At once disturbing and perversely comforting, the crime novel has historically been used to curtail social anxieties through the ‘open and shut case’ of its narrative form. But what happens to that form in a world where guilt and innocence cannot be so easily assigned?

Return to the Scene of the Crime takes on the trope of the investigator who returns to the postcolony on a quest for knowledge. In tandem with solving the case, they must also grapple with the complexities of their own origins. Kamil Naicker shows how five authors defy generic expectation in order to illustrate the complexity of personal identity, transitional justice and civil violence in the postcolonial world.

Bringing together novels set in South Africa, China, Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Somalia, this book makes a marked intervention in the field of literary studies, by both bringing to light the trend of the returnee figure and exploring the possibilities of world-making through the explosion of a familiar form.

'Next year I’m going to be 80 years old. My car will be 20 years old. Together we'll be 100. We’re going to drive to London.'

'And what route are you going to take?'

'I have no idea. I think I’ll keep to the right.'

When 80-year old Julia Albu calls in to her favourite radio show with a zany, half-baked idea, she has no idea that it will lead her to the adventure of a lifetime.

From helping push a 30-year-old Toyota bakkie up a precipitous mountain pass in Malawi to being 'adopted' by the riotous ex-pat South African community in Dar es Salaam and being fed mildly hallucinogenic 'herbs' by her Ethiopian driver-guide, nothing deterred 80-year-old Julia Albu from her quest to drive through Africa from the Cape to Cairo.

She and her 20-year-old Toyota Conquest, Tracy - a personality in her own right - travelled through 10 African countries, from South Africa to Egypt (and beyond). Julia was accompanied by a series of companions who added texture to her travels: three of her four grown-up children, her son-in-law, and at least one person who began as a complete stranger and ended up as a friend for life.

Reminiscing about her long and interesting life along the way, and maintaining a bright and upbeat outlook regardless of the circumstances, Julia proves that you're never too old to tackle that bucket list.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the smash-hit 50 People Who Stuffed Up South Africa, the original 50 People team brings you an all-new sequel: 50 People Who F***ed Up South Africa: The Lost Decade.

As witty, enlightening and entertaining as all the franchise books, this Christmas compendium is an eye-watering indictment of our tragicomic “last lost decade”, a time of ruinous and unprecedented national decline. Whereas it took more than 350 years to come up with the list of shame for the first book, they needed just ten more for the next 50 names, from Shaun Abrahams to Zuma, Zuma and Zuma. Shot through with the architects and beneficiaries of state capture – Magashula, Mahlobo, Mahumapelo, and not forgetting the Guptas – it is also features crisp takedowns of the individuals who represent the standout scandals in this time: the like of Nkandla, Marikana, Life Esidimeni, Steinhoff, Bosasa and VBS Mutual Bank.

The end result is a readable, accessible overview of the South Africa’s recent political and socioeconomic landscape. Because sometimes humour and a clearly painted picture really is the best coping mechanism…

In a series of tender, bite-sized poems on being a writer, loneliness, faith, patriarchy, climate change, grief, and more, Crystal Warren offers up an ode to the every day.

With Warren’s signature light touch, Predictive Text is sensitive, unaffected, a relief from the brash, unrelenting tumult of twenty-first century life, while tethered to deeper truths.

John Stanford’s anecjokes are yarns against adversity, told with elegance and wry humour.

Spanning half a century from the 1930s to the 1980s, they range from the psychology of sheep to frozen tractor valves to ancestral aunts. Many of the same characters re-appear, forming a patchwork of stories that becomes a rich and lively portrait of both an extended family and a farming community.

Tendai Mtawarira is known throughout the rugby world simply as Beast. Or, more often than not, ‘Beeeaaassssttt!’, as crowds from Durban to London, Buenos Aires to Auckland cry whenever he gets the ball. In 2018 he became the most capped prop in Springbok history, earning his 100th Test cap for the Springboks, and in 2019 he became the most capped Super Rugby player in South Africa.

Due to play in his third World Cup in September 2019, Beast has been in a winning series against the British and Irish Lions, contested two Super Rugby finals and won three Currie Cups with his beloved Sharks. Along the way, he has been moved from back row to front row, bullied by xenophobic politicians and undergone three bouts of heart surgery.

Beast is the story of how a humble man from Zimbabwe has become a rugby icon.

'n Baie insiggewende Afrikaanse boek wat vrae en antwoorde bevat van Suid-Afrikaanse diere, wat wissel van die Aardwolf na die Ystervark. Dit is 'n baie nuttige gids wanneer jy nasionale parke in Suid-Afrika besoek.

Voorbeeld vrae in die boek:

• Kan 'n enkele leeu 'n kameelperd doodmaak?
• Watter diere kan draers van hondsdolheid wees?
• Hoekom ruik hiënas so sleg?
• Is dit waar dat swart renosters soms mis eet?
• Hou wilde honde enige gevaar vir mense?
• Wat moet ek doen as dit deur 'n volstruis aangeval word?

Meer as 750 volkleurglansbladsye; 2200 vrae en antwoorde; 1400 foto's en 300 brokkies.

Coverage; Cape Town; West Coast; Cape Winelands; Breede River Valley; Overberg; Route 43; Boland; Hex River Valley; Swartland; Whale Route; Route 62. Street maps - 1 : 20 000: Stellenbosch; Franschhoek; Paarl; Wellington; Hermanus; Somerset West; Strand; Montagu; Robertson; Swellendam; Worcester; Ceres; Tulbagh; Cape town cbd ; Parks, reserves & nature areas; Hotels & caravan parks; Tourist-friendly text on top sites with; Historic info; Shading indicating height above sea level; Listings of regional activities; GPS co-ordinates; All the back roads and gravel roads you need; Colour photos of main sites; Comprehensive contact info; Main map scale : 1 : 325 000.

"Mid-life crises don’t have to be boring and staid. Buy a mountain bike and the best adventure of your life is just over the next hill" - Quote unquote from the guy at the bike shop. What he didn’t tell you is that when you’re on a bicycle most hills turn into mountains. And he also didn’t tell you beware of riding next to guy with a long bucket list. Because he will casually ask if you want ride with him from Harare to Cape Town.

After completing the trip (unexpected experiences – both good and bad- forever skeyched in your memory), you get home exhausted but exhilarated, patting yourself on the back for having raised more than a million Rand for charity, and your friends call you lazy for choosing a downhill destination. So straight away, you look for another mountain to aim at, a pointy one this time called Kilimanjaro.

Cape Town to Kilimanjaro is about having fun, doing good, and above all doing epic. It will make you laugh and cry if you are on the receiving end of the intravenous antibiotics. Hopefully it will also inspire. All you need is a bike and a destination.

The same poet who observes that “everybody is a bridge/’’ then asks in Zen-fashion, “Is it me, or is it you?/ are you reflection or projection / or the light that’s shining through?’’ can also note in a very down-to-earth way, that “If we hadn’t robbed the car washers of their coin/they might not have turned so mean, you know? / Let them earn a little income, bra/ If we’d chiselled our hearts open, tried to see it from the middle/we’d have softened just a little.”

And so, while keeping the big picture of the difficulties before us unflinchingly, Anton imbues such philosophical and political statements with images of very real people and their struggle for survival. But this is one aspect of his writing.

As importantly, through these ‘poems, prose- poems, notes & fragments’, runs a whimsical sense of his youth and later years as a white South African whose numerous relatives and friends make their appearance in the form of anecdotal history turned into poetic narrative.

In this way, the collection is varied, and very personal and true to Anton’s past and present, a very satisfying buffet that offers a unique taste of his Buddhistic soul.

Scorpions of Southern Africa, the go-to guide for identifying southern Africa's rich scorpion fauna, has now been freshly designed, updated and expanded. It includes 12 additional species, new images and distribution maps, and a chapter on how to go about identifying scorpions. An invaluable guide for the amateur naturalist and professional alike, this accessible book describes: scorpion anatomy and behaviour; the strategies that enable scorpions to survive harsh conditions; their use of venom, and other aspects of their successful existence over millions of years.

What would life be like without our Daily Maverick dose of Zapiro? Where would we be without the illumination, the spicy crispy wit, the cutting, the clever, the way of showing us our politicians and life in South Africa with a dose of humour and more than a dash of satire?

Zapiro's annual offering is our duplicity warning, our canary in the coalmine, our national conscience. Exposing and revealing, brilliantly appealing, Zapiro does it again!

Wie is die beste Springbok van die moderne era?

Hoe kies jy tussen Bakkies Botha en Eben Etzebeth? Was Jaque Fourie of Lukhanyo Am die beste buitesenter? Moet Os du Randt of Beast Mtawarira jou skrum anker? Sou Juan Smith vir Pieter-Steph du Toit disnis duik? Soek jy Joost van der Westhuizen se skeppende spel, of Fourie du Preez se berekende skopvoet?

Hierdie vrae, en soveel meer word deur ’n gesaghebbende paneel van voormalige Bok-afrigters soos Carel du Plessis, Nick Mallett, Jake White en Peter de Villiers, asook van die land se top rugbyskrywers, in die Rapport 30 beste Bokke beantwoord. Die tydperk het ingesluit drie Wêreldbekers en Drienasies-titels, een Rugbykampioenskap-titel, ’n destydse wêreldrekord van 17 agtereenvolgende wedstryde sonder ’n nederlaag, en twee reeksseges oor die Britse en Ierse Leeus.

Dié boek stel ons voor aan die 30 beste Bokke. Dit bevat ook onderhoude, statistiek, foto’s en staaltjies uit die kleedkamer. Onmisbaar vir elke rugby-liefhebber.

IN 2019, SOUTH AFRICA CELEBRATES 25 years of democracy and the freedom that turned the country from a political pariah to one warmly embraced by the world. Nowhere was the welcome more visible, or more emotional, than in sport. Vuvuzela Dawn tells the stories of that return.

From Bafana Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations win to the fabled ‘438’Proteas game, we go behind the scenes of the great moments and record-breaking triumphs from 1994 to the present. From Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk to Benni McCarthy and Kevin Anderson, from twin World Cup rugby victories to the traumas of Kamp Staaldraad and Hansie Cronjé, Vuvuzela Dawn reveals the sporting dramas and passions that defined a quarter century.

How is South Africa going to sustain the cost of securing rhino while the belief continues to persist that the enemy lies elsewhere in Southeast Asia? The Walkers believe that the problem actually lies in South Africa’s own backyard. This book discusses corruption and the criminal justice system, the need for more community engagement and the costs of protection. It also looks at how far we have come since the rhino wars in the 1980s and the rhino trade debate.

We have to shift from the negative to an element of the positive. People are tired of seeing dead and dying rhino. There is some optimism due to the excellent work being undertaken by the state and the private sector at many levels in security, tourism, community involvement and environmental education, as well as NGO support.

Rhino Revolution testifies to the many people doing just that. The rhino war in South Africa has entered its 10th year, and last year saw 662 rhino killed in Kruger alone – and over 1000 in total for South Africa. Clive and Anton Walker, authors of the bestselling Rhino Keepers (2012), have once again come up with a fresh, new look at the ongoing rhino crisis. With magnificent photographs and afterwords by John Hanks and Yolan Friedman.

What does it take to win gold at the Olympic Games? How many years of hard work and dedication does it take to prepare for such a feat? How many disappointments do you have to endure on this journey?

Danielle Brittain has walked this journey over and over again – her two sons won Olympic gold for South Africa in rowing, all four of her sons have rowed at top levels, and she is currently the team doctor for the SA rowing team. Danielle has faced her own battles with cancer and then watched as her son battled Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during his Olympic training and overcame it and went on to win gold after his recovery in this high-performance sport.

The Olympic wins for the South African teams at the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics were iconic moments for South Africa and Brittain’s descriptions of what the wins meant for the individuals in the teams, their families, the coaching staff and ordinary South Africans demonstrates the power of sport to unite the country.

A rowing story, a family story, a cancer survival story, a South African story – and the story of a mother watching it all unfold.

AB de Villiers is een van Suid-Afrika se grootste sporthelde. Hy is sedert 2011 kaptein van die Suid-Afrikaanse eendagspan asook ’n lid van die nasionale span sedert hy op 20 Desember 2004, op 20-jarige ouderdom, sy buiging vir die Proteas gemaak het. AB het reg deur sy lewe op die sportveld uitgeblink én word vandag as een van die beste kolwers ter wêreld, in alle aspekte van die spel beskou.

AB: Die Outobiografie, sal insig bied oor die man agter die kolf en onder die kopskerm, asook oor deurslaggewende oomblikke tydens sy loopbaan en sy verhoudingsbande met verskillende mentors. Die leser sal teruggeneem word na die agterplaas van AB se ouerhuis waar hy as kind die eerste keer saam met sy broers leer krieket speel het, en sal voorgestel word aan al die kleurvolle karakters en sportlui wat paaie met AB gekruis het.

AB se belangstelling in musiek en in die sakewêreld word ook onder die loep geneem asook hoe hy hierdie belangstellings van hom saam met sy internasionale krieketloopbaan uitleef.

Mtutuzeli Nyoka grew up loving and playing the game of cricket. In 2008, he was appointed as the president of Cricket South Africa (CSA), a position he held until October 2011 when, after a protracted battle with the CSA board, he was dismissed. However, he continued to call for a commission of inquiry into irregularities in CSA. And when retired Judge Chris Nicholson conducted an investigation into CSA, his findings on the corruption and maladministration in the game were damning, particularly in terms of Gerald Majola.

In Deliberate Concealment, Nyoka shares his behind-the-scenes experiences and personal journey as events unfolded, including his own mistakes, the repercussions of the scandal on the game of cricket in South Africa, and his fight for the truth to prevail.

"This is an extraordinary story of one man’s courage and determination to seek the truth and make sure it saw the light of day." – GILES CLARKE, president of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

"During his tenure as president of Cricket South Africa, Mtutuzeli Nyoka fought almost alone to expose corruption and improve corporate governance within the higher echelons of South African cricket … For this the cricket community of South Africa owe him a great deal of gratitude." – DR ALI BACHER

This book is the story of an exceptional man: David Samaai. The author takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the life of Davy (as he was affectionately known by his peers) who began his career in the streets of a beautiful suburb called the Ou Tuin (Old Garden) on the banks of the picturesque Berg River. Due to the Group Areas Act of the apartheid government they were forced to leave their homes. They had to move to the other side of the river to a new town: Paarl East.

Many thought that it was the end. On the contrary, it was anything but game set and match. Because of inspirational leadership, they managed to overcome apartheid and even excelled! David led by example. First, he conquered Wimbledon and then he led his community rebuilding their town, their schools, the mosque and the church. In fact, they rebuilt their entire lives.

Eventually it turned out to be a chronicle of the political emancipation of a community to which David Samaai was an inspiration, not because he was a legendary tennis player, a gifted musician or a committed school principal and teacher, but because he was and still is an example to any South African.

He left a legacy that with hard work and perseverance you can achieve your dream.

Southern Peninsula Classics is a collection of the most wonderful mountain adventures you will have the pleasure of experiencing on the southern Cape Peninsula – from Constantia Nek all the way down to the very tip of Cape Point.

It includes a selection of stunning hikes, from short, gentle ambles, to long, strenuous full day outings and everything between. It even has a two-day hike in the Cape of Good Hope Reserve. There are also a number of exciting scrambles up some of the more rocky areas and peaks, where sometimes a rope may be necessary for protection. And includes some of the more popular caves in the Kalk Bay mountains.

In addition, the book describes some of the easy to moderate rock climbs found along this part of the Table Mountain Chain, which are ideal if you are new to the climbing game and looking for climbs to sharpen your trad experience. Besides the vast selection of hikes, scrambles and climbs, Southern Peninsula Classics is also a treasure trove of tales, facts and historical anecdotes, that will keep you fascinated from page to page.

Whether you are a visitor to the beautiful Cape Peninsula seeking a once-off classic experience, a local who wants to explore the best that the Southern Peninsula has to offer, or someone simply interested in the tales and rich tapestry that surrounds this unique and special peninsula at the tip of Africa, this is a book that should not be missed.

A must-have guide to South Africa’s famously diverse and richly populated parks and reserves.

Stuarts’ Field Guide to National Parks & Nature Reserves of South Africa is an indispensable guide to the country’s best and most accessible conservation areas. Written by two prominent conservationists, this new edition (with slight name change) has been thoroughly revised and updated.

Each of the 43 featured reserves - arranged by province - includes:

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.

A story for men and boys about never coming of age. And for women who want to know why.

Gareth has published half a dozen novels, made a horror film, run a 90 kilometre race in which he bled through his shoes, successfully failed to play right wing for Manchester United, attempted the Olympics at 38, wrestled a ghost, been the spokesperson for a company whose head office exploded, been run over by a Honda, survived two almost plane crashes and is currently filming a superhero TV show.

And yet Gareth’s story is also your story. It’s about the small moments and the big events that make up a life. About the few victories and the many defeats, the adventures and the calamities. The missteps and the madness. From his bumbling days at school, to fumbled encounters with girlfriends and disasters on the sports field and in the office … this is a story for boys and men everywhere. And for women, of course, because contained within these pages are vital clues as to what makes the male mind tick.

This isn’t just Gareth’s story – it’s everyone’s.

Add a twist of humour to South African nostalgia with Hagen Engler's latest offering. Black Twitter, Blitz And A Boerie As Long As Your Leg is a light-hearted, humorous read of multiple entries that can be dipped into at will. Optimistic, topical and definitely tongue-in-cheek, this book could easily be that last-minute gift that you pick up at the airport before you head back to the parental home for the holidays. Not too politically edgy - so as not to offend any sensitive elephants in the room – it draws on the great many things that South Africans do have in common, and that will give us all a moment to agree on something, for a change.

Black Twitter, Blitz And A Boerie As Long As Your Leg lists and celebrates the tiny, subtle aspects of South African life that we all experience but don’t always notice. Engler looks at icons of our shared South Africanness but drills a little deeper to make them more specific, a bit more ridiculous, a bit funnier, and hopefully to induce an excited exclamation from the reader of, “Yoh! That’s so true!” Even if the entry is ostensibly negative, Engler will find a poignant aspect of it that is lovable and help us laugh at ourselves.