Bendes in die Kaap is weer op mevrou Smit se spoor. Sy sal self moet ingryp as sy haar doodgewone lewe wil behou.

Al wat sy wil wees, is doodgewoon. Maar dít is vir mevrou Smit nie so maklik beskore nie. Sy en Tomas is uiteindelik getroud, maar sy trek vinnig haar kop uit die huweliksknoop toe iemand uit haar verlede weer opduik om moeilikheid te maak.

’n Ou vriend van haar gewese man probeer ’n ooreenkoms tussen mevrou Smit en die polisie beding om die uitbreiding van die Kaapse onder-wêreld te stuit, in ruil vir haar veiligheid.

Dinge loop skeef, en mevrou Smit moet bontstaan om te keer dat meer bloed vloei.

Sy sal notas maak oor haar kinders, besluit 'n vrou voor haar jongste se geboorte. “Voor ek vergeet. Voor hulle groot is, weg, in 'n oogwink.” Sy lê oomblikke vas: die vrae sonder antwoorde, gebedjies, 'n eerste wisseltand, sywurms, huisvergaderings, die huiskat wat kleintjies kry en drome van eendag.

Sing, Mamma, Sing is haar opgaaf van die frustrasie, weekheid, verwondering, trots en benoudheid wat elke ma ken. Dis haar kennismaking met ouers se grootste vrees en verlies wanneer die jongste op byna agt en dertig sterf.

Die boek sluit aan by die genre van die moeder-memoir en die subgenre van verlies.

As the legacy of El Nino scorches Cape Town, threatening it with drought, fire and civil disorder, the city is gripped by two horrific crimes: an explosion in the tourist centre, and the gruesome murder of a seemingly random victim.

In his investigation, Colonel Vaughn De Vries of the Special Crimes Unit discovers a frightening back story and developing pattern of criminality, and comes to believe that there is more than one killer on the loose, each with a connection to a man who, as a child, drowned his sister and destroyed his family. Newly promoted investigator Lieutenant Mike Solarin, working with De Vries, discovers a trail to the perpetrators of the bomb in the city but, when he is recalled and the incident branded the work of extremists, he pursues an alternative route, calling into question the role of the political elite, the media, and the police themselves.

Now sharing the single belief that there must be justice at any cost as they struggle to represent victims of so many atrocities, De Vries and Solarin fight - against gathering forces - to save their city and their country.

When Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance was discovered below the Antarctic ice in March 2022, 106 years after it sank, the world thrilled anew with one of the greatest survival stories of all time.

Acclaimed South African writer Darrel Bristow-Bovey has a deeply personal relationship with the story of Endurance and in this lyrical journey into past and present, into humanity and the natural world, above and below the Antarctic ice, he revisits the famous story wondering why it seems to mean more today than ever before.

Drawing on literature, natural history, personal memoir and the thrilling epics of polar adventure, this is a celebration of the human spirit. If this story tells us anything, it’s that in the face of self-inflicted natural disaster, we can still pull off a miracle or two. From the bottom of the Weddell sea, Endurance still whispers that not all is lost, and not forever.

Dis donker. Dis koud. Jy’s alleen. En dis wanneer jy twyfel.

Ná drie jaar in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens is konstabel Alex Steytler gewoond aan die roetine van douvoordag opstaan, inry Kaap toe, op ’n trein klim en twaalf ure lank trokke of stasies patrolleer. Die lelike kant van die lewe is waar hy werk, anders as Tasha in die woonstel langsaan wat haar kamera op die mooi fokus.

Maar nou het sy vriend en medebeampte hom by nog iets ingesleep, en hierdie keer is dit nie so eenvoudig soos ’n motorfiets koop nie. Nee, Pyper wil by die duikeenheid aansluit, want treintrappe, tikkoppe en messtekers bied klaarblyklik nie genoeg opwinding nie. En nou staan Steytler tot by sy naeltjie in ’n rivier vol riool op soek na die slagoffer van ’n boendoehof.

Dis net die begin. Om lede van die duikeenheid te word, sal hulle behoorlik aan die diep kant ingegooi word. Toe Steytler vroeg in die jaar tussen die stukke van ’n treintrapslagoffer gestaan het, kon hy nie weet dat hy teen die einde sy eie stukke sal moet bymekaar maak, of moontlik dele van homself vir ewig verloor nie.

“Hierdie tou is jou lifeline. Jy los hom nie.” Want in donker water is dit al hoe jy jou pad kan terugvind.

Drawing on a selection of ethnographic studies of precarious work in Africa, this book discusses globalisation and digitalisation as drivers for structural change and examines the implications for labour. It explores the role of digital technology in new business models and how it can be harnessed for counter mobilisation by the new worker.

Much of the debate on the future of work has focused on responses to technological trends in the Global North, with little evidence on how these trends are impacting work and workers in the Global South.

Drawing on a rich selection of ethnographic studies of precarious work in Africa, this innovative book discusses how globalisation and digitalisation are drivers for structural change and examines their implications for labour. Bringing together global labour studies and inequality studies, it explores the role of digital technology in new business models and how it can be harnessed for counter mobilisation by the new worker.

Acutely perceptive, unequivocally funny and startlingly sincere, Hans Mackenzie Main presents a first unmissable collection of service provider correspondences and writings.

From fleeing a networking engagement to taking up residence in a lighthouse, from soft men to hard truths, Trust You’re Well covers topics both relatable and unheard of affording the world a first glimpse into the delightful inner-workings of a marvellously discontented consumer and correspondent. Here shopping habits, driving habits, recruitment practices and social media etiquette all come in for close scrutiny: inspected from a unique perspective that stands in stark contrast to the deeply humane and compassionate replies from everyday South Africans urging their compatriot to simply get on with it.

With the heartfelt frustration of a law-abiding citizen and the keen wit of a weathered civilian, Trust You’re Well is a joyfully cathartic purge of the highest satiric order that’s bound to leave you in tears.

Get Your Will Right is a practical guide on what you should consider when drawing up your Will to reduce the cost of managing your estate. The book will guide you on how to structure your assets to minimise estate duty and will help your family with the process of finalising your estate, while highlighting the problems that could occur should your Will be lost or incorrectly completed.

It also warns against the common practice of a terminally ill individual moving all the assets into the spouse’s name before death, as in the long run, this can cost the family R700 000 in estate duty.

Get Your Will Right is an easy-to-understand guide that could save your family hundreds of thousands of rands upon your death and is based on the authors’ experience of managing over 300 deceased estates.

A Manifesto For Social Change is the third of a three-volume series that started seven years ago investigating the causes of our country’s – and the continent’s – development obstacles.

Architects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing (2009) set out to explain what role African elites played in creating and promoting their fellow Africans’ misery. Advocates for Change: How to Overcome Africa’s Challenges (2011) set out to show that there were short-term to medium-term solutions to many of Africa’s and South Africa’s problems, from agriculture to healthcare, if only the powers that be would take note. And now, more than 20 years after the advent of democracy, we have A Manifesto For Social Change: How To Save South Africa, the conclusion in the ‘trilogy’.

This book started its life as Gridlocked, but through the process of research undertaken by Moeletsi and Nobantu it has evolved into a different project, a manifesto that identifies some of South Africa’s key problems and what is required to change the country’s downward trajectory.

On a freezing winter’s night, a few hours before dawn on 12 May 1969, security police stormed the Soweto home of Winnie Mandela and detained her in the presence of her two young daughters, then aged eight and ten.

Rounded up in a group of other anti-apartheid activists under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, designed for the security police to hold and interrogate people for as long as they wanted, she was taken away. This was the start for Winnie Mandela of a 491-day period of detention and two trials.

Forty-one years after her release on 14 September 1970, Greta Soggot, the widow of David Soggot, one of Winnie Mandela’s advocates during the 1969/1970 trials, handed her a stack of papers that included a journal and notes that she had written in detention.

491 Days: Prisoner number 1323/69 shares with the world Winnie Mandela’s moving and compelling journal as well as some of the letters written between affected parties at the time. Readers gain insight into the brutality she experienced, her depths of despair as well as her resilience and defiance under extreme pressure.

This book was co-edited by Swati Dlamini and Sahm Venter with the support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Mense glo daar’s ’n vloek oor Stormwater. Die see roep elke jaar sy slagoffers. Is dit waarom Caleb se pa se vliegtuig neergestort het?

Caleb moet sy matriekvakansie opoffer om om die geheim te ontrafel. Freya word ook gedwing om haar somer in die vreemde kusdorp deur te bring – asof vars lug 'n kitskuur sal wees vir haar kroniese siekte. Saam speel hulle speurder.

Maar wat as die waarheid 'n tsunami is wat wag om hulle te verswelg?

Caroline Herschel has always lived in the shadows. Beholden to her wildly popular older brother, William, who rescued her from servitude, she's worked hard to build a life for herself – one where she can go unnoticed and repay the debt she believes she owes him. But when her brother becomes obsessed with sweeping the stars, everything changes.

Newly appointed as the King's Astronomer, William is rushed away from the bustling streets of Bath to the quiet countryside of Windsor. When Caroline makes a discovery that could send her right back to the people she was rescued from, she has no choice but to leave her carefully constructed life and follow her brother. Taking up the position as William's assistant, Caroline resolves to learn everything she can about astronomy. But the more she understands, the more she falls in love with her telescope, and soon, she discovers that she might be good at the science, great, even, and that the stars could offer her the freedom she's always secretly wanted. When it’s clear that Caroline is just as much the astronomer as her brother, she realizes she must break free from the life she has lived and find her own place in the night sky.

Based on the true story of Caroline Herschel, The Woman and Her Stars shines a light on a woman who was raised to believe she was worth nothing more than to serve others, but whose genius and resolve made her one of the world’s leading astronomers. An awe-inspiring story set within the societal boundaries of the Georgian era, it’s a hopeful journey of self-discovery, familial bonds, and passion.

Featuring all-new spoor drawings, some 200 new photographs and an extra 35 species, this fully revised and updated edition of the ever-popular Tracker Manual is packed with the latest on the art of tracking.

Based on information developed by some of southern Africa’s best traditional trackers, Tracker Manual gives even more guidance on how to identify the spoor of some 190 animal species. Individual chapters cover carnivores, large mammals, antelopes, small mammals, primates, hares and rodents, amphibians and reptiles, birds and insects.

Each account contains:

• Simple, bulleted text on key points of each animal’s tracks
• Clear, accurate track drawings
• Numerous informative photographs, sometimes annotated
• A list of similar tracks (where applicable), to avoid misidentification

An instructive introduction describes the science of tracking and outlines what to look for in the field, while a quick-reference table compares tracks that are easily confused. This detailed and richly illustrated manual to the region’s most common animal tracks and signs will prove invaluable in the field.

Dit is byna vier dekades ná Toorberg. Met ’n onverwagte trein kom Magistraat Imker Goedeman (wat destyds as jong man die afarmmagistraat van Toorberg, Abraham van der Ligt, in die gange van Bellville se landdroshof raakgeloop het) aan op Gebeente, ’n klein dorpie op die Vergete Grootpad noord van Sutherland. Die omgewing is geruk deur ’n opspraakwekkende plaasmoord, maar ’n nog komplekser saak moet ondersoek word: die diefstal van die melkweg...

Ons is hier in die buurt van onwaarskynlikhede en eindelik word die ganse regstelsel uitgedaag.

Historie, mite en allegorie word sjarmant verweef in dié meeleurende, fassinerende roman, en eindelik voer Etienne van Heerden sy kenmerkende magiese realisme die verste in sy hele oeuvre.

Berdine se ma en ouma kom saam tot die gevolgtrekking dat hulle hul eie drome deur Berdine, hul dogter en kleindogter wou uitleef. Berdine word groot met die idee dat sy gebore is om ander tevrede te stel. Sy beland in ’n verhouding waar sy ten spyte van haar professionele rol as dokter tuis onderdanig moet wees en deur haar lewensmaat gemanipuleer word.

Ná jare van sielkundige teistering begin sy besef dat dit nie die soort lewe is waaroor sy gedroom het nie. Haar ma en ouma Bertha sit koppe bymekaar om Berdine terug te lok na die goeie waardes waarmee hulle haar wou opvoed. Die geleentheid kom gouer as wat hulle beplan het. Daar wag nie net vreugdevolle weersiens nie, maar ook verrassings wat haar lewe drasties verander en haar voor moeilike keuses stel.

Berdine is onseker, maar sy kry helderheid nadat haar ouma haar die waarheid oor haar grootouma en dié se niggie Emma vertel – en die eintlike lewe wat ouma Breggie haar gee.

Can racism and intimacy co-exist? Can love and friendship form and flourish across South Africa’s imposed colour lines?

Who better to engage on the subject of hazardous liaisons than the students with whom Jonathan Jansen served over seven years as Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State. The context is the University campus in Bloemfontein, the City of Roses, the Mississippi of South Africa. Rural, agricultural, insular, religious and conservative, this is not a place for breaking out. But over the years, Jansen observed shifts in campus life and noticed more and more openly interracial friendships and couples, and he began having conversations with these students with burning questions in mind.

Ten interracial couples tell their stories of love and friendship in their own words, with no social theories imposed on their meanings, but instead a focus on how these students experience the world of interracial relationships, and how flawed, outdated laws and customs set limits on human relationships, and the long shadow they cast on learning, living and loving on university campuses to this day.

Sol Plaatje’s Mhudi is one of South Africa’s most famous novels.

First published in 1930, it is the first full-length novel by a black South African writer, and is widely read and studied in South African schools, colleges and universities. It has been translated into a number of different languages. Written over 30 years before Chinua Achebe’s famous Things Fall Apart, Mhudi is a pioneering African novel too, anticipating many of the themes with which Achebe and other writers from the African continent were concerned.

Mhudi has had a complicated history. Critics have been divided in their views, and there was a delay of ten years between the time Plaatje wrote the book and when it was published. A century on from when it was written, the time is now right to both celebrate its composition and to assess its meanings and legacy.

In this book, a distinguished cast of contributors explore the circumstances in which Mhudi was both written and published, what the critics have made of it, why it remains so relevant today. Chapters look at the eponymous feminist heroine of the novel and what she symbolizes, the role of history and oral tradition, the contentious question of language, the linguistic and stylistic choices that Plaatje made. In keeping with Mhudi’s capacity to inspire, this book also includes a poem and short story, specially written in order to pay tribute to both the book and its author.

Louisa Zondo’s work has helped to shape the new South Africa, but she has also faced intense grief and trauma, which came from the underside of the emerging nation’s complex social fabric.

As mother of much-loved music star Riky Rick, who tragically took his own life in 2022, Louisa Zondo’s loss was shared by millions, but it was also a uniquely deep, lonely and lifeshattering grief. The loss of her beloved MaRiky also brought to the surface cataclysmic trauma from her past.

As Louisa Zondo takes her first small steps to facing her grief, she finds herself speaking to her son in a series of letters, gradually finding the words to express her love for him, and the pain of losing him. In expressing that love, she tells the story of her own life and the experiences that shaped her.

This brave journey brings Louisa to a deeper understanding of her life’s path, and closer to healing.

Die dood. Dis al waaraan Lumi kan dink en in ’n poging om seker te maak dat sy verder as haar sewentiende verjaarsdag leef, word sy deur haar peetouers in ’n kosskool vir tienerfae gesit. Hier vind sy haarself vasgevang in ’n web van onbeheerbare faemagte, nuwe vriende en ’n vyand wat net nie wil los nie.

En dan is daar Colden Breakspear. Die ligtekop, blou-oog Kruisfae wat haar gedagtes gevangene hou, maar iets pla.

Waarom is hy amper belangriker as wat sy is vir twee van die sterkste faemonarge in Tír na hÓige? En wat presies het hulle ouers met alles te doen?

Over the last decades, we have seen more than three dozen new infectious diseases appear, some of which could kill millions of people with one or two unlucky gene mutations or one or two unfavourable environmental changes. The risks of pandemics only increase as the human population grows; therefore to direct our future we should examine our past. Howard Phillips provides the first look into the history of epidemics in South Africa, probing lethal episodes which significantly shaped this society over three centuries.

Focusing on devastating diseases such as smallpox, bubonic plague, Spanish influenza, polio and HIV/Aids, Plague, Pox and Pandemics probes their origin, their catastrophic course and their consequences in both the short and long term. Their impact ranges from the demographic to the political, the social, the economic, the spiritual, the psychological and the cultural. As each of these epidemics occurred at crucial moments in the country's history - early in European colonisation, in the midst of the mineral revolution, during the South African War and World War I, as industrialisation was getting under way, and within the eras of apartheid and post-apartheid - the book also examines how these processes affected and were affected by the five epidemics, thereby adding important dimensions to an understanding of each.

To those who read this book, South African history will not look the same again.

Patriarg Tjaart van der Walt se verlede haal sy kleindogters in ná sy dood toe ’n gas onverwags by sy kleindogter, Lenore van der Walt, se bruilof opdaag. Die bewaringstatus van Bateleur Reservaat en Khulula Renosterskuiling word daardeur bedreig. Die gas wil met ’n mynbaas saamspan om ’n steenkoolmyn in die Laeveld te vestig.

Sikloon Dineo tref die reservaat langs die Mosambiek-grens en derduisende klimaatvlugtelinge word blootgestel aan mensehandel en ontvoerings. Die toenemende stel van slagysters vir bosslaghuisvleis lei ook tot ernstige vergrype teen diere.

Die drie Van der Walt-niggies – Lenore, Tarien en Bella – word meegesleur in die gety van ontheemding en dierevergrype. Ook op geestelike vlak is daar ’n vervreemding tussen die niggies en hul Skepper wanneer seer uit die verlede hul inhaal en hul binne-vrede moet vind om weer tuis by God te voel.

Romanse en nuwe vriendskappe te midde van natuurrampe en aanvalle deur insypelaars word ’n toevlug toe ’n bonkige huursoldaat en die Olifantbekoorder van die Laeveld tot die niggies se lewens toetree.

Sondag. Oukersaand. Ná ’n inbraak by die Stables Estate in Pretoria-Oos word sakeman Lafras van Zyl vir dood agtergelaat. Die res van die Van Zyl-gesin verdwyn spoorloos. Kaptein AJ Williams moet inspring om te help. Alex en Ranna is op die spoor van ’n meisie, wat in Johannesburg vermis geraak het. Twee misdade. Meer vrae as antwoorde.

’n Nuwe lewe wag op hom

In 1939 bars die oorlogbom in Europa. Drie miljoen kinders word uit London ontruim na veiliger gebiede. Een van hulle is die sesjarige Charles Smith, op pad na ’n onbekende tante van sy pa in ’n klein dorpie in Skotland. By aunty Grace wag ’n nuwe lewe op hom.

Aan die anderkant van Europa ruk die Duitse Sesde Leër op teen Rusland. Tussen die manskappe is die vurige majoor Oswald von Stein, Hildegard se stiefseun. Voor hulle wag die Russiese winter, Stalingrad en die krygsgevangenekampe van Siberië. 90 000 word gevange geneem, net sesduisend oorleef.

Charles en Oswald beleef teenoorgestelde kante van die oorlog. Beide bevind hulself egter op pad na ’n plaas in Afrika waar hul paaie sal kruis met dié van Seretse Khama en Mentje de Vries.

Another exciting addition to the existing Mpumi range, this book is aimed at the younger child and features a younger Mpumi.

Masego Morulane’s illustrations encourage young readers to connect with themselves and with the world in which they live. The bright and cheerful images, which are accompanied by short bursts of text, explain in an easy-to-understand visual language, our daily activities as human beings. In this story, Mpumi shows us her favourite meals.

This story is a charming read for the whole family, especially children aged between 3-6 years old.