Kitaar my kruis is vir die eerste keer in 1962 deur H.A.U.M. gepubliseer, en die tweede uitgawe het sewe herdrukke beleef.

Small se identifikasie met sy karakters vind neerslag in sy gebruik van Kaaps – volgens hom ’n volwaardige taal waarin mense hul eerste skreeu en hul laaste doodsroggel gee. Wat in heelparty gedigte opval, is die gebruik van refreine en herhaling, wat as ’t ware die gemeenskap se vrese waarskuwings en aanklagte van die tyd eggo (Van Wyk, 2006). Verder is daar ’n sterk Ou Testamentiese inslag, maar ook talle verwysings na die geboorte en wederkoms van Christus.

Volgens Steward van Wyk word dié gegewe op die lotgevalle van onderdruktes van toepassing gemaak, oa die geskiedenis van Moses en die Israelitiese volk onder Egiptiese slawerny: Soos Moses met sy staf, moet die digter met sy kitaar sy mense lei, maar omdat die taak so moeilik is, word die kitaar ironies ook sy kruis.

Die ontnugtering en nostalgie van die middeljare word hier in alle erns met humor en trefsekere taalgevoel verwoord.

Ryk aan intertekstualiteit en slim woordspeling, is hierdie bundel vars en toeganklik vir alle oopkop lesers. Ou vrese word besweer en nuwes sinies en liries besing.

Amidst a current tidal wave of negativity, Raising Champions emerges as a powerful and timely antidote for our country. Drawing from the personal journeys of three of South Africa’s most celebrated sports figures, Olympic gold medallist Chad le Clos, Bafana Bafana legend Shaun Bartlett, and 2007 Rugby World Cup winner CJ van der Linde, Raising Champions reveals how discipline, character, faith and having the right values can elevate ordinary youth into extraordinary leaders.

Written by life coach and author Myan Subrayan, the book serves as a motivational road map for parents, teachers, coaches and young people navigating today’s broken world. It delivers practical insights and powerful testimonies that prove our youth are not doomed to be another statistic. With the right mentorship and guidance, they can rise above their circumstances and become champions not just in sport, but in life.

This book is also a valuable resource for business leaders and organisations looking to inspire their teams with the timeless principles of commitment, perseverance and character. It challenges leaders to lead by example and equips them with insights that can ignite a culture of excellence and purpose within the workplace.

Raising Champions is a clarion call to a nation: it’s time to rebuild, one value-driven young person at a time.

Beyond The Secret Elephants is the continuing story of Gareth Patterson’s almost two decades of research into the secretive Knysna elephants. Significantly, however, it also reveals his startling discovery of a much more mysterious being than the elephants – a relict hominoid known to the indigenous forest people as the Otang.

Gareth had long heard about the existence of the otang from the local people but he mentioned it only briefly in The Secret Elephants, focusing instead on his rediscovery of the Knysna elephants and their survival against the odds. He was reluctant to blur the story of the elephants with his findings about the otang. That is, until now. The possible existence of relict hominoids is today gaining momentum worldwide with ongoing research into Bigfoot in North America, the Yeti in the Himalayas and the Orang Pendek in Sumatra. Eminent conservationists and scientists – among them Dr Jane Goodall, Dr George Schaller and Professor Jeff Meldrum – have publicly stated that they are open-minded about the possible existence of these cryptid beings.

In the course of his unannounced research into the otang Gareth heard many accounts – mostly spontaneous and unprompted – of otang sightings by others in the area over a number of years. These accounts, documented in the book, are astonishingly consistent both in the descriptions of the otang and in the shocked reactions of the individuals who saw them.

Gareth Patterson’s work supports the increasing realisation that humankind still has much to learn about the natural world and the mysteries it holds. The possibility that we may be sharing our world with other as yet unidentified hominoids is today being viewed as something that should not be discounted. And as humankind, we need to reassess our role and our responsibility towards all forms of life that coexist with us on planet Earth.

'n Nuwe en bygewerkte uitgawe van die publikasie wat in 1990 uitgegee is deur die Nasionale Parkeraad van Suid-Afrika (tans SANParke).

Dit is die uitvoerige voorgeskiedenis en geskiedenis van die ou Transvaalse Laeveld en die gebeure wat gelei het tot die ontstaan van een van die eerste bewaringsgebiede in die ou Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek toe die Sabie-reservaat in 1898 geproklameer is.

’n Regstreekse, voor die hand liggende en effektiewe gids tot boom-identifikasie.

Dié boek se titel sê dit alles! Hierdie bygewerkte tweede uitgawe verskaf ’n duidelike uiteensetting van hoe bome saamgestel is en waarna om op te let wanneer ’n boom geïdentifiseer word. Die boek bestaan uit twee dele:

- Deel 1 beskryf en illustreer duidelik die verskillende dele van ’n boom en hul rol in boomidentifikasie.

- Deel 2 bevat ’n sleutel tot 43 boomgroepe, gebaseer op maklik waarneembare stingel- en blaarkenmerke. Dit gee ’n duidelike oorsig van elke groep, sowel as die Suider-Afrikaanse boomfamilies wat in die onderskeie groepe verteenwoordig word. Talle kleurfoto’s en verduidelikende illustrasies ondersteun die teks wat dié handleiding toeganklik en gebruikersvriendelik maak.

Identifiseer die Bome van Suider-Afrika sal lesers toerus met ’n goeie begrip van die bou van bome en waarna hulle moet oplet om dit korrek te kan identifiseer.

Also available in English as How to Identify Trees in Southern Africa .

Accompanied by superb photographs, this ground-breaking book is the first practical field guide to record the Zulu names of bird species commonly found in KwaZulu-Natal. Where one name was previously used to describe a number of birds belonging to the same genus (i.e. ukhozi for most eagles), the need existed to give species specific names.

The authors hope this book will be used to inspire a greater interest, awareness and protection of the avifaunal heritage of KwaZulu-Natal. It is vital for the heritage of all South Africans that these names are recorded and made widely available. Noleen Turner, a passionate birder and honorary research professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in collaboration with Prof Adrian Koopman and Roger Porter, led this seven-year project, together with 18 expert Zulu bird guides from various parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

The recording, derivation and crafting of these names has been a lengthy but fascinating process. Turner notes that the project has included not only the consideration of biodiversity management, but also the pursuit of social ecology, the long neglected but crucial ‘people’s’ aspect of conservation. She said when it came to Zulu names for birds, they had to fill in the gaps, and of the 550 species analysed, some were confirmation of well-known names, such as inkazwi for the fish eagle; some were selected from the most commonly known names such as inkankane for the hadeda ibis. Some names were redirected: for example, the name for the Brown-headed Kingfisher indwazela became the generic name for all kingfishers (ndwaza referring to the motionless position while waiting for prey).

Other new names were coined based on appearance, calls, behaviour and distribution such as isankawu (the bird whose call sounds like a vervet monkey) for the Southern Pochard, or umacutha derived from the Zulu word cutha (meaning to draw the body tense) as the generic name for herons, which perfectly describes the bird’s behaviour before it lunges at its prey.

To both the beginner and the experienced birdwatcher, this compact guide will prove as indispensable as binoculars.

Special features:

• Updated with new bird names
• Fits your pocket
• Practical and user-friendly
• Over 400 bird species
• Excellent colour photographs
• Logical grouping of birds
• Concise biological information
• English & Afrikaans names
• Southern African bird numbers
• Distribution maps according to the new bird atlas
• Index

Over 90 000 copies of this book have been sold to avid birders from South Africa and across the world.

This captivating and informative book focuses on the threatened bird species of SouthAfrica and its oceans, and of Lesotho and Eswatini. Presented in an elegant large format,Birds on the Brink highlights the beauty, unique traits and vulnerabilities of these birds,while emphasising the human-induced threats, such as habitat loss, climate change,energy infrastructure and competition for resources. Personal accounts from researcherson the front lines offer insight into the skill and dedication required to safeguard thesespecies. The birds featured are not merely fascinating creatures – they act as sentinels ofbiodiversity, whose decline signals concerning ecological shifts.

A valuable resource for birders, students, educators, conservationists and anyonewho cares about the future of our planet, Birds on the Brink is both an enduring recordand a call for conservation action at this tenuous moment in time. It is a reminder thatwhile the challenges are immense, so too is our capacity for change.

Pocket Guide Fynbos features over 300 of the most spectacular and commonly seen species
from South Africa’s renowned floral kingdom – all in one handy, easy-to-use guide.

The species are presented in detail, with each entry featuring:

• succinct descriptions of the plant and its habitat, comparisons with similar species
• and fl owering times
• full-colour photographs and distribution maps
• floral key, using symbols to denote main identifying features
• interesting facts about species.

Written with the non-specialist in mind, this guide is a must-have for flower lovers, hikers, tour guides and tourists – anyone interested in identifying the wild flowers that grace the Cape Peninsula.

Wild Flowers of the Cape Peninsula covers the most remarkable and commonly seen wild flowers of Table Mountain, Silvermine and Cape Point. The book was originally published as Common Wild Flowers of Table Mountain in 2007, then revised in 2013 to include the flowers of Silvermine.

This new edition offers:

• 360 (previously 208) of the region’s most remarkable and commonly seen wild flowers
• Clear photographs of all featured flowers and concise, informative text
• Flowers grouped according to colour, to help with quick ID
• Walking routes in the Peninsula’s famed reserves, plotted on 3 clear maps
• Illustrated glossary of terms

Siphiwo Mahala delves into the lives of iconic figures from South Africa's tumultuous past in this remarkable collection of plays.

The collection opens with The House of Truth, which explores the complexity of Can Themba, a fearless journalist, playwright and poet living under an oppressive apartheid regime. The one-man play weaves together elements of Themba's life and career, recreating the excitement and pathos of the DRUM era South Africa's first magazine for a black audience, and his resident neighborhood, Sophiatown in Johannesburg, before it was destroyed by apartheid legislation. Themba is brought back to life as an ordinary person with human flaws and attributes both tragic and inspirational.

In the second play, Bloke and His American Bantu. Mahala brings to life the extraordinary lives of Bloke Modisane, a South African writer exiled in London, and Langston Hughes, the renowned American poet. This two-hander play celebrates their remarkable camaraderie and intellectual exchange. Through a reimagined correspondence, the play deftly explores how a simple friendship blossomed into a catalyst for international solidarity and cultural exchange across continents, from Africa to the UK to America.

As a whole, the plays explore the intersections of identity, creativity and resistance. With wit, poise, and unflinching honesty, they bring to life the triumphs and struggles of these remarkable men who left an indelible mark on their worlds, and celebrate the human spirit's capacity to persevere, inspire and uplift.

Uit stof, ster, planete word daar poësie gemaak. Die digter verken die geskape Univers met fyn aanvoeling en vernuf. Hier is ’n poëtiese fisikus op sy allerbeste.

Hennie Smith se aanleg vir wiskunde en wetenskap het hom tot ’n doktorsgraad in fisika geneem en ’n suksesvolle navorsingsloopbaan in Suid-Afrika en Frankryk. Sy aanvoeling vir poësie het hom egter deurgaans besiel en hy het telkens woorde gevind om emosiebelaaide insigte in verse neer te pen. Die fisika en kosmologie word vir hom ’n teleskoop om van die einders van die kosmos in te kyk op die binneruimte van menslike emosie.

Hier is van die kragtigste gedigte in Afrikaans wat die leser as ’n gedagtegolf tref en met nuwe denke oor die poësie laat. Die intense gedigte oor die roering en spanning tussen die manlike en vroulike het ook ’n kosmiese inslag wanneer hy soos Goethe in sy Faust ervaar dat die ewig vroulike hom motiveer en die volheid van die syn laat beleef. ’n Aantal verse reik uit na die grense van religie en filosofie.

Hier is ’n bundel wat die grense van dig-denke roer en verbreed.

Hierdie langverwagte derde uitgawe van ’n Volledige Gids tot die Slange van Suider- Afrika is ten volle opgedateer. Nuwe inligting gebasseer op wetenskaplike navorsing is ingesluit, en hou verband met gedrag, identifikasie, voortplanting en gif.

Kenmere van hierdie boek:

• Dek al die noodsaaklike aspekte van biologie en slang gedrag.
• Spesies se beskrywings word vergesel van volkleur fotos en verspreidingskaarte.
• Eenvoudige simbole maak belangrike inligting dadelik beskikbaar.
• ’n Aparte ‘Kyk uit vir’ blokkie help om spesies in die veld gou te identifiseer.
• Hoofstukke oor klassifikasie en identifikasie, aanhou van slange, en die behandeling van slangbyte vul die inligting aan.

Hierdie omvattende gids sal van onskatbare waarde wees vir herpeteloë, slangversamelaars, voetslaners, tuiniers en enigeen wat meer van slange wil weet.

Horses were key to the colonial economies of southern Africa, buttressing the socio-political order and inspiring contemporary imaginations. Just as they had done in Europe, Asia, the Americas and North Africa, these equine colonisers not only provided power and transportation but also helped transform their new biophysical and social environments. In some ways "Riding High" is an attempt to chronicle the effects of an inter-species relationship whose significance was vast and lead to major changes in the history of leisure, transportation, trade, warfare, and agriculture. On another level, these stories are simply the adventures of a big, gentle herbivore and a small, rogue primate. The horses introduced to the southern tip of Africa were both agents and subjects of enduring changes. This book explores their introduction under VOC rule in the mid-seventeenth century, their dissemination into the interior, their acquisition by indigenous groups and their ever-shifting roles. In its relocation to the Cape, the horse of the Dutch empire in southeast Asia experienced a physical transformation over time. Establishing an early breeding stock was fraught with difficulty and horses remained vulnerable in the new and dangerous environment. They had to be nurtured into defending their owners' ambitions: first those of the white settlement and then African and other hybrid social groupings. The book traces the way horses were adapted by shifting human needs in the nineteenth century. It focuses on their experiences in the South African War, on the cusp of the twentieth century, and highlights how horses remained integral to civic functioning on various levels, replaced with mechanization only after lively debate. They remained useful in certain sectors and linked to totems of social power even in contemporary South Africa. "Riding High" reinserts the horse into the broader historical narrative and speculates about what a new kind of history that takes animals seriously might offer us.

The "birds, beasts and flowers" of Isobel Dixon’s new collection are in conversation with DH Lawrence's essay ‘Whistling of Birds’, thus lending this publication its name, though each poem here is its own vivid testament to the natural world, and our often troubled and troubling place in it.

Lyrical, vigorous, inventive, the poems share points of creative contact with Lawrence’s iconic collection, Birds, Beasts and Flowers, but also ranges widely through the worlds of other writers and makers. Threaded throughout is the beautiful complexity and vulnerability of the planet, and the joy and difficulty of making art. With its resonant elegies and notes of celebration, this is a collection that flexes, hums and brims with energy, yet draws you surely in to its quiet, reflective heart.

Poetry as powerful connection and recapitulation, and, even in landscapes of exile and diminishment, the art of rewilding and replenishing the self.

In 'n oomblik toon die hand van 'n ervare digter wie se poetika reeds gevestig is in terme van temas en tegnieke. Die digbundel verteenwoordig 'n voortsetting van die aspekte van Vos se digkuns waarvoor hy reeds lof verdien het. Op tegniese vlak is daar veral sy baie effektiewe gebruik van 'n onpretensieuse toon wat dikwels sonderlinge poetiese vondste oplewer. 'n Voorbeeld hiervan is die nuutskepping (die slinkshandige). Tegniese vernuwing vind ook plaas deur die aanwending van die epiese gedig en die tersine. Die intertekstuele gesprek met Homeros en Dante as reismotief om 'n langdurige ongeluk en operasie poeties te verwoord, is nuut in die Afrikaanse digkuns. Tydens die reis kom daar fel en verskillende emosies en ervaringe na vore. Dit word alles met die leser gedeel. Die tematiese nuutheid en aktualiteit van die bundel blyk uit die digterlike uitbeelding van die menseslagting op 13 November 2015 in Parys en vlugtelinge uit Sirie se bootreise na 'n heenkome. In die bundel kom daar diep emosies na die oppervlakte. Alles gebeur in 'n oomblik. Op die lewensreis word verskillende emosies ervaar: lig en donker, liefde en ongeluk, geboorte en die na-lewe. Die tema van verganklikheid en ouer-word is sentraal in die bundel. Die lewensreis is ook 'n taalreis. Daarom word die taalgesprek, in 'n boeiende saampraat met Konstantinos Kavafis, poeties uitgedruk. Op die leefreis is daar ook verlies. Hier kom Cas Vos se vertalings van Konstantinos Kavafis en Georgos Seferis se Griekse gedigte aan die bod. Die reis eindig egter nie in wanhoop nie, maar met uit-sig.

This highly visual new guide introduces readers to 100 of the most memorable trees in the bushveld – the northern and eastern regions of South Africa, encompassing both the lowveld and the highveld.

An introduction covers the basics of tree anatomy, supported by a pictorial glossary, and details the author’s streamlined ID method that enables even novices to make quick and sure identifi cations.

• Most trees are generously featured across double-page spreads;

• Full tree images along with diagnostic photos (bark, leaves, thorns, fl owers, pods, fruit, etc.) enable readers to distinguish even those trees that are most confusing, such as the ‘acacias’ or the bushwillows;

• Concise text highlights each tree’s key features;

• Interesting facts, multiple uses and particular value the trees have among local populations are given.

With its abundant, detailed photographs and straightforward text, this guide will help readers unlock the complicated world of trees.

This lively, jam-packed book introduces kids to more than 60 bird groups found in southern Africa: long-legged flamingos, speedy falcons, jewel-like sunbirds, plucky hornbills and many more.

Learn to identify different birds, and discover their intriguing behaviours – how they find food, choose a mate, build a nest, raise their young and avoid predators. A detailed introduction explains birding concepts such as courtship, migration, mobbing and moulting.

More than 500 stunning photographs are included, with many annotated to highlight interesting features and traits.

This is a book about the art of songwriting. More specifically, the art of words composed to be sung.

Proposing this concise definition of songwriting, the author opens up a unique and fascinating perspective on the song as catalyst for transformation. He connects the dots between language and music, making visible the discreet basics great songwriters employ to compose songs that stimulate the imagination, capture the heart and create change. The book is a manifesto for a brave, new and radical approach to writing songs. It is aimed at everyone interested in the power of the word and music to make a difference.

Art is needed more than ever in times of crisis. Art allows us to examine what it is it be human. It helps us make sense of what we are going through. It allows us to voice our fears, joys, dissent and gratitude. And song, allows us to voice it in the most compelling way possible. The author illustrates by way of carefully selected extracts from masterfully composed songs, how songwriters are able to access the hidden determinants of human behaviour with words and melody. Songwriting is much more than music. It’s the most powerful way of expressing the human spirit. It has the power to accelerate transformation and bring both the songwriter and listener, into closer harmony with the pulsing and pitching of the universe.

This book will have you thinking new thoughts about songwriting and have you listening to songs with new ears. its timing could not be better.

This is a moving story of the rise to fame from humble beginnings of one of South Africa’s most popular rugby stars, written specifically for young readers.

Early on in his life, Siya discovered that rugby could be his route out of the grinding poverty in which he had grown up in the Eastern Cape. He worked hard, made sure he was noticed and managed to secure a scholarship to the prestigious Grey High School. But he had to adapt quickly to a world he had never encountered, while keeping his roots in the community that he knew and loved.

His hard work and natural ability saw him moving to Cape Town to join the Stormers, trying to break into the Springbok team, and learning to adjust to life at the top of the game that is a national obsession.

Siya Kolisi is part of the ‘Road to Glory’ series, which covers some of South Africa’s sporting legends as they set out on their journeys to becoming national and international stars.

Part detective trail, part love affair and pure story telling at its best.

In 1990 an expedition of Cambridge scientists arrived at the Plains of Nechisar, tucked between the hills of the Great Rift Valley in the Gamo Gofa province in the country of Ethiopia. On that expedition, 315 species of birds were seen; 61 species of mammal and 69 species of butterfly were identified; 20 species of dragonflies and damselflies; 17 reptile species were recorded; three frog species were filed; plants were listed. And the wing of a road-killed bird was packed into a brown paper bag.

It was to become the most famous wing in the world.

When the specimens finally arrived at the British Natural History Museum in Tring it set the world of science aflutter. It seemed that the wing was unique, but they questioned, can you name a species for the first time based only on the description of a wing, based on just one wing?

After much to and fro, confirmation was unanimous, and the new species was announced, Nechisar Nightjar, Caprimulgus solala, (solus:only and ala:wing). And birdwatchers like Vernon began to dream.

Twenty-two years later an expedition of four led by Ian Sinclair set off to try to find this rarest bird in the world.

Vernon R.L. Head captivates and enchants as he tells of the adventures of Ian, Dennis, Gerry and himself as they navigate the wilderness of the plains, searching by spotlight for the elusive Nechisar Nightjar.

Duma is at a cross roads in life. Living in an informal settlement in Soweto with his father and young sister, Duma is expected to make a contribution to the household since he does not work. The easy way has been to steal electricity cables. But when his friend gets caught, Duma decides to try a new way of life. The road to a new beginning does not come easy as he goes back to the canoe club at Power Park and he quickly learns that paddling a canoe is not as easy as he remembered. He finds himself drawn to the water and is inspired by Steve an experienced paddler who is determined and pushes himself but lately the gold has been out of reach. Duma goes out on a limb and asks Steve if they can train together for the Dusi. Will Duma and Steve's partnership in the water work out? This is an inspirational story of two men from different backgrounds, coming together to tell their story.

Botanists and seed collectors Rod and Rachel Saunders set out on what seemed to some to be an impossible mission – to find and photograph, in full bloom, all gladioli species found in South Africa and to collect and share their observations in a field guide. They had found all but one species before their untimely deaths at the hands of kidnappers in a forest in KwaZulu-Natal.

In the wake of this tragic event, friends and colleagues collaborated to keep the Saunders’ dream alive. This book is the result their collective efforts.

Gladioli are showy bulbous plants that fall within the Iris family, and the bulk of species are endemic to South Africa. Comprehensive and lavishly illustrated with more than 1,300 photographs, this guide covers the 166 Gladiolus species known to occur in the region.

The book is divided into seven taxonomic sections, according to the species’ distinguishing features. Each species is presented on a double-page spread, with a full plate of color photographs, including close-ups of diagnostic features, different color forms and habitats. Botanical descriptions cover identification (corm, cataphyll, spike, bracts, anthers, pollen, capsules, seeds, and scent), distribution, pollination, conservation status, and notes on ecology and the authors’ personal observations in the field. Distribution maps and flowering periods are given for each species, and tables highlight differences between similar-looking gladioli.

There are almost 300 recognized species, widely distributed across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, with more than half of the species found in southern Africa, making this book useful to botanists world-wide, as well as to horticulturist, propagators, students, gardeners and anyone with an interest in natural history.