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Books > Local Author Showcase > Biography

Amma - 'n Memoir (Afrikaans, Paperback): Charmaine Africa Amma - 'n Memoir (Afrikaans, Paperback)
Charmaine Africa
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R235 R170 Discovery Miles 1 700 Save R65 (28%) Ships in 4 - 8 working days

Op skool was ôs gelee met patrone om cursive te skryf. En gelee tel sône om ôs vinges te gebryk. En kyk nou vi ôs, ôs met ôs nommes en somme wat meer veloorit as wat ôs ooit kan tel, ôs met ôs mooi handskrifte en nieman om voo te skryfie.

In haar verrykende memoir skryf Charmaine Africa op narratiewe wyse, en in Kaaps, oor haar grootwordjare in Bishop Lavis. Haar lewensverhaal, wat verras met humoristiese oomblikke, sentreer op die alledaagse bestaan van haar familie vanaf die 1960’s: haar ma, Amma, wat spartel om haar werk en gesin bymekaar te hou; haar alkoholis-pa; haar susters wat ook ’n verbete stryd in hul eie huwelike voer; haar broers wat uiteindelik voor die drankduiwel swig; en haar eie ontwikkeling as kind tot ’n jong vrou wat ’n onvermydelike siklus probeer veg.

Amma gee ’n stem aan die oorlewingstryd op die Kaapse Vlakte en ’n eerlike blik op die kringloop van kru armoede. Die vertelling is onopgesmuk, hartverskeurend en meesterlik.

Being Chris Hani's Daughter (Paperback): Lindiwe Hani, Melinda Ferguson Being Chris Hani's Daughter (Paperback)
Lindiwe Hani, Melinda Ferguson 4
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R295 R254 Discovery Miles 2 540 Save R41 (14%) Ships in 4 - 8 working days

When Chris Hani, leader of the South African Communist Party and heir apparent to Nelson Mandela, was brutally slain in his driveway in April 1993, he left a shocked and grieving South Africa on the precipice of civil war. But to 12-year-old Lindiwe, it was the love of her life, her daddy, who had been shockingly ripped from her life. In this intimate and brutally honest memoir, 36-year-old Lindiwe remembers the years she shared with her loving father, and the toll that his untimely death took on the Hani family. She lays family skeletons bare and brings to the fore her own downward spiral into cocaine and alcohol addiction, a desperate attempt to avoid the pain of his brutal parting.

While the nation continued to revere and honour her father’s legacy, for Lindiwe, being Chris Hani’s daughter became an increasingly heavy burden to bear.

"For as long as I can remember, I’d grown up feeling that I was the daughter of Chris Hani and that I was useless. My father was such a huge figure, such an icon to so many people, it felt like I could never be anything close to what he achieved – so why even try? Of course my addiction to booze and cocaine just made me feel my worthlessness even more".

In a stunning turnaround, she faces her demons, not just those that haunted her through her addiction, but, with the courage that comes with sobriety, she comes face to face with her father’s two killers – Janus Walus, still incarcerated, and Clive Derby Lewis, released in 2015 on medical parole. In a breathtaking twist of humanity, while searching for the truth behind her father’s assassination, Lindiwe Hani ultimately makes peace with herself and honours her father’s gigantic spirit.

Autopsy - Life In The Trenches With A Forensic Pathologist In Africa (Paperback): Ryan Blumenthal Autopsy - Life In The Trenches With A Forensic Pathologist In Africa (Paperback)
Ryan Blumenthal 14
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R295 R236 Discovery Miles 2 360 Save R59 (20%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

As a medical detective of the modern world, forensic pathologist Ryan Blumenthal’s chief goal is to bring perpetrators to justice. He has performed thousands of autopsies, which have helped bring numerous criminals to book. In Autopsy he covers the hard lessons learnt as a rookie pathologist, as well as some of the most unusual cases he’s encountered.

During his career, for example, he has dealt with high-profile deaths, mass disasters, death by lightning and people killed by African wildlife. Blumenthal takes the reader behind the scenes at the mortuary, describing a typical autopsy and the instruments of the trade. He also shares a few trade secrets, like how to establish when a suicide is more likely to be a homicide.

Even though they cannot speak, the dead have a lot to say – and Blumenthal is there to listen.

By Himself - The Authorised Book Of Quotations (Paperback): Nelson Mandela By Himself - The Authorised Book Of Quotations (Paperback)
Nelson Mandela
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R170 R133 Discovery Miles 1 330 Save R37 (22%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

Nelson Mandela: By Himself is the definitive book of quotations from one of the great leaders of our time. This collection - gathered from privileged authorised access to Mandela's vast personal archive of private papers, speeches, correspondence and audio recordings - features nearly 2000 quotations spanning over 60 years, many previously unpublished.

Dis Ek, Anna: Die Volle Verhaal - Dis Ek, Anna / Die Staat Teen Anna Bruwer (Afrikaans, Paperback, Filmuitgawe): Anchien... Dis Ek, Anna: Die Volle Verhaal - Dis Ek, Anna / Die Staat Teen Anna Bruwer (Afrikaans, Paperback, Filmuitgawe)
Anchien Troskie as Elbie Lotter 1
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R399 R343 Discovery Miles 3 430 Save R56 (14%) Ships in 4 - 8 working days

’n Omnibus met Dis ek, Anna en Die staat teen Anna Bruwer in om met die film gebaseer op die boeke saam te val. Die omnibus bevat albei boeke.

Sy het haarself Stom Anna genoem. Omdat sy aan niemand kon vertel van dit wat tussen haar en haar stiefpa plaasgevind het nie.

Hierdie is die verhaal oor hoe sy uiteindelik die stilte verbreek het en haar verhaal aan die wêreld en ook in die hof gaan vertel het. ​Dis ek, Anna ​is gebaseer op ’n ware verhaal.

Books That Matter - David Philip Publishers During The Apartheid Years (Paperback): Marie Philip Books That Matter - David Philip Publishers During The Apartheid Years (Paperback)
Marie Philip
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R275 R236 Discovery Miles 2 360 Save R39 (14%) Ships in 15 - 25 working days

South Africa in the 1970s was a divided and increasingly traumatised country, seemingly permanently in the toils of apartheid, and with little space available for open discussion of apartheid policies or awareness of just what those policies were meaning in the lives of people. It was in this context that David Philip, a South African already involved for several years in publishing, became convinced there must be more opportunity for books with informed discussion and debate to be written and published within the country.

He persuaded his wife Marie, also with publishing experience, that they could together set up their own independent publishing company, to publish 'Books that matter for Southern Africa'- in social history, politics, literature, or whatever, good of their kind and ready to challenge mainstream apartheid thinking.

This is an anecdotal account - a memoir - of the lows and highs of a small, cheerful, underfunded but vibrant 'oppositional' publishing company, David Philip Publishers, from the year 1971 through to the birth of the new South Africa.

Nelson Mandela - Portrait Of An Extraordinary Man (Paperback): Richard Stengel Nelson Mandela - Portrait Of An Extraordinary Man (Paperback)
Richard Stengel 1
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R446 R360 Discovery Miles 3 600 Save R86 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Previously published as Mandela's Way Written by the co-author of international bestseller Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela: Portrait of an Extraordinary Man presents fifteen powerful lessons on life and leadership based on the life and work of Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013), whose fight against apartheid in South Africa has become an enduring example of resistance against injustice and oppression. A recipient of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela is a man who truly changed the course of world history and is arguably the most inspirational figure of the past century. Stengel spent almost three years with Mandela working on his bestselling autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, and through that process became a close friend. Written with the blessing of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, to which the author will donate a percentage of his royalties, Nelson Mandela: Portrait of an Extraordinary Man is an inspirational book of wisdom that will encourage people of all ages to look within themselves to improve their lives, to reconsider the things they take for granted, and to think about the legacy they leave behind.

Swimming Upstream - A Story Of Grit And Determination To Succeed (Paperback): Shirley Zinn Swimming Upstream - A Story Of Grit And Determination To Succeed (Paperback)
Shirley Zinn
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R641 Discovery Miles 6 410 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Shirley Zinn’s story is one of determination, courage, and triumph over incredible adversity.

Born and raised on the Cape Flats, Shirley never allowed her past to dictate her future. She proved that the typical story of a girl from the Cape Flats – that of gangsterism, alcoholism and teenage pregnancy – didn’t have to be her story. Instead she relentlessly pursued her own goals and forged an impressive academic career even when she faced significant odds. And when she’d done that, she set out to conquer the world of business.

Shirley is a formidable woman with an amazing story to tell. She has risen to the top of the pile in both academic and business circles, and yet she has retained great humanity and empathy in the face of great personal tragedy.

Her story has lessons for us all – whether we are ordinary or extraordinary, whether we work in business, in government, or at home. Shirley’s story will inspire you and show you that it is possible to achieve your goals, if you are prepared to swim upstream and be single-minded in getting where you want to be.

Sugar Man - The Life, Death And Resurrection Of Sixto Rodriguez (Paperback): Craig Bartholomew Strydom, Stephen Segerman Sugar Man - The Life, Death And Resurrection Of Sixto Rodriguez (Paperback)
Craig Bartholomew Strydom, Stephen Segerman 2
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R260 R203 Discovery Miles 2 030 Save R57 (22%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

The amazing story of the American musician who was famous in South Africa and Australia, but unknown anywhere else... until the Oscar-winning documentary.

Like many South Africans in the seventies and eighties, Stephen ‘Sugar’ Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom were obsessed with the music of Rodriguez, but the man himself was a mystery. Only his name was known, and the fact that he had killed himself on stage. After years of searching in a pre-internet age, the two men found the singer living in seclusion in Detroit. Remarkably, the blue-collar worker had no idea that he had been famous for over twenty-five years in this remote pariah of the world. In 2006, Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul set out to find ‘the best story on earth’ and stumbled on this remarkable tale in the Guardian newspaper. He tracked down Segerman and Strydom, and so began his four-year-long quest to make the Oscar-winning documentary, Searching for Sugar Man.

Sugar Man: The Life, Death and Resurrection of Sixto Rodriguez outlines three separate journeys and the obstacles and triumphs that each presented: Rodriguez’s struggle to make a life from music; the odyssey of two fans to find out what had happened to their hero; and Bendjelloul’s pursuit to bring the story to celluloid.

The book is packed with information not included in the film, about Rodriguez’s background, relationships and political activities, his tours to Australia, and the recognition that has finally come to him after the film’s success.

In, Around, Through and Out - An Actor's Life (Paperback): Blaise Koch In, Around, Through and Out - An Actor's Life (Paperback)
Blaise Koch
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R80 R69 Discovery Miles 690 Save R11 (14%) Ships in 15 - 25 working days

Blaise Koch is an award-winning actor who has appeared in 263 professional productions, from My Fair Lady to Shakespeare, to playing Tannie Evita's beloved son with Pieter Dirk-Uys. His repertoire is wide and he is considered one of South Africa's most talented and versatile actors. Blaise Koch is also HIV positive, and has had full-blown AIDS for the last eleven years. This is his story of fame and success and remarkable courage that is coloured with his wry sense of humour and self-deprecation.

Blaise has no time for self-pity and continues to work, with a schedule that would leave most people breathless. This book is a testament to the life of an actor and how he deals with his experience of being diagnosed with AIDS. Many well-known celebrities and media personalities feature in this story, which makes story even more interesting with some wicked anecdotes.

No other South African artist of his stature and acclaim has acknowledged his or her HIV status before, and Koch's intention is to publicly acknowledge his with the publication of this book

Black Racist Bitch - How Social Media Reveals South Africa's Unfinished Work On Race (Paperback): Thandiwe Ntshinga Black Racist Bitch - How Social Media Reveals South Africa's Unfinished Work On Race (Paperback)
Thandiwe Ntshinga
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R295 R254 Discovery Miles 2 540 Save R41 (14%) In Stock

There has been a lot of furore in the United States about Critical Race Theory (CRT). Opponents to it claim that it has saturated society at different levels, including the alleged indoctrination of school children and the poisoning of the media and public life. The assertion is that it is divisive and racist towards white people. It is sometimes referred to derisively in the shorthand ‘woke’. This panic has now reached our shores. Critical whiteness studies is an offshoot of CRT that Thandiwe Ntshinga believes is desperately needed in South Africa.

She pokes holes in the belief that leaving whiteness undisturbed for analysis creates justice and normalcy. Instead, she says perpetually studying every other identity can only create the assumption that they are perpetually the problem. By design.

The title of this book comes from one of the first comments she received on Tiktok when discussing her findings and research.

Memories Of A Game Ranger (Paperback, New Edition): Harry Wolhuter Memories Of A Game Ranger (Paperback, New Edition)
Harry Wolhuter
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R543 Discovery Miles 5 430 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In 1902 Harry Wolhuter was one of the first game rangers in the Sabi Nature Reserve, which would eventually, along with the Shingwedzi Nature Reserve, become the Kruger National Park. Originally a hunter, Wolhuter made the protection of the Kruger’s wildlife his life’s work.

Memories Of A Game Ranger tells of his days in the bush, when rangers went on horseback and lions considered them fair game – like the infamous time Harry was ambushed by two lions and managed to kill one of them while it was dragging him off into the grass.

There was very little in the way of danger Harry didn’t have to cope with – from crocodiles in swimming pools to irate hippos at ranger posts – and that’s not even taking into account the poachers, the malaria or the little old ladies wanting protection from those fearsome giraffes.

Moord Op Pofadder - Die Skokkende Verhaal Agter Suretha Brits Se Meesterplan En Die Kontrak Op Haar Man (Afrikaans, Paperback):... Moord Op Pofadder - Die Skokkende Verhaal Agter Suretha Brits Se Meesterplan En Die Kontrak Op Haar Man (Afrikaans, Paperback)
Charne Kemp
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R310 R266 Discovery Miles 2 660 Save R44 (14%) Ships in 4 - 8 working days

Wat dryf ’n beeldskone jong ma van drie daartoe om haar man wreed te laat vermoor? Waarom wou Suretha Brits só graag van haar Leon ontslae raak?

Danksy inligting uit die binnekring van vriende, familie en mense ná aan die polisie-ondersoek, sit die joernalis Charné Kemp die stukkies van die legkaart bymekaar en vertel die volle verhaal van die opspraakwekkende huurmoord op die geliefde Pofadder-hotelbaas.

’n Boeiende ware misdaadverhaal wat draai om geld, diamante, Krugerrande, seks en verraad.

Milner - Last Of The Empire Builders (Paperback): Richard Steyn Milner - Last Of The Empire Builders (Paperback)
Richard Steyn
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R320 R256 Discovery Miles 2 560 Save R64 (20%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

Lord Alfred Milner was a public servant of the late Victorian era. He was also one of Britain’s most famous – or notorious, depending on your point of view – empire builders who left an indelible imprint on the history of South Africa.

Carefully chosen by Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain to bring President Paul Kruger’s Boers to heel, Milner was primarily, though not solely, responsible for the Anglo-Boer War – a conflict that proved to be the beginning of the end of the British Empire. For three years after the war, a determined Milner set out to reconstruct the country, leaving behind a group of young administrators who contributed significantly to the unification of South Africa, but also resentment among Afrikaners for their mentor’s language and education policies.

Back in England, Milner involved himself via the House of Lords in all the great issues of British politics, while continuing to promote the ends of Empire through the activities of the Round Table movement.

In this biography, the first by a South African, Richard Steyn argues that Milner’s reputation should not be defined by his eight years’ service in South Africa alone. Chosen for his famed administrative abilities as Britain’s War Secretary, Milner did much to shape the Allied victory in the First World War. If his personal qualities and beliefs made him the wrong man to send to South Africa, where he failed to accomplish the over-ambitious goals he set himself, he was the right man in a far greater international conflict.

Jan Smuts 1870-1950 - 'n Fotobiografie (Afrikaans, Paperback): Anton Joubert Jan Smuts 1870-1950 - 'n Fotobiografie (Afrikaans, Paperback)
Anton Joubert; Foreword by Fransjohan Pretorius
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R430 Discovery Miles 4 300 In Stock

Daar is al soveel oor Jan Smuts geskryf. Smuts is in baie opsigte steeds ’n raaisel, veral wat sy komplekse persoonlikheid betref.

Hierdie chronologiese rangskikking van foto’s uit sy lewe bied ‘n beeld van hom as mens, staatsman, bevelvoerder en politikus.

Dis ’n visuele reis deur die lewe van een van ons grootste staatsmanne.

Into Dark Water - A Police Memoir (Paperback): Jeremy Vearey Into Dark Water - A Police Memoir (Paperback)
Jeremy Vearey
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R340 R292 Discovery Miles 2 920 Save R48 (14%) Ships in 4 - 8 working days

Major-General Jeremy Vearey, ex-MK cadre, is deputy provincial commissioner of the Western Cape SAPS. He starts his 'police memoir' with the old apartheid police and ex-freedom fighters meeting for the first time.

Action ranges from the secretive Operation Saladin to anti-gang policing with the 'skollie patrollie'. Underworld figures and gangsters loom large, as does the constant fear of death. Painting a vivid portrait of policing, politics and criminality in the Western Cape, this is also an intimate account of what it means to reach the highest ranks of policing, having been a revolutionary.

The ‘dark stream’ is the price that the author has paid for following his calling.

Regarding Muslims - From Slavery To Post-Apartheid (Paperback): Gabeba Baderoon Regarding Muslims - From Slavery To Post-Apartheid (Paperback)
Gabeba Baderoon
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R352 R275 Discovery Miles 2 750 Save R77 (22%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

How do Muslims fit into South Africa’s well-known narrative of colonialism, apartheid and postapartheid?

South Africa is infamous for apartheid, but the country’s foundation was laid by 176 years of slavery from 1658 to 1834, which formed a crucible of war, genocide and systemic sexual violence that continues to haunt the country today. Enslaved people from East Africa, India and South East Asia, many of whom were Muslim, would eventually constitute the majority of the population of the Cape Colony, the first of the colonial territories that would eventually form South Africa.

Drawing on an extensive popular and official archive, Regarding Muslims analyses the role of Muslims from South Africa’s founding moments to the contemporary period and points to the resonance of these discussions beyond South Africa. It argues that the 350-year archive of images documenting the presence of Muslims in South Africa is central to understanding the formation of concepts of race, sexuality and belonging.

In contrast to the themes of extremism and alienation that dominate Western portrayals of Muslims, Regarding Muslims explores an extensive repertoire of picturesque Muslim figures in South African popular culture, which oscillates with more disquieting images that occasionally burst into prominence during moments of crisis. This pattern is illustrated through analyses of etymology, popular culture, visual art, jokes, bodily practices, oral narratives and literature. The book ends with the complex vision of Islam conveyed in the postapartheid period.

The Billionaire Career - From Employee To Successful Entrepreneur: A Tale Of Destiny (Paperback): Daniel Strauss The Billionaire Career - From Employee To Successful Entrepreneur: A Tale Of Destiny (Paperback)
Daniel Strauss 1
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R340 R292 Discovery Miles 2 920 Save R48 (14%) Ships in 4 - 8 working days

The Billionaire Career is an allegory of risk, playing to your strengths and discovering yourself to become successful in business.

It tells the story of Dan, a man who wants more from his job and his life. He yearns to start his own business, and for the freedom and control that being his own boss would give him but he is faced with numerous challenges – for one thing, how to start a business with next to no money.

But everything changes one day when he’s faced with a choice at work.

But He Speaks So Well - Memoir Of A South African Identity Crisis (Paperback): Ivan Johnson But He Speaks So Well - Memoir Of A South African Identity Crisis (Paperback)
Ivan Johnson
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R350 R301 Discovery Miles 3 010 Save R49 (14%) Ships in 4 - 8 working days

Join Ivan Johnson in this memoir of an identity crisis as a high-spirited boy from a close-knit family on the Cape Flats becomes a man amid the turmoil of The Struggle.

Joining the lily white advertising industry, he ghosts from group to group, fitting in everywhere but belonging nowhere.

Told with flair and irreverence, Ivan’s sharp eye and zest for life gives both food for thought and great entertainment.

Blame Me On History - 60th Anniversary Edition (Paperback, Revised): William Bloke Modisane Blame Me On History - 60th Anniversary Edition (Paperback, Revised)
William Bloke Modisane
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R280 R185 Discovery Miles 1 850 Save R95 (34%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

Feeling an exile in the country of his birth, the talented journalist and leading black intellectual Bloke Modisane left South Africa in 1959. It was shortly after the apartheid government had bulldozed Sophiatown, the township of his childhood. His biting indictment of apartheid, Blame Me on History, was published in 1963 – and banned shortly afterwards.

Modisane offers a harrowing account of the degradation and oppression faced daily by black South Africans. His penetrating observations and insightful commentary paint a vivid picture of what it meant to be black in apartheid South Africa. At the same time, his evocative writing transports the reader back to a time when Sophiatown still teemed with life.

This 60th-anniversary edition of Modisane’s autobiography serves as an example of passionate resistance to the scourge of racial discrimination in our country, and is a reminder not to forget our recent past.

Elon Musk - Risking It All (Paperback, Updated Edition): Michael Vlismas Elon Musk - Risking It All (Paperback, Updated Edition)
Michael Vlismas
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R310 R248 Discovery Miles 2 480 Save R62 (20%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

In 2022 Elon Musk - one of the richest and best-known people on earth - made headlines worldwide with his bid to buy Twitter, and he is often in the news for his entrepreneurial exploits and his controversial tweets. Who is this boundary-pushing billionaire with grand plans of inhabiting Mars, and what lies at the heart of his vision? Why is he so utterly unafraid of risk?

As an awkward Pretoria schoolboy who loved comics and science fiction, Musk's early years and singular family background were crucial in forming his stellar ambitions. Journalist and author Michael Vlismas, who attended the same high school as Musk, knows well the environment that shaped him and offers new insights into Musk's development, including his troubled relationship with his father.

Tracing his remarkable life, from his South African childhood to his move to Canada at 17 and then to the US - where Musk made millions out of PayPal and built Tesla and SpaceX into two of the world's most famous companies - this is the revealing new story of a man driven to preserve the optimism he sees in humanity and find a future for humans 'out there among the stars'.

Comrade King (Paperback): Khulu Radebe, Jeff Kelly Lowenstein Comrade King (Paperback)
Khulu Radebe, Jeff Kelly Lowenstein
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R280 R219 Discovery Miles 2 190 Save R61 (22%) In Stock

Khulu Radebe had had a full life. Then, at the age of 50, he discovered that he was a king.

As a teenager, Khulu Radebe was part of the Alexandra Township 1976 uprisings. Arrested and sent to Robben Island, he was one of the youngest prisoners there. Returning to Alex, he participated in the township’s 1986 Six Days War. Radebe joined the armed struggle, repeatedly dodging death from the enemy and from fellow MK soldiers in Angola.

At age 50, and proving a prophet’s prediction correct, Khulu Radebe learned about his royal roots. He was informed that he was the ruler of the AmaHlubi people of the Embo Nation, a nation that stretches along the east coast of Africa.

In chronicling his extraordinary life and times in this landmark autobiography, Radebe, in a humane and vivid way, chronicles too the revolutionary path for freedom in South Africa. Alexandra Township in Johannesburg is a central character in this book and Radebe reveals an astonishing story of the post-1990 war between Inkatha and the ANC in Alex.

Gripping, bold and original, Comrade King, is an unforgettable story.

Hoerkind - Die Memoires Van 'n Randeier (Afrikaans, Paperback): Herman Lategan Hoerkind - Die Memoires Van 'n Randeier (Afrikaans, Paperback)
Herman Lategan 2
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R290 R232 Discovery Miles 2 320 Save R58 (20%) In Stock

Herman Lategan word wyd gerespekteer as joernalis, en is beide berug én beroemd vir sy uitgesprokenheid en kwinkslae oor alles onder die son. In Hoerkind vertel hy sy lewensverhaal uit die hart uit, sonder doekies omdraai. Hy is een warm Februarienag in 1964 in ’n losieshuis in Kaapstad verwek – buite die eg. Van jongs af het hy soos ’n weggooimens gevoel, want hy is deur grootmense wat die lewe op onvaste voet betree het, van die een stel hande na die ander aangegee.

Op 13 beland hy in die kloue van ’n geslepe pedofiel, ’n bekende Afrikaanse koerantman in daardie jare. Pas na sy 18de verjaarsdag, wanneer sy molesteerder met hom klaar is, word Herman sonder seremonie voor die deur van sy vervreemde alkoholis-pa afgelaai. In sy tienerjare bevriend hy Afrikaanse digters soos Sheila Cussons, Ina Rousseau, Barend J. Toerien en Casper Schmidt. Ná skool doen hy sy diensplig, maar word oneervol ontslaan en kom hy in New York aan, waar hy vir Andy Warhol op straat agtervolg en met ’n “smorgasbord van eendagsvlinders” kattemaai.

Terug in Suid-Afrika maak Herman opgang as joernalis wat na die wydste hoeke van die wêreld reis. As volwassene voer hy ’n stryd met drank en dwelms en is ’n ruk lank haweloos. En vir menige werkgewer word hy die nagmerrie wat hulle die ergste vrees.

Hoerkind is ’n aangrypende relaas oor verlies én oorwinning wat jou sal laat lag, en jou hart ’n paar keer breek. Jy sal jou kop skud oor die wreedheid van ’n wêreld waar mense aan mekaar uitgelewer is, maar jy sal verwonderd staan oor die omvang van goedheid, juis omdat mense op mekaar aangewese is.

Khamr - The Makings Of A Waterslams (Paperback): Jamil F. Khan Khamr - The Makings Of A Waterslams (Paperback)
Jamil F. Khan 5
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R265 R207 Discovery Miles 2 070 Save R58 (22%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

Khamr: The Makings Of A Waterslams is a true story that maps the author’s experience of living with an alcoholic father and the direct conflict of having to perform a Muslim life that taught him that nearly everything he called home was forbidden.

A detailed account from his childhood to early adulthood, Jamil F. Khan lays bare the experience of living in a so-called middle-class Coloured home in a neighbourhood called Bernadino Heights in Kraaifontein, a suburb to the north of Cape Town. His memories are overwhelmed by the constant discord that was created by the chaos and dysfunction of his alcoholic home and a co-dependent relationship with his mother, while trying to manage the daily routine of his parents keeping up appearances and him maintaining scholastic excellence.

Khan’s memories are clear and detailed, which in turn is complemented by his scholarly thinking and analysis of those memories. He interrogates the intersections of Islam, Colouredness and the hypocrisy of respectability as well as the effect perceived class status has on these social realities in simple yet incisive language, giving the reader more than just a memoir of pain and suffering.

Khan says about his debut book: "This is not a story for the romanticisation of pain and perseverance, although it tells of overcoming many difficulties. It is a critique of secret violence in faith communities and families, and the hypocrisy that has damaged so many people still looking for a place and way to voice their trauma. This is a critique of the value placed on ritual and culture at the expense of human life and well-being, and the far-reaching consequences of systems of oppression dressed up as tradition."

Black Beach - 491 Days In One Of Africa's Most Brutal Prisons (Paperback): Daniel Janse Van Rensburg, Tracey Pharoah Black Beach - 491 Days In One Of Africa's Most Brutal Prisons (Paperback)
Daniel Janse Van Rensburg, Tracey Pharoah
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R320 R253 Discovery Miles 2 530 Save R67 (21%) Ships in 3 - 5 working days

What was supposed to be a short business trip to Equatorial Guinea turned into a journey to the depths of hell.

Black Beach, located on Bioko island off the mainland of Equatorial Guinea, is one of the world’s most feared prisons, notorious for its brutality and inhumane conditions.

In 2013, South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg set off to the West African country to finalise a legitimate airline contract with a local politician. Within days, Daniel was arrested by the local Rapid Intervention Force and detained without trial in the island’s infamous ‘Guantanamo’ cells, and was later taken to Black Beach. This is his remarkable story of survival over nearly two years, made possible by his unwavering faith and the humanity of a few fellow inmates.

In this thrilling first-person narrative, Daniel relives his ordeal, describing the harrowing conditions in the prison, his extraordinary experiences there, and his ceaseless hope to return to South Africa and be reunited with his family. A story of courage in the face of overwhelming adversity, Black Beach demonstrates the strength of the human spirit and the toll injustice takes on ordinary people who fall foul of the powerful and corrupt.

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Love And Fury - A Memoir
Margie Orford Paperback R300 R200 Discovery Miles 2 000
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Maggie: My Life In The Camp - A Young…
Maggie Jooste Paperback R355 R305 Discovery Miles 3 050
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Hunting With The Hawks - Untold Stories…
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Ebbe Dommisse Paperback R395 R289 Discovery Miles 2 890

 

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