It started with a question about the blues: what makes the music of the downtrodden black man so alluring to white middle-class ears? And that’s where it gets interesting. Because blues is more than a musical genre: it’s a cultural phenomenon that spans several centuries on both sides of the Atlantic, from slavery to Black Lives Matter, from Jan van Riebeeck to Fees Must Fall, from Robert Johnson to Abdullah Ibrahim.

In Blues for the White Man, Fred de Vries looks for answers in America’s Deep South, drawing historical parallels with South Africa’s experience of colonialism, slavery, racism, civil war, segregation and protest. Travelling to Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta, De Vries speaks to musicians, Black Lives Matter activists and Trump supporters. He continues the conversation in South Africa, interviewing student protesters, white farmers and political thought-leaders to develop an understanding of white supremacy and black anger, white fear and black pain.

A fascinating, insightful journey through time and space, Blues for the White Man is a celebration of multiculturalism and a plea for white people to do some ‘second line dancing’ for a change.

She knew she might lose her job as group treasurer, yet Cynthia Stimpel decided to blow the whistle anyway. She simply could not keep quiet about an irregular deal of R256 million at South African Airways on Dudu Myeni's watch. It was not an easy decision, but 'the right one'.

Cynthia was on a pilgrimage in France when she received word that a dodgy deal between BNP Capital and SAA was signed against her strict orders. She immediately sent a whistleblowing message to National Treasury and raised the alarm in an attempt to stop the deal. Although she succeeded in saving SAA millions she paid a high price for speaking the truth; She lost her job and her reputation. Yet her battle against Myeni and her fellow state capturers at the SAA was far from over. She still had to face Myeni in court and testify against her at the Zondo Commission.

This is a very personal state capture story that shows how one brave individual helped to stop the rot.

This groundbreaking, multi-genre anthology answers the question: what did the literary landscape look like in South Africa at the start of the twenty-first century?

It documents a slice of this landscape by bringing together the writings of over twenty contributors through literary critique, personal essays and interviews. The book tells the story of the seismic shift that transformed national culture through poetry and is the first of its kind to explore the history and impact of poetry by Black women, in their own voices. It straddles disciplines: literary theory, feminism, history of the book and politics – thus decolonising literary culture.

Our Words, Our Worlds covers expansive reflections: from the international diplomacy-transforming poem, ‘I Have Come to Take You Home’ by Diana Ferrus, to the pioneering publisher duduzile zamantungwa mabaso; from the self-confessed closeted poet Sedica Davids, to the fiery unapologetic feminist Bandile Gumbi; from the world-renowned Malika Ndlovu, to the engineer and award-winning Nosipho Gumede; from the formidable foursome Feela Sistah, to feminist literary scholars V.M. Sisi Maqagi and Barbara Boswell. The collective contributions are a testimony to the power of creativity and centrality of poetry in a changing society.

This book is an assertion of Black women’s intellectual prowess and – as Gabeba Baderoon puts it – black women’s visions of ‘a world made whole by their presence’.

Welkom by Resepte! Hierdie boek se bladsye is propvol geliefkoosde resepte wat ek oor baie jare versamel en opgetower het; van my Ouma se ou klassieke resepte tot my eie skeppings wat almal gaan laat gons y oor jou volgende feesmaal!

Jy sal heerlike nageregte ontdek, maklike aandetes, asook prettige en smaaklike afdraaipaadjies van Suid-Afrikaanse gunstelinge (enigeen vir bobotieballetjies?), sowel as paar ongelooflike resepte deur spesiale gaste wat ook, ag, shame, so graag in die boek wou wees. Hierdie kookboek is vir almal! Al is jy bobaaskok of beginner; al weet jy kwalik hoe om mikrogolfoond te hanteer of dink dat jou maaltye altyd so bietjie verroes lyk: daar sal iets in hierdie kookboek wees vir jou.

Strik jou voorskoot aan, liewe mens! Dis tyd om jou eie kreatiwiteit te volg en die kombuis in gastronomiese betowering te omskep. DIY? Want almal kan!

This is Durban curry, continued... a show which has been running since the 1860s, when the first indentured labourers came from India to work in the sugar cane plantations of then colonial Natal. They brought spices, and seeds, and recipes. And when inevitably, the influences and memories of the mother cuisine faded, Durban curry became its own thing.

Recognisably different from its roots: redder, hotter. More tomatoes, more chillis. But growing in its new homeground as it pleased. Varying from cook to cook, chef to chef. That's what we documented in 2014 in Durban Curry, So Much of Flavour. Now, in 2019, we find it's changing again.

Not the classics. They are timeless. But Durban curry is not set in stone. The point about this community dish which has become a national treasure is, precisely and imprecisely, that it has always moved and mutated with the times. It continues, as it did right from the beginning, to respond to new circumstances and needs.

And the point about our first investigation into what made it distinctive is that it was “just a taste". We wrote: “We know there is much more to tell, many more kitchens to visit, and dishes to discover."

The re-emergence of debates on the decolonisation of knowledge has revived interest in the National Question, which began over a century ago and remains unresolved. Tensions that were suppressed and hidden in the past are now being openly debated. Despite this, the goal of one united nation living prosperously under a constitutional democracy remains elusive. This edited volume examines the way in which various strands of left thought have addressed the National Question, especially during the apartheid years, and goes on to discuss its relevance for South Africa today and in the future.

Instead of imposing a particular understanding of the National Question, the editors identified a number of political traditions and allowed contributors the freedom to define the question as they believed appropriate - in other words, to explain what they thought was the Unresolved National Question. This has resulted in a rich tapestry of interweaving perceptions.

The volume is structured in two parts. The first examines four foundational traditions - Marxism-Leninism (the Colonialism of a Special Type thesis); the Congress tradition; the Trotskyist tradition; and Africanism. The second part explores the various shifts in the debate from the 1960s onwards, and includes chapters on Afrikaner nationalism, ethnic issues, Black Consciousness, feminism, workerism and constitutionalism. The editors hope that by revisiting the debates not popularly known among the scholarly mainstream, this volume will become a catalyst for an enriched debate on our identity and our future.

This is not a book about cricket. It is the story of a man who just happened to play cricket at the highest level.

Through Fire is at times a brutally honest and always fascinating work of introspection and critique that provides readers with unrestricted insight into the mind and heart of one of South Africa’s most interesting and charismatic national captains. There is the public persona of the tattooed, fashionable, mentally tough, immensely popular and yet at times, misunderstood Du Plessis. And then there is the authentic Faf.

Du Plessis reflects on his growth from being a youth with a questionable moral compass outside of cricket, to becoming a leader known for his integrity, values, honesty, and empathy for his teammates and country. He reflects on how influential leaders such as Gary Kirsten, Stephen Fleming, Mohammed Moosajee, Russell Domingo, Ottis Gibson, and MS Dhoni moulded him as a man who leads with grit, purpose, and a love of people. But he also explores destructive relationships, providing his perspective, in devastating detail, on his final years of international cricket. Neither the changing room nor the boardroom is ever off limits.

Through Fire is a no-holds-barred autobiography offering exceptional insight into the core being of an elite sports personality.

After forty years of entertaining and mesmerizing audiences with his effervescent dancing and bubbly stage personality, veteran performer and producer Alistair Izobell was the consummate professional and showman. A household name from his performances as a nine-year-old boy in District Six the musical, to his cover version hit in 1993 - Venus. With theatre performances in Kat and the Kings, The Buddy Holly Story, The Doo Wha Boys, co-writing Remembering the Lux and more, life was amazing for this creative. Producing show after show, leaving audiences with lifelong memories. Introducing new talent to the industry, nurturing existing talent, writing theme songs for soap operas and a song for an international Grammy award winning group. The sky was the limit. But it was all smoke and mirrors. There was darkness behind the spotlight.

Alistair never knew he was suffering from depression and the walls were closing in. The patriarchal system that we as a society have become accustomed to had come to bear with a bit of karma, after a massive betrayal in his life, and the cards came crashing down.

On the 13th September 2023 Alistair Izobell tried to take his life. It was all too much for him to carry on. Having survived suicide, he now had to face every good, bad and ugly reality, every decision, the trauma, and results of a life handed over to show business at a young age. The road to recovery and healing has and will be a long one. But when you want to heal and find your smile and freedom, nothing can stop you.

Broken to Heal is born from the sessions of therapy and wanting to be better. A book of anecdotes inviting the reader into the life and world of this performer we forgot was a normal child, husband, father, and friend. This book is aimed to let those who enjoy the work of performers think a little deeper about the enormous naked emotional journey creatives go through for them to enjoy the beauty of their art. But to remember that there is a real human being behind the curtains with the same life challenges we all carry. It is also a hand of hope to someone out there suffering from depression, to remind them that all is not lost, and there is help and kindness that you have access to.

There is medical help that you have at your disposal and that you are never alone in your darkness. Someone is waiting for you to say I need help. And more than anything, YOU BELONG HERE!

Die afgelope halfeeu het meer as 15 000 uitgawes van Beeld verskyn met derduisende stories in woord en beeld. Regdeur hierdie 50 jaar is ’n mantra in die redaksie: “Slaan die groot storie hard.” In Beeld 50 vertel dié geliefde koerant se joernaliste hoe hulle juis dit gedoen het deur die dekades en wat hulle steeds bybly van daardie ervaring. Die boek neem die leser op ’n reis deur van die grootste nuusgebeure sedert 1974 en weerspieël die geskakeerde leefwêreld van die Afrikaanse gemeenskap in die noorde van die land.

Beeld is die Suid-Afrikaanse dagblad wat al die meeste as die mooiste aangewys is, daarvan getuig die foto’s, voorblaaie, spotprente en grafika op dié blaaie. Tog is dit nie ’n beste-voetjie-voorsit-soort boek nie, want dis in die eerste plek joernaliste wie se stemme jy hier hoor. Op die ou end is die belangrikste element die leser.

Soos Pieter du Toit in 2014 as nuusredakteur gesê het: “Ons lojaliteit lê by die briefskrywer wat ons kapittel oor ’n onbesonne hoofberig, die intekenaar wat kla oor sy nat koerant op die grasperk en die leser wat dankie sê vir die nuwe Saterdag-Beeld.”

"Die resepte in hierdie boek het ek fyn uitgekies. Dit is kos wat ék sien as onthoukos."

Marinda se koskas maak voorsiening vir ontbyt, sop en voorgeregte, brood en beskuit, slaai, seekos, vleis, groente, pasta en bygeregte, nageregte, terte, koeke en ander soetigheid. Lipleklekker kos wat jy in ’n japtrap kan berei sonder fieterjasies of vreemde bestanddele. Die resepte is in eenvoudige taal geskryf vir elke dag se gebruik, vir elke kosliefhebber. Nou kan jy die gewilde aanbieder van Marinda Kook op VIA, se eerste kookboek geniet.

How do you enjoy erection-free sex? How do you navigate consent? Is there a way of sending safe nudes? How do you have the hard conversations about sex?  Sex can be scary but it doesn’t have to be. 

In bite-size pieces of information, this guide will look all things sex and sexuality, busting myths and looking to upgrade the knowledge that you already have. It is the ultimate tool to help elevate your sex life.

Handmade Gifts From The Kitchen is a delightful gift in itself, as well as a beautiful collection of culinary gift ideas for you to make and bake at home for friends and family.

Indulgent fudge, warming liqueurs, spicy chutneys, sweet and crumbly homemade biscuits … the list goes on. A jar of your favourite preserve or a box of homemade truffles is a delightful way to say thank you to someone special, or for Christmas or birthdays, or indeed for any celebration whatever time of the year. Full of love and originality, the recipes are a pleasure to create and wrap as well as to give. Each recipe has a guide for how long it takes to prepare and make, and the introduction to each offers ideas on how to use it or adapt it for any occasion.

There is a myriad of ideas for wrapping the gifts in a stunning and stylish way, so that every gift is unique.

Eight-year-old Teko Modise didn’t mean to compete with his father, it was just that he was a soccer natural and everyone could see it. His father, in a fit of childlike jealously, kicked him out of the house, and when Teko tried to come back he kicked him out again. So little Teko made a plan. Every day he attended school as normal, and at night he slept out on the streets with other homeless children. This book is the true story of his rise to fame, to becoming ‘the General’, one of the best footballers South Africa has produced, and will allow readers to understand the story behind ‘the Curse’.

At the peak of his career the world seemed filled with Teko. His face was on every major billboard, TV advert and magazine cover in the country. Little boys from suburbs to townships everywhere were lining up at barbershops asking for The Teko haircut. With a house in Sandton and driving an Aston Martin, Modise was about to make history in the upcoming Soccer World Cup of 2010. He had gone beyond being football royalty, he became a super star. The tabloids have called him an abusive lover, a cheating ex-husband, a neglectful father and an alcoholic egotistical footballer. But beyond these headlines is a story about a boy who played his way out of poverty on talent alone.

Be inspired by this story of a young man with a resilient spirit who kept moving forward chasing his dreams, who not only survived, but made it, and made it big. The Teko Modise story is proof that anything is possible.

In Years of Fire and Ash: South African Poems of Decolonisation, fifty years of protest poetry are brought together in a single volume by literary critic and lecturer Dr Wamuwi Mbao. The animating impulse behind this collection of old and new voices is ‘decolonisation’, a term which has regained prominence over the last few years. It allows us to perceive how different South African poets have placed their work in the world, and how that work might relate to the struggle for radical social transformation. How, then, does decolonization look like in the world of South African poetry? This anthology is an attempt to answer that question.

The poems express the thoughts and experiences of poets who experienced Apartheid, but also of those who address current political realities. This collection includes established voices as well as prominent Emmanuel Taban is one of contemporary poets.

The remarkable, and often touching, friendship between Winston Churchill and Jan Smuts is a rich study in contrasts.

In youth they occupied very different worlds: Churchill, the rambunctious and thrusting young aristocrat; Smuts, the ascetic, philosophical Cape farm boy who would go on to Cambridge. Brought together first as enemies in the Anglo-Boer War, and later as allies in the First World War, the men forged a friendship which spanned the first half of the twentieth century and endured until Smuts’s death in 1950. Richard Steyn, author of Jan Smuts: Unafraid of Greatness, examines this close friendship through two world wars and the intervening years, drawing on a maze of archival and secondary sources including letters, telegrams and the voluminous books written about both men.

This is a fascinating account of two remarkable men in war and peace: one the leader of the Empire, the other the leader of a small fractious member of that Empire who nevertheless rose to global prominence.

Bones and Bodies is a highly accessible account of the establishment of the scientific discipline of biological anthropology. Alan G Morris takes us back over the past century of anthropological discovery in South Africa and uncovers the stories of individual scientists and researchers who played a significant role in shaping perceptions of how peoples of southern Africa, both ancient and modern, came to be viewed and categorised both in the public imagination and the scientific literature.

Morris reveals how much of the earlier anthropological studies were tainted with the tarred brush of race science. He evaluates the works of famous anthropologists and archaeologists such as Raymond Dart, Thomas Dreyer, Matthew Drennan and Robert Broom, and demonstrates through a wide array of sources how they described their fossil discoveries through the prism of racist interpretation. Morris also shows how modern anthropology tried to rid itself of the stigma of these early racist accounts. In the 1960s and 1970s, Ronald Singer and Phillip Tobias introduced modern methods into the discipline that disputed much of what the public believed about race and human evolution.

In an age in which the authority of experts and empirical science is increasingly being questioned, this book shows the battle facing modern anthropology to acknowledge its racial past but also how its study of human variation remains an important field of enquiry at institutions of higher learning.

For most people, their 60s is a time to slow down and smell the roses. Not for Alvin and Jean Witten, however. Instead, they went to Mozambique to search for churches.

In relentless heat, by car and by motorbike, on foot, and bicycle, they delved into every corner of this vast country, negotiating swollen rivers and broken bridges, roads that could hardly be called roads, hair-raising overnight accommodations, meals that were hard to stomach, bureaucracy, corruption and incompetence, in order to hunt down and officially count the 1 300+ congregations known to exist there.

For five years they gave up their closeness to family, friends and creature comforts in pursuit of this mission, experiencing joy and pain, learning things about themselves along the way, and forging lifelong bonds.

What's keeping you from greatness? Whatever it is, learn to focus your thoughts and reach the success you desire with the inspirational self-help book, #IPrayINeverDieBroke: Mind Power.

Author Nkosi James Moremoholo encourages you to empower yourself by overcoming personal shortcomings and obstacles on your way to achieving wealth. He guides you on a journey to discover your purpose in life…and cautions you on how your inner thoughts can either help or hinder your progress. But it's not all about you. Moremoholo also stresses the importance of giving back as he explains how money enables you to help the less fortunate. Richness doesn't only refer to monetary accumulation; it also means achieving harmony with others and a positive mental attitude. Not being broke may benefit you personally, but it also helps society as a whole. Entrepreneurship, therefore, comes with responsibility. You must learn to create jobs, help the underprivileged, and—as Moremoholo suggests—change the world.

Don't settle for ordinary. Harness your thoughts and achieve greatness today!

Op 3 Oktober 1987 het Charlie-eskadron – die ystervuis van 61 Gemeganiseerde Bataljongroep – die kritieke geveg tussen die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag en die Angolese magte op die Lombarivier in die suide van Angola gelei. Dié boek plaas die leser in die midde van die jong dienspligtiges wat na die Grensoorlog weggevoer is om hierdie geveg te gaan voer.

Langs die Lomba het hulle te staan gekom teen ’n Angolese mag met ’n getalsoorwig en beter wapentuig. Boonop was die terrein so dig bebos dat hul sig en beweging aansienlik ingeperk is. Die SAW se taktiese doktrine het duidelik gestel dat tenks teen tenks aangewend moes word. Tog moes die dienspligtiges die Angolese tenks aanvat in pantservoertuie met minder kragtige kanonne en dun pantser wat nie veel meer as gewone geweervuur kon afweer nie. Steeds is 47 Brigade van die Angolese magte amper uitgewis tydens die geveg aan die Lomba.

Scholtz se beskrywing van hierdie David-teen-Goliath-geveg neem die leser na die hart van die aksie. Danksy onderhoude met veterane en dagboekinskrywings dra hierdie eerlike, intense hervertelling die volle drama van die geveg oor. Dit is ook ’n diep menslike verhaal oor hoe individue reageer in die aangesig van die dood en hoe die oorlog hulle nooit uit sy kloue gelaat het nie, selfs nadat hulle teruggekeer het.

This guidebook presents 75 day walks of 1km to 26km in South Africa's Maloti-Drakensberg Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Located in KwaZulu Natal and easily accessible from Johannesburg, Harrismith, Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the region boasts dramatic cliffs, gorges and waterfalls, abundant wildlife and 2,000 year old rock paintings.

The walks in this book can be undertaken at any time of year. The limitations imposed by adverse weather conditions can occur in any month. However, snow is most common in June and July and there are frequent and sometimes severe thunderstorms in summer. The key centres for the walks are the entrances to the individual areas of the Park and usually have nearby accommodation of all types. They include the Royal Natal National Park, Cathedral Peak, Monk's Cowl, Injisuthi, Giant's Castle, Highmoor, Kamberg, Lotheni, the Himeville and Underberg districts, plus Bushman's Nek.

‘I share to normalise talking about those shameful, hurtful things we keep hidden. I share because shame loses its power when we find safe spaces to share our truth … and when women heal, generations heal.’

To her thousands of fans, Wisdom & Wellness founder, speaker and influencer Mpoomy Ledwaba is a symbol of strength and women empowerment. But going from university dropout to Forbes magazine’s list of 30 Under 30 wasn’t always easy – it took a lot of courage and a commitment to personal growth.

How Did We Get Here? is her coming-of-age story. Looking back on her upbringing, major milestones and the challenges she’s faced, Mpoomy takes us on her journey of self-discovery. Behind the Instagram likes and thousands of YouTube subscribers is a bright girl who sometimes bit off more than she could chew. This mother of two, who is married to an award-winning musician, didn’t always have a plan and rarely fitted the mould of ‘the good wife’.

In this frank account, Mpoomy writes openly about the hurt she’s experienced, the mistakes she’s made and some of the hard truths she’s had to learn about life, but also about how her faith has been a guiding light. As a firm believer in the power of stories, she uses her personal history to show how to live a purposeful life on all levels.

An outrageous miscellany of lies, myths, untruths, fibs and fabrications that tell the woeful history of South Africa. Aimed at offending and entertaining everyone in equal measure, this will have South Africans sniggering and spluttering into their cornflakes. It will also pique their curiosity.

The lies come thick and fast, like a burst sewerage pipe. Way, way back the Europeans ‘discovered’ southern Africa and found a land that was largely uninhabited. Um, no. On the other hand, Africa was a paradise before the settlers pulled in. Not quite!

Back in the darkest of ages (the 1970s), citizens were told that there were Satanic messages if you played Beatles songs backwards. During the civil war in Angola, there were no South African troops in that country. National icon Hansie Cronje was a paragon of virtue and integrity … until he wasn’t. President Nelson Mandela told us that we, as a nation, were ‘special’.

Turns out we aren’t.

What would you do if you suddenly lost everything? If the business you’ve put your heart and soul into is gone overnight? This question became a reality for many entrepreneurs whose businesses were destroyed during the looting of July 2021.

Alef Meulenberg travelled into the heart of townships like Alexandra in Johannesburg and the deep rural settings of KwaZulu-Natal to follow ten entrepreneurs who built businesses from nothing, nurtured and grew them over the years, only to lose everything during this time.

In The Overcomers Alef provides us with each of these entrepreneurs’ stories – where they come from, what they do, what happened during the looting and how they recovered from such a devastating event. And, importantly, Alef writes about the dreams of these remarkable entrepreneurs and their plans to grow their businesses going forward. These stories about hardship, resilience, determination and hope are the backdrop for valuable lessons for all of us, in both business and life.

Let’s learn from those who have come out on the other side. Let us learn from the overcomers.

Portchie is een van Suid-Afrika se suksesvolste kunstenaars, maar wie is die man wat agter die skilderye skuil? Waar kom die naam Portchie vandaan? En hoe en wanneer het Jan Hendrik Viljoen van die klein dorpie Tweeling in die Vrystaat, aangemeld om die wêreldbekende kunstenaar Portchie te word? Hierdie memoir kombineer Portchie se inspirerende verhaal met foto’s, staaltjies en selfs resepte. Dit vertel die storie agter die storie: onopgesmuk, sonder tierlantjies, maar met ’n tikkie flair.

The Soul of a Lion, an engaging memoir by Willie Labuschagne, is an exhilarating journey which begins with the young conservationist’s unique experiences with wild animals. From his groundbreaking research on the desert cheetah’s behaviour and ecology to becoming an internationally respected consultant on environmental and wildlife-related issues, he holds the reader’s attention with all the skill of the master storyteller.

The numerous occasions when Willie faced potentially life-threatening situations with wild animals are vividly recounted, many of them wryly humorous while others evoke deep emotion. But not all animal encounters took place in the wild. A significant and poignant encounter that further inspired Willie’s approach to conservation occurred when, during his time as director of the Johannesburg Zoo, he and his family hand-raised a newborn lion cub that had been rejected by its mother. He recalls the countless obstacles put in his way by the bureaucratic nature of his own species during his tenure at the zoo. But despite numerous challenges he persisted in his goal of transforming and improving zoological institutions.

A moving force behind the changing nature of professionally managed zoological gardens, his book reminds us that, while many of the world’s zoos should be unconditionally closed, progressive modern zoos are becoming increasingly aligned to wildlife conservation: they are vital for ensuring the survival of threatened species.

Willie shares his entertaining and often moving life experiences with warmth and understanding, whether it is sleeping under the stars with the bushmen of the Kgalagadi desert or observing the traditions of the Zulu Royal House. His travels in the African landscape in particular are an exciting panorama of many distinctive habitats, from the relentless desert of the Skeleton Coast in Namibia to the pristine beauty of the Tsitsikamma Forest and the breathtaking vastness of the African bushveld.

Importantly, he is forthright in his view of the critical position of the world we live in and the future it holds for mankind and believes that we are all part of a custodianship which should do everything in its power to protect our fragile environment.