Dis 'n roman oor die aftakeling wat vrou- en ma-wees op gees en lyf kerf.

Daar is 'n ongewone, ontgogelde blik op swangerskap, ontdaan van blosende skoonheid, vreedsame afwagting en innige vervulling; eerder gekenmerk deur vrees, angstigheid en ongemak. Die bloedige slagveld van geboorte word ontstellend verwoord en daarna die allesoorheersende liefde vir die babas. Maar ook die onmoontlike gyselaarsituasie van 'n ongelukkige huwelik: “Om 'n ma te wees is onmenslik moeilik as jou gees gevlug het uit jou lyf.”

Dis ook die verhaal van die mooi vriendskap tussen 'n ma en stiefma. Kylie en Katrin word mekaar se weemoed.

From 1994 to 2000, when South Africa was a young democracy, the country was stalked by a succession of brutal serial killers. Psychologist Micki Pistorius became the first profiler for the South African Police Service, playing a vital role in identifying and interrogating these killers, as well as training detectives nationally and in other countries. She broke ground with her theory on the origin of serial killers and is considered a trailblazer in her field.

Catch Me a Killer was originally released in 2003 and details the cases she worked on – from the Station Strangler and the Phoenix Cane Killer to Boetie Boer and the Saloon Killer. The book also features legendary detectives such as Piet Byleveld and Suiker Britz, as well as the FBI’s Robert Ressler.

Released alongside a major TV series based on the book, this new edition of Catch Me a Killer includes a new chapter and up-to-date information about some of the cases, such as the parole of Norman Afzal Simons in 2023. This is essential reading for all true crime aficionados.

An important rumination on youth in modern-day South Africa, this haunting debut novel tells the story of two extraordinary young women who have grown up black in white suburbs and must now struggle to find their identities.

The rich and pampered Ofilwe has taken her privileged lifestyle for granted, and must confront her swiftly dwindling sense of culture when her soulless world falls apart. Meanwhile, the hip and sassy Fiks is an ambitious go-getter desperate to leave her vicious past behind for the glossy sophistication of city life, but finds Johannesburg to be more complicated and unforgiving than she expected.

These two stories artfully come together to illustrate the weight of history upon a new generation in South Africa.

Ian: ‘You’re going to run how far?’
Ryan: ‘250 kilometres. But it’s over seven days, though.’
Ian: ‘And the furthest you’ve ever run is …?’
Ryan: ‘42.2 kilometres … on the road. And on trail … 35 kilometres.’
Ian: ‘Ryan, I think you need to reassess this …’

What does it take to run a six-day race through the world’s harshest deserts? Or 100 miles in a single day at altitudes that would leave you breathless just walking? More than that, though: what is it like to win these races? South Africa’s ultra-trail-running superstar Ryan Sandes has done just that.

Since bursting onto the international trail-running scene by winning the first multistage race he ever entered – the brutal Gobi March – Ryan has gone on to win various other multistage and single-day races around the globe. Written with bestselling author and journalist Steve Smith, Trail Blazer – My Life as an Ultra-distance Trail Runner recounts the life story of this intrepid sportsman, from his experiences as a rudderless party animal to becoming a world-class athlete, and includes details on his training regimes, race strategies and aspirations for future sporting endeavours. Sports enthusiasts will enjoy the adrenaline-inducing trials and tribulations of one of South Africa’s most awe-inspiring athletes, while endurance-sport participants – from beginners to aspirant pros – will benefit from his insights and advice.

As Professor Tim Noakes says in the Foreword to this book: ‘However much we might think we know and understand, there are some phenomena which now, and perhaps forever, we will never fully comprehend. We call such happenings “enigmas”. Or even miracles. Ryan Sandes is one such.’

A century-old trunk has been dug up near the railway village of Sterfontein. Inside is the lost journal of Victorian author Elizabeth Tenant – and what appears to be the remains of a child.

Michael, a university student recovering from a broken heart, is intrigued by what the journal describes: a scarlet curtain billowing above the desert, covering the entrance to another world. But things become even stranger when a line in the journal seems to be connected to Michael and his cosmologist mother, written a hundred years before their time. Without much to go on, Michael travels to the old Karoo hotel where Elizabeth wrote her novel Mirage. Amid talk of omens in the sky, ancient prophecies and the end of the world, he tries to decipher the journal’s secrets.

As one mystery leads to the next, constellation-like patterns between his own life and Elizabeth’s appear, helped along by Renata, a self-proclaimed medium, and Oom Sarel, the local museum curator. But as time starts to dissolve in the mirages of the Karoo, it becomes more and more difficult to know what is real and what is not.

And why can’t he shake the feeling that he’s been to the village before?

Post-apartheid South Africa still struggles to overcome the past, not just because the material conditions of apartheid linger but because the intellectual conditions it created have not been thoroughly dismantled. The system of 'petty apartheid', which controlled the minutia of everyday life, became a means of dragooning human beings into adapting to increasingly mechanized forms of life that stifle desire and creative endeavour. As a result, apartheid is incessantly repeated in the struggle to move beyond it.

In Undoing Apartheid, Premesh Lalu argues that only an aesthetic education can lead to a future beyond apartheid. To find ways to escape the vicious cycle, he traces the patterns created by three theatrical works by William Kentridge, Jane Taylor, and the Handspring Puppet Company – Faustus in Africa, Woyzeck on the Highveld, and Ubu and the Truth Commission – which coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of apartheid.

Through the analysis of these works, Lalu uncovers the roots of modern thinking about race and affirms the need to revitalize a post-apartheid reconciliation endowed with truth – if only to keep alive the rhyme of hope and history.

An African fantasy-adventure graphic novel inspired by the mythology of the Zambezi River and the history of the Kariba Dam, one of the largest dams ever constructed.

Siku has always called the Zambezi River her home. She understands the water – and strangely enough, it seems to understand her, too, bending to her will and coming to her aid in times of need. But things are changing on the river – a great dam is being built, displacing thousands of Shonga people – and things are changing in Siku, too, as her ability to manipulate water grows out of control, and visions of a great serpent pull her further from reality and her loving father, Tongai.

When Tongai ventures to the Kariba Dam to find a cure for Siku and never returns, she sets off to find him with the help of Amedeo, the young son of Kariba’s chief engineer. Together, they traverse elephant graveyards, rugged jungles, and ancient ruins, outrunning pirates, bootleggers, and shape-shifting prophets ready to use Siku to their own advantage. But she soon discovers that her father has been shielding a terrible secret: Siku is actually the daughter of Nyaminyami, the Great River Spirit, and the only way to bring about the necessary rumuko – a ritual which has brought balance to the Zambezi for centuries – is for Siku to give up the only life she’s ever known.

With the future of the Shonga resting on her shoulders, Siku must journey to the source of the river to understand the ancient power hidden within her.

Thoroughly revised and updated, this long-awaited new edition of Field Guide to the Spiders of South Africa remains the most comprehensive guide to South African spiders published to date.

It features over 780 of the more common spider species encountered in the field and in homes and gardens, as well as representative species from some of the rarer spider families.

• ‘Quick Keys’ to the 72 South African spider families provide a useful starting point to identification.
• Succinct genus and species accounts cover identifying characteristics, breeding, behaviour, distribution and conservation status.
• Colour photographs and/or illustrations as well as distribution maps support each entry.
• Introductory chapter discusses spider morphology, spider life cycle, the functions of silk, as well as spider collection techniques.
• Section on venom identifies species that pose a danger to humans, unpacks neurotoxic and cytotoxic venom, and details the symptoms and treatment of spider bites.

Provides a comparative study of the complex governance challenges confronting city-regions in each of the BRICS countries. It traces how governance approaches emerge from the disparate intentions, actions and practices of multiple collaborating and competing actors, working in diverse contexts of political settlement and culture.

The scale and pace of urban change in the recent past has been disorienting. As individual cities evolve into complex urban agglomerations, scholars battle to find adequate vocabularies for contemporary urban processes while practitioners search for meaningful governance responses. Governing Complex City-Regions in the Twenty-first Century explores the ongoing evolution of metropolitan governance as diverse urban agents grapple with the dilemmas of collective action across multi-layered and fragmented institutions, in contexts where there are also manifold centres of influence and decision-making.

Whereas much of the existing literature is founded on the settled urban contexts of Western Europe and North America this book draws on the experiences of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The author shows that governance approaches are rarely designed but emerge, rather, from the disparate intentions, actions and practices of multiple collaborating and competing actors working within diverse contexts of political settlement and political culture. Intended for students, academics and professionals, the book does not offer packaged solutions or easy answers to the challenges of urban governance, but it does show the value of comparative study in inspiring new thought and perspectives, which could lead to improved governance practice within South African contexts.

More riveting cases from the files of former police psychologist and bestselling author Gérard Labuschagne.

In this second instalment of The Profiler Diaries, former South African Police Service (SAPS) head profiler Dr Gérard Labuschagne, successor to the legendary Micki Pistorius, recalls more of the 110 murder series and countless other bizarre crimes he analysed during his career. An expert on serial murder and rape cases, Labuschagne saw it all in his fourteen and a half years in the SAPS. Often stymied by a lack of resources, office politics and legal incompetence, Labuschagne and his team were nevertheless determined to obtain justice for the victims whose cases they were tasked with investigating.

Tracking down a prolific serial stalker, linking the murders of two young women in Knysna, assessing a suspect threatening to assassinate Barack Obama and apprehending a serial murderer of sex workers are just a few of the intriguing – and often terrifying – cases he covers in his second book, The Profiler Diaries 2: From Crime Scene to Courtroom.

As Labuschagne says, catching a killer is one thing; getting them convicted in a court of law is an entirely different ball game. This book shows how it is done in fascinating detail.

I heard there’s a girl in school growing wings. No, she’s not graduating or anything. She’s legit growing wings, just like this other oke in school.

He’s doesn’t have wings though. He’s growing a tail and he keeps skipping class. They probably think no one sees them but we’re watching them. They keep getting closer and closer to each other so we all have to watch them. The sky and the sea. The rivers and the forest.

Faeries and mermaids. It’s hectic, I know. A thousand eyes watching you but I guess that’s what happens to us as we grow up. We either grow a tail or wings and the world watches the ugly process unfold.

This beautiful and poignant novel by the exciting voice of Mia Arderne will be sure to make young adult readers excited about holding a book in their hands!

Too much of South Africa’s history has been lost and suppressed, leaving a void for many South Africans. Sylvia Vollenhoven brings together her life and that of a long-ago ancestor, Kabbo, a respected Khoisan storyteller.

She writes of her experience as being “too black” for her coloured schoolmates, working as one of the early female journalists in the misogynistic environment of the 70s, and of the constant impact on her life of her background – including her ancestors.

The Khoesan were the first people in Africa to undergo the full rigours of European colonisation. By the early nineteenth century, they had largely been brought under colonial rule, dispossessed of their land and stock, and forced to work as labourers for farmers of European descent. Nevertheless, a portion of them were able to regain a degree of freedom and maintain their independence by taking refuge in the mission stations of the Western and Eastern Cape, most notably in the Kat River valley. For much of the nineteenth century, these Khoesan people kept up a steady commentary on, and intervention in, the course of politics in the Cape Colony. Through petitions, speeches at meetings, letters to the newspapers and correspondence between themselves, the Cape Khoesan articulated a continuous critique of the oppressions of colonialism, always stressing the need for equality before the law, as well as their opposition to attempts to limit their freedom of movement through vagrancy legislation and related measures. This was accompanied by a well-grounded distrust, in particular, of the British settlers of the Eastern Cape and a concomitant hope, rarely realised, in the benevolence of the British government in London. Comprising 98 of these texts, These Oppressions Won't Cease - an utterance expressed by Willem Uithaalder, commander of Khoe rebel forces in the war of 1850-3 - contains the essential documents of Khoesan political thought in the nineteenth century. These texts of the Khoesan provide a history of resistance to colonial oppression which has largely faded from view. Robert Ross, the eminent historian of precolonial South Africa, brings back their voices from the annals of the archive, voices which were formative in the establishment of black nationalism in South Africa, but which have long been silenced.

Melo’s Kingdom takes children on a wonderful adventure to the African bush with Melo and her special animal friends. Each of the charming stories explores an African proverb and incorporates biblical principles to inspire and educate children in an engaging way. The stories written by Thuli Madonsela and members of her family, highlight the importance of values like honesty, courage, respect, teamwork and kindness, while exploring the wonders of creation. The message of each story is reinforced by a relevant Scripture verse, a prayer, quizzy questions for further reflection, wise words, and a fun, faith-filled activity.

Never Waste a Good Crisis was born in the wake of Covid-19. However, the book elaborates on many other challenges that leaders in corporate South Africa have had to deal with – including deeply personal ones.

Is leadership an art? Can you learn it? Can anyone be a leader? Carié Maas asks twenty seasoned leaders what their leadership philosophies are, and their opinions vary as widely as the industries they come from.

The lessons they share from their journeys up the corporate ladder will inspire, encourage and challenge the reader.

Dawid Uys, ’n jong dominee op die platteland word gekonfronteer met vrae oor sy oorsprong en ook sy geloof wanneer daar skielik geleenthede en uitdagings oor sy pad kom. Hy kom ook te staan voor moeilike keuses wanneer hy ’n onverwagse oproep van ’n prokureur kry en hoor dat hy Oom Boela se plaas, Aurora, geërf het.

Dawid het Oom Boela skaars geken en nou kom die plaas nog met ‘n klomp bepalings en voorwaardes. Die plaas en die kerk sorg vir eindelose struikelblokke en dan is daar nog Dawid se liefdeslewe ook. Hy moet konfrontasies op die kerkraad en moeilike plaaswerkers hanteer en intussen raak hy verlief op die buurman se dogter. Daar is ook ’n nuwe intrekker op die dorp, ’n beeldskone enkelma met ’n misterieuse verlede.

Aurora neem vir Dawid en die leser op ’n geestelike reis soos min en die uiteinde van die verhaal is amper so onvoorspelbaar soos die lewe self.

Becoming Men is the story of 32 boys from Alexandra, one of Johannesburg's largest townships, over a period of twelve seminal years in which they negotiate manhood and masculinity. Psychologist and academic Malose Langa documents in close detail what it means to be a young black man in contemporary South Africa.

The boys discuss a range of topics including the impact of absent fathers, relationships with mothers, siblings and girls, school violence, academic performance, homophobia, gangsterism, unemployment and, in one case, prison life. Deep ambivalence, self-doubt and hesitation emerge in their approach to alternative masculinities premised on non-violent, non-sexist and non-risk-taking behaviour. Many of the boys appear simultaneously to comply with and oppose the prevalent norms, thereby exposing the difficulties of negotiating the multiple voices of masculinity.

Providing a rich interpretation of how emotional processes affect black adolescent males, Langa suggests interventions and services to support and assist them, especially in reducing high-risk behaviours generally associated with hegemonic masculinity. This is essential reading for students, researchers and scholars of gender studies who wish to understand manhood and masculinity in South Africa. Psychologists, youth workers, lay counsellors and teachers who work with adolescent boys will also find it invaluable.

Waar lê die lyn tussen inwoner en inkommer?

“Ek, Plakker Prinsloo, weet nie of ek nou al gereed is om vir die eerste keer saam met Bennie Afrikaner uit te ry Kom toe nie. Ek was nog nooit ’n reisiger nie, dit is nou as jy nie my en Ma se ewige getrek voor Pa se misdaadrekord uit reis kan noem nie.”

Inkommers is ’n eietydse verhaal, ’n kroniek van die Afrikaners – die familie, nie die volk nie – wat al van die Groot Trek se dae af wydsbeen oor die vuil Vaal in die Vredefortkoepel boer. Is dit moontlik dat net gebore Kommers in die Kom hoort? Hoe gemaak met inkommers wat tot dusver nie juis welkom was nie? ’n Mens moet versigtig wees vir vreemdelinge. Die Afrikaners is hoeka aan die min word en hulle wil hulle omgewing tot ’n erfenisgebied verklaar kry. Dan is die liefde ook nog aan die uitsterf.

Iemand moet daarop reageer, rebelleer selfs, maar rebelleer die ware rebel vir iets of teen iets?

Wanneer die aantreklike en selfvoldane Basson van Rensburg se pa sterf, aanvaar hy dat hy die baie suksesvolle familie­onderneming sal erf. Tot sy skok ontdek hy daar is voorwaardes. Hy het vyf dae om in die Kaap te kom en daar is ’n take om tydens sy reis te voltooi.

Langs die pad wag ’n beeldskone, boheemse meisie. Amory gaan ook Kaapstad toe, maar is op ’n missie van haar eie. En sy het sekere vaste reëls, nes Basson. Nie een van hulle is ingestel op hartsake nie, maar wie weet wat wag op dié lang tog propvol avontuur en onthullings? Daar is gevaar ook, want wie is die motorfietsman wat so verbete agterna kom – en wat gebeur as hy hulle inhaal?

Kan liefde seëvier met soveel struikelblokke in sy pad?

Pad na jou hart – ’n rolprentdrama ?is gebaseer op die draaiboek en is aangepas volgens die vereistes van die KABV vir Graad 11 Eerste Addisionele Taal met ’n inleiding tot die drama, kontekstuele vrae met antwoorde, ’n konsepvraestel en glossarium van woorde en literêre begrippe.

Lekker & Goed is Carmen Niehaus se nuutste kookbook nadat sy reeds meer as twintig kookboeke uitgegee het.

Dit is ’n lekker-eet-boek met ou bekendes en nuwelinge wat gesonder gemaak is om steeds heerlik te kan eet sonder om skuldig te voel – net soos Carmen aan huis eet. LEKKER & GOED sluit ook ’n paar resepte in wat lae-koolhidrate bevat, glutenvry en vegetaries is en bevat heelwat vars en ongeprosesseerde produkte.

Carmen strewe na ’n gesonde lewenswyse en haar kookfilosofie en grootste uitdaging is daarom juis om alledaagse kos gesonder te maak sonder dat dit smaak of geur inboet. Die uitgangspunt is amper ’n tipe Mediterreense eetstyl, eerder as ’n dieetboek of ’n gesondheidshandleiding.

When 18 year-old Morné Harmse walked into his Krugersdorp high school, armed with a samurai sword on a Monday in 2008, he had one mission – to commit a massacre. Inspired by the Columbine high school killings, his fantasy to make people "take notice" had been brewing for more than a year. By the time his sword-slashing spree had ended, 16-year-old Jacques Pretorius was dead and three others were brutally injured.

In the aftermath of what was described as “the most barbaric act of schoolboy violence in South African history” the country was left reeling. How does an ordinary boy from a "normal" family become a brutal killer overnight? Was Morné under the influence of a satanic cult? A protégée of mastermind Devilsdorp killer, Cecilia Steyn? Did his obsession with heavy metal band Slipknot drive him over the edge? Now, 14 years later, Morné Harmse is out on controversial parole.Written in mesmerising detail, Samurai Sword Murder finally puts together the pieces of this brutal tragedy.

Ter viering van Dolf van Niekerk se negentigste verjaarsdag verskyn hier ’n versameling filosofiese, bepeinsende en besinnende essays uit die pen van een van Afrikaans se meesterskrywers.

Vanaf sy vroegste gewaarwordinge tot sy kennismaking met groot filosowe soos Nietzsche, Kant en Hegel op universiteit en in sy daaglikse handel en wandel daarna: altyd maar bly die bewustheid van ’n onsigbare “iets” by hierdie aristokratiese gees – en ’n soeke na ’n beter verstaan van dít wat “die sterretyd en die menstyd aan mekaar verbind”.

In 48 essays wat die biografiese tydperk tussen ongeveer sy vyfde en twintigste lewensjaar dek, skryf ’n deurleefde, wyse Van Niekerk oor sy vroegste herinnerings aan sy geboortedorp, sy gesin en sy helderste herinnerings aan die plekke en mense wat hom gevorm het tot die mens wat hy geword het. Want, soos wat hy in die verhaal “Die skinkbord” skryf: Jy kan net wees wie jy is, en jy is wat jy word.

Join The Feathered Five on an unforgettable adventure as they navigate the cacophony of the African savanna.

Enough was enough, the birds woke up grumpy and mad, as they let the noise of the Hadedas’ turn a good start to bad! (We’ve heard it before, a call on repeat, an annoying sound that is far from discreet!) Tired and frustrated, now running late, many birds concerned they might miss a very special date. For today was a day of great celebration, as they had a party to attend for the Yellow-billed Kites’ homecoming migration. Excuse after excuse, the exhausted Secretary Bird had a hard time remembering their reasons for delay.

Will the birds finally arrive for the Yellow-billed Kites’ special day?

Verbly julle in die hoop is die tweede boek in die drieluik met die temas geloof, hoop en liefde wat verbeeld word deur die lewensverhaal van Andreas Beyers. Ons eerste ontmoeting met ’n jong Andreas is in Geloof soos ’n mosterdsaadjie, en hier vind ons hom waar hy terug delf in die verlede.

Dit is Vrydag 20 Maart 2020: Die huis waar Andreas die afgelope vyf jaar gewoon het, is opgepak. Die volgende dag vertrek hy saam met sy kinders na ’n aftreeoord in die Strand waar hy die laaste jare van sy lewe sal slyt. Hoewel Covid-19 inperkings aan die orde van die dag is, weet die meeste SuidAfrikaners, asook Andreas en die ander mense op die plattelandse dorpie glad nie wat op hulle wag nie.

Verbly julle in die hoop sal harte aanraak en twyfelaars nuwe moed gee. Jesus se volgelinge hoop nie omdat hulle wens dat dit eendag beter met hulle sal gaan nie; hulle leef in blydskap omdat hul wense reeds vervul is. Dit moes Andreas Beyers eers leer voordat hy blywende geluk kon vind.

Cape Town is two cities.

One is beautiful beyond imagining, known since its beginning as the 'fairest cape' in the world. Here tourists come to lounge on beaches, scale misty peaks and dine in fine restaurants. The other is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, where police need bullet-proof vests and sometimes army backup. Here gangs of young men rule the night with heavy calibre handguns, dispensing heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and fear. This is a story of the second city...

In Gang Town, investigative journalist and criminologist Don Pinnock draws on more than thirty years of research to provide a nuanced and definitive portrait of youngsters caught up in violent crime.