In the 1990s, deep-cover police agent RS536 took on the Durban underworld as part of a new organised crime intelligence unit. He rubbed shoulders with drug lords, smugglers and corrupt cops, and was instrumental in busting an international drug ring and foiling a bank heist, among many other dangerous engagements.

But then, as the country’s new democracy birthed a struggle between the old and the new guard in the South African Police Service, his identity and his life came under threat. In this action-packed account, Johann van Loggerenberg describes how, as a young policeman, he worked closely with the investigative team of the Goldstone Commission to uncover the ‘third force’ – apartheid security forces that supplied weapons to the Inkatha Freedom Party to destabilise the country.

He also delves into how and why, at the height of state capture at the South African Revenue Service in 2014, he was falsely accused of being an apartheid spy, a lie that persists up to today. Here, finally, is the truth behind deep-cover police agent RS536.

‘The freezing loneliness made one wish for death,’ journalist Joyce Sikakane-Rankin said of solitary confinement. With seven other women, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, she was held for more than a year.

This is the story of these heroic women, their refusal to testify in the ‘Trial of Twenty-Two’ in 1969, their brutal detention and how they picked up their lives afterwards. 

A seven-year-old English girl, washed up on the Wild Coast in about 1736, is adopted by the amaMpondo, grows up to become a woman of surpassing beauty, marries the chief of the clan and becomes an ancestor of many of the Xhosa royal families in the nineteenth century. It sounds like the stuff of romance, but this is verified, documented fact. Although her surname is unknown, in spite of a persistent 19th-century story that she was the daughter of a General Campbell, we do know that her name was Bessie. The amaMpondo named her Gquma - 'The Roar of the Sea' - and she won their affection for her compassion and generosity, and became famous for her love of ornament, covering herself with necklaces, beadwork, seashells and bangles. But she was no mere fashion-plate, winning renown for her wisdom, becoming involved in the politics of her adopted people and wielding an influence virtually unprecedented among women of her time and place. Inspired by the story of Bessie, in Sunburnt Queen, Hazel Crampton has delved deep into the history of the castaways from the many ships wrecked on this beautiful but perilous shore.;In a highly entertaining way she tells their story, which became inextricably interwoven with those of the people of the Wild Coast: whole clans, such the abeLungu ('the White People') trace their ancestry to castaways. The book traces the lives of Bessie's descendants and those of some of the other castaways whose names are known. Their stories are intimately, often tragically intertwined in the sad history of contact between the Xhosa-speaking peoples and the white settlers. The author, although obviously a person of strong opinions, like all the best historiographers, she presents people and events in a non-judgmental way, allowing contemporary voices to pronounce on the actions, good and bad, of the actors in this drama. If there is a message to be gleaned from the story of Bessie it is this: South Africans are far more alike than we are different, and we all have so much more to gain by emphasizing our similarities rather than our differences, and by cherishing our common heritage.

This is a concise but sweeping account of the African past, its peoples, and their institutions. The book attempts to provide an overview of African history without getting bogged down in details and data. This approach is very useful for general readers who seek to gain an understanding of the major trends and developments, and for teachers who plan to supplement this text with primary sources depending on the emphasis of the course.

Daniël Lötter soek geeste en gedaantes op, besoek spookhuise en vertel meer oor sieners en legendes wat Suid-Afrikaners reeds jare lank laat kopkrap.

Maak kennis met die heks van Hexrivier, die seemonsters van die ou Kaap en Antjie Somers. Jacoba Marais, Japie Roux en Marie van der Post is van die minder bekende sieners, maar natuurlik bly Johanna Brandt en Siener van en Rensburg nie agterweë nie.

Waarom spook 'n skoorsoekerige goewerneur, 'n koninklike kleinseun en 'n gewetenlose moordernaar ewe vlytig as Daisy de Melker, sr. Henrietta Stockdale en lady Anne Barnard? En wat is dit met dwaalligte en spookfoto's?

Sankara's legacy, unclear as it may be, still lives and he remains immensely popular. If you travel through Africa his image is unmistakable. His picture, with beret and broad grin, is pasted on run-down taxis and is found on the walls of local bars. Internationally Sankara is often referred to as the `African Che Guevara' and like his South American counterpart; it is his perseverance, dedication and incorruptibility that appeal to the imagination. Voices of liberation: Thomas Sankara starts with a comprehensive timeline covering Thomas Sankara's life and major events in the history of the continent and region. His Life section provides the most critical and fraternal assessment of the 1980s radical experiment within the broader history of the country, the region and continent. His Voice section succinctly provides a selection of Sankara's speeches, broadcasts and interviews and gives us insight to his outlook on the world. His Legacy section combines an almost poetic tribute to the flawed through heroic period of Sankara's `revolution' with an incredibly relentless and honest analysis. This is done through the story of last year's uprising against Compaore - with haunting lessons for South Africa. The Postscript is an indispensable update to the extraordinary events in Burkina Faso during 2015, chiefly the resistance to the coup in September. The authors look at Sankara's influence on the popular movements and its wider significance for Africa.

Watter soort mens was dr. H.F. Verwoerd, die sesde premier van die Unie van Suid-Afrika en grondlegger van die huidige Republiek? Die bydraers tot hierdie boek skryf op onderhoudende wyse oor hoe hulle hom onthou, wat hulle saam met hom beleef het en oor hulle opvatting van sy politieke oogmerke. Die persoonlike aard van die bydraes verleen ’n dimensie aan die boek wat in objektiewe geskiedskrywing ontbreek. Verwoerd tree te voorskyn as vriend, gesinsman, volksman, raadsman en leier. Hierdie bundel verskyn die eerste keer in 2001 by geleentheid van die 100ste herdenking van dr. Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd se geboortedag, 8 September 1901. Die bygewerkte weergawe in 2016 bevat nuwe bydraes deur onder andere Elise Verwoerd, Cas Bakkes en Albert Hertzog.

Die laaste vier jaar van dr. H.F. Verwoerd se bewind is gekenmerk deur belangrike gebeurtenisse in suidelike Afrika, soos die toekenning van selfregering aan die Transkei, die verslag van die Odendaalkommissie oor S.W.A., die uitspraak in die Rivonia-saak, die aanvang van die Oranjerivierskema, die uitspraak van die Internasionale Geregshof in Den Haag oor die S.W.A.-mandaat, die eensydige onafhanklikheidsverklaring van Rhodese en die wapenverbod teen S.A. deur die V.N. Hierdie boek bevat ’n seleksie uit dr. Verwoerd se toesprake wat nie voorheen gepubliseer is nie.