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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Ball games
Zola Mahobe came from Soweto and turned himself into a jet-setting multimillionaire. He was a habitual bank robber. The founding father of present-day Mamelodi Sundowns transformed the soccer club to the elite of the first division. He meets Snowy Moshoeshoe who becomes his lover and partner in crime. After convincing Moshoeshoe to leave her nursing job to take up a job at Standard Bank Mahobe’s businesses start to grow. Dikgang Moseneke shares the story of how Mahobe often invited him and Willie Seriti to games. He often told them: ‘I am a man with many challenges. I like to travel with my lawyers and my gunman next to me.’ Mahobe and Moshoeshoe continue pilfering millions from Standard Bank for five years. The bank discovers their scheme and Mahobe is arrested in Botswana. The untold story of Mahobe is one of the biggest stories to come out of apartheid South Africa and compares with that of the notorious bank-robbing Stander Gang. This book is impossible to put down.
The Detainees’ Parents Support Committee (DPSC) was started in 1981 in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was set up by the parents, spouses and families of activists who were detained and had no recourse to legal intervention. Many in this movement had not been politically involved. Members of the DPSC stood on street corners with placards calling for the release of their children. They organised food, clothing and legal representation for detainees across the country, and they supported the detainees’ families. DPSC activists marched, petitioned, argued, wrote and protested for the release of all detainees. They made public the brutal operations of the security establishment. The DPSC helped to draw international attention to the atrocities being perpetuated against children – some as young as nine – by the apartheid state. And the evidence amassed by the DPSC helped to lay some of the groundwork for South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The Knock On The Door tells the story of the DPSC and of how the anti-detention movement became part of the mass uprising that brought down apartheid. It is an inspiring account of ordinary people coming together to stand up against racism and the abuse of power.
This is not a book about cricket. It is the story of a man who just happened to play cricket at the highest level. Through Fire is at times a brutally honest and always fascinating work of introspection and critique that provides readers with unrestricted insight into the mind and heart of one of South Africa’s most interesting and charismatic national captains. There is the public persona of the tattooed, fashionable, mentally tough, immensely popular and yet at times, misunderstood Du Plessis. And then there is the authentic Faf. Du Plessis reflects on his growth from being a youth with a questionable moral compass outside of cricket, to becoming a leader known for his integrity, values, honesty, and empathy for his teammates and country. He reflects on how influential leaders such as Gary Kirsten, Stephen Fleming, Mohammed Moosajee, Russell Domingo, Ottis Gibson, and MS Dhoni moulded him as a man who leads with grit, purpose, and a love of people. But he also explores destructive relationships, providing his perspective, in devastating detail, on his final years of international cricket. Neither the changing room nor the boardroom is ever off limits. Through Fire is a no-holds-barred autobiography offering exceptional insight into the core being of an elite sports personality.
Eight-year-old Teko Modise didn’t mean to compete with his father, it was just that he was a soccer natural and everyone could see it. His father, in a fit of childlike jealously, kicked him out of the house, and when Teko tried to come back he kicked him out again. So little Teko made a plan. Every day he attended school as normal, and at night he slept out on the streets with other homeless children. This book is the true story of his rise to fame, to becoming ‘the General’, one of the best footballers South Africa has produced, and will allow readers to understand the story behind ‘the Curse’. At the peak of his career the world seemed filled with Teko. His face was on every major billboard, TV advert and magazine cover in the country. Little boys from suburbs to townships everywhere were lining up at barbershops asking for The Teko haircut. With a house in Sandton and driving an Aston Martin, Modise was about to make history in the upcoming Soccer World Cup of 2010. He had gone beyond being football royalty, he became a super star. The tabloids have called him an abusive lover, a cheating ex-husband, a neglectful father and an alcoholic egotistical footballer. But beyond these headlines is a story about a boy who played his way out of poverty on talent alone. Be inspired by this story of a young man with a resilient spirit who kept moving forward chasing his dreams, who not only survived, but made it, and made it big. The Teko Modise story is proof that anything is possible.
Thando Manana was the third black African player to don a Springbok jersey after unification in 1992, when he made his debut in 2000 in a tour game against Argentina A. His route to the top of the game was unpredictable and unusual. From his humble beginnings in the township of New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, Thando grew to become one of the grittiest loose-forwards of South African rugby, despite only starting the game at the age of 16. His rise through rugby ranks, while earning a reputation as a tough-tackling lock and later openside flanker, was astonishingly rapid, especially for a player of colour at the time. Within two years of picking up a rugby ball, he represented Eastern Province at Craven Week, and by 2000 he was a Springbok. But it isn’t solely Thando’s rugby journey that makes Being A Black Springbok a remarkable sports biography. It’s learning how he has negotiated life’s perils and pitfalls, which threatened to derail both his sporting ambitions and the course of his life. He had to negotiate an unlikely, but fateful, kinship with a known Port Elizabeth drug-lord, who took Thando under his wing when he was a young, gullible up-and-comer at Spring Rose. Rejected by his father early in his life, Thando had to deal with a sense of abandonment and a missing protective figure and find, along the way, people to lean on. Thando tells his story with the refreshing candour he has become synonymous with as a rugby commentator, pundit and member of the infamous Room Dividers team on Metro FM. He has arguably become rugby’s strongest advocate for the advancement of black people’s interests in the sport, and his personal journey reveals why.
From beginnings on a gravel court on a farm in rural South Africa, Gordon Forbes went on to travel the world with his long-time tennis partner Abe Segal during the late 1950s and early 60s: the glory days of Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Virginia Wade. In this delightful insider’s account of tennis on the international circuit, Forbes looks back with laughter at his tennis playing years through a varied, successful and often outrageous career on the world’s courts. This newly published edition of A Handful Of Summers brings back a cult classic, revealing an era populated by the most colourful tennis players of all time. More about the hilarious escapades of players than the game itself, the book begins with a short series of vignettes from Forbes’s childhood on an Eastern Cape farm in South Africa, then takes the reader on a tennis tour – into locker rooms and restaurants, narrow streets and small hotels, and onwards to the lawns of Wimbledon and the caramel coloured clays of Roland Garros. A player of international repute, Gordon Forbes has managed to capture the irresistible charm of an era while telling the story of a young man striving to follow signposts on the winding roads of life.
An astonishing 94.6% of businesses fail to sell, closing at an enormous cost to the owner, their family, their staff and the economy. It’s a shocking realisation to many business owners that after all the courage it took to start, the creativity and care it took to build, every business faces only two possible ends: a sale or closure. So you’ve got to build to $ell. Sweat, Scale, $ell shares real business-building stories about how ordinary business owners changed their fate using the Asset of Value™ method, a practical approach to building a winning business. With Pavlo Phitidis, they Sweated to reshape their business to be relevant to a changing world; they built a solid foundation for Scale; and then they pressed hard on the accelerator to ramp up growth in preparation for $ale to create a business any buyer would want. Phitidis draws on 25 years of direct experience in conceptualising and building businesses across four continents. He has developed and brought to market business assets in excess of US$300 million through a combination of business start-ups, turnarounds, sales and acquisitions. Phitidis started, built and sold 12 businesses in nine years and took the lessons from the two failures, two IPOs and eight sales to build a business that builds businesses. As a co-founder of Aurik he has worked with over 1 500 established businesses across most sectors in the economy, including family businesses, partnerships and lone business owners. PAVLO PHITIDIS is the resident entrepreneurial and business growth content contributor for Radio 702 and CapeTalk, the presenter and host of The Growth Engines for Business Day TV, as well as a speaker at both local and international business conferences.
South Africa has produced some of the best batsmen in the world, with AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla dominating the recent ICC rankings. Previous teams and generations have included their own legends. But who are the greatest of them all? Following the success of their book Jacques Kallis and 12 Other great South African all rounders, Ali Bacher and David Williams now turn their attention to South Africa’s top batsmen. The book features early legends such as Herby Taylor and Dudley Nourse; the world-beating Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards, whose careers were cut short by isolation; the unshakeable Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis, who built the foundation of the Proteas’ postisolation success; the big-scoring captain Graeme Smith and his South African-born England counterpart Kevin Pietersen; and the swashbuckling Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, who dominate the current game. It also considers two players who, but for apartheid, might have been their equals in the Test-match arena. South Africa’s greatest batsmen provides fascinating insights about each man’s background and career, his batting technique, and his main achievements at the crease. Based on new interviews, the book will take the reader down memory lane as former and current players reminisce about their most important innings, the bowlers they most feared and the teammates they most respected. Written by cricket legend Ali Bacher and top journalist David Williams, this is a book that no cricket fan can be without.
A vivid story of the men and women who took a stand when sport mixed with politics. In 1971, when the racially selected all-white Springbok rugby team toured Australia, it became a nation at war with itself. There was bloodshed as tens of thousands of anti-apartheid campaigners clashed with governments, police, and rugby fans - who were given free reign to assault protestors. Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen declared a state of emergency. Prime minister William McMahon called the Wallabies who refused to play 'national disgraces'. Barbed wire ringed the great rugby grounds to stop protestors invading the field. Pitched Battle recreates what became of the most rancorous periods in modern Australian history - a time of courage, pain, faith, fanaticism, and political opportunism - which ultimately made heroes of the seven Wallabies who refused to play, played a key role in the later political careers of Peter Beattie, Meredith Burgmann, and Peter Hain, and ultimately led to the abandonment of apartheid.
Rassie Erasmus is al geniaal genoem. Hy is al roekeloos genoem. Nog sy lewe lank het hy dinge anders gedoen. Nou sal Rassie op sy kenmerkende openhartige manier gesels oor sy lewe vol voorspoed en teëspoed, op en weg van die rugbyveld – as Springbokspeler, provinsiale afrigter, en as die hoofafrigter wat die nasionale span na die Rugbywêreldbeker-sege in 2019 en ook in die aanloop tot 2023 se Wêreldbeker gelei het. Hy sal terugkyk op sy loopbaan as speler en afrigter, iemand wie se ingebore rugby-instink, vermoë om ’n wedstryd anders te lees en aptyt vir harde werk hom nog altyd onderskei het, en gelei het tot omstredenheid en mislukking, maar ook dawerende sukses. Rassie werk saam met die bekende joernalis David O’Sullivan om sy lewensverhaal te vertel. David is ’n bekroonde skrywer en omroeper.
4 World Champions. 3 Priceless Points. 2 Cups Back-To-Back. 1
Phenomenal Journey
‘Highly readable and packed with fascinating historical detail, this is
the compelling story of a ripsnorting South African cricketer whose
career was smothered by the shameless colour prejudice of Cecil John
Rhodes and his snobbish cronies. By turns formidable, sad, enlivening
and enormously informative, this book pays Hendricks the honour that
has long been his due.’ – Bill Nasson
For a man who loves the order and structure of institutions, Shaun ‘Fush’ Fuchs is hard to pigeonhole. A school rugby star, a soldier, a provincial powerlifter, a renowned waterpolo coach, a lifelong entrepreneur, a dynamic teacher, and a beloved headmaster. In his memoir, Fush, Shaun tells the story of a life dedicated to changing the lives of others. From his school days at Jeppe High School for Boys and his activism heading up the SRC of the South African Student Teachers Union, to his time as an army infantry officer and his memorable teaching career, Shaun has always had an irrepressible instinct to succeed and to lead no matter what happens and no matter what the challenges. Because he has had to leap hurdles and overcome adversity almost every step of the way, Shaun has sought to leave the institutions he has been a part of as better, more diverse, more inclusive environments, where children feel safe and everyone has a space to be themselves. Covering love and loss, pageants and coups, false accusations of terrorism, and the love of hundreds of students who have passed through schools Shaun has been part of, Fush will make you laugh, cry and reconsider what it truly means to educate and lead by example.
World Champions (2nd edition) continues the story of South African rugby in a new chapter that includes coverage of the momentous 2023 Rugby World Cup win by South Africa’s Springboks. South Africa won the 2023 Rugby World Cup by defeating New Zealand 12-11 in front of more than 80 000 spectators at the Stade de France. As this 2nd edition shows, in winning the Webb Ellis Cup for the fourth time, the Springboks became the competition’s most successful team. Back-to-back victories in Yokohama in 2019 and Paris in 2023 inspired a renewed appreciation of the skills that have always existed across South Africa’s racial spectrum. In its telling of this story, World Champions 2nd Edition again offers readers insights that go beyond the media-led rendition of South African rugby. Further additions to this 2nd edition include a revised Introduction, expanded Index, updates to the history of South Africa’s first steps toward playing international rugby in the late nineteenth century, as well as additional content about, inter alia institutions such as the national governing bodies, and the winning teams in 1995, 2007, 2019 and 2023. In this way, the 2nd edition continues to provide both the most-relevant and most-current history of South African rugby and the many organisations and individuals that have contributed to its evolution.
Het jy al ooit gewonder hoe dit moet voel om vir die Springbokke gekies te word of hoe 50 000 ekstatiese ondersteuners op die pawiljoen klink? Met die Rugbywêreldbeker om die draai, het Hendrik Hancke die land deurkruis om met oud-Springbokke en ander rolspelers, insluitend breiers en’n skeidsregter, te gesels oor hul liefde vir rugby. Hulle deel oomblikke in die kleedkamer, persoonlike oorwinnings en voorheen ongepubliseerde stories oor wat van die veld af en op toer gebeur. Schalk “Schalla” Brits verduidelik waarom dit so noodsaaklik vir ’n Springbok is om ’n spanspeler te wees, terwyl Gcobani Bobo aangrypend vertel van sy reis met rugby van King Williamstown tot Nieu-Seeland. Frik du Preez verklap weer hoe hy en ’n voormalige Nobelpryswenner mekaar gevind het oor hul gedeelde afkeer van Brusselse spruite en Jean de Villiers gesels oor die hoogtepunte en uitdagings van Springbok-kaptein wees. As jy Saterdagmiddae kliphard vir die televisie skree of op die sypaadjie sal slaap vir ’n kaartjie na ’n groot wedstryd, dan is dié boek vir jou!
Performance coach Tom Dawson-Squibb tells the entertaining and inspiring story of his five years as the head coach of the University of Cape Town’s Ikey Tigers rugby team. At the heart of Humanball lies the story of a team that is more than just the sum of its parts. It's a story about getting the best out of those around you. It's a story about defying expectations—those imposed by others and the ones we set for ourselves. Performance coach Tom Dawson-Squibb tells the entertaining and inspiring story of his five years as the head coach of the University of Cape Town Ikey Tigers rugby team. Tom reveals how the most potent teams connect and inspire individuals to give effort far beyond what's expected. He shows us how to find joy, meaning, and connection in our work. Humanball will move and inspire you to write your own story and transform your sports team, workplace, or home into a cohesive, motivated, and purposeful environment.
Rassie Erasmus has been called a genius. He’s been called reckless. All his life, he’s done things differently. Now, with his trademark candour, Rassie will talk openly about his life of adventure and misadventure both on and off the rugby field – as a Springbok player, a provincial coach, and as the head coach who led the national team to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup, including the lead-up to the RWC 2023. He will reflect on his career as a player and coach, someone whose innate rugby instincts, ability to read a game differently, and appetite for hard work have set him apart, and have led to controversy and failure, along with resounding success. Rassie is working alongside well-known journalist David O’Sullivan to bring his story to print. David is an award-winning writer and broadcaster.
"Dié seun is vir groot dinge bestem . . ." Só het sy afrigters by Boland Landbou sedert sy hoërskooldae geglo. Toe hy op die bloedjong ouderdom van 19 die Curriebeker vir die Blou Bulle verower én die skopkoning Naas Botha se eindstrydpunterekord verbeter, het dit gelyk of sy pad na roem en rykdom geplavei was. Maar toe begin die dobbelstene verkeerd val vir die liefling van Loftus. Harsingskudding, Kamp Staaldraad, beserings en toé ’n allesverterende pilverslawing het hom laat steier. Sy sprokies-huwelik is verwoes en sy beroepslewe en geldsake is in ’n warboel gelaat . . . Dié boek onthul staaltjies oor sy rugbydae maar ook vriende en vertrouelinge se vergeefse pogings om Derick uit die kloue van verslawing los te wikkel. Dit is ’n diep menslike verhaal wat wys hoe dun die lyn tussen sukses en mislukking is en hoe maklik selfs die grootste helde tot op hul knieë gedwing kan word.
Business tycoon Patrice Motsepe is never shy to shake up the status quo. He has always followed his instincts to stay ahead of the curve. An icon of corporate South Africa, he is as much known for his leadership in the world of football as for his philanthropy. He was a top lawyer when he followed his dream of being an entrepreneur, making a deal with Anglo American in the late 1990s that marked the beginning of a series of unique relationships which today define his African Rainbow Minerals empire. As the owner of Mamelodi Sundowns, he led it to becoming one of the most accomplished clubs in Africa. Then came the powerful seats of president at the Confederation of African Football and vice-president of FIFA, football’s global governing body, in 2021. Yet questions linger about his political ambitions because of his close links to the ANC and particularly his brothers-in-law, Cyril Ramaphosa and Jeff Radebe. In this unauthorised biography, best-selling author and journalist Janet Smith mines public archives, academic papers and international media to find what lies behind this hugely successful, intensely private man, and what may lie ahead.
‘You only need to win a game by one point.’ – Jacques Nienaber after
South Africa’s tournament opener against Scotland in the 2023 Rugby
World Cup.
In the autumn of 2010, a little-known New Zealander called Joe Schmidt took over as head coach at Leinster. He had never been in charge of a professional team. After Leinster lost three of their first four games, a prominent Irish rugby pundit speculated that Schmidt had 'lost the dressing room'. Nine years on, Joe Schmidt has stepped down as Ireland coach having achieved success on a scale never before seen in Irish rugby. Two Heineken Cups in three seasons with Leinster. Three Six Nations championships in six seasons with Ireland, including the Grand Slam in 2018. And a host of firsts: the first Irish victory in South Africa; the first Irish defeat of the All Blacks, and then a second; and Ireland's first number 1 world ranking. Along the way, Schmidt became a byword for precision and focus in coaching, remarkable attention to detail and the highest of standards. But who is Joe Schmidt? In Ordinary Joe, Schmidt tells the story of his life and influences: the experiences and management ideas that made him the coach, and the man, that he is today. And his diaries of the 2018 Grand Slam and the 2019 Rugby World Cup provide a brilliantly intimate insight into the stresses and joys of coaching a national team in victory and defeat. From the small towns in New Zealand's North Island where he played barefoot rugby and jostled around the dinner table with seven siblings, to the training grounds and video rooms where he consistently kept his teams a step ahead of the opposition, Ordinary Joe reveals an ordinary man who has helped his teams to achieve extraordinary things.
Springbok rugby public relations manager Annelee Murray was with the team for 244 matches, during which time she worked with seven national coaches and 21 Springbok captains. This is a celebration of her 20 year journey with the Springboks, she has unique stories to tell and most of the photographs in the book are her own images from her collection, many of which will be published for the first time.
Eddie Jones is one of the most successful sports coaches of all time. From coaching three different nations to Rugby World Cup Finals and with a winning record with England of nearly 80%, Eddie Jones knows what it takes to lead and manage high performance teams. For the first time, Eddie Jones shows just what it takes to be a leader in a high performance and high pressure environment and how these lessons can be applied to every walk of life, from coaching the U9 rugby team to leading a multinational organization to simply doing your job better. As he explains the High Performance Cycle of Success at the heart of his philosophy, Eddie Jones reveals the lessons he has learnt from Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola as well as from the founder of Uniqlo and Ron Adams from the NBA. He also gives a detailed analysis of his own performance as a coach as well as how he gets the best out of the players and coaches around him and what he saw in Tom Curry that no one else saw, which makes him think that he could be the next Richie McCaw. Drawing on stories of nearly thirty years of coaching, including the 2003, 2007, 2015 and 2019 World Rugby campaigns, the full story of England's 2021 Six Nations campaign as well as why it takes humour, humility and relentless curiosity to lead an eclectic mix of superstars from Maro Itoje to James Haskell, George Smith to Kyle Sinckler, to create teams that are relentlessly hungry to win, Leadership is the ultimate rugby book about what it takes to be the best. Written with Donald McRae, two-time winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, Leadership is the book for anyone who wants to learn how to build and lead a team to success.
The phenomenal international number one bestseller with exclusive interviews with Richie McCaw, Steve Hansen, Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter, The Jersey is the first definitive story behind the greatest sports team on the planet. With a better winning record than any other sports team in history, they stand head and shoulders above their nearest rugby rivals, and go to the 2019 World Cup as back-to-back World Champions. How did a country of just 4.8 million people conquer the world? Peter Bills, who has reported on international rugby for more than 40 years, was given exclusive access to all the key figures in New Zealand rugby as he set out to understand the secrets behind the All Blacks success. From Steve Hansen to Beauden Barrett, Richie McCaw to the late Sir Colin Meads, Peter Bills talked at length with over 90 people, both in New Zealand and around the world, with intimate knowledge of what makes the All Blacks tick. This is a story of the first settlers, and the 'Originals' who forged the All Blacks legacy, right through to modern times. It draws heavily on the contributions made by all New Zealanders: players, coaches, officials, supporters and those who have worn the most recognized jersey in the world. Intrinsically, The Jersey goes to the heart of the All Blacks success. It is also an epic story of not just a rugby team but a nation, whose identities are inextricably linked. Additionally, it debates a question, terrifying for any of their opponents. Could the All Blacks get even better?
From the start of his glittering career in 1992, to his official retirement from all formats of the game in 2013, Shane Warne has long desired to tell his incredible story without compromise. No Spin is that very story. It will offer a compelling intimate voice, true insight and a pitch-side seat to one of cricket’s finest eras, making this one of the ultimate must-have sports autobiographies. Shane is not only one of the greatest living cricket legends: he is as close as the game has had since Botham to a maverick genius on the field and a true rebel spirit off it, who always gives audiences what they want. Despite being the talismanic thorn in England’s side for nearly two decades of regular Ashes defeats, he was also much loved in the UK where he played cricket for Hampshire. He’s also a much-admired figure in India and South Africa. Alongside his mesmerising genius as a bowler, Shane has often been a controversial figure, and in this book he's talk with brutal honesty about some of the most challenging times in his life as a player. Honest, thoughtful, fearless and loved by millions, Shane is always his own man and this book is a testament to his brilliant career. |
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