A book that taps into the current debate around resource rentals in South Africa, and outlines practical steps that can be taken to a different tax regime.

Land rent can provide jobs for all if we just collect it instead of taxing those who create wealth or seek merely to survive. This rent, or the locational advantage of each piece of land, is owed to the community, whose grant of security of tenure enables the owner to enjoy its man-made and natural advantages. Rent has been a phenomenon since the time of the Physiocrats and Adam Smith, but its potential has been ignored and the world has got lost in an economic jungle of its own making.

This book is based on a very simple proposal: replace most taxation with collection of land and other natural resource rentals. It shows the way to the broad uplands of prosperity for all, and explains why it is time for us to talk about rent! It taps into the current debate in the media and economic and political circles around resource rentals in South Africa, and outlines practical steps that can be taken to a different tax regime. This book is highly relevant and topical, and offers much to stimulate further debate whilst offering something positive and workable.

Future Tense analyses the squandered and corrupted years since Leon’s first award-winning biography.

Leon, with unique access and penetrating insight, presents a portrait of today’s South Africa and prospective future, based on his vast political involvement with key power players. His intimate view of these presidents and their history-making, and his many worldly encounters, reflects on a country and planet in upheaval. Leon also provides an insider view for the first time of the power struggles within the official opposition party, which saw the exit of its first black leader in 2019.

Written during the coronavirus lockdown, Future Tense also examines the surge of both the disease and the response, which has crashed the economy and its future prospects, as well as the rise of a dangerous Julius Malema-led populism, and how this echoes global discontent elsewhere. There is every reason to fear for the future of South Africa, but Leon advocates hope.

‘Dancing a tango with death’ was the daily life of the DCC – the Directorate of Covert Collection – secret agents, working in what JJ ‘Tolletjie’ Botha called ‘hostile countries’. Who were these men? Airline pilots, Belgian missionaries, German industrialists, engineers, medical doctors, high-ranking officers of enemy countries and last, but not least, people like a well-known Namibian lawyer and a famous, internationally acclaimed South African singer; people who, sometimes unwittingly, collaborated with the ‘shadow’s men’, believing they were helping friendly countries … Did the document prepared by General Pierre Steyn, the famous topsecret Steyn Report, really exist?

In this book you will find the full original document whose existence has been denied by FW de Klerk and his closest allies. Did Judge Richard Goldstone act bona fide by accepting in his final report the information given to him by Counter Intelligence and the NIS, information that, at the very end, emerged as “hearsay”? Was Judge Goldstone aware of the final objective of the tandem pair Steyn-De Klerk to decapitate the South African Defence Force?

Did the top structure of the DCC maintain close contacts with most of the Western intelligence services, and particularly the British MI6? Was any one of the hundreds of civilian and military men ‘listed’ as part of the infamous Third Force ever condemned? Was Staal Burger or Ferdi Barnard really part of the DCC or were they ‘imposed’ by the then Chief of the Army, General Kat Liebenberg? Did you know that more than half the African members of the first Mandela cabinet had been on the DCC’s payroll? Why did the Motsuenyane Commission of Enquiry have to suspend its search, and never published the list of ANC members massacred or disappeared, victims of their own comrades?

Why has land reform been such a failure in South Africa? Will expropriation without compensation solve the problem? What can be done to get the land programme back on track?

In his new book, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi tackles these questions, and more. Going back in history, he shows how Africans’ communal land ownership was used by colonial rulers to deny that Africans owned the land at all. He explores the effect of the Land Acts, Bantustans and forced removals. And he considers the ANC’s policies on land throughout the twentieth century, during the negotiations of the 1990s, and in government.

Land Matters unpacks developments in land redistribution, restitution and tenure reform, and makes suggestions for what needs to be done in future. The book also considers the power of chiefs, the tension between communal land ownership and the desire for private title, the failure of the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach, women and land reform, the role of banks, and the debates around amending the Constitution.

Thoughtful and provocative, Land Matters sheds light on one of the most complex questions in South Africa today.

If this book saves just one person’s life, Leo Prinsloo will be happy.

Leo became an internet sensation after footage of his reaction to an attempted high-value goods-in-transit heist went viral. Stunned by his cool attitude and focused action in a crisis situation, South Africans had an example of what can happen when good people take a stand. With decades of experience in security – first as a policeman, then in the South African Police Service’s Special Task Force, and now providing arms handling and security training in the private sector – Leo has a wealth of knowledge on how to manage life-threatening incidents.

Driven by a desire to empower South Africans and help them claim back their sense of safety, he offers advice for dealing with every risky situation, from how to handle hijackings and road rage, to how to keep your children safe, to the best way to secure your home and business. He also provides comprehensive information about handling firearms and basic first aid.

Leo’s Guide to Not Becoming a Statistic is a guide to living your safest life in South Africa – something which has become increasingly important as our crime statistics continue to rise. Straight-talking and honest – much like Leo himself – it is an easy to use manual that makes keeping safe accessible, with relatable information and easy to implement tips.

Leo says that taking the first step towards securing your safety is the most important, and his book will help you take that step.

Chris Barnard needed the help of exceptional men and women to stay ahead of the fast-developing science of transplantation. One of these exceptional men were Winston Wicomb, the darker brother of the famous Randall.

He had to be hidden as a child to prevent the Apartheid inspectors from discovering his family’s racial identity. He had to endure the rampant racism that existed in South Africa at school and in the army… Winston, who had to fix cars in the backyard to make ends meet, had a curious encounter with Chris Barnard and got appointed in his research laboratory. Winston had to develop an apparatus with which hearts could be kept alive to enable transport.

This is the story of an unlikely hero; a man who changed transplantation forever, and a South African citizen who never got the recognition he deserved.

It’s a story of perseverance. And hope. Even... love.

In 2016, the country watched as eight journalists stood up to the public broadcaster to dissent against the censorship imposed by COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the capture of the newsroom. They would become known as the SABC8. While many may remember the headlines, photos and footage that circulated during that time, few know the real story: the way lives were changed while history was being made.

Now, Foeta Krige, one of the SABC8, shares his version of events: how it came about that eight very different journalists from within the public broadcaster, each with their own unique background and motivation, were brought together by circumstance to fight the mighty SABC in the name of media freedom. This forms the backdrop for a lesser-known story – one of death threats, intimidation, assault and the eventual death of Suna Venter. Her death shocked the nation and baffled investigators. Was it a natural death caused by stress, or were there more sinister forces involved? To understand why her death was red-flagged, it is necessary to retrace her steps and how they converged with those of the seven other journalists.

Krige takes the reader back to the day when everything started, telling the gripping, and often harrowing, story behind the sensational headlines.

This book brings to life the untold story behind the release of Nelson Mandela, as revealed in previously top-secret records.

Kobie Coetsee, Minister of Justice at the time, kept an archive on ‘Prisoner 913’, on which the authors – a historian and a journalist – draw to retell the story. This is history as it actually happened, as opposed to how it has been portrayed up to now, even in writings by Mandela himself. 

Prisoner 913 sets right the historical record.

Mapetla Mohapi was a leading member of the Black Consciousness Movement, and the first to die in detention in 1976. Police produced a 'suicide note'. The note was later confirmed by a British expert as a forgery. Since then, his wife Nohle has worked tirelessly for justice.

Zikhona Valela traces the politics of the time, the convergence of biographies that led to the brutal and tragic death of Mapetla Mohapi, and the effects on Nohle and the Mohapi family.

A shocking and necessary book.

The world's oldest and greatest ultra-marathon, the Comrades Marathon is a South African institution that is internationally-recognised for the body-sapping challenge it poses and the camaraderie it fosters among its thousands of participants from all over the world. Run between the capital of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and the coastal city of Durban, the race alternates annually between the up run from Durban and the down run from Pietermaritzburg.

It was born from an idea dreamed up by First World War veteran Vic Clapham, who wanted a living memorial to those South African soldiers killed in the Great War. Clapham, who had endured a 2 700-kilometre route march through sweltering German East Africa, wanted the memorial to be a unique test of the physical endurance of the entrants.

The constitution of the race states that one of its primary aims is to "celebrate mankind's spirit over adversity". First run in 1921, the Comrades Marathon has been held every year since, except from 1941 to 1945 when it was stopped during the Second World War, and in 2020-21, due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. Thirty-four runners entered the first race; today over 20 000 athletes sign up each year to test their endurance in this iconic ultra-marathon, which has become known as the "Ultimate Human Race".

It captures the story and the images of this remarkable event, spanning 100 years, which appeals not only to runners but to those captivated by the triumph of the human spirit. Spiced with stories of bygone days and fun anecdotes, the book also looks at everything that goes into making this massive event a smoothly-run, world-leading exhibition of the best that South Africa has to offer.

Bart, die aantreklikste ou in haar matriekklas, soen Esli uit haar vel. Vir meer as veertig jaar deel hulle hul lewens, maak saam kinders groot en sien om na vriende en familie. Jaarliks vier hulle Kersfees in Kleinmond met geskenke en trifle en stappies langs die see met hul worshond.

Maar hoekom val Bart se broer uit ’n boom voor Esli se ouerhuis? En watter donker geheim is onderliggend aan Bart se ma se vreemde gedrag en onfatsoenlike grappe? Wat dink kollegas van Esli se haarstyleksperimente en panda-oë? Verdien sy om in die spaarkamer te skuil omdat sy, volgens Bart, aand na aand die kos brand en die hond se pote laat nat word as dit reën?

In So Lyk ’n Vrou vertel Ilse Verster van Esli se heelwording en hoe sy, ná ’n leeftyd van mishandeling, in ’n rooi rok op die strand kon staan met een vuis in die lug en vry kon voel. Sy gee stem aan ’n stukkende vrou wat net wil hê die pyn moet stop. Sy deel wat dit verg om jou teen die muur op te trek, jou teen die samelewing te handhaaf en jouself te red.

After 25 years, Madam & Eve is still going strong and are back with more hilarious cartoons looking back at another year of the crazy rollercoaster that is COVID-restricted daily life and mixed with politics in South Africa.

Madam & Eve cartoons appear regularly in the Mail & Guardian, The Star, The Saturday Star, Herald, Mercury, Witness, Daily Dispatch, Cape Times, Pretoria News, Diamond Fields Advertiser, Die Volksblad, EC Today, Kokstad Advertiser and The Namibian.

Madam & Eve is South Africa’s best reminder that we need to laugh at ourselves as a society. The perfect gift for anyone wanting to understand South African politics.

Albertina Sisulu is revered by South Africans as the true mother of the nation. A survivor of the golden age of the African National Congress, whose life with the second most important figure in the ANC exemplified the underpinning role of women in the struggle against apartheid.

In 1944 she was the sole woman at the inaugural meeting of the radical offshoot of the ANC, the Youth League, with Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Anton Lembede in the vanguard. Her final years were spent in an unpretentious house in the former white Johannesburg suburb of Linden. A friend said of her, "she treated everybody alike. But her main concern was the welfare of our women and children." This abridged account of Sisulu’s overflowing life provides a fresh understanding of an iconic figure of South African history.

This new abridged memoir is written by Sindiwe Magona, one of South Africa’s most prolific authors, and Elinor Sisulu, writer, activist and daughter-in-law of Albertina.

How did a teenage refugee from communist Poland become one of the richest women in South Africa? In what ways did she disrupt the financial services industry? What drove her to become an activist exposing corporate and government corruption? What are her secrets for succeeding in business and life?

The founder of multibillion-rand financial services empire Sygnia Limited, Magda Wierzycka is South Africa’s most successful businesswoman. In this engaging and insightful book, she tells the story of her life, from her childhood in communist Poland, her family’s escape and relocation to South Africa, her early struggles in the male-dominated financial services industry, and the formation and growth of her own company, Sygnia.

With a business model built on transparency and low fees, it was a natural step for Magda to become an outspoken critic of corporate and government corruption, exposing wrongdoing and making her many powerful enemies in the process.

In this book, Magda shares the life lessons and business principles that have driven her and brought her success. This is a fascinating story that will inspire you to speak out, lean in, break out, and ultimately empower yourself not only to survive in life and business, but to thrive.

There’s a saying “Stories that are not told, are wept” - we need stories to help us navigate times like these, to derive some kind of meaning and purpose from our experience or we become hostage to them.

The Cloud That Helped People See is a book Justin Gomes felt inspired to write on the Jardim Farm during lockdown as a way to help him – and his family – make sense of the Pandemic and map a new way forward.

Beautifully illustrated in watercolour by Arabella Leggat, its themes of reconnection, rebirth and renewal offer readers aged eight to eighty hope and inspiration at a time when we need it most.

Zola Mahobe came from Soweto and turned himself into a jet-setting multimillionaire. He was a habitual bank robber. The founding father of present-day Mamelodi Sundowns transformed the soccer club to the elite of the first division.

He meets Snowy Moshoeshoe who becomes his lover and partner in crime. After convincing Moshoeshoe to leave her nursing job to take up a job at Standard Bank Mahobe’s businesses start to grow.

Dikgang Moseneke shares the story of how Mahobe often invited him and Willie Seriti to games. He often told them: ‘I am a man with many challenges. I like to travel with my lawyers and my gunman next to me.’

Mahobe and Moshoeshoe continue pilfering millions from Standard Bank for five years. The bank discovers their scheme and Mahobe is arrested in Botswana.

The untold story of Mahobe is one of the biggest stories to come out of apartheid South Africa and compares with that of the notorious bank-robbing Stander Gang. This book is impossible to put down.

Die motiewe agter gesinsmoorde is dikwels vreemder as fiksie. Tergende vrae kan deur psigiaters beantwoord word ... of dalk nie. Deur na verskeie gevalle van gesinsmoord te kyk gooi hierdie boek ’n bietjie lig in 'n baie donker plek. Met onder meer die stories van die Lotters wat gebreinspoel was tot moord op hul ouers en die Van Breda bylmoorde.

Welcome to the SuzelleDIY Recipe Book! These pages are full of my favourite recipes that I have gathered and created over the years, from my Ouma’s old classics to my own creative recipes that will get everyone talking at your next dinner party! You will find scrumptious desserts, easy dinners, fun and delicious twists on South African favourites (bobotie balls anyone?) as well as a few wonderful recipes from special guests who also wanted their recipes in the book, shame.

This cookbook is for everybody! If you are a master chef or a mini chef, if you only know how to use the microwave or even if your meals always come out looking a little bit rustic, there’s something in this book for you.

So pop on your aprons people! It’s time to use your own creativity and make some delicious kitchen magic happen. DIY? Because anybody can!

As a young underground cadre in 1980s Durban, Moe Shaik endured detention, following orders for the good of the organisation. Little did he know that this stint in the police cells would lead to his lifelong relationship with The Nightingale, a Special Branch policeman turned enemy secret agent whose files were so accurate, Oliver Tambo named them The Bible.

Shaik morphs from being a timid optometrist to leading a critical, high-tech intelligence operation, supplying information to the ANC top brass in exile and in South Africa. He becomes party to the secrets of both the state and ANC operatives.

This thrilling first-person account brings into sharp focus the role of Jacob Zuma, Shaik's brother Schabir and other players, and sheds new light on some of South Africa's most turbulent years.

The healing power of life writing, one shared story at a time

This Is How It Is a “refreshing, poignant and wide-ranging” (Helen Moffett) collection of real life experiences: 52 stories, prose and poetry, that tell of a man who is anxious about an HIV test; a child with an alarming nose for gossip and a girl who is saved by the enemy in a war zone. Some of the writers are grieving the loss of a child or struggling with addiction, abuse, bullying or betrayal. Most of these writers have never been published before. They wrote these stories primarily to bear witness to their lives and the troubled times in which we live. Putting traumatic experiences down on paper can help people work through shame, guilt and fear, releasing them from the traps they lay. Writing is sometimes able to turn a painful incident into something more manageable, even beautiful.

Sharing stories can also heal both the writer and the reader. When we first meet a stranger, we make assumptions about them. When we hear of their life in their own words, we find that many of our negative assumptions are wrong. Often we discover that we are more alike than we are different. Our magnificent world is in trouble, much of it because we are not paying attention to what is right in front of us. When the facts don’t stir us to reconsider, story can. This anthology invites us to become curious and reflective rather than fearful and defensive. It encourages us to climb down from the ladder of hierarchy and competition and to join the circle of relationship and humanity by becoming vulnerable enough to share and listen to our own and each other’s half-hidden stories.

But equally importantly, Bongani Kona, 2016 Caine Prize finalist, reminds us: “We forget that the most daring thing we can do is to allow ourselves to be seen. To stand before the world and to say this is who I am. This is how it is.”

About THE LIFE RIGHTING COLLECTIVE: The Life Righting Collective (LRC) runs courses for anyone who wants to learn to write about their experiences. The approach promotes self-discovery, self-recovery and more effective communication. It raises funds to make courses available to those in need of sponsorship and to provide platforms for these life stories to be published. Sharing experiences with a wide readership can help reduce discrimination and promote mutual understanding. Visit the website: www.liferighting.com

This extensive history of South Africa was written by some of the country’s most prominent historians such as Hermann Giliomee, Jan Visagie, David Scher and Fransjohan Pretorius.

Its broad scope includes South Africa's pre-colonial history, slavery, Afrikaner nationalism, an environmental history and an analysis of a post-apartheid South Africa.

In this updated edition, a new chapter by Jan-Jan Joubert has been added – From state capture to Covid: the decline of the ANC.

Licence To Loot is a fast-paced, hard-hitting investigation into parastatal looting, written by journalist Stephan Hofstatter. At the centre of the story is Eskom, the largest power utility in Africa, which could determine the success or failure of South Africa’s economy.

Hofstatter’s story begins in 2016, with the Guptas’ controversial purchase of Optimum coal mine and Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe’s key role in the deal. From there it takes the reader on a journey from secret meetings in London hotel rooms to a clandestinely purchased bolthole on a Dubai golf estate, uncovering the corrupt acquisition of a private jet along the way. From the diary entries of a Saxonwold security guard to first-hand accounts of backroom dealmaking, it traces the origins of a shadowy network between the Guptas and Eskom that ultimately allowed the family to extract billions of rands from the parastatal.

Licence To Loot reveals the complicated deals and machinations underpinning state capture and the subsequent ministerial and board appointments that ceded the control of the country’s parastatals, including Eskom, Transnet, SAA and Denel, to Gupta-linked moneymen.

The book is particularly relevant in the current political climate as it focuses on the impact of state capture, not just its origins, and takes the story beyond the Zuma presidency.

Veteran journalist Anton Harber brings all his investigative skills to bear on his very own profession, the media. For two years he conducted dozens of interviews with politicians, journalists, policemen and 'deep throats', before piecing together two remarkable tales.

The first is a chilling story of police death squads, rogue units and renditions, and how South Africa's leading newspaper was duped into doing the dirty work of corrupt politicians. The second starts with a broken and discarded hard drive and evolves, with many near misses, into the exposure of the depths of the Guptas' influence over the ruling party.

Harber's two tales reveal the lows and highs of journalism during an era of state capture. His book is both a disquieting exposé of how easily the media can be duped by a conniving cabal for its own selfish ends, and a celebration of brilliant investigative reporting by brave and ethical journalists.

Die verstommende storie van ’n sakelegende wat een van Afrika se welvarendste maatskappye uit niks opgebou het.

Anton Rupert was 'n Karooseun wat in die Depressie grootgeword het, en dit skaars kon bekostig om te gaan studeer, maar sy Rembrandt groep word uiteindelik ʼn wêreldleier in o.m. luukse goedere. Wat was Rupert se geheim? Rupert se oorspronklike sienings oor die skepping van werk en welvaart in ‘n sukkelende ekonomie is sy blywende nalatenskap met diepgaande lesse vir Suid-Afrika vandag. Sy storie is meer relevant as ooit.

Hier vertel die gesoute sakeskrywer Ebbe Dommisse die volle verhaal, vol kleur en anakdotes, in dié opgedateerde uitgawe van sy hoogaangeskrewe biografie van Rupert.

"What are democracies meant to do? And how does one know when one is a democratic state?" These incisive questions and more by leading political scientist, Steven Friedman, underlie this robust enquiry into what democracy means for South Africa post 1994.

Democracy and its prospects are often viewed through a lens which reflects the dominant Western understanding. New democracies are compared to idealised notions of the way in which the system is said to operate in the global North. The democracies of Western Europe and North America are understood to be the finished product and all others are assessed by how far they have progressed towards approximating this model. The goal of new democracies, like South Africa and other developing nation-states, is thus to become like the global North.

Power in Action persuasively argues against this stereotype. Friedman asserts that democracies can only work when every adult has an equal say in the public decisions that affect them. From this point of view, democracies are not finished products and some nations in the global South may be more democratic than their Northern counterparts. Democracy is achieved not by adopting idealised models derived from other societies – rather, it is the product of collective action by citizens who claim the right to be heard not only through public protest action, but also through the conscious exercise of influence on public and private power holders.

Viewing democracy in this way challenges us to develop a deeper understanding of democracy’s challenges and in so doing to ensure that more citizens can claim a say over more decisions in society.