that courage and friendship is a mighty force!

Read more less

Christopher follows an extraordinary family – the January-Miyas, with their fabled strong-willed women – sequentially through several generations. All the characters straddle many worlds which come to shape their existence in the world, starting in the present with Vuyo, the narrator, who is a contemporary young woman; her mother Nontsikelelo, a language professor; and Romance, Nontsikelelo’s older sister, a domestic worker. Vuyo returns to the area where her family origins lie, pregnant with twins, and mourning the drowning death of her husband, Christopher, a transplanted Scot, by drowning. From Vuyo we move back up the rungs of the family tree to learn of the family’s stronghold on the communities around them established by the patriarch of the family; the challenges of authentic existence in volatile spaces and how each member of the family overcomes their common but varied search to be at peace. To deal with their loss, the family member’s journey in reconciling with how to exist in an ever-changing country that is only coming to terms with the multiplicity associated with identity; the misrepresented or untold corners of truth of some histories of people in South Africa and the complexity of evolving as a person who is influenced by many truths.

Read more less

Take your Place, You Belong is a rhyming picture book that tells the story of two best friends who face discrimination on the playground because they look different from one another. This book explores themes of empathy, heroism, friendship and identity. It helps children, parents and teachers alike, discuss the often all too difficult issues around race, diversity and the hurt caused by discrimination. Karen Theunissen’s first book I have Brown Skin and Curly Hair was listed as one of Brittle Paper’s 50 notable books of 2020 and as one of the ‘70 books to read before you grow up’ by Exclusive Books in 2021.

Read more less

This is a wide-ranging and trenchant critical account of South Africa since 1994, focusing particularly upon the follies and failures of the ANC government over the past 25 years. It anatomises an acute social, economic and political crisis, and argues that a series of events – including HIV/AIDS denialism, the Marikana shootings, the Nkandla funding scandal, mass student protests, the Esidimeni health tragedy, systemic corruption and state capture – are rooted in policy choices made by the ANC during negotiations and in power. This contemporary history is presented within a much wider arc. The author outlines the history of South Africa since the mid-17th century, discussing slavery, colonial rule and dispossession, the mineral revolution, the development of industrial capitalism, and apartheid. He also reviews the history of the ANC since 1912, emphasising continuities in the class character of the movement, and the extent to which its political objectives were always compatible with the capitalist order. This meant that the important democratic rights enshrined in the 1996 constitution left untouched the capitalist economic architecture. The contemporary analysis and the historical background are located within an overview and theoretical analysis of the concept of race and the history, ideologies and practices of racism and racialism. The author assesses the relation of racism to capitalism as a global phenomenon, and the specific forms of systemic racism that developed in South Africa under colonial rule and subsequently codified in apartheid. A separate chapter discusses the National Question. The author mounts a sustained critique of ‘Africanist majoritarian chauvinism’, making a significant and combative contribution to the prevailing discourse on race, identity and post-apartheid dynamics.

Read more less

Unrecognised, ignored and forgotten. The Forgotten Scientist: The Story of Saul Sithole is the untold story of a pioneering black scientist who made a great contribution to the fields of anthropology and ornithology in South Africa. Saul Sithole was so committed to his craft that even the weight of apartheid did not stop him from giving 62 years of his life to the scientific world of birds and fossils. Saul never received the official recognition he deserved – until now. This book validates his contribution, sharing his life’s work and laying out a story that will inspire future generations of scientists. This book would not have been possible without the support of Biblionef and funding from the National Heritage Council.

Read more less

“[Philippa] captures the determination of the Weekly Mail newspaper to unmask those fuelling the violence and expose state complicity, reminding us how bloody was this peaceful transition and how precarious the outcome. She evokes - in a deeply personal, honest and moving account - the ordinary people who, away from the media spotlight, paid a heavy price to bring us democracy.” - ANTON HARBER, co-founder and former editor, Mail & Guardian “An important and riveting slice of South African history told by someone who was right there at the ringside.” - MONDLI MAKHANYA, editor of City Press PHILIPPA GARSON WORKED for the brave and upstart Weekly Mail during the early 1990s, where she covered the civil war between Inkatha and ANC-aligned communities. Undeniable is an account of that period of her life, where she and colleagues, Mondli Makhanya, Kevin Carter, Eddie Koch, Anton Harber and others, tracked and discovered the involvement of a Third Force, which was fuelling the killing frenzy. There were times when Philippa escaped with her life. In this book, she tells of the casualties, victims of war and colleagues who did not. Her relationship across the colour line and partying during the off-hours in an effort to diminish the pain of what she had witnessed are all part of this brilliant account of a harrowing period in South African history. It is a period that has not been investigated sufficiently, and which escaped much scrutiny from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Rogues, lovers, family, friends, journalists, warlords and victims are all part of Philippa’s gripping memoir, in which she explores what it was like to investigate apartheid crimes through the lens of white privilege.

Read more less

‘It was said that my maternal grandfather, Iederoos Sallie, could stand on the corner of 15th and Krause Street in Fietas, and be heard all the way down to number 22 when he burst into song […] I remember my mother telling me, when I was quite young but old enough to understand, that my father, Moegammat Sallie Sallie, had ridden off on a horse and cart with his half of the marriage spoils, with his mother, Amina, leaving my mother standing on the pavement with me in her arms, in front of Ouma Galima’s house. I was 18 months old, according to my mother. At this point it would be prudent to explain that while my mother and father had the same surname, Sallie, they were not related to each other until they married, Sallie being a somewhat common Malay/Muslim surname with variations such as Salie, Sarlie or Saleh. So, the fact that I turned out to be the somewhat weird kind of person that I am cannot be explained by the fact that Janap Sallie married Moegammat Sallie Sallie … Or can it? My own explanation is actually that at birth, I refused to come into this world in the normal fashion and had to be dragged into it with the use of forceps during which operation I most probably suffered some brain damage – not a lot, but just enough to eventually cause me to be the way I am.’

Read more less

The sixth general election since the arrival of democracy occurs at a critical moment in South Africa’s history. The immediate question this book poses is will the ANC manage to manufacture a sixth electoral victory despite its disastrous record in government since 2014? It finds the answer in the personal popularity of Ramaphosa, the ANC’s capacity to forge political unity when confronted by the risk of losing power, established voting trends amongst older voters, a sharp decline in participation among the youth which might otherwise have produced electoral shifts, and the failure of opposition parties to present themselves as viable alternatives. The subsequent question is what the consequences of a sixth successive election victory for the ANC will be for South African democracy. Will the ANC’s triumph provide a sufficiently strong mandate for Ramaphosa to turn South Africa around, or will he fail to overcome Zuma’s allies within the party? Whether he succeeds or fails, will the ANC manage to hold itself together? Is the future and quality of South African democracy dictated by whether the ANC stays together or splits into rival parts? Election 2019 covers the context of the election, analyses changing voter participation and attitudes, outlines party campaigns, and explores the role of gender and the media before evaluating the result. At its heart is the issue of whether South African democracy will survive.

Read more less

This is an account of the life experiences of a South African of Indian descent who was fortunate enough to be a part of some of South Africa’s most important changes in the transition from apartheid to a constitutional democracy. Hassen’s political consciousness grew at Westville University in 1976 and led him to join the ANC. He was forced into exile and became part of the political leadership of the ANC’s underground structures. The focus of Hassen’s underground work covers three specific areas. The first is Soweto, the formation of the Youth Congresses, and what came to be known as Organs of People’s Popular Power. The second focus is Lenasia, where the first Area Politico-Military structure was established. The third area of focus is the first Regional Politico-Military Unit that was established in Pretoria. After the unbanning of the ANC, Hassen joined the PWV Region of the ANC in 1991 to establish the first legal branches of the ANC. In 1992 he became part of the negotiation of our Interim, and later, the final constitution. With this opportunity, he had the good fortune of working with some of the great leaders that shaped South Africa’s transition and being part of some of the key defining moments. Hassen spent the next ten years in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development implementing the new constitution. Since 2011, Hassen has been working internationally on various missions, mainly on behalf of the UN, primarily doing mediation work in countries coming out of conflict. He has also worked extensively on different constitution-making exercises.

Read more less

All Thulani wants is a simple life basking in the sun. Tired of milking the cow, he exchanges it for a goat ... the goat for a sheep ... the sheep for three geese ... until all he has left is a pocket of sunflower seeds!

Read more less

More than four in 10 marriages in South Africa end in divorce before couples get to celebrate their 10-year anniversaries. According to the latest statistics from South Africa, the number of divorces increased by 0.3% from 25,260 divorces granted in 2015 to 25,326 granted in 2016. Going through a divorce is the second highest stressor, and women are particularly hard hit. Divorce Smart offers clear, concise information on matters of maintenance, property, medical aid, pension funds, and investments. It aims to ensure that women are empowered to secure their home, keep as much wealth as possible, and provide for their children's needs well beyond the end of their marriage. The book is not designed to give you legal advice but rather guidance on the financial implications and decisions necessary to ensure financial stability and to steer you away from emotional outcomes. It shows how if you can get the financial, emotional, and legal decisions right during divorce, you will create financial stability for yourself which will pave the way for a better life after divorce sooner than you think. The book uses an easy-to-understand grid of building blocks to assist you in making smart decisions before and after your divorce. It will help you to think smart so that you can live smart.

Read more less

Vroeg een oggend het drie moeë, vuil en honger gryskoppe – Seënwense, Wysheid en Liefde – aan die deur van ? familie se huis geklop. Die familie wil hulle toe graag nooi om in te kom, maar hulle kon net een besoeker kies. Wie van die drie gaan hulle kies? Hierdie fabel is oor die kontinent heen vertel en behoort aan al die mense van Afrika. Hoewel die omgewing tipies Afrika is – van die ritme tot die taal en die patrone op die klere – is die boodskap universeel. Hierdie boek is bedoel vir elke kind en familie. Omdat dit goed geskryf en pragtig geïllustreer is, sal kinders dit oor en oor wil lees. Die storie het oorspronklik verskyn in die Sunday Times Storytime: 10 South African Stories for Children, in 2014.

Read more less

We Are No Longer at Ease is a collection of personal articles, essays, speeches and poetry mainly from voices of young people who were part of the student-led protest movement known as #FeesMustFall, which began in 2015. It tells the journey of the youth who participated in a movement that redefined politics in post-apartheid South Africa and is evidence of a ‘born-free’ generation telling their own story and leading the discourse and action on transforming South Africa.Young people are not at ease. They are refusing to coexist with coloniality, sexism, democratic indifference and inequality. We need to acknowledge and take heed to their calls. This collection includes works by former student leaders turned researchers such as David Maimela and Asanda Luwaca; student newspaper journalists who covered the protests, like Natasha Ndlebe and Nkateko Mabasa; public intellectuals whose aim was to inform broader society of the key aspects of the movement, like Sisonke Msimang; lecturers who assisted the students to articulate and find clarity in voicing their ideas such as Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni; and most importantly the foot soldiers on the ground who led the students through the police brutality of rubber bullets and pepper spray, like Mcebo Dlamini, Lovelyn Nwadeyi, Ntokozo Qwabe and Sarah Mokwebo.

Read more less

African Muckraking is the first collection of investigative and campaigning journalism written by Africans about Africa. The editors delved into the history of modern Africa to find the most important and compelling pieces of journalism on the stories that matter. This collection of 41 pieces of African journalism includes passionate and committed writing on labor abuses, police brutality, women's rights, the struggle for democracy and independence on the continent and other subjects. Each piece of writing is introduced by a noted scholar or journalist who explains the context and why the journalism mattered. Some of the highlights include: Feminist writing from Tunisia into the 1930s, exposés of the secret tactics planned by the South African government during apartheid, Richard Mgamba's searing description of the albino brothers in Tanzania who fear for their lives, and the reporting by Liberian journalist Mae Azango on genital cutting, which forced her to go into hiding. Many African Muckrakers have been imprisoned and even killed for their work. African Muckraking is a must-read for anyone who cares about journalism and Africa.

Read more less

Sol Plaatje is celebrated as one of South Africa's most accomplished political and literary figures. A pioneer in the history of the black press, editor of several newspapers, he was one of the founders of the African National Congress in 1912, led its campaign against the notorious Natives Land Act of 1913, and twice travelled overseas to represent the interests of his people. He wrote a number of books, including - in English - Native Life in South Africa (1916), a powerful denunciation of the Land Act and the policies that led to it, and a pioneering novel, Mhudi (1930). Years after his death his diary of the siege of Mafeking was retrieved and published, providing a unique view of one of the best known episodes of the South African War of 1899-1902. At the same time Plaatje was a proud Morolong, fascinated by his people's history. He was dedicated to Setswana, and set out to preserve its traditions and oral forms so as to create a written literature. He translated a number of Shakespeare's plays into Setswana, the first in any African language, collected proverbs and stories, and even worked on a new dictionary. He fought long battles with those who thought they knew better over the particular form its orthography should take. This book tells the story of Plaatje's remarkable life, setting it in the context of the changes that overtook South Africa during his lifetime, and the huge obstacles he had to overcome. It draws upon extensive new research in archives in southern Africa, Europe and the US, as well as an expanding scholarship on Plaatje and his writings. This biography sheds new light not only on Plaatje's struggles and achievements but upon his personal life and his relationships with his wife and family, friends and supporters. It pays special attention to his formative years, looking to his roots in chiefly societies, his education and upbringing on a German-run mission, and his exposure to the legal and political ideas of the nineteenth-century Cape Colony as key factors in inspiring and sustaining a life of more or less ceaseless endeavour.

Read more less

Teko 'the General' Modise is one of the best footballers South Africa has ever produced. But life wasn't always kind. At eight years old, Teko was kicked out of his home for the very thing that would catapult him to stardom – football. After a series of contractual battles that saw him passed from team to team in Limpopo, he got his big break when he was signed to SuperSport United, a premier-league team. At the height of his career he played for the Orlando Pirates, becoming the superstar of South African football. His downward spiral came when he went through a messy and public divorce and developed a nasty drinking habit. It was at this stage that Teko was approached by a powerful medicine man, a king from the Congo. This story tells it all, from poverty to fame, from love to divorce. It is the story of a fatherless father trying to make sense of parenthood and a man who never had money trying to make sense of an abundance of wealth and the evils it brings, all the while maintaining his status as the greatest South African footballer of the modern era.

Read more less

The new year is synonymous with resolutions, good intentions, and dreams of a successful year ahead. It is natural to look for innovative ideas to grow your future. Win! is the complete inspirational package that will help you do just that. Imagine learning from South Africa's unique winners across varied fields—be it business, sport, politics, entertainment, or philanthropy—who have decades of experience in strategic planning, business and change management, human resource development, and the nitty-gritty of building a personal brand that can then be extended to your business and to everyone that you employ.

Read more less

’n Lieflike geïllustreerde boek wat tot kinders van alle ouderdomme sal spreek. Nyambura is laat! Sy is op pad om vir haar Ouma te gaan kuier en sy moet die bus neem van die mark af om daar te kom. Sy soen haar Mamma tot siens voordat sy na die bus haas. Nyambura moet lank wag vir die bus en dus raak sy verlore in haar eie gedagtes. Sal sy daarin slaag om die bus te haal of gaan sy agterbly? Nyambura Wag vir die Bus is ’n storie wat kinders die belangrikheid van goeie dade leer. Dit herinner ons ook om die momente wat ons saam met geliefdes spandeer, te waardeer.

Read more less

Pride and Prejudice is the first in the Gerald Kraak Anthology series. The kaleidoscopic collection comprises the most exceptional written and photographic entries for the annual Gerald Kraak Award, which was established in 2016 by The Other Foundation and the Jacana Literary Foundation. Offering important African perspectives gathered from the continent, this inaugural edition features works of fiction, journalism, photography and poetry. The pieces are multi-layered, brave and stirring. They represent a new wave of fresh storytelling that provokes thought on the topics of gender, social justice and sexuality.

Read more less

In 1994 Brad and Paige Holmes opened a small, live-music venue in the bohemian suburb of Melville in Johannesburg. They called it Bassline, which very soon became synonymous with cigarette smoke, great jazz and nights you wished would never end. They later moved the club to Newtown where it grew in prominence as the ultimate venue for live music, hosting amazing artists like Thandiswa Mazwai, Jimmy Dludlu, Lira, The Soil and Grammy Award-winning group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In 2016 word spread like wildfire that everyone's favourite club was closing its doors forever; this place that held all the promises of a new South Africa, a place where people of all races could come together, share a drink, dance and fall in love was to be no more. But as Bassline starts its new journey with Live @ the Bassline, yet another great story begins with Last Night at the Bassline.

Read more less

"In the beginning, when all things began, these were the sounds which were music to man. 'Cicadas, crickets, beetles and frogs. Seedpods, cocoons, hollowed out logs. Crackling fires, the patter of rain. Thundering hooves on the African plain. Birds in the air, in the trees - on the land. Wind in the grass through the leaves - over sand." With magical illustrations from Joan Rankin, and poetry from masterful story teller, Wendy Hartmann, the rhyme lyrically captures the magic of the African sounds of nature. From the clicking of crickets to the crackle of the fire, follow the journey that celebrates these sounds, in the rhythm and music of Africa. Also available in Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

Read more less

Set against the backdrop of a current South African black township, Hamba Sugar Daddy unfolds the tortuous journey of Rolivhuwa, an 18-year-old 'born-free' whose financial difficulties are exploited and influenced by her group of chomis into being a sugar baby. Rolivhowa's whole lifestyle changes after meeting Bigvy, the sugar daddy; she no longer eats the same food as other financially challenged students and is now able to afford expensive clothing and wave around the latest costly smartphone. Bigvy has introduced her to a new lifestyle but at what cost?

Read more less

I come from a culture where camping is purely for white people. Even if black people were to camp, they would not enjoy it because it is reminiscent of how many of us used to live; in fact, a lot of black people still live like that today – cooking on a fire, using communal toilets, with access to little or no technology – I thought there was no way I would agree to this camping expedition. Blacks Do Caravan tells the story of a young South African family's caravan journey, and the everlasting memories created along the way included amazing adventures and wonderful experiences. The book aims to inspire South Africans to take time out of their busy schedules and spend that valuable time with their families to discover the beauty of our country. Fikile's trip began on 15 September 2014 and during the journey she came to the realisation that South Africa is still a divided nation. Over twenty years into democracy, boundaries still divide us. Fikile aims to break those boundaries created by the past regime and contribute to the unity that is needed for all South Africans to move forward and experience this country equally, whether caravanning or any other form of holidaying. Fikile and her family visited over 60 caravan parks and extended their trip to the Kingdom of Swaziland, while on her travels she was blown away by the warm reception she had from fellow campers.

Read more less

Mbeki was a complex figure, full of contradictions and paradoxes: a rural child who became an urban sophisticate; a prophet of Africa's Renaissance who was also an anglophile; a committed young Marxist who, while in power, embraced conservative economic policies and protected white corporate interests; a rational and dispassionate thinker who was particularly sensitive to criticism and dissent; a champion of African self-reliance who relied excessively on foreign capital and promoted a continental economic plan - NEPAD - that was disproportionately dependent on foreign aid; and a thoughtful intellectual who supported policies on HIV/AIDS that withheld antiretroviral drugs from infected people, resulting in hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths. Thabo Mbeki is the most important African political figure of his generation and a dominant figure in South African politics for 14 years. A pan-African philosopher-king who spent two decades in exile, as president of Africa's most industrialised state, he set out a sweeping vision of an African Renaissance. As a key liberation leader in exile, Mbeki was instrumental in his party's anti-apartheid struggle. During the South African transition, he helped build one of the world's most respected constitutional democracies. As president, despite some successes, he was unable to overcome South Africa's inherited socioeconomic challenges, and his disastrous AIDS policies will remain a major blotch in his legacy. He will, however, be remembered more as a foreign policy president for his peacemaking efforts in Africa and in the building of continental institutions such as the African Union and NEPAD. This book seeks to rescue Mbeki from South African parochialism and to restore him to a pan-African pantheon.

Read more less

In the heart of Africa lies the Land of Kachoo, with vast open plain and deep rivers, too. Animals roam freely in their wild domain through forests and grasslands and rocky terrain. Big cats and rhino and Thomson's gazelle, elephant and zebra - they live there as well. The sights and the sounds in the Land of Kachoo are uniquely African and will remain with you. The roar of the lions on a starlit night and the echo of hooves running away in fright or the call of the fish eagle in the African sun are sounds to signal your safari's begun. Come and explore this land. If you dare. A wild African adventure awaits you in there! Kachoo's adventures are back again but this time we are being taught to count and say our ABC. Set in the Land of Kachoo, we are introduced to all the familiar Kachoo animals in amusing attire performing interesting actions. Follow the animals from 1-20 and A-Z: from our sharp-toothed friends the crocodiles; the fierce lions who are proudly parading; the flamingos preparing for flight and the moles that are digging without light; to the gigantic elephants trumpeting while the bats are bustling. Filled with colourful animations and clever puns, this is a book for both children and parents to enjoy.

Read more less

Jami Yeats-Kastner's story is both a personal account of a mother's ultimate loss and a universal message of growth and hope. It is centred on the loss of their young son, Sam, and the deeply spiritual path that this sets her on. It is a very sad book but not a depressing one. Sam's death forces her to confront other personal truths about herself, her life and Sam's older special needs brother, Jack. Jami shares her journey with searing honesty and a wry sense of humour and, as she finds her way back into the light, it becomes less about grief and more about self-discovery, about synchronicity and about following the signs that are everywhere. If this story has a message, it is that finding your own true path is the only way to personal self-fulfilment and that it is only when we are ourselves fulfilled that we can be of proper service to others. Initially an unwilling seeker, this is what Jami eventually discovers, and in doing so she draws on all her available strength and inspirational new insights to continue building a happy future for herself and her young family.

Read more less

Out of the class of 1979 at Rhodes University one of the quietest girls in the class, Marion Sparg joined the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) Umkhonto we Sizwe, trained in exile in Angola, and was eventually convicted of bombing three police stations. The Cape Times journalist Zubeida Jaffer was imprisoned, poisoned, and tortured for her writing and her union activism, yet chose not to prosecute her torturer. Guy Berger, also a student and later a lecturer at Rhodes University, was arrested and interrogated for possession of banned books. He spent seven months in custody, three of which he spent in solitary confinement. He was ultimately sentenced to four years in prison. For them, it began at the moment that each of them realized that what was happening in South Africa was wrong, and that they simply could not tolerate it. And for all of them, that moment came at Rhodes University. Each of them chose to reject their backgrounds and take the path of resistance, following in the footsteps of the famous few. Among these were the writers Breyten Breytenbach, Nadine Gordimer, Ingrid Jonker, Alan Paton; and the fighters Albie Sachs, Ruth First, Trevor Manuel, and Joe Slovo. This book is for all those who suffered under apartheid, and suffered to end it, and in particular for Marion, Zubeida, and Guy, who have shared their story so generously.

Read more less

Ben Turok, a former anti apartheid activist and veteran ANC MP, played a key role in the writing of the Freedom Charter, in particular its chapter dealing with economic equality. In November 2011, he broke party ranks and did not vote for the controversial Protection of Information Bill, also known as the Secrecy Bill. As cochairman of Parliament's ethics committee, he enforced strict compliance among MPs with the asset disclosure policy and presided over two controversial cases—those of former communications minister Dina Pule and ANC MP Yolanda Botha, who faced charges of fraud and corruption. With My Head above the Parapet is a record of Ben Turok's experience as a participant in the political life of South Africa since 1994. It is also an insightful account of the ANC's decline and current malaise, told by an insider intent on holding his party to its historical mission of liberating South Africa from poverty, inequality, and discrimination.

Read more less

Leila Mashal, a medical doctor trained at Wits, has taken up politics. Her platform is a single issue: freedom. In declaring her candidacy, she wishes to make public her belief that while South Africans hold the vote, they don't hold the power. She is also the wife of Tariq Hassan, a renowned photojournalist whose abduction from a Johannesburg hotel made international headlines. Held in solitary confinement in an unstated locale, Tariq contemplates his isolation, his life's work, his longing for Leila, the nature of time, and the torturous effects of abject isolation on his mind. Flashbacks—narrated from both Tariq's and Leila's points of view—tell the central story of Tariq's abduction. Might Tariq's exposure of covert South African involvement in the civil war in Kasalia have prompted his abduction? The novel uses radio interviews, e-mails, journal entries, newspaper articles, personal recollections, and even an opera score to provide insight into Tariq's career as a photojournalist, documenting people displaced by conflict and war from Libya and Palestine to Afghanistan and Kasalia, a fictional African country in the grip of a brutal civil war.

Read more less

A century after the 1913 Natives' Land Act, there remains a land crisis in South Africa. How are we to understand the many dimensions of this crisis so that we can realistically move beyond the current inertia? The starting point for this book is that the current land reform policies in the country fail to take this colonial context of division and exclusion into account. As a result, there is an abiding land crisis in South Africa. The book examines the many dimensions of this crisis in urban areas, commercial farming areas and communal areas. It argues for a fundamental change in approach to move beyond the impasse in both policy and thinking about land. Of particular importance is that social movements have a critical role to play in charting a new course, both in respect of access to land and in influencing broader policy options. Struggles from below are crucial for rethinking purely statistic efforts at land reform and the book grapples with the interplay between oppositional campaigns of social movements and the state's policies and responses. Essentially, the book argues that in South Africa the 1994 transition from apartheid to democracy has not translated into a process of decolonisation. In fact, the very bases of colonialism and apartheid remain intact, since racial inequalities in both access to and ownership of land continue today. With state-driven attempts at land reform having failed to meet even their own targets, a fundamental change in approach is necessary for South Africa to move beyond the deadlock that prevails between the objectives of the policy, and the means for realising them. It is also necessary to question the targets set for land redistribution: Will these really assist in changes for the majority?

Read more less

Arguing that police corruption is an issue that directly affects the citizenry, this in-depth examination of police malfeasance and crime in South Africa seeks to take the topic from the academic domain and make it a part of the public discourse. The book begins with a brief survey of three international policing agencies: the New South Wales Police Force, London’s Metropolitan Police, and the New York Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau. It then turns its focus to the South African Police Service (SAPS), highlighting the vast array of crimes committed by members of the SAPS—from bribery and corruption to police brutality, robbery, rape, and murder—and detailing the often symbiotic relationship between officers and gangs and crime syndicates. Information provided by SAPS interviewees as well as specialists in the fields of policing and police criminality is supported by examples from media and literature, as well as by the firsthand accounts of several offenders themselves. More than solely focusing on the wrongdoings of a select group of SAPS officers, however, this study discusses the risk factors, both individual and organizational, that contribute to this phenomenon, and explores possible interventions.

Read more less

By November of 1963, the white police state of South Africa had managed to capture nearly all of the underground leaders of the antiapartheid movement—including Nelson Mandela—and had put them on trial on charges that carried the death penalty. Among the arrested was Bob Hepple, a 29-year-old lawyer who would subsequently escape to the neighboring British Protectorate of Bechuanaland. In this memoir of these dramatic events, Hepple throws fresh light on the character of Mandela and other leaders and on the controversies surrounding the emergence of the South African Communist Party and its “secret” resolution in December 1960 to begin the armed freedom struggle. There is a firsthand account of Mandela’s period as the ""Black Pimpernel,"" his 1962 trial for incitement, and of the Rivonia raid in 1963. Hepple also gives a graphic account of the psychological effects of interrogation in solitary detention without trial, and of the difficult personal choices he had to make. The story is told against the background of the experiences of his childhood and youth in a racist society, experiences that led him—described by a pro-government newspaper as “a young man with a red tie”—to play a role as a student activist against racial segregation in the universities, an adviser and assistant to the virtually illegal multiracial trade unions, a lawyer defending political victims of the police state, and to a lifetime fighting for human rights.

Read more less

One of the most profound e?ects of the digital revolution is the radical change it has had on the delivery of advertising, propelling it from traditional TV and print into a multifaceted, multimedia, multisensory experience. And youth advertising is already way ahead in the future - this is often where the most exciting, progressive ideas and concepts get through and make it into production. It is a truly mind-blowing creative 'arena', where the message is often the medium and the medium changes so rapidly that only the very savvy can keep up. Who really knows what can make a connection with the youth? This is an exploration of the lives of the free and the domain of the restless - a place where the true spirit of liberty and energy of the young bounce o? every surface and run rings around anyone over the age of 24 - examining the art, images, words and concepts that are needed to convey messages successfully to a mass audience. The Stu? You Can't Bottle documents the journey through some of those ideas, examining the art, images, words and concepts that are needed to achieve e?ective communication; a journey replete with insight from many di?erent talents and legends in the advertising industry and beyond.

Read more less

Oscar Wilde's timeless, compassionate tale of the friendship between the Happy Prince and the Swallow is brought to life by Joan Rankin's sensitive, magical artwork. Beloved since it was first published in 1888, this enchanting story will be enjoyed by both adults and children. From his high pedestal, the Happy Prince, a magnificent golden statue, can see all the misery of the city below him. He begs a little Swallow to pluck off his treasure and share it amongst the poor. When the Happy Prince asks his new friend to stay and help him, the Swallow receives a lesson in kindness and caring.

Read more less

The African National Congress (ANC) has established itself as Africa's most famous liberation movement. The year 2012 is an important year in the history of the African National Congress' organisational, political and ideological development and growth. It marks 100 years of the ANC's existence; a milestone that has prompted partisans to a century of unparalleled achievement in the struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination and the year of the 53rd National Conference in Mangaung. It is, though, a liberation whose critics have painted a less-flattering portrait of the historical ANC, as a communist puppet, a moribund dinosaur, or an elitist political parasite. For such sceptics, the ANC - now in government for two decades - has betrayed South Africans rather than liberated them. The politics of the ANC, and those of the country it governs, are today tumultuous. South Africans endure deep inequality and unemployment, violent community protests, murders of foreign residents, major policy blunders, an AIDS crisis, and deepening corruption. Inside the ANC there are episodes of open rebellion against the leadership, conflicts over the character of a post-liberation movement, and debilitating battles for succession to the movement's presidency. The Idea of the ANC explores how ANC intellectuals and leaders interpret the historical project of their movement. It investigates three interlocked ideas: a conception of power, a responsibility for promoting unity, and a commitment to human liberation. It explores how these notions have shaped South African politics in the past, and how they will inform ANC leaders' responses to the challenges of the future.

Read more less

A passionate account by an ardent conservationist who records his experiences while undertaking fundamental research, this book details how sea turtles are suddenly struggling to survive, largely because of harm that has been done to the planet’s oceans and beaches. Much can be learned about the condition of the planet’s environment by looking at sea turtles because they have existed for more than 100 million years and travel throughout the world’s oceans. Including descriptions of the life cycles of turtles as well as fascinating facts, this book asks what their demise means for the human species. The remarkable story also highlights the active role South Africa has played in protecting its own sea turtle population and researching the turtle populations in neighboring countries.

Read more less

A Native of Nowhere: The Life of Nat Nakasa tells the story of how a quiet, serious African boy growing up in the sleepy coastal city of Durban in the 1940s became part of the generation of outspoken black South African journalists in the 1950s and 1960s who challenged state-sponsored segregation in that way that only writers can, simply by keeping a detailed record of its existence. In doing so, this story provides an alternative way of thinking about early resistance to apartheid, loosing it from the bonds of the organised opposition movement. For a man like Nat, freedom was not the end point of a long struggle arching toward justice. Rather it was something you took for yourself, day in and day out - one conversation, one interview, one multiracial party at a time. Born Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa on May 12, 1937 like many South Africans of his generation, leaving his homeland was not simply a matter of deciding to go. It was also a matter of deciding never to come back. Not yet 30 years old, Nat had to look into his future and decide that being legally barred from his homeland was a price worth paying to see the world beyond its borders. This book tells the story of that short life. In doing so, it seeks in part to answer the troubling question of how Nat found himself in that New York City window in July 1965, desperate to the point of no return. But life, like history, cannot be read backwards, and so any biography of Nat Nakasa must begin with the acknowledgement that he was no simple martyr, no fallen hero of the anti-apartheid cause, but rather an ambitious, talented and flawed man whose life had the cold fortune of colliding with one of the most racially repressive regimes in the modern world. Attempts to bring Nakasa's body home bore no fruit, and he was buried at the Ferncliff cemetery in upstate New York. A headstone placed by the Nieman Foundation 30 years later simply reads: Nathaniel Nakasa May 12 1937 - July 14 1965. Journalist, Nieman Fellow, South African. 1038 (the tombstone number). Many await the repatriation of Nat Nakasa's body to South African.

Read more less

Oscar Wilde's timeless, compassionate tale of the friendship between the Happy Prince and the Swallow is brought to life by Joan Rankin's sensitive, magical artwork. Beloved since it was first published in 1888, this enchanting story will be enjoyed by both adults and children. From his high pedestal, the Happy Prince, a magnificent golden statue, can see all the misery of the city below him. He begs a little Swallow to pluck off his treasure and share it amongst the poor. When the Happy Prince asks his new friend to stay and help him, the Swallow receives a lesson in kindness and caring.

Read more less

One Friday evening Daniel de Luc, an elusive crime writer with a deep love of poetry, disappears from a Camps Bay apartment while cooking pasta. His wife Paola, desperately worried after days of hearing nothing, is contacted by an eccentric stranger who claims to have known her missing husband under a different name and warns her not to look for him. Paola soon learns that her husband was involved in the shadowy world of the international sex industry, where well-heeled women pay men to become the anonymous fathers of their children. As her neat, controlled existence is turned inside out, Paola struggles to keep a level head and find her own humanity while trying to outwit her enemies and stay alive. The result is a fast-paced thriller that shifts between Cape Town and Paris, blending realism with the fantastic and pitting love against the attraction of sexual adventure.

Read more less

From Me To Me: Letters to my 161/2-year-old-self is a collection of just such letters written by some of South Africa's best loved and ordinary personalities to their younger selves and published with photographs of them as teenagers. From Me To Me is for the teenager wondering what life is all about, someone looking back on their youth, or seeking unpretentious wisdom, or just a chance to meet some of your favourite personalities, before the fame. -- The book is compiled and edited by Samantha Page. Samantha Page is currently the editor of O, The Oprah Magazine, and it is under her leadership that the magazine celebrated its 10th anniversary in April 2012.

Read more less

Originally published in 1971 by Lionel Abrahams' Renoster Books, it quickly became a classic but has been unavailable for many years. The new edition will carry a simultaneous Zulu translation of the poems, and a new foreword by Nadine Gordimer.

Read more less

Bill Nasson's South Africa at War, 1939-1945 is the first history of South Africa's involvement in World War II to appear for a very long time. It is written by one of South Africa's leading historians, who has specialised in writing the history of war. With characteristic brio, erudition and good humour, Bill Nasson tells an illustrated story of South Africa at war against Nazi Germany, its unpreparedness at the start, its surprising success in rising to the challenge, and the huge impact the war had on South African society and on expectations of change. It explores the impact, both immediate and in a wider historical context, of the 1939-45 crisis upon the Union and its divided and often volatile society. Touching on a broad range of experiences and events - military, political, economic and social - here is an evocative portrayal of a largely neglected episode in South Africa's modern history.

Read more less

A delightful new series by Jenny Hatton exquisitely brought to life by award-winning illustrator, Joan Rankin. Children will easily relate to the stories which reflect true to life events such as going on a journey, moving house and a visit to the beach. The rhythmic text of the Lucy books will help build children's reading skills and confidence while they are absorbed in the humorous illustrations and the lives of Lucy's family.

Read more less

This book is an account of forensic consultant Paul O'Sullivan's role in helping nail South Africa's most powerful policeman: Jackie Selebi, former police chief and head of Interpol. Based on thousands of pages of e-mails, statements, affidavits, letters, press reports, court records, and transcripts as well as interviews with O'Sullivan himself, this version provides a perspective from his point of view as a key player in the saga. While O'Sullivan's name consistently appears in almost every key breaking story around the Selebi matter, his role has often been downplayed. The Jackie Selebi story, and the satellite narratives that orbited it, is a truly remarkable chronicle that played itself out in different layers and strata of South African society. The characters that populate it, apart from Jackie Selebi, include the president of the country at the time and his political rival; myriad crooked, corrupt businessmen; a gallery of rotten, very senior rogue cops; a phalanx of undercover intelligence operatives; two-bit hired guns; scrap metal dealers; drug and human traffickers; international criminal syndicates; and a cast of thousands of common petty thugs and criminals. Paul O'Sullivan is no suave James Bond in a tuxedo, equipped with special equipment; when dealing with criminals he can be abrasive, brusque and uncompromising. This is a real account of how the criminal underworld intersects with law enforcement and politics.

Read more less

Thando is an animated soccer ball whose ambition is to be the kick-off ball in a big match. His journey, narrated in a catching rhyme and accompanied by colourful illustrations, takes the reader on a tour of Cape Town, from Langa to the soccer stadium.

Read more less