Dana Snyman se verbintenis met rugby kom van ver af. Op vier woon hy saam met sy pa ’n eindstryd op Coetzenburg by, en hoor hy die naam Dawie de Villiers vir die eerste keer. Kort hierna kry hy sy eerste rugbybal, ’n geskenk van Dok Craven . . . Van klubrugby op stowwerige dorpsvelde tot die glorie van drie Wêreldbekers; dis stories dié wat aankom oor ’n leeftyd. Wie de hel is Johnny Joubert? is – nes rugby – kleurryk, sonder fiemies, en eg Suid-Afrikaans.

Springbokke het ’n superkrag. Hulle is die beste rugbyspelers, natuurlik. Amabhokobhoko! Maar wat as jy ’n ander superkrag het?

Dalk is LEES jou superkrag! Soos Springboekie!

Springboekie is MAL daaroor om te lees. Hy wens net sy maats het ook daarvan gehou. Hulle wil net HEELDAG in die moddergat speel en hulle dink boeke is VERVELIG.

Gelukkig is Springboekie baie slim. Hy wys sy maats dat daar ʼn boek vir elkeen bestaan. Selfs ’n kwaai leeu!

When André de Ruyter took over as Eskom CEO in January 2020, he quickly realised why it was considered the toughest job in South Africa.

Aside from neglected equipment, ageing power stations and an eroded skills base, he discovered that Eskom was crippled by corruption on a staggering scale. Fake fuel oil deliveries at just one power station cost Eskom R100 million per month; kneepads retailing for R150 a pair were purchased for R80 000; billions of rands of equipment supposedly housed in the company’s storerooms was missing. Faced with police inaction, he was compelled to plunge into a world that was foreign to him – a world of spies and safe houses, of bulletproof vests and bodyguards.

In Truth to Power, De Ruyter tells the behind-the-scenes story of how he launched a private investigation that exposed at least four criminal cartels feeding off Eskom. While fighting this scourge, he had to deal with political interference, absurd regulations, non-paying municipalities, unfounded accusations of racism, wildcat strikes, sabotage and a poisoning attempt. De Ruyter takes the reader inside the boardrooms and government meetings where South Africa’s future is shaped, with ministers often pulling in conflicting directions. He explains how renewable energy is the cheapest and quickest solution to our power crisis, in spite of fierce opposition from vested coal interests.

De Ruyter candidly reflects on his three years at the power utility, his successes and failures, his reasons for leaving and his hopes for the future. As someone who worked at the highest levels of the state but is not beholden to the ruling party, he is uniquely placed to speak truth to power.

Jorsie die worsie is terug vir nog 'n avontuur in boek twee van die reeks!

In hierdie opwindende vervolg kom Jorsie te staan teen 'n nuwe uitdaging die onder die aarde, waar die dapper putponies ondergronds werk om goud na die oppervlakte te vervoer. Maar wanneer 'n reeks onvoorsiene voorvalle lei tot 'n katastrofiese instorting van 'n mynskag, word een van die ponies diep ondergrond vasgekeer.

Sal Jorsie en sy maats betyds slaag in hul brawe reddingsmissie, of gaan hulle uit tyd uit hardloop?

Sluit aan by Jorsie op hierdie opwindende reis vol moed, vriendskap, en die onwrikbare vasberadenheid om nooit op te gee nie.

Hell of a Country is a creative reimagining of a true crime story from early-1970s South Africa. The novel tells the story of teenager Lorraine van Niekerk who despises the fact that her boss and lover, middle-aged André Bekker, won’t leave his wife Sunette and marry her instead. When Lorraine’s life fatefully intersects that of Alfie Geemooi, a recent amputee, she comes up with a hell of a plan. Is murder an adequate price to pay for love?

Op die vooraand van speurder Arrie Dogh se aftrede beland ’n oënskynlik doodgewone inbraaksaak op sy lessenaar. En wanneer hy begin ondersoek instel na die inbrekers op Louis Jooste se perdeplaas neffens Wildernis, besef hy daar skuil ’n slinkse slang in die gras.

Waar begin die storie wat Arrie eindelik oorvertel? By die Turkse perdekopers? By Jooste se ponzi wat Bertie en vriend Diek se neseiers ingesluk het? Of begin als by die miljoene wat uit ’n rusbank op Jooste se stoetplaas verdwyn het?

Finding your voice, only for it to be snatched away from you again.

Set in Hilbrow, Parktown, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Nigeria; Her Silent Screams by Busisekile Khumalo follows the story of Fatima Farrah Omar, a mute, Muslim girl who gets bullied for being different and for catching the eye of the rugby captain, Banzi.

Falling in love with Banzi is easy but she never expected him to love her back with the same intensity and slowly peel her away from the shadows. Farrah blossoms, coming into herself and just when all the stars are aligning; ghosts from Nura, her mother’s past come knocking leading to their abduction and hell in the Nigerian jungle.

Hierdie splinternuwe versameling van Nataniël bevat 31 stories — 5 in Engels, 26 in Afrikaans. Verskeie van die stukke is uit Nataniël-produksies oor ’n periode van twee jaar: Ring Van Vuur, Nineveh Song, Cake Topper en Duif.

In 1998 was hulle onskuldige tieners. In 2025 is hulle verdagtes.
Sersant Sollie Mthembu se nuwe ondersoek lei hom terug na ’n onopgeloste dossier van die negentigs. Om die moordenaar te stuit, en tegelyk iemand na aan hom se lewe te red, moet Sollie agter die kap van die byl kom: Is dit wraak? Of word mense stilgemaak?
Roulette is die bekroonde skrywer Sidney Gilroy se vyfde roman – ’n onthutsende krimi wat die gevolge van familiegeheime en gevaarlike speletjies onder die vergrootglas plaas.

Die vyf Delportsusters woon saam in een huis. Wanneer die oudste doodgeskiet word, is daar dus minstens vier verdagtes. Maar mettertyd kom dit aan die lig dat die slagoffer allermins geliefd was. Moord-en-roofspeurder Adriaan Kruger moet al sy vernuf inspan om die skuldige te probeer ontmasker.

Die vyf susters is die eerste titel in ’n reeks spanningsverhale deur Eleanor Baker. ’n Skerpsinnige whodunnit wat met ’n tikkie romanse en humor gepaardgaan.

After unknown saboteurs toppled a strategic pylon near Lethabo Power Station in the Free State in November 2021, almost causing the country to plunge into stage 6 load shedding, Eskom’s chief executive officer André de Ruyter declared: ‘This was clearly now an act of sabotage and I think we can call it as such.’ Who was behind this, and what is their ultimate goal?

Since his appointment in January 2020, De Ruyter has faced intense opposition from within the power utility as he attempts to clean up corruption and return the electricity company to a semblance of its former glory. He is not alone. Chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer and other trusted allies in Eskom have also come under intense fire. From forensic investigations and botched probes to accusations of racism, De Ruyter and Oberholzer have spent significant amounts of time fending off allegation after allegation. Amid this onslaught, it has become clear that their enemies will take any measures necessary to have them removed from office.

Based on exclusive interviews with De Ruyter, Oberholzer and other key figures, Sabotage is a story of conspiracy and subterfuge at South Africa’s ailing power utility, uncovering the power struggles that threaten the country’s very survival.

This book explores South Africa’s tumultuous history from the aftermath of the Second Anglo-Boer War to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on never-before-published documentary evidence – including diaries, letters, eyewitness testimony and diplomatic reports – the book follows the South African people through the battles, elections, repression, resistance, strikes, massacres, economic crashes and health crises that have shaped the nation’s character.

Tracking South Africa’s path from colony to Union and from apartheid to democracy, History of South Africa documents the influence of key figures including Pixley Seme, Jan Smuts, Lilian Ngoyi, H.F. Verwoerd, Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, P.W. Botha and Jacob Zuma. The book also gives detailed accounts of definitive events such as the 1922 Rand Revolt, the Defiance Campaign, Sharpeville, the Soweto uprising and the Marikana massacre. Looking beyond the country’s borders, it unpacks military conflicts such as the World Wars, the armed struggle and the Border War. The book explores the transition to democracy and traces the phases of ANC rule, from the Rainbow Nation to transformation to state capture. It examines the divisive and unifying role of sport, the ups and downs of the economy, and the impact of pandemics from the Spanish flu to AIDS and COVID-19.

As South Africa faces a crisis as severe as any in its history, the book shows that these challenges are neither unprecedented nor insurmountable, and that there are principles to be found in history that may lead us safely into the future.

Should Paul Mashatile be South Africa’s next president?

Surviving scandal, controversy and the Zuma years, Paul Mashatile has risen through the ranks to the doorstep of the presidency.

Over his political career spanning 30 years, he has successfully navigated the corruption and factionalism that the ANC has become known for.

Now, he wants to take charge of the party – and the Union Buildings. The question is: Should he? Is this man suitable for the highest office?

•    He has been associated with the ‘Alex Mafia’ for more than 30 years.

What influence do they have over Mashatile?

•    He leads a lavish lifestyle, living in luxury homes in Johannesburg and Cape Town. How were they acquired?
•    He has been outspoken about the economy, Black Economic Empowerment, and South Africa’s foreign relations. But does he have firm principles?
•    And how has his string of lovers affected his professional life?

This meticulously researched account by bestselling author Pieter du Toit answers these vital questions and reveals the dark truth about the ANC’s crown prince.

South Africa’s democracy is often seen as a story of bright beginnings gone astray, a pattern said to be common to Africa. The negotiated settlement of 1994, it is claimed, ended racial domination and created the foundation for a prosperous democracy – but greedy politicians betrayed the promise of a new society.

In Prisoners Of The Past, Steven Friedman astutely argues that this misreads the nature of contemporary South Africa. Building on the work of the economic historian Douglass North and the political thinker Mahmood Mamdani, Friedman shows that South African democracy’s difficulties are legacies of the pre-1994 past. The settlement which ushered in majority rule left intact core features of the apartheid economy and society. The economy continues to exclude millions from its benefits, while racial hierarchies have proved stubborn: apartheid is discredited, but the values of the pre-1948 colonial era, the period of British colonisation, still dominate. Thus South Africa’s democracy supports free elections, civil liberties and the rule of law, but also continues past patterns of exclusion and domination.

Friedman reasons that this ‘path dependence’ is not, as is often claimed, the result of constitutional compromises in 1994 that left domination untouched. This bargain was flawed because it brought not too much compromise, but too little. Compromises extended political citizenship to all but there were no similar bargains on economic and cultural change. Using the work of the radical sociologist Harold Wolpe, Friedman shows that only negotiations on a new economy and society can free South Africans from the prison of the past.

In Upwards, Karen Dudley invites us on a culinary journey that transcends the ordinary, encouraging us to look up to what is true and essential – living simply and well.

In this follow-up to Onwards, Karen, with her signature warmth and insight, shares how the act of cooking can – and should be – a letting go of life’s daily preoccupations, a way to connect with ourselves and others, by paying attention to the pleasure and enjoyment of cooking something beautiful, delicious and even surprising.

Sharing recipes from a vibrant palette of flavours, Upwards lifts Karen’s loyal community towards the next level – to learn new skills, to look up to quality over quantity and to pay attention to the splendour that can come from the meditative act of cooking. Upwards is thus a call to be inspired, to create and to connect, all the time looking up, up, up, as we invite into our kitchens new dishes, new flavours and new possibilities.

Employee engagement is at the forefront of business agendas as it facilitates organisational performance. Engaged employees result in delighted customers, which in turn contribute to improved financial results.

The book address the following issues:

• What is “employee engagement” – different levels i.e. organisational, department/team, individual?
• Why is employee engagement important?
• Measuring employee engagement; the different instruments available; the different national and international approaches in measuring employee engagement; why is it important to account for context in measuring?
• High level overview of the Nienaber and Martins employee engagement framework and measurement instrument (including trust)
• The current state of employee engagement in SA
• Engagement and related human resource concepts/constructs (eg. organisational culture, commitment, citizen behaviour).

Behind the façade of South Africa lies a brutal shadow-world ruled by mafias, cartels, and crime syndicates locked in a ruthless war over South Africa’s riches.

There’s the tobacco mafia. The water tanker mafia. The taxi mafia. The hospital mafia. The construction mafia. The kidnapping mafia.

Each one feeds off a vast web of patronage and extraction that stretches from street level to the highest echelons of government. Their bloodsucking tentacles reach deep into municipalities, state-owned enterprises, political parties, the police, and even the National Prosecuting Authority. Those who resist them are silenced in cold blood.

This is not a criminal underworld lurking in the shadows. It is part of the system itself. Where does organised crime end and the state begin? Are the two so intertwined that it has become near impossible to distinguish the one from the other? Has South Africa become a mafia state?

Multi-award-winning investigative journalist Kyle Cowan sets out to answer these and other questions, revealing the dark underbelly of a country where the thin blue line has all but disappeared.

Mafia Land is the hair-raising tale of twelve of South Africa’s most dangerous cartels, and how they will stop at nothing in their deadly, devastating plunder of our country.

In The Great Pretenders: Race and Class under ANC Rule, veteran political analyst Ebrahim Harvey delivers a stinging critique of the ANC. This must-read analysis reveals the complete failure of the ANC to roll back the race and class divide.

Harvey argues that a series of events – including HIV/AIDS denialism, the Marikana shootings, the Nkandla funding scandal, mass student protests, the Esidemeni tragedy, systemic corruption and state capture – are rooted in policy choices made by the ANC during negotiations and in power. This book is not just an evisceration of the ANC, however, as Harvey is able, through many interviews and patient delving into the past and present, to provide an indispensable guide to the future.

The Great Pretenders is fierce, passionate and provocative. It is certain to provoke those in power, stirring debate on not only the pernicious issue of race relations in South Africa, but on how to create the shared society promised us.

On 10 June 1980, during a seemingly endless day of bloody fighting, 13 men of the South African Defence Force died and several more were wounded after 61 Mechanised Infantry Battalion Group attacked a vast complex of Swapo military bases in Angola.

During Operation Sceptic second lieutenant Paul Louw led his platoon in four Ratel infantry fighting vehicles to a battleground called Smokeshell. In the ensuing chaos of that day 12 national servicemen of his platoon of 44 were killed and he himself was wounded. In a separate incident during the fighting his company second-in-command was also slain. One of his troops, 18-year-old HP Ferreira, was shot through the pelvis by a 14,5 mm anti-aircraft round and also hit by AK-47 bullets.

Louw spent the night drenched in the blood and guts of his men, hunkered down with a handful of other survivors in a Ratel destroyed by an RPG 7 rocket, isolated from the rest of the South African attack force.

Blood Brothers records the dramatic events that took place in Angola that day, in the words of the survivors of the battle. It investigates the human cost of war after the last shots have been fired and follows the veterans as they return to the battleground four decades later in search of peace.

In the early planning stages of Freedom Park, Robin Binckes participated as a member of the history sub-committee. The amount of debate and argument, much of it heated, astounded him. Practically every event discussed was interpreted from diametrically differing viewpoints. One of the most controversial topics was the Great Trek, the 1836 Boer exodus from the Cape Colony.

Traditionally writers on the subject have covered the event from a perspective not only of 'white history' but predominantly of 'Afrikaner history'. It has always been seen as 'an Afrikaner event'. It was anything but. As the Great Trek and the events leading up to it involved every section of the population - Zulu, Sotho, Ndebele, Xhosa, Khoisan, Khoikhoi, Coloured, British, English-speaking South African and Boer - it is time to portray the trek in that light, in the context of a unbiased, modern South Africa.

Like most history the dots are all connected; it is impossible to separate the Great Trek from events which took place as far back as the Portuguese explorers because those early events shaped the backdrop to the causes of the Great Trek. Most writers have specialized in the trek itself whereas Binckes has adopted a broader approach that studies the impact of the earlier white incursions and migrations - Portuguese, Dutch, French and British - on southern Africa, to create a better understanding of the trek and its causes. Drawing heavily on eyewitness accounts wherever possible, he has consolidated these with the perspectives of leading historians, the final product being an objective and comprehensive record of one of the seminal events in South African history.

This book shows that the Afrikaner was, is, and always will be, an important player in South African society, but it shows him as part of a bigger picture. The author distances himself from the noble characters stereotyped for the past two centuries and portrays them in their true light: wonderful, courageous people with human feelings, strengths and failings.

Nicci de Wee is weer op die spoor van ’n nuwe booswig … en hierdie keer is dit persoonlik. Een van haar eie spanlede, Stella, word vermis. Het sy bloot op die ingewing van die oomblik weggegaan omdat sy ’n blaaskans van alles en almal nodig gehad het, of is sy ontvoer? Nicci kan nie die gevoel afskud dat Stella die nuutste slagoffer van die diaboliese krimineel is wat talentvolle jong vroue in openbare plekke teiken en hulle oënskynlik in die niet laat verdwyn nie.

Niemand weet wie hierdie ontvoerder is of wat hy aan die vermiste vroue doen nie. Hy is ’n spook, ’n onsigbare en ontasbare skim. En hulle kan nie uitpluis hoekom die klokke so onheilspellend lui, of wat die betekenis is van die klein silwer klokkies wat die skurk op die misdaadtonele los nie.

Te midde van die sirkelende ondersoek word Nicci ook oorrompel. Sy herwin haar bewussyn in ’n afgryslike nagmerrie van haar eie ... Vir Blackie en Henk word dit ’n verbete wedloop teen tyd. Hulle moet Nicci vind voor dit te laat is, ás dit nie alreeds is nie ... Is die duiwel wat hulle jag die een wat haar geneem het, of is daar iemand selfs meer sinister agter alles?

Iemand wat hulle dalk oorgeslaan het in hulle berekeninge?

Wyngaard het geen probleem daarmee om die karakters in haar boeke af te maai nie. Wat die bloedstollende vraag na vore bring ... Kan hierdie dalk Nicci de Wee se finale speursaak wees?

At a watershed meeting in 2000 the ANC committed itself to "the new cadre" project. A project with the aim to recruit and develop ANC members who are dedicated, selfless people with integrity. Yet twenty years later the ANC is consumed by corrupt cadres with the party clearly losing the battle against corruption and state capture.

How did this happen, and what exactly went wrong?

Political analyst Mpumelelo Mkhabela tells a fascinating story starting with Mandela, the Scorpions and Tony Yengeni all the way to Zuma and the Guptas to explain how we got here.

"A force of nature! Alexandria Procter will go far." - Bruce Whitfield

At 25 years old, Alexandria Procter became one of South Africa's youngest tech startup wunderkinds.

As an undergrad student at UCT, Alexandria came up with the idea for DigsConnect, similar to an Airbnb for students. Deeply affected by the violent student protests which swept university campuses in 2016, Alexandria created a website in 2018 that would address the tumultuous student housing crisis. In 2019 DisConnect disrupted the local tech terrain by raising R12 million in its first seed fundraising round, one of the largest in South Africa ever. DigsConnect has subsequently transformed from being a local student accommodation startup to catapulting into the global fourth industrial revolution.

Born in a small town in the Eastern Cape at the same time as South Africa's democracy, Alexandria's school career was characterised by defiance, rebellion and Friday afternoon detentions. Never one to toe the line, Alexandria dared to shoot for the stars.

While Upstart is a deeply personal memoir, it also offers priceless business insights and advice around startups and new tech, especially for the burgeoning African tech startup ecosystem. A unique and inspiring story.

"This girl is going places and whatever she does in her life is going to be brilliant!" - Luke Nolan, founder of Student.com

Load-shedding sucks! You know it. We know it. The whole country knows it. It’s also no secret that it’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. Is it annoying, frustrating and downright infuriating? Yes, no question about it.

However, every blackout is a fire begging to be built, a juicy chop ready to be turned and a family braai just waiting to happen. With a little planning, some clever thinking and 40 great recipes – quick and easy, plan ahead and weekend winners – load-shedding can go from the worst part of your day to the best.

Follow more recipes to become the king of condiments and the sultan of sauces, then power up your pantry with a store-bought collection of spices, smears, sauces and jazzer-uppers.

Put your money where your braaibroodjie goes and join the Beer Country duo as they dive into their best braai recipes for the Eishkom disaster. Welcome to the braaight side of load-shedding life!

*Winner of the UJ Debut Prize*

Family secrets run deep for Grace, a young girl growing up in Cape Town during the 1980s, spilling over into adulthood, and threating to ruin the respectable life she has built for herself.

When an old childhood friend reappears, Grace’s memories of her childhood come rushing back, and she is confronted, once again, with the loss that has shaped her. The novel is permeated with the long shadow cast by personal trauma, violence and loss on people’s lives.