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.

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.

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.

One of the greats of South African rugby shares the many layers of his colourful and eventful life. From rugby legend to businessman, wine farmer, cultural custodian, musician, father and grandfather, Schalk Burger’s memoir is an intensely personal and honest journey of the triumphs and hardships that have shaped the life of a much-loved South African.

Burger is a storyteller extraordinaire and he’ll have you snorting into your beer as you read about run-ins with officialdom, fisticuffs on the field, how he became the first white Springbok selected from a Coloured team, and the day Cheeky Watson asked to wash his feet.

This is a glimpse into the life and times of one of the country’s most recognised figures, and told in the stories of the many lives that intersected with his. “Who am I, and how do I live? That is something this story will bring out of me.”

"My name is Samantha and I’m an alcoholic. At the time of writing, I’ve been sober for 13 years, 11 months and 16 days. And yes I still count. I promised I would never speak about it publicly until my children understood what that meant, that mommy was an alcoholic. I think they may have understood long before I did."

From Whiskey To Water is the no-holds-barred memoir by one of South Africa’s most loved radio talk show hosts, Sam Cowen. Having kept her alcohol addiction well away from the public eye for over 14 years, in this tell-all tale, Sam finds the courage to talk about her struggle with her addiction to whiskey, food and finally to a passion that saved her life – marathon swimming. Told in her characteristically hilarious dead-pan style, this is one of the bravest books you’ll read this year.

"So this is a book on how I stopped drinking? No, it’s not. It’s how I stopped drinking, started eating, became clinically severely obese, stopped eating (everything that wasn’t nailed down) and swam my way to freedom. No, it’s not. It’s actually about addiction and learning and sadness and anxiety and love and drive. It’s about channelling the unchangeable into the miraculous. It’s about dragons and learning how to put them to sleep when you can’t slay them. It’s about being my own Daenarys."

n Langverwagte versameling van Hennie Aucamp se beste kortverhale. Aucamp was by uitstek 'n kortverhaalskrywer, en is in 1982 met die Hertzogprys vir sy prosawerk bekroon. Hierdie versameling bevat sy eie keuse uit die vele kortverhale waarmee hy lesers oor die dekades heen geraak en vermaak het. Die keuse is so interessant soos die verhale self - daar is voorspelbare bekende verhale, en ook minder bekendes waarvoor hy 'n spesiale toegeneentheid gehad het. Saamgestel deur Johann de Lange.

"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!

“This apricot tree has multiple souls that fill me with wonder every morning and enchant me by afternoon. This tree has bitter-sweet memories, just like the fruit it bears.”

If the apricot trees of Soweto could talk, what stories would they tell? This short story collection provides an imaginative answer. Imbued with a vivid sense of place, it captures the vibrancy of the township and surrounds. Told with satirical flair, life and death are intertwined in these tales where funerals and the ancestors feature strongly; where cemeteries are places to show off your new car and catch up on the latest gossip.

Populating these stories is a politician mesmerised by his mistress’s manicure, zama-zamas running businesses underground, a sangoma with a remedy for theft, soccer fans ready to mete out a bloody justice, a private dancer in love and many other intriguing characters.

Take your seat under the apricot tree and be enthralled by tales that are both entertaining and thought-provoking.

My First South Africa Atlas is a detailed child-friendly atlas, suitable for ages 6-12 years and older.

This educational atlas is filled with 120 maps along with colour-coded content boxes covering information on the following:

• Natural landmarks
• Buildings/sites of significance
• Geography/geology
• Climate
• Vegetation
• Parks and wildlife (incl. World Heritage Sites)
• Science (incl. astronomy, agriculture etc.)
• Towns (names, origins etc.)

There is a graphic timeline across the bottom of each pages including full-colour photographs. The little assistant ‘Lily’ introduces the reader to ‘did you know’ facts about South Africa and neighbouring countries, helping to make learning fun! There is a great overview map, including South Africa’s national anthem, as well as the symbols for each province. Included in the back of the book are educational pages, ‘our planet and showing it on paper, the features of a map, the compass, and finding locations’.

This book is a must-have for any learner in South Africa, as well as a great educational tool to assist teachers and schools.

Almal in Feetjieland kan rustig slaap met Kaptein Fanie en Sersant Saarkie van die Feetjiepolisiediens wat 'n oog oor hulle hou!

Daar is drie sake wat ondersoek moet word: in die Groot Woud by die De Beer-huis het iemand ingebreek en al die pap geëet, Jan Christoffel Reus se hennetjie wat goue eiers lê, is gesteel en Hansie en Grietjie Fick is weg . . . te midde van vreemde gebeure by Mevrou Le-Vy se gemmerbroodhuisie.

So you’ve come up with a winning idea for a product to sell online. What now? How do you turn your idea into a successful e-commerce business?

Selling Products Online is the book for you. Brought to you by Heavy Chef and Payfast, this guide gives you everything you need to start an e-commerce business in 10 practical steps – and you don’t have to be an expert on websites, advertising or logistics to get going.

It is designed to support you on every step of your e-commerce journey and will show you how to:

• Find your customers.
• Set up your e-commerce store.
• Take online payments.
• Sell on existing platforms.
• Attract more customers.
• Fulfil online orders.
• Manage stock.
• Serve your customers.
• Make a profit.
• Build your team.

Heavy Chef sat down with some of South Africa’s pre-eminent entrepreneurs to fill these pages with real, practical advice from experts who’ve beaten their own paths to success in e-commerce. You’ll hear from the brains behind some of South Africa’s most-loved brands, including Faithful to Nature, Payfast, SnapScan, Yuppiechef, and many more. They’ll answer all your questions about selling products online in concise “bites” – as if you’re sitting down to coffee with them.

Go on. Tuck in

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.

Met die oorspronklike publikasie van die drie romans oor die wel en wee van vier geslagte Meissners het Ena Murray opnuut haar status as koningin van die Afrikaanse liefdesverhaal gestand gedoen. Die drieluik bestaan uit: Die Meissner-kliniek, waar ons die die stigter van die eksklusiewe privaat kliniek en sy gedugte span dokters ontmoet. Die vrede word in 'n oogwink omvergewerp wanneer 'n nuwe trolliejoggie daar begin werk ... Dokter Julene, waar Julene die veilige hawe van die Meissner-kliniek verlaat om by haar biologiese pa in Switserland aan te sluit ... en dan onverwags in Istanboel beland. En Die ongebore uur, waar Inge Buchner, die agterkleindogter van dr. Albert Meissner, alles in haar vermoe doen om te probeer verseker dat iemand met die van Meissner weer aan die hoof van die kliniek sal staan.

you get better with love takes you on the journey of embracing vulnerability in its rawest form. Exploring fears, insecurities, love experiences and the yearning for acceptance, the author weaves a narrative of prose and poetry delving into the heart of human emotion.

This collection of poetry is a testament to the power of owning one’s feelings and thoughts, showcasing a delicate balance between personal and universal experiences. As a way of symbolising individuality and how we don’t have to constrain ourselves to one thing, the author uses lower-case typography and invites you to reflect on your struggles and triumphs.

As each page turns, you get better with love offers a comforting reminder that as long as we breathe, there is an opportunity to begin anew, love oneself fully, and embrace the endless possibilities that come with choosing to try again.

This is the story of a Kavango tracker who served for six years with Koevoet ('Crowbar'), the elite South African Police anti-terrorist unit, during the South West African -Angolan bush war of the '80s. Most white team leaders lasted only two years; the black trackers walked the track for years. Sisingi Kamongo tells the story of the 50 or so firefighters he was involved in; he survived five anti-personnel mine and POMZ explosions and an RPG rocket on his Casspir APC vehicle; he was wounded three times; he tells of the trackers looking for shadows on the ground, facing ambush and AP mines at every turn; he tells of the art of tracking...where dust can tell time. Kamongo's story is supported by two accounts from renowned Koevoet team leaders, Herman Grobler and Francois du Toit- a powerful collection of experiences from South Africa's most successful counter-insurgency unit. The first-ever account of the bush war by a non-white member of the South African security forces. A unique, previously untold perspective of the bush war, by an on-the-ground tracker. A powerful, harrowing read; the tension is palpable.

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?

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.

Reghardt du Toit is ’n bekende sanger met die wêreld aan sy voete. ’n Ernstige ongeluk verander sy lewe onherroeplik. As gevolg van gehoorverlies, is sing skielik buite die kwessie. Hy gaan soek na ’n nuwe begin in die klein WesKaapse dorpie van Philadelphia.

Hier maak Reghardt ’n boetiekrestaurant oop terwyl die dorpie en inwoners in sy hart inkruip. ’n Dokter met ’n praktyk in die naburige Malmesbury trek ook met sy gesin en ’n geheimsinnige au pair na Philadelphia.

Die plaaslike dominee se dogter is ’n internasionale model en haar pa se enigste kind. Sy weet sy presies wat sy in die lewe wil hê. Sy spits haar toe daarop om Reghardt se hart te verower. Die dowe sanger fokus egter daarop om mentor te wees vir ’n seun wat sy eie sangtalent wil slyp.

’n Skokkende tragedie bring ’n onverwagse wenteling in almal se lewens. Sal Reghardt genoeg liefde en vergifnis kan vind om die ontrafeling wat volg te weerstaan, of sal alles weer inmekaartuimel?

Joe Modise (1929-2001), a Sophiatown bus driver-turned freedom fighter, was a humble man who tended to avoid the limelight. A protege of the Mandela leadership in the 1950s mass struggle, he was one of the youngest among that decade’s Treason Trial, and was a senior commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) from its inception, facing danger and privation most of his adult life. Modise served with acclaim as democratic South Africa’s first Minister of Defence and won the loyalty of his former enemy when many thought the country could be plunged into civil war or held to ransom by old-order apartheid generals. The fact that Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo selected him for key positions over five decades of exacting struggle testifies to their sustained confidence in him. This fact alone belies the impression some might have that he was an amoral warlord. As a government minister, he led a modest lifestyle and did not die a wealthy man.

This book interlinks frank and engaging interviews with family and friends, comrades­ in-arms and former adversaries. Those who knew him reveal a warm human being and provide endearing insights into who Modise really was.

As a soldier, statesman and leader, he has left behind an astonishing legacy that deserves to be widely known.

Carve a path to success through ease. One that lights you up with a sense of soul, flow and grace. When we embrace the elegant power in our own lives, we step into our ‘inner knowing’ and fully own our innate, intuitive and individual gifts. When we unshackle from the shoulds of societal conditioning around how we are expected to show up in our lives we redefine success on our own terms, as we own what makes us different, special and unique. But how do we do this? By stepping into our own natural light.

It’s not about changing or becoming. It’s about remembering and knowing that we are already enough. Our authentic nature glows from within at a soul level. It emanates from every pore with our knowing that we have elegant power in our enoughness. This is the path to easefulness in our lives – success through ease. When we are grounded in a sense of self-worth and self-love we do not seek approval or validation from outside of ourselves. We need to live more deliberately and authentically, owning our own path in a way that celebrates, accepts and embraces our own innate power with an elegant soul, flow and grace.

Nicky Rowbotham’s Embrace Your Elegant Power will help you move from playing small to shining bright in your own life, in a way that works for you. It will shift your perspectives and create a sense of spaciousness and thoughtful simplicity within your life for a more aligned, authentic individual energy to come through.

Full of powerful, personal and transformative stories and insights, Embrace Your Elegant Power is your level-up guide to celebrating your own uniqueness and using easefulness as the frequency holder for your life.

A highly readable, dramatic story of a colourful South African journey in politics lasting over 50 years, from anti-apartheid protester to Right Honourable Lord, from Pretoria childhood to senior British Cabinet Minister.

A Pretoria Boy begins with the story of how Peter Hain’s journey came full circle when he used parliamentary privilege in 2017–18 to expose looting and money laundering, supplied with the ammunition by his ‘deep throat’ inside the Zuma State. In so doing, he put South Africa’s state capture and corruption on the front pages of the New York Times and Financial Times, which some suggest played a part in Zuma’s toppling. Going back to an anti-apartheid childhood in Pretoria in the late 1950s and early 1960s, there are vivid descriptions of his parents’ arrest, banning, harassment, helping an escaped political prisoner, the hanging of a close white family friend, and enforced exile to London in 1966 after the government prohibited his architect father from working.

It tells of how, at aged 19, Hain organised and led militant anti-Springbok demonstrations in exile in London in 1969–1970, for which he was denounced by the South African media as ‘Public Enemy Number One’. It is about how he narrowly escaped jail after a South African government-financed prosecution landed him in the Old Bailey in 1972 for conspiracy to disrupt those all-white South African sports tours and, then in 1975, how he was framed for a bank theft committed by an apartheid security agent. His return to South Africa came first on a secret mission in December 1989, then as a parliamentary observer during the 1994 elections.

The book ends with his perspective on the country’s future.

Hierdie reuse-omnibus bevat al 41 van Verna Vels se oorspronklike Liewe Heksie-stories waarin die bekoorlike klein karaktertjie en haar maats, Blommie Kabouter, Karel Kat, Kwaaitjie Kabouter, Koning Rosekrans en vele meer weer oud en jonk laat skaterlag met hulle mannewales.

Die stories is ’n versameling uit die bundels: Die Liewe Heksie-Omnibus (2002) en ​Liewe Heksie en die rekenaar ​(2001).

Vian Oelofsen se pragtige illustrasies laat hierdie klassieke stories en karakters weer leef!

These essays bring to life many facets of Magona’s personal history, her deepest convictions, love for her country and belief in her ability to activate change. They are a meaningful supplement to her fictional works, while offering insightful responses to the conditions that inspired them.

Sindiwe Magona is a celebrated South African writer, storyteller and motivational speaker known mainly for her autobiographies, biographies, novels, short stories, poetry and children’s books. I Write the Yawning Void is a collection of essays that highlight her engagement with writing that span the transition from apartheid to the post-apartheid period and addresses themes such as HIV/Aids, language and culture, home and belonging.

Magona worked as a teacher, domestic worker and spent two decades working for the United Nations in the United States of America. She has received many awards for her fearless writing ‘truth to power’. Her written work is often informed by her lived experience of being a black woman resisting subjugation and poverty.

These essays bring to life many facets of Magona’s personal history as well as her deepest convictions, her love for her country and despair at the problems that continue to plague it, and her belief in her ability to activate change. They demonstrate Magona’s engaging storytelling and mastery of the essay form which serve as meaningful supplements to her fictional works, while simultaneously offering insightful responses to the conditions that inspired them.

As an ANC insider, Oscar van Heerden had a ringside seat at the ANC elective conference at NASREC in 2022. Here he presents a gripping account of how political power changed hands and what was at stake as Cyril Ramaphosa battled to consolidate his power.

Van Heerden does not simply give us the numbers, the money, the delegates, the switching, the promises and the backstabbing, but in this powerful account of the inner workings of a cripplingly divided political party, he himself is part of the story, having to contend with his own great disappointment with the party of liberation.

Vivid and unputdownable, Is the Party Over? is a future classic and a must read for these testing times.