Luthando Dyasop’s memoir starts with an account of his young life as a black artist in apartheid South Africa. He eventually joins uMkhonto we Sizwe, the banned ANC’s military wing.

Soon he falls out of favour with the powers that be and is sent to the Quatro detention centre. After years of torture, he is eventually released, when he begins his battle for vindication.

Out of Quatro is a story not only about Dyasop’s extraordinary life, but also about a tumultuous time in ANC history.

Born in 1917 in Bizana in the Eastern Cape, Oliver Reginald Tambo became Nelson Mandela's legal partner and a prominent member of the ANC's Youth League.

Following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, Tambo left South Africa to set up the ANC's international mission. As President of the ANC in exile, he led the fight against apartheid on both the diplomatic and military fronts. He died in 1993 on the eve of liberation. Tambo had a profound influence on the ANC during the difficult years of uncertainty, loneliness and homesickness in exile. His simplicity, his nurturing style, his genuine respect for all people seemed to bring out the best in them.

This is the story of one of South Africa's great sons - 'the most loved leader', the Moses who led his people to the promised land but did not live to enter it.

In 1884 begin Hendrik Witbooi en sy Namavolk met 'n profetiese trek na die vrugbare noorde om aan die droogte van die Kalahariwoestyn te ontsnap. Terselfdertyd stap die keiserlike afgevaardigde dr. Göring sowat 'n honderd kilometer daarvandaan aan land in die nuwe Duitse kolonie Suidwes-Afrika - die huidige Namibië.

Daarop volg 'n stryd om lewe en dood tussen die Duitse Schutztruppe en die Afrikane wat vir hul onafhanklikheid veg.

Die honderde briewe wat deur Hendrik Witbooi aan Duitse goewerneurs, Engelse magistrate en Afrikaleiers geskryf is, het aan Conny Braam unieke insig gegee in die wêreld van Witbooi: sy liefde vir die ou volk van die Khoisan, die leringe van sendeling Olpp, sy verontrusting oor die Westerse kredietstelsel wat van sy volk slawe sou maak en sy intense verdriet toe hy besef dat keiser Wilhelm II die totale vernietiging van die opstandige inheemse bevolking eis.

In 1904 lei die tagtigjarige Hendrik nog een keer die opstand teen die Duitse koloniale leër. Hy sou die geskiedenis ingaan as een van die grootste vryheidstryders wat Afrika geken het.

“'n Verhaal wat onder geen omstandighede vergeet mag word nie.” - Trouw

Slot van die dag: Gedagtes is die skrywer se mymeringe oor ouderdom en die einde van die lewe, saam met verspreide herinnerings van ’n algemene aard, om ’n ryk geskakeerde beeld te verskaf van ’n skrywerslewe van byna tagtig jaar. Die reeks outobiografiese boeke wat met ’n Duitser aan die Kaap, Merksteen en Die laaste Afrikaanse boek begin het, word hiermee afgesluit. Dit is 'n baie persoonlike boek oor ouderdom, die skryfproses en selfbeskikking met kommentaar op oud word en wees, met inbegrip van praktiese wenke, en heelwat inligting oor die moontlike en waarskynlike einde van die lewe. Die element van afskeid en gelatenheid is deurlopend. Die ouderdom is teenswoordig die vernaamste onderwerp van sy oorpeinsing, en die vernaamste element in sy daagliks ervarings. Die verwysings en aanhalings is treffend en spreek van iemand wat sy leeswereld ook sy leefwereld maak. Ten slotte verduidelik die skrywer sy bevrydende besluit oor selfdood.

In 1982 aanvaar Nico Smith ’n beroep na die NG Kerk in Afrika se Mamelodi-gemeente. Hy en sy vrou laat hulle gemaklike lewe agter en gaan bly in Mamelodi. Hier leer Nico en Ellen rêrig die hart van Mamelodi se mense ken, en beleef swaarkry saam met hulle. Hulle leer wat dit beteken om swart te wees in Suid-Afrika onder apartheid. Hulle leer ’n ander God ken, nie die God van Nico se vaders nie, maar die God van die verworpenes en die verdruktes.

Bulelwa Mabasa was born into a ‘matchbox’ family home in Meadowlands, Soweto, at the height of apartheid. In My Land Obsession, she shares her colourful Christian upbringing, framed by the lived experiences of her grandparents, who endured land dispossession in the form of the Group Areas Act and the migrant labour system.

Bulelwa’s world was irrevocably altered when she encountered the disparities of life in a white-dominated school. Her ongoing interest in land justice informed her choice to study law at Wits, with the land question becoming central in her postgraduate studies. When Bulelwa joined the practice of law in the early 2000s as an attorney, she felt a strong need to build on her curiosity around land reform, moving on to form and lead a practice centred on land reform at Werksmans Attorneys. She describes the role played by her mentors and the professional and personal challenges she faced.

My Land Obsession sets out notable legal cases Bulelwa has led and lessons that may be drawn from them, as well as detailing her contributions to national policy on land reform and her views on how the land question must be inhabited and owned by all South Africans.

Anderkant die Gariep, in die harde, wye wêreld van die Noord-Kaap, het sedert die vroeë 1900’s pioniersmense gewoon wat deur g’n stof of droogte, g’n lamsiekte of beespes ondergekry kon word nie.

Dit was ’n tyd voor selfone en kitsoplossings, toe ’n man se woord nog sy woord was, en ’n afspraak ’n afspraak; ’n tyd toe jagtogte, Boeredanse en familietroues mense saamgesnoer het en swaarkry en verlies bloot ’n deel van die natuurwette was.

In hierdie wêreld word drie geslagte Bredenkamps groot – en maak die leser kennis met mense wat in die wêreldgeskiedenis maar klein sandkorreltjies is, maar wie se vreugdes en plesier; sweet en trane die fondament gelê het vir ’n koersvaste, trotse nageslag.

Kolonie aan die Kaap is die derde van vyf boeke oor vroeë blanke vestiging aan die Kaap.

In dié deel vestig Karel Schoeman die aandag op die eerste blanke intrekkers. Die VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie), het in 1651 besluit om in Tafelbaai ’n verversingspos te stig ten behoewe van die Kompanjie se skeepvaart tussen Nederland en die Ooste en dis met hierdie doel dat kommandeur Jan van Riebeeck in Desember van daardie jaar met sy vlootjie van vyf skepe na die Kaap uitgeseil het.

Die eerste hoofstuk gee aandag aan Van Riebeeck se lewe en loopbaan tot en met hierdie datum en in die tweede hoofstuk word die werksaamhede rondom die vestiging van die verversingspos aan die hand van Van Riebeeck se dagboeke en briewe en die geskrifte van vroeë besoekers beskryf. Die omstandighede van die pioniersgroepie wat uitvoering aan Van Riebeeck se opdragte en ambisieuse planne moes gee, word in hoofstuk 3 bespreek. Aanvanklik moes alle lewensmiddele, gereedskap, saad, plantjies en selfs perde uit die Ooste ingevoer word. ’n Fort, wat skuiling en beskerming teen wilde diere en vyandige Khoi-stamme moes gee, is in 1666 voltooi. Hoe die verskillende sosiale groeperinge soos die hoë amptenare, die ambagsmanne, soldate en slawe in dié Fort gewerk, geleef en soms ook gesterf het, die onthale, kerk- en gebedsdienste en militêre parades kom in hoofstuk 4 aan die bod.

’n Klein klompie hoë Kompanjiesamptenare was deel van die Kaapse nedersetting, maar dit was hoofsaaklik uit die groter groep werksvolk, soldate en matrose dat die latere vryburgers afkomstig was. Die uiters moeilike omstandighede, teenslae en mislukkings van die aanvanklike groepie van nege, maar ook die enkele suksesverhale, word in hoofstuk 7 bespreek. Die boek sluit af met ’n oorsig oor Van Riebeeck se latere loopbaan in die Ooste en sy oorlye in 1677.

From heavy metal music bands to monobrows and mood swings, this story is about navigating adolescence in a foreign country, surrounded by other teenagers from varying backgrounds and cultures.

Gabi writes about her life - her experiences and the emotional fallout - after her family moved to Saudi Arabia from Johannesburg when she was twelve years old. Her story reflects the difficulties of growing up in culturally foreign environments and the long term mental health consequences of bullying as she fought to find her sense of self.

You don't have to live in Saudi to be able to relate to some of these stories. The issues are universal, and this story is just one contribution to the conversation.

This biography of Michael Mosoeu Moerane (1904-1980) surveys the unique life, times and music of the first classically educated African composer in southern Africa.

The Times Do Not Permit is the first extended overview of the life, times, and music of Michael Mosoeu Moerane (1904-1980), a composer brought up in rural South Africa in the early twentieth century. It offers a close study of African choral music that dates back to mission schools and colleges in the Eastern Cape, where a number of future African composers, as well as future political leaders, were educated. Moerane was one of many mission-trained musicians who wrote short a cappella choral works for churches and schools.

The Times Do Not Permit explores the political changes and social conditions that made life for Moerane both possible and impossible as a composer. He was the first black South African to qualify with a BMus degree in 1941. However, this caused difficulties for him both within the African choral circuit, where his advanced modernist style was considered strange and difficult, and within white concert life, from which he was largely excluded. Only his symphonic poem for orchestra, Fatšo La Heso, attained some recognition locally and internationally during his lifetime, and the score survived, unlike many of the piano pieces and smaller instrumental works he wrote.

In addition to telling the story of his ancestry, upbringing, education and teaching career, Christina Lucia offers an analysis of his music, the famous symphonic poem and four of his choral pieces, to reflect the major themes he expressed. The Times Do Not Permit is supplemented with interviews with those who knew Moerane, and ends with a coda of professional letters to, from and about him that gives his voice a presence in the absence of much personal documentation.

In vergeelde foto’s van drie dekades gelede staan oopgesigseuns vol bravade voor Ratel-gevegsvoertuie. Hierdie dienspligtiges van 61 Gemeganiseerde Bataljongroep staan aan die begin van hul reis diep in Angola in om vir volk en vaderland te gaan veg.

In ’n bloedige geveg op Valentynsdag 1988 en in die doodsakker by Tumpo sou hul jeugdige onskuld egter sneuwel. In die hitte van die gevegte kom die besef: Nou gaan dit nie oor ideologie nie, maar om oorlewing.

Ná die oorlog gaan die lewe voort, maar die vrae en geestelike letsels wyk nie. In 2018 keer ’n groep van dié ouddienspligtiges terug na Cuito Cuanavale op soek na afsluiting - en om die wrak te vind van die Ratel waarin ’n makker op die laaste dag van die oorlog gesterf het.

Die Brug vertel van hul reis van jong man na veteraan en gee ook ’n stem aan die vroue in hul lewe. Dit is ’n verhaal van ontnugtering, maar ook van trotse kameraderie en genesing.

Hailed in the Times Literary Supplement as ‘probably the finest piece of non-fiction to come out of South Africa since the end of apartheid’, The Dream Deferred is back in print and updated with a brilliant new epilogue.

The prosperous Mbeki clan lost everything to apartheid. Yet the family saw its favourite son, Thabo, rise to become president of South Africa in 1999. A decade later, Mbeki was ousted by his own party and his legacy is bitterly contested – particularly over his handling of the AIDS epidemic and the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Through the story of the Mbeki family, award-wining journalist Mark Gevisser tells the gripping tale of the last tumultuous century of South Africa life, following the family’s path to make sense of the liberation struggle and the future that South Africa has inherited. At the centre of the story is Mbeki, a visionary yet tragic figure who led South Africa to freedom but was not able to overcome the difficulties of his own dislocated life.

It is 15 years since Mbeki was unceremoniously dumped by the ANC, giving rise to the wasted years under Jacob Zuma. With the benefit of hindsight, and as Mbeki reaches the age of 80, Gevisser examines the legacy of the man who succeeded Mandela.

This is the powerful and moving life story of one of South Africa's leading trade union activists, from her childhood in Sophiatown to her first marriage and divorce, the dark days of her six months in detention and her lasting contributions to labour organisation in South Africa. Strikes have followed me all my life was first published in 1989 by The women's press but was never available in South Africa. Emma Mashinini's autobiography is an accessible, engaging account of a self-effacing union organiser, gender-rights activist and a phenomenal woman who has lived a difficult life and endured many challenges: detention without trial for six months (most of which were spent in solitary confinement); losing two daughters and a son-in-law; health problems as a result of detention; and constant abuse at the hands of apartheid's enforcers. But Emma's story is one of courage. It is engaging, at times sad (there is a heart-breaking moment in the text when she forgets her daughter’s name while in solitary confinement), but mostly it is an inspirational account of a selfless individual. This edition includes a Foreword by Jay Naidoo that brings the reader up to date with Emma’s life and opinions and the state of the labour movement in South Africa as well as moving letters from Mashinini's family that were written to her on her 80th birthday. This is a classic South African memoir in the same vein as Ellen Kuzwayo's call me woman, which recalls and preserves vital accounts of South Africa's history.

The first comprehensive biography of this iconic artist to appear in English. Richly illustrated with 160 photographs. Since her dramatic death at the age of 31 the name Ingrid Jonker has been linked to that of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath - legends who died young. In her first biography to appear in English, the frail figure of Jonker as a child, a young poet, daughter of a prominent politician, wife, mother, mistress of a famous author, lover and rebel is portrayed against the backdrop of revolt against South Africa's policies of censorship and apartheid.

Alex la Guma was a major twentieth century South African novelist. His first novel, A Walk in the Night, in 1966 brought him instant recognition as a pioneering writer on the African continent. Its ‘startling realism and accurate imagery’ drew high praise from his contemporaries. Wole Soyinka, later awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o . The critic and writer, Lewis Nkosi, likewise, compared La Guma’s intense and sombre vision of the individual in society to that of Dostoevsky. La Guma was also an important political figure. As leader of the South African Coloured People’s Organisation and a communist, he was charged with treason, banned, house arrested and eventually forced into exile. At the time of his death in 1985 he was serving as chief representative of the African National Congress in the Caribbean.

Published on the centenary of Alex La Guma’s birth on 20 February 1925, The Early Writings of Alex La Guma contains a selection of his early work as a journalist and short story writer, before he became a published novelist and was forced into exile. It provides unique cameos of South African life and politics during a turbulent time in the country’s history – the late 1950s and early 1960s, the years around Sharpeville – at the same time giving us insight into the making of a novelist. The ‘hidden’ world of Alex La Guma – material, social, emotional, political and intellectual – at a time when he was developing into a serious writer, is revealed. Many of the themes in his fiction are first encountered and developed in these early newspaper articles, providing useful material for literary scholars seeking to understand the progression of his work.

A reviewer wrote that this book, like Alex La Guma’s novels, captures not only the misery of poverty and oppression in South Africa, but also the rich song of everyday life beneath the surface. It reads easily as fiction and adds significantly to our understanding of popular culture in Cape Town, as well as to the social and political history of the city. When asked what one of his novels was about, La Guma – born and bred in District 6 – replied, ‘Ag, just about the folks back home’. La Guma peels off, as if with a scalpel, the glossy covers of the Cape’s tourist-brochure ‘liberalism’ to reveal the hard realities faced by the majority of its (non-) citizens: This is District Six talking. It is unmistakable – terse, racy, humorous, as convincing as truth.’

La Guma’s insider accounts of contemporary politics also help with the recovery of important aspects of the history of the South African liberation movement.

Tuan Guru – founder of South Africa’s first mosque and madrasah – had been in his grave for half a century. The Cape Muslim population had exploded in size, but was sliding into decline. Many of the imams, lacking education, had become ignorant and entitled. There was unending conflict in the community, which was fought out in the Cape High Court.

In the same year, a group of concerned community elders made a call for a teacher to be sent to the Cape from Istanbul. No-one knows who these people were, but it was their intervention that saw the arrival of Shaykh Abu-Bakr Effendi, an Ottoman scholar, in early 1863.

Welcomed by those keen to learn, he faced abuse from a coterie of imams who felt threatened by him. Sadly, it is their malcontent that has so jaundiced his story for over 140 years. In this well-researched biography, Shafiq Morton reveals for the first time the true story of Shaykh Abu-Bakr Effendi, one of the stand-out historical figures in the growth of Islam at the foot of Africa.

“Becoming a mother has been my deepest desire. But it’s not happening. Now what?”

Through her very open and honest first-hand account of her seven-year struggle to conceive, titled Abundantly Empty, Cathy hopes to help remove the stigma, improve understanding and provide inspiration to others on how to cope and keep moving forward.

Abundantly Empty delves deep into the world of infertility and offers an insightful 360-degree perspective, with informative contributions from leading fertility specialists, including Professor Thabo Matsaseng, and her clinical psychologist, as well as input from her husband Julian, family and friends. The egg donors and surrogates share their experiences too. In clear, direct ‘journal’ language, the book traces the highs and lows, the elation and intense grief of the infertility rollercoaster. It also explores its impact on Cathy’s marriage, her friendships and her career.

The primary reason for writing this book, Cathy says, was to send a ‘You are not alone’ message to other couples battling to start a family, to break the silence and increase understanding of what it takes to survive infertility and retain hope, courage and meaning.

Abundantly Empty is an emotionally gripping, heart-warming and useful must-read not just for those on the fertility journey, but also for those on the sidelines who want to provide support, but don’t know how.

Drawing on Nelson Mandela's own unfinished memoir, Dare Not Linger is the remarkable story of his presidency told in his own words and those of distinguished South African writer Mandla Langa 'I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.' Long Walk to Freedom.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first president of democratic South Africa. Five years later, he stood down. In that time, he and his government wrought the most extraordinary transformation, turning a nation riven by centuries of colonialism and apartheid into a fully functioning democracy in which all South Africa's citizens, black and white, were equal before the law.

Dare Not Linger is the story of Mandela's presidential years, drawing heavily on the memoir he began to write as he prepared to finish his term of office, but was unable to finish. Now, the acclaimed South African writer, Mandla Langa, has completed the task using Mandela's unfinished draft, detailed notes that Mandela made as events were unfolding and a wealth of previously unseen archival material. With a prologue by Mandela's widow, Graça Machel, the result is a vivid and inspirational account of Mandela's presidency, a country in flux and the creation of a new democracy. It tells the extraordinary story of the transition from decades of apartheid rule and the challenges Mandela overcome to make a reality of his cherished vision for a liberated South Africa.

Daniel Dumile Qeqe (1929–2005), ‘Baas Dan’, ‘DDQ’. He was the Port Elizabeth leader whose struggles and triumphs crisscrossed the entire gamut of political, civic, entrepreneurial, sports and recreational liberation activism in the Eastern Cape. Siwisa tells the story of Qeqe’s life and times and at the same time has written a social and political biography of Port Elizabeth – a people’s history of Port Elizabeth. As much as Qeqe was a local legend, his achievements had national repercussions and, indeed, continue to this day.

Central to the transformation of sports towards non-racialism, Qeqe paved the way for the mainstreaming and liberation of black rugby and cricket players in South Africa. He co-engineered the birth of the KwaZakhele Rugby Union (Kwaru), a pioneering non-racial rugby union that was more of a political and social movement. Kwaru was a vehicle for political dialogues and banned meetings, providing resources for political campaigns and orchestrations for moving activists into exile.

This story is an attempt at understanding a man of contradictions. In one breath, he was generous and kind to a fault. And yet he was the indlovu, an imposing authoritarian elephant, decisively brutal and aggressive. Then there was Qeqe, the man whose actions were not in keeping with the struggle. This story narrates his role in ‘collaborationist’ civic institutions and in courting reactionary homeland structures, yet through all that he was the signal actor in the emancipation of rugby in South Africa.

"My struggles with mental illness were in some ways like a child crying out for attention; more than that they were a cry for help from the mind I felt trapped in. There was a darkness in me that many times swallowed me whole."

This is how Keamogetswe Bopalamo introduces her account of her troubled early life. It is an intensely personal account, and yet it speaks to a reality much broader than itself. In the exciting whirl of South Africa’s post-apartheid society, there is this darker side: the confusions, the fears, the rebellions, the degradations and emotional pain.

How does a young black girl cope when her parents are taken away as political detainees, or when she is repeatedly expelled from schools and hostels, or when she ends up in a mental institution after trying once again to end her own life? What I Wore offers startling answers.

Hierdie skrywer weet hoe om ʼn storie te vertel en hoe om die leser in te katrol. Haar kinderjare in Pretoria-Wes word lewendig en humoristies verhaal.

Haar pa het lewenslank boekminderwaardig gevoel omdat hy nie kon gaan studeer nie. Sy pa het sy grond verloor en hy moes vroeg die skool verlaat om te gaan werk. Hy onderskei hom in die spoorweë, maar die drankduiwel ry hom (en die gesin). Geen kind van hom hoef te gaan leer nie, glo hy.

Die verteller self spring duidelik en onweerstaanbaar uit die bladsy regop – iemand wat, in haar eie woorde al soos ʼn haas verskrik is deur haar pa maar wat haar eenvoudig nie laat onderkry nie. Sy sou gaan leer, buig of bars. En sy het nie opgehou voordat sy ʼn doktorsgraad verwerf het nie.

Imbokodo: Women Who Shape Us is a groundbreaking series of books which introduces you to the powerful stories of South African women who have all made their mark and cleared a path for women and girls. These books recognise, acknowledge and honour our heroines and elders from the past and the present. South African women are silent no more on the roles that we have played in advancing our lives as artists, storytellers, writers, politicians and educationists. The title 'Imbokodo' was been chosen as it is a Zulu word that means "rock" and is often used in the saying 'Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo!', which means "You Strike a Women, You Strike a Rock!" These books were made possible with the support of Biblionef and funding from the National Arts Council. In 10 Curious Inventors, Healers & Creators you will read about the women who shape our world through education, science and maths. You will read about women who became teachers, nurses, social workers, scientists and community workers, overcame obstacles and through their work fought for social change.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is South Africa's fifth post-apartheid president. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as the founder of the National Union of Mineworkers. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, Ramaphosa was at the head of the reception committee that greeted him. Chosen as secretary general of the African National Congress in 1991, Ramaphosa led the ANC's team in negotiating the country's post-apartheid constitution. Thwarted in his ambition to succeed Mandela, he exchanged political leadership for commerce, ultimately becoming one of the country's wealthiest businessmen, a breeder of exotic cattle, and a philanthropist.

This fully revised and extended edition charts Ramaphosa's early life and education, and his career in trade unionism - including the 1987 21-day miners' strike when he committed the union to the wider liberation struggle - politics, and constitution-building. Extensive new chapters explore his contribution to the National Planning Commission, the effects of the Marikana massacre on his political prospects, and the real story behind his rise to the deputy presidency of the country in 2014. They set out the constraints Ramaphosa faced as Jacob Zuma's deputy, and explain how he ultimately triumphed in the election of the ANC's new president in 2017. The book concludes with an analysis of the challenges Ramaphosa faces as the country's fifth post-apartheid president.

Based on numerous personal conversations with Ramaphosa over the past decade, and on rich interviews with many of the subject's friends and contemporaries, this new biography offers a frank appraisal of one of South Africa's most enigmatic political figures.

By uncovering the untold story of Vesta Smith (1922–2013), a community activist from Noordgesig, Soweto, this biography addresses a crucial gap in the literature on the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

Based on extensive interviews and previously unexamined archival materials, it reveals how her Christian faith fuelled her commitment to non-racialism and lifelong pursuit of social justice and how her non-sectarian, anti-apartheid activism connected generations, ideologies and communities.

This book reframes Ma Vesta’s legacy, celebrating her contributions while offering fresh insights into non-racialism, the politics of the everyday and the role of black women and Christians in the liberation struggle.

A powerful tale of resilience and hope, it stands as an inspiration for contemporary movements seeking social justice and community empowerment.

MaZwane has become a legend in South Africa as a pioneering entrepreneur – and an inspiration for those who ask questions about opportunities in the informal township economy. Her answer to those who doubt whether they can make it, is that you do it through perseverance, sacrifice, seizing opportunities, and offering superior products and service.

In 1989 Phumlaphi (‘Rita’) Zwane left KwaZulu-Natal to find work in Johannesburg after becoming a teenage mother. She could count on the love of her family, a matric certificate and her faith, but had no job prospects, and no knowledge of the business world or life in the big cities. Her memoir takes the reader from the tough times of finding her feet in Johannesburg, through a variety of jobs and life experiences, to finally fighting her way to success as a respected member of the township economy and starting the successful Imbizo Shisanyama business. MaZwane tells how she progressed from having virtually no income or permanent home to becoming the first person to formalise and commercialise shisanyama in the townships – and provide a comfortable home and legacy for her children.

Along the way, she befriended many people who contributed accommodation, job opportunities, advice, and companionship. With them cheering her on, she learned how to navigate the different and difficult aspects of the hospitality industry – and slowly reach her desired place of independent security. Conquering the Poverty of the Mind shows the true grit of a Zulu girl who believed in herself – and did it against all odds.