Die weeklikse rubriek in Rapport, “Hanlie Retief gesels met” , is iets waarna baie lesers elke Sondag uitsien en heel eerste lees. Aanhangers weet haar onderhoude is pittig, op die man af en baie vermaaklik.

Hanlie Retief vra die vrae aan die nuusmakers wat almal brand om te vra. Sy is bekend daarvoor dat sy haar soos ’n verkleurmannetjie kan aanpas by die aard van die onderhoud. Met deernis skets sy misdaadslagoffers se stories en kuier ewe gemaklik saam met Karen Zoid. Hanlie Retief Gesels Met 2 bevat 50 van Hanlie se beste onderhoude wat sy tussen 2011 en 2018 gevoer het: dié waaroor mense lank gepraat het, dié wat mense kwaad gemaak het, laat lag of inspireer het.

Steve Hofmeyr, Rolene Strauss, Tim Noakes, Piet Byleveld en Thuli Mandosela is van die onderhoude wat opgeneem is in hierdie boek.

13 Augustus 2017. Ansja vat haar twee dogtertjies kerk toe. Heeldag het sy ʼn naar gevoel op die krop van haar maag, asof iemand haar wind uitgeskop het. Sy hou by ʼn stopstraat naby hul huis stil en ʼn motor jaag van agter in hulle vas. Haar jongste dogtertjie, Larissa, se kop word met die impak vergruis soos ʼn waatlemoen.

Met bomenslike krag sleep sy haar dogters uit die kar en sit hulle op die sypaadjie neer. Dan verloor sy haar bewussyn en sien haarself en haar kinders van bo. Alles word lig. Daar is lieflike musiek en reënboogkleure. Vrede en liefde heers en niks maak meer saak nie. Sy dryf weg.

Maar dan hoor sy haar oudste dogtertjie na haar roep. En sy moet terug. Na die pyn van ʼn gebreekte lyf en gebroke hart. Hoe hervat sy haar lewe?

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.

The ancient Greeks trained in the nude in the gymnasium and also competed in the buff in the Olympic Games – they literally had skin in the game. The ancient Greek word for gymnasium – gumnasia – means to train naked. However, the ancient Greek gyms were not just for physical training but also had dedicated spaces for intellectual exercise, for philosophy, teaching and conversation.

To train naked is to show up just as you are – no pretences, no masks, no BS. We train to compete, we practise in order to nail a presentation. We should also be training to become better human beings, to craft meaningful lives, do work that matters, and to thrive in chaos. Pierre du Plessis’s daily reflections, meditations and practices presented in this book are a call to train naked, to practise for the ultimate marathon, and to have skin in the game.

Train Naked is a curated selection of short reflections – prompts to get skin in the game – on building a meaningful life and doing work that matters. Combined with a selection of ancient practices, such as meditation, Pierre’s thoughts and ideas aim to inspire each reader to take charge, to try, to act, to learn and to do.

"Alison, I’ve got bad news."

The voice of the pathologist at the other end of the telephone confirmed for Alison Tucker the news no woman ever wants to hear: she had breast cancer. Once the shock had settled, Alison decided that she would take charge. Not only would she take ownership of the dreaded disease, but she would do so with a positive mindset and prepare herself as best she could for what was to come. She did detailed research and paid close heed to what she was told by others who had walked the path before her. As she navigated her way through surgery and the chemotherapy and radiotherapy that followed, Alison’s determination paid off. Not only did she make new friends, but she learnt valuable life lessons too: acceptance of the illness for what it was, the amazing impact of ongoing advances in medical science, and the importance of being able to ask for – and receive – help.

In My Best Worst Year – A Breast Cancer Story, Alison gives us an authentic account of her experience, offering insights and advice for others who might one day face the same diagnosis. You will accompany her on her highs, empathise with her lows, and be amused by humorous anecdotes along the way. Through the generous support of family and friends, she has amassed a collection of practical tips for both patients and supporters which she shares with open-hearted honesty:

• What to take to chemotherapy sessions
• What to look for when choosing a wig
• What side effects a person can expect when having the various types of cancer treatment
• What to say, and what not to say, to a cancer patient
• How to remove stress from a cancer patient’s life
• What kind of gifts and gestures are most appreciated

Contrary to Alison’s expectations, her year of treatment turned out to be her best worst year. By telling her story, she underlines the importance of a positive attitude and hopes to show that a person can still lead a productive and enjoyable life even after being diagnosed with cancer.

Professor Ntongela Masilela (1948–2020) is recognised as one of South Africa’s most eminent scholars, and his highly respected and meticulous contributions to local and global intellectual discourse, most significantly via his historical archive, offer essential insights into disciplines such as literature, film, arts, and political and intellectual history.

The book comprises essays by Masilela; each of which is prefaced by an introduction by the volume editor. The essays contain Masilela’s most significant writings and illuminate the essence and breadth of his gifted mastery of the aforementioned disciplines; a mastery that he deployed in service of elucidating both the intellectual contributions of others – most notably the members of the New African Movement – and the interconnectedness of people, body politics, events and ideologies across time and space. In this way, the book befittingly presents Masilela as a widely read and travelled scholar, who scoured the national archive to unpack the most intricate aspects of our history and its interconnectedness with the history of the world.

The essays further showcase Masilela’s historico-biographical approach in their exploration of three key periods: the diaspora (exile), the interregnum, and post-apartheid South Africa, as well as offer us an advanced understanding of the locus that drove the works of others, such as Bernard M. Magubane, H.I.E. Dhlomo and Nadine Gordimer.

In so doing, Masilela brings to life both prominent and lesser-known African intellectuals by engaging with their archives in a manner that empowers the reader to appreciate also the value of biographical sketches. His treatment of race, language, culture and indeed literature itself is not just theoretic but verges on the dramatic, and thereby he gives these paths of inquiry both life and contemporaneity. Further, there is an ongoing debate in contemporary Africa about “what is South African literature”, “what is national liberation” and “what are the markers of a successful post-colonial state”. The book will enrich these debates, which are sometimes stylised and conducted without historical context.

The transdisciplinary nature of the book enables it to serve as reference material across various disciplines in the global south and the global north Therefore, itt will be of interest to readers of political and intellectual history, cultural (arts and film) studies, literature, political science and diaspora studies.

What with the rising cost of travel, the scary exchange rate, the cost of visas, traffic congestion on the roads to the coast, the environmental cost of air travel and – generally – a lack of time, perhaps we should revisit the concept of holidays. Do we really have to travel halfway across the world or halfway across the country for a holiday to ‘count’? After all, what makes a holiday a holiday anyway? What makes it special? Two days of genuine relaxation within 100km of your home is worth more than a week in a glamorous resort if you’re stressing out about work, are in semi-constant contact with the office, or are trying to figure out how you are going to resuscitate your credit card when you get back. A holiday is a state of mind.

It’s a series of special moments that you will treasure forever. And that’s what’s so great about staycations. No long queuing and interviews for visas, no long queues at the airport, no long flights, and no long, thousand-yard-stare, endless drives through the Karoo. By choosing a staycation, you minimise the boring, long bits of holidays, and maximize the fun, interesting bits that make for treasured memories. And, hey, you save money, save fuel, and pile up carbon credits at the same time. What’s not to love? And you would be amazed at how much there is to do so close to the city – stunning hikes and country stays, big five safaris, awesome golf, amazing adventures, romantic retreats, and genuinely fun family-friendly resorts where your kids can act their age, and so can you.

So, check it out – you’ll find amazing golf staycations, adventure staycations, safari staycations and a range of fabulous one-tank-cations spreading out from the city like the petals of a daisy. North, south, east, west – close to home is best.

Engaging with the work of contemporary African and Chinese artists while analysing broader material production, the essays in this volume are wide-ranging in their analysis of ceramics, photography, painting, etching, sculpture, film, performance, postcards, stamps, installations, political posters, cartoons and architecture.

With China’s rise as the new superpower, its presence in Africa has expanded, leading to significant economic, geopolitical and cultural shifts. Chinese and African encounters through the lens of the visual arts and material culture, however, is a neglected field.

Visualising China in Southern Africa is a ground-breaking volume that addresses this deficit through engaging with the work of contemporary African and Chinese artists while analysing broader material production that prefigures the current relationship. The essays are wide-ranging in their analysis of ceramics, photography, painting, etching, sculpture, film, performance, postcards, stamps, installations, political posters, cartoons and architecture.

Richly illustrated, the collection includes scholarly chapters, photo essays, interviews, and artists’ personal accounts, organised around four themes: material flows, orientations and transgressions, spatial imaginaries, and biographies. Some of the artists, photographers, filmmakers, curators and collectors in this volume include: Stary Mwaba, Hua Jiming, Anawana Haloba, Gerald Machona, Nobukho Nqaba, Marcus Neustetter, Brett Murray, Diane Victor, William Kentridge, Kristin NG-Yang, Kok Nam, Mark Lewis, the Chinese Camera Club of South Africa, Wu Jing, Henion Han and Shengkai Wu.

When it comes to water, we are fed a daily diet of doom and gloom, of a looming crisis: wars of the future will be over water; nearly one-billion people lack access to clean water; river basins are closed so there is no more water to be allocated despite ever-growing demand; aquifers are overdrawn to such an extent that a global food crisis is just around the corner and major cities, such as Bangkok and Mexico, are sinking. And let us not forget about pollution or vector-borne diseases.

The challenges for sustainable water management are massive. Yet, as shown in this book, there are many positives to be drawn from the southern African experience. Despite abiding conditions of economic underdevelopment and social inequality, people rise to the challenge, oftentimes out of necessity and through self-help, but sometimes through creative coalitions operating at different scales - from the local to the global - and across issue areas - from transboundary governance to urban water supply.

This first volume in the Off-Centre series argues that we must learn to see water and the region differently if we are to meet present challenges and better prepare for an uncertain, climate-changing future.

Larry A. Swatuk is Professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) at the University of Waterloo, Canada; Extraordinary Professor at the Institute for Water Studies, University of Western Cape, South Africa; and Research Associate, Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC). Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, he was Associate Professor of Natural Resources Governance at the Okavango Research Institute, Maun, Botswana.

This collection explores topical and current issues in indigenous African language literatures of South Africa. These include, among others, narratological elements of literature, language usage, poetry analysis, and song lyrics.

Each scholar or pair of scholars present findings that are particular to their own research. This makes the collection a valuable source of knowledge penned in a diversity of writing styles across different literary genres.

An innovative aspect of the work is that it combines both English and isiZulu material. Seventy per cent of the chapters are written in English and thirty per cent in isiZulu, a gesture towards encouraging research presentations in indigenous languages. Also of interest is that the chapter content covers traditional or largely obsolete forms such as folklore and essays.

The scarcity of published books that discuss aspects and issues found in indigenous African language literatures is what prompted the publication of this collection.

’n Reenboog deur my trane is ’n bron van ryke troos en bemoediging vir enigeen wat treur oor die verlies van ’n geliefde en wat genesing soek vir hulle verskeurde harte. Dit bied 31 dagstukkies, gebede en inspirerende aanhalings wat God se vertroosting in onstuimige tyde met die leser deel, asook ’n lys van beloftes uit die Bybel vir spesifieke behoeftes in tye van nood.

Though Graeco-Roman antiquity (‘classics’) has often been considered the handmaid of colonialism, its various forms have nonetheless endured through many of the continent’s decolonising transitions. Southern Africa is no exception. This book canvasses the variety of forms classics has taken in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and especially South Africa, and even the dynamics of transformation itself.

How does (u)Mzantsi classics (of southern Africa) look in an era of profound change, whether violent or otherwise? What are its future prospects? Contributors focus on pedagogies, historical consciousness, the creative arts and popular culture.

The volume, in its overall shape, responds to the idea of dialogue – in both the Greek form associated with Plato’s rendition of Socrates’ wisdom and in the African concept of ubuntu. Here are dialogues between scholars, both emerging and established, as well as students – some of whom were directly impacted by the Fallist protests.

Rather than offering an apologia for classics, these dialogues engage with pressing questions of relevance, identity, change, the canon, and the dynamics of decolonisation and potential recolonisation. The goal is to interrogate classics – the ways it has been taught, studied, perceived, transformed and even lived – from many points of view.

In Rock | Water | Life, Lesley Green examines the interwoven realities of inequality, racism, colonialism, and environmental destruction in South Africa, calling for environmental research and governance to transition to an ecopolitical approach that could address South Africa's history of racial oppression and environmental exploitation.

Green analyses conflicting accounts of nature in environmental sciences that claim neutrality amid ongoing struggles for land restitution and environmental justice.

Offering in-depth studies of environmental conflict in contemporary South Africa, Green addresses the history of contested water access in Cape Town; struggles over natural gas fracking in the Karoo; debates about decolonising science; the potential for a politics of soil in the call for land restitution; urban baboon management, and the consequences of sending sewage to urban oceans.

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.

Soos Hilda Smits se eerste, bekroonde bundel die bome reusagtig soos ons was betrek die verse in hierdie bundel die leser by die hoogs persoonlike en gee dit terserfdertyd betekenis aan die universele belewenis.

Die verse is magies soos bewussynstroom, soos drome waar die kloutjie nie altyd by die oor uitkom nie, ʼn mens ervaar dit met jou onderbewuste, in jou maag. Dis dromerig soos meditasie, dis soos sit en staar na reën teen ʼn ruit.

Sinne is onvoltooid, werkwoorde hang in die lug sonder naamwoorde, byvoeglike naamwoorde is bedrieglik eenvoudig; “gewone” woorde soos mooi, sterk, fyn, jonk – dis egter die onverwagse beelde wat verras, en woorde wat buite hul normale konteks ingespan word, wat jou uitknikker.

Anxious Joburg focuses on Johannesburg, the largest and wealthiest city in South Africa, as a case study for the contemporary global South city.

Global South cities are often characterised as sites of contradiction and difference that produce a range of feelings around anxiety. This is often imagined in terms of the global North's anxieties about the South: migration, crime, terrorism, disease and environmental crisis. Anxious Joburg invites readers to consider an intimate perspective of living inside such a city. How does it feel to live in the metropolis of Johannesburg: what are the conditions, intersections, affects and experiences that mark the contemporary urban?

Scholars, visual artists and storytellers all look at unexamined aspects of Johannesburg life. From peripheral settlements to the inner city to the affluent northern suburbs, from precarious migrants and domestic workers to upwardly mobile young women and fearful elites, Anxious Joburg presents an absorbing engagement with this frustrating, dangerous, seductive city. It offers a rigorous, critical approach to Johannesburg revealing the way in which anxiety is a vital structuring principle of contemporary life. The approach is strongly interdisciplinary, with contributions from media studies, anthropology, religious studies, urban geography, migration studies and psychology.

It will appeal to students and teachers, as well as to academic researchers concerned with Johannesburg, South Africa, cities and the global South. The mix of approaches will also draw a non-academic audience.

Why is it that some people work hard, yet remain poor? How is it that others seem to rise out of poverty and become affluent in a short span of time? The answers are in this little book, which everyone should read at some point in their life. If they did, they would know how to become rich relatively quickly. If not, they might spend years working back-breakingly hard, without ever breaking even. That’s how powerful the principles contained in this book are.

The answers to escaping poverty and becoming wealthy are actually well known; they have been tested by time and replicated in different countries, by families and by individuals who have become astonishingly rich. And when you simply follow the principles, they work.

So what are these principles that genuinely lift people out of poverty and ensure their personal wealth? Here are 50. They all work. They will make you richer. They remove the emotion, the politics and the clutter from our thoughts about wealth, and they go straight to the heart of one simple issue: what it genuinely takes to become rich. Prepare to train your brain for wealth. Prepare to become ‘poverty proof ’ for life.

This is a unique collection of writings on race and racism by black women from South Africa and Brazil. Encompassing both fiction and non-fiction, the anthology is made up of academic essays, creative non-fiction, poetry and short stories.

Through these different modes, the book engages with the complexities of race in multiple social, political, economic, institutional and personal spaces. Concerned with social justice, human rights and freedom, the various feminist critiques centralise the intermingling of racial, gender and class subjectivities and how these are marked on bodies, but also how they are un-marked, re-marked and re-made. These critiques are tied to global and local social and political phenomena in the modern-day world.

The contributors interrogate their political and personal worlds, revealing layered, intersecting ways of being that are essentially foregrounded by colonial histories, but not defined in totality by coloniality and oppression. In speaking to the immediacy of these experiences, they reflect and narrate the past, contemplate the present and imagine the future.

This anthology is underwritten by questions that centralise freedom. What does freedom mean? When do we have it, and when do we not? Most importantly, how do we get it?

Die geliefde skrywer Dana Snyman deel sy waarnemings en belewenisse van die vreemdste tye wat ons nog beleef het: Die boek begin triomfantelik met die Springbokke wat die Rugbywêreldbeker wen, en toegejuig word tydens optogte deur die hoofstede van ons land. Maar baie vinnig verander alles. Die koronavirus slaan toe, en die hele wêreld word onderstebo gekeer. “Dinge is anders nou, meneer, in die tyd van die gif,” soos ’n ou oom by die plaaslike kafee vir Dana vertel.

Dana beskryf die eerste veertig dae van die eerste inperking; dan ry hy trein om sy sterwende vriend in Gauteng te gaan groet. Hy skryf oor die treinrit, en ook oor die treine wat nie meer ry nie. Laastens praat hy met die mense wat die grootste gevaar loop ter wille van ander – die dokters en verpleegsters wat die siekes versorg. Dan kry hy self ook Covid19.

Dana se kenmerkende fyn waarneming maak In Die Tyd Van Die Gif ’n leesmoet. Daar is pyn en verlies, maar ook geloof en hoop. Dit alles met ’n goeie skeut humor.

In Mokgadi Itsweng’s debut cookbook, she shares recipes that will delight the whole family.

Veggielicious encompasses all aspects of a plant-forward lifestyle, and is divided into Summer, Spring, Autumn and Winter, with beautiful recipes to complement each season.

Mokgadi begins our flavour journey with a selection of condiments and spice mixes, our secret weapons to guaranteeing full flavour in every veggie dish. With healthy, sustaining breakfasts, small dishes for grazing or starters, glorious showstopping main meals, creative sides and, of course, happy endings showcasing a selection of delectable desserts, the book is filled with innovative, delectable recipes that will make the kitchen your happy place!

Sometimes real life is stranger than fiction. That certainly is the case when considering the things that happen to Khaya Dlanga in the course of his everyday life. Khaya often shares these stories in brief via Instagram or his other social media platforms. He is finally succumbing to the pressure from the many people who read his posts and want more details, and is telling all of these stories and more in These Things Really Do Happen To Me.

Always entertaining, and often containing astute observations regarding various social practices and situations, Khaya tells wide-ranging stories – his lunch with William Shatner; how he fell asleep next to President Thabo Mbeki; how he got hit on by a deaf girl; how his dreadlocks didn’t get the expected reaction from his mom; the greatest pick-up line ever used on him; awkward encounters with exes; what happens when you parallel park in Parkhurst; and what he has learnt in the course of his eventful life – that are guaranteed to entertain and enlighten readers.

This title tells the story of how the transition to democracy in South Africa enfranchised blacks politically but without raising most of them from poverty. It shows in detail how the continuing strength of the white establishment forces the leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) to compromise plans for full political and economic transformation. Deferring the economic transformation, the new dispensation nurtures a small black elite. The new elite absorbs the economic interests of the established white elites while continuing to share racial identities with the majority of their countrymen, muffling the divisions between rich whites and poor blacks, thus ensuring political stability in the new South Africa. Although democratic South Africa is officially "non-racial," the title shows that racial solidarities continue to play a role in the country's political economy. Ironically, racial identities, which ultimately proved the undoing of apartheid, have come to the rescue of contemporary democratic capitalism. The author explains how and why racial solidarities are being revamped, focusing particularly on the role of black economic empowerment, the black bourgeoisie, and how calls to represent the identities of black South Africans are having the effect of substituting the racial interests of black elites for the economic interests of the black poor.

Survival: The state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances.

Climate change: A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular, a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

This is a survival guide. It rests on the idea that we could possibly survive a changing climate. Temperatures are already climbing, sea levels are rising and parts of South Africa are on their way to being uninhabitable. Life is already incredibly hard for many people and nobody will be exempt from climate change. Circumstances are going to get a lot more difficult very soon, and we need a plan. This is a practical handbook that explores what climate change is likely to mean for us as South Africans, how we can prepare for it, and how we can – in our everyday lives – help to mitigate the impacts it will have.

Wits University celebrates 100 years of academic and research excellence, innovation, and social justice in 2022. The origins of Wits lie in the South African School of Mines, which was established in Kimberley in 1896 and transferred to Johannesburg as the Transvaal Technical Institute in 1904, becoming the Transvaal University College in 1906 and renamed the South African School of Mines and Technology four years later. Full university status was granted in 1922, incorporating the College as the University of the Witwatersrand. Professor Jan H. Hofmeyr was its first Principal.

The University of the Witwatersrand occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of South Africans. Its history is inextricably linked with the development of Johannesburg, with mining and economic development, and with political and social activism across the country.

Wits University at 100: From Excavation to Innovation captures important moments of Wits’ story in celebration of the university’s centenary in 2022. It explores Wits’ origins, the space and place that it occupies in society, and its transformation as it prepares the ground for the next century. From its humble beginnings as a mining college in Johannesburg to its current position as a flourishing and inclusive university, Wits University at 100 is a story of innovation driven from the global South.

In text and image, Wits is presented as a dynamic institution that thrives because of its people, many of whom, in one way or another, have shifted the world. The experiences, achievements and insights of past and present ‘Witsies’ come alive in this glossy, full-colour book that maps the university’s vision for the future.