In 2018 the world watched as 82 per cent of all wealth created was claimed by the top 1 per cent of the global population. The bottom 50 per cent of humanity saw no increase at all. While one new billionaire was created every two days, one in every four South Africans were living on less than R18 per day – not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

Inequality has always been part of the world we live in, but in the past twenty years the situation has worsened. We have seen the rise of mega corporations, where regional companies have become global players: power brokers that are richer and more powerful than most countries. This has seen businesses record ever-increasing profits while they pay ever-decreasing taxes. How is this happening?

In South Africa, millions of people depend on the services and products of mega corporations, but to what extent do these corporations influence and affect the lives of their consumers? What do these companies do with all the power that is in their hands?

In The Dirty Secrets of the Rich and Powerful, James-Brent Styan casts the spotlight on economic inequality and unpacks historical and ongoing business practices that have a real influence on people today. This book takes you right into the corridors of power and behind the closed doors of the boardrooms of the rich and powerful to show you how, and why, the status quo seems so unfair.

Never have seven people been so hunted. By assassins. By journalists and lawyers in search of the truth and then TRC investigators wanting justice for the victims’ families.

In 1986, seven young men were shot and killed by police in Gugulethu in Cape Town. The nation was told they were a ‘terrorist’ MK cell. An inquest followed, then a dramatic trial in 1987 and another inquest in 1989. Finally, the fact that Eugene de Kock’s Vlakplaas unit plotted and drove the operation was revealed at the Truth and Reconciliation ten years after the murders but Vlakplaas’s real agenda remained shrouded in mystery.

Hunting the Seven tells the story of the hunt for the truth of the Gugulethu Seven in cinematic style. It took a decade to get to the bottom of the killings.

Sifting through the evidence and original interviews with those involved, Roos-Muller reveals that it was Vlakplaas’s only operation in the Western Cape and an elaborate state-sanctioned snuff movie designed to keep the money rolling into the death squad’s slush fund.

‘If you made me angry, to me, for that anger to go away I have to get hold of you . . . For that anger to go away, I have to do something to you.’

These are the words of one of South Africa’s most terrifying serial killers as told to Brin Hodgskiss in the bowels of one of our most secure prisons.

Hodgskiss got his doctorate in psychology for a study based on interviews with thirteen serial killers. The recordings sat gathering dust until recently, when top true-crime podcaster Nicole Engelbrecht found his paper online. The two connected and the concept for this book was born.

In Killer Stories, Hodgskiss uses each of the interviews, combined with the tenets of narrative psychology, to take the reader into the minds of the killers. He lays out how the stories these men told themselves about their lives contributed to where they ended up –
and how they aren’t that different from the stories we all tell ourselves.

The book intertwines the killers’ versions of the truth and the truecrime stories behind them, an interpretation of the tales using narrative psychology, and how Hodgskiss’s own journey as a psychologist and human being contributed to his deeper understanding of the minds of these killers.

In this ground-breaking and inspiring guide, a renowned Harvard psychologist demonstrates how turning everyday habits into rituals can improve our work, our relationships and our lives.

• Think of the quirky traditions that you keep up with your friends.
• Or the unusual ways that you and your family mark special occasions.
• Or the gifts that your partner gives – and what you’d think if they’d bought the same for an ex.

These are rituals: practices that are imbued with symbolic meaning. And they have the power to turn black-and-white moments into technicolour.

Along the way, Norton shares stories from sporting superstars (Serena Williams always bouncing the ball five times before her first serve), million-dollar companies (Zipcar urging staff to destroy their old desktops with sledgehammers) and ordinary people (inventing their own “ritual signatures”), who reimagine everyday moments, build camaraderie, and spark joy.

Rituals can help us to forge winning teams, heal families experiencing grief and encourage us rise to challenges, big or small. Now it’s time to create yours.

So lyk ’n vrou, Ilse Verster se hartroerende verhaal oor Esli se lewe van mishandeling deur ’n gewelddadige eggenoot, het lesers in 2022 geskok en aangegryp. ’n Vrou staan op is die vervolg op die blitsverkoper en vertel van die nuwe hoofstuk in Esli se lewe.

Ná ’n uitmergelende egskeiding wat haar finansieel byna ruïneer, reis Esli Kaap toe om perspektief te kry op ’n lewe waar sy nie meer ’n slagoffer is nie. Dan gebeur daar ’n wonderwerk. Sy ontmoet iemand en hulle besluit om te trou. Uiteindelik is die geluk, vrede en veiligheid waarna sy haar lewe lank gehunker het, vir Esli beskore.

Máár haar stryd is nog lank nie verby nie. Post-traumatiese stres, ’n vreemde omgewing en nuwe verhoudings bring onverwagse uitdagings. Ook baie vrae, soos: Hoe kan ’n mens gelukkig wees, maar steeds huil? Die ongekende blootstelling wat tydens boekbekendstellings, praatjies en mediaonderhoude volg op die sukses van So lyk ’n vrou, maak dinge ook nie makliker nie. Esli kan haar nie volledig losmaak van die verlede nie, want almal stel moeilike vrae. Terselfdertyd moet sy ander slagoffers van narsisme moed inpraat.

In ’n Vrou staan op deel die skrywer haar ervarings van die moets en moenies in die proses na heelwording. Want om ’n oorwinnaar te wees, verg ook moed, deursettingsvermoë en ’n sekure instink vir oplossings wat wérk.

Brace yourself for a thrilling journey into the heart of black life and culture through the philosophy of Hibirism, masterminded by Donald Mokgale and Ernest Nkomotje.

Hibirism ● (noun): Derived from the social greeting ‘hibiri’, made famous by the South African song Sister Bethina (a hit by musician Mgarimbe in 2006), Hibirism adds depth and meaning to the salutation and signifier ‘hibiri’. The goal is to explain some of the underlying reasons behind our actions and uncover profound insights within the experiences of black life. Ultimately, Hibirism transforms an empty signifier into a noun, referring to a specific philosophy or set of ideas that elevate social situations and challenge existing norms.

This book contains humorous anecdotes, thought-provoking ideas, witty banter, and profound observations on black life, showcasing Hibirism at play. The book also shows how Hibirism can be used as a tool for creative problem-solving as it probes deeper into conventions to unearth insights like no other framework.

Among many captivating topics, they embark on a quest to discover the perfect vetkoek (igwinya), draw parallels between the arrangement of atoms and four-four masihlalisane (a seating arrangement in local taxis), offer a deep dive into the Amapiano movement, and even share the tale of Bobby, a beloved township dog known to survive on nothing but a diet of pap and H2O.

If you are an individual or a business aiming to deepen your understanding and build a more meaningful connection with the black world, Introducing Hibirism is for you.

Join the movement. Hibiri …