From a small town in Mpumalanga to dodging bullets in war-torn hellholes: Al J. Venter, the oldest war correspondent still active, bore witness to some of humanity’s biggest atrocities – and has lived to tell the tale.

In the 1960s, with little money, a sense of adventure and a healthy dollop of chutzpah, Venter set out overland from Cape Town to London. Since then, Venter has reported from 25 conflict zones.

In his memoir, Venter masterfully recounts his experiences.

Oxford Successful Accounting is a trusted Accounting course used by teachers all over South Africa. The rich content fully covers the CAPS, providing learners with a solid foundation for exam success.

Features:

• A wealth and variety of activities, with thorough and detailed worked examples, consolidate knowledge and skills and provide ample practice to ensure exam success.
• All planning tools are fully worked out and photocopiable, which saves time when preparing lessons and ensures correct pacing and progression.
• Assessment guidance and flexible assessment tools allow teachers to adapt the assessment tools to meet specific class needs.
• An exam section with exam tips and practice papers helps learners prepare for formal assessment and exams.

Oxford successful accounting is a trusted accounting course that is used by teachers all over South Africa. The rich content fully covers the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Features: the content is rich, relevant and age appropriate to ensure that learners stay interested throughout the year; topics are structured according to CAPS which makes the course easy to use in the classroom; scaffolded content and concepts provide learners with a solid foundation for exam success; a wealth and variety of activities, with thorough and detailed worked examples, consolidate knowledge and skills, and provide ample practice to ensure success in exams; appropriate language levels make content accessible, build learner confidence and support independent learning and revision; an exam section with exam tips and practice papers helps learners prepare for formal assessment and exams.

Operation Savannah entered the annals of South African military tradition four decades ago. Few are aware of the significant role played during the course of this operation by a fragmented Bushman unit led by one of the most enigmatic personalities to emerge in uniform.

Until now, Colonel Delville Linford has had very little to say about his role as commander of Combat Group Alpha, or of that played by his Bushman soldiers. In this volume he allows us a peek at not only how this tiny combat force operated, but also at many ‘behind the screens’ machinations which explain how the unit was formed.

The world’s oldest still-active war correspondent, Al J. Venter has reported from the front lines for well over half a century, witnessing the horrors humanity visits upon itself in twenty-five conflict zones across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In this memoir, Venter masterfully recounts his experiences, sharing the real stories behind the headlines and the sharp lessons he learned that enabled him to survive his countless exploits, ranging from exposing a major KGB operative in Rhodesia entirely by accident, and accompanying an Israeli force led by Ariel Sharon into Beirut, to gun-running into the United States.

Venter s choice of military events is eclectic. He has four chapters on Afghanistan, three on Somalia, several on how Lisbon fought its desperate rearguard colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea as well as several on the Rhodesian War. These include a tribute to his old friend Ron Reid-Daly, founder-commander of the Selous Scouts, a vivid profile of the RLI Incredibles in a cross-border strike on enemy positions in Mozambique as well as a chapter by Colonel Brian Robinson, longest serving commander of the Rhodesian SAS. Venter also draws heavily on his experiences as a military correspondent for Britain s Jane s Information Group in the Middle East: he accompanied the IDF when it went into Beirut in 1982.Neall Ellis who flew helicopter gunships against the rebels in Sierra Leone and is currently flying support missions in Russian Mi-8s in Afghanistan, Al Venter going into combat with a bunch of South African Parabats in a strike against enemy positions in Angola (where he was subsequently wounded), Mike Hoare s aborted invasion of the Seychelles a quarter of a century ago, an American mercenary in Iraq as well as a United States Navy rescue mission in Somalia are among more than 30 chapters that appear in this new book. The book is illustrated with more than 100 photographs and follows the publication of his earlier military titles "War Dog" (2006) and "Barrel of a Gun" (2010), both published by Casemate in the US and Britain."

On 11 September 2001, a passenger jet slammed into the World Trade Centre in downtown Manhattan, New York. Then another. A third jet crashed into the Pentagon outside Washington D.C. A fourth jet crashed near Pittsburgh. The world came to a standstill. Then a global ripple effect started. What are the ramifications? How do these ripples affect international politics and alliances, global economic trends and corporate business operations across the world? The aim of this book is to stimulate thought about amendments to the global agenda which followed the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The nature of some of these changes are already clear, others are still in the process of unfolding. For those involved in the world of business, this book contains a section on competitive intelligence, strategic thinking, strategic planning and strategic implementation. This text provides decision makers in the business community with a frame of reference, within which measures could be taken to reposition their companies in the aftermath of the attacks. Competitive intelligence, competitive analysis and strategic thinking are, however, also applied to decisions in ordinary, everyday life. This book is therefore aimed at not only the business community, but at everyone who considers these factors as matters of vital importance.

Not everybody is aware that the ships that rounded our coast over the past five centuries are as closely linked to the history of South Africa as gold and diamonds. They were treasures then, they are all treasures today. The difference is that about 3000 ships were lost rounding the Cape of Good Hope, some centuries ago on their way to and from the Spice Islands of the East. It has taken a rare brand of adventurer to discover the undersea locations of many of them and Al Venter and his friends detail their activities. These range from the earliest Portuguese sailing ships to more contemporary disasters like the sinking of the liner Oceanos off the Wild Coast a few decades ago. Venter has been diving for half a century, so he has a story or two of his own to relate. Contributors venture much further afield and chapters on a Roman galley sunk off a Tunisian island, a Portuguese Nao that went down in Mombasa harbour, the tragedy of the Royal Navy troopship HMS Birkenhead where the phrase “women and children first” was first used and left its legacy in the annals of maritime history are included. The first chapter is arguably the most interesting, the discovery in 2013 of the submarine HMS Otus, which lies at 110 metres off Durban. The author also tells us about diving on an old ship, a former Royal Navy Loch Class frigate, the SAS Transvaal. She now lies on the bottom of False Bay. This book covers scores of shipwrecks – East Indiamen, warships from before and after the Napoleonic era, nineteenth-century steamships, trawlers, some modern freighters that courted disaster, whalers and a handful that has never been properly identified.

Al Venter regards himself an African – a ‘white’ African, but as much a part of the fascinating and often troubled continent on which he was born as his Zulu and Swahili speaking contemporaries. There is no country in Africa that he has not visited. During his half-century career as a foreign correspondent, working for media outlets on four continents, he has given his version of unfolding events from many of them, for, inter alia, Britain’s Jane’s Information Group, the Daily Express and Daily Mail of London, United Press International, Geneva’s Interavia, the BBC, SABC, NBC (radio), as well as scores of magazines. His love for Africa stems in part from his childhood. At the age of 14 - while on vacation in what was then still Northern Rhodesia - he hitched-hiked back to boarding school in Johannesburg in a race with his schoolmates who travelled by train. And he won. Seven years later, after completing three-years in the navy, he explored East Africa and ended up in Mombasa in Kenya and cadged a lift on a freighter to Canada. Then, after qualifying professionally in London, he travelled overland through West Africa all the way to London. Along the way he met many notables – including Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and the man who hosted Graham Greene at his derelict hotel in Liberia – then all but an American colony, where the ‘greenback’ was the official currency – as well as the great Dr Albert Schweitzer. The author spent a week at his jungle clinic at Lambarane in Gabon.Venter includes many of these adventures in this new book. He also delves into some of his military adventures and has invited several of his old colleagues to add some of their thoughts to this bundle of travel, adventure and excitement to create a remarkable insight to a continent that, though briefly ‘tamed’ by Europe, was never really subjugated. In that anomaly too, there lies many a stirring yarn.

Portugal fought a bush war in Mozambique - one of the most beautiful countries in the world - for over a decade. The small European nation was ranged against formidable odds and in the end was unable to muster the resources required to effectively take on the might of the Soviet Union and its collaborators - every single communist country on the planet and almost all of sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, Al Venter argues, Portugal did not actually lose the war, and indeed fought in difficult terrain with a good degree of success over an extended period. It was radical domestic politics that heralded the end. Mozambique is once again embroiled in a guerrilla war, this time against a large force of Islamic militants, many from Somalia and some Arab countries, and unequivocally backed by Islamic State and the lessons of Mozambique's bush war are still relevant today.

Mercenaries have been a part warfare for centuries, and though the names have changed, continue to play a part in global military conflicts. In today's world these 'soldiers for hire' are an attractive alternative when Western governments are reluctant to put their militaries at risk for obscure causes that would otherwise be difficult to explain to their electorates. In this book noted author and foreign correspondent Al J. Venter provides a fascinating look at modern merc actions in the Middle East and Africa. From brushfire wars in the Congo to outright genocides in Biafra, highly skilled mercenaries were called upon to fight for order, and also for a living. Whether facing fanatics in Somalia or revolutionaries in Rhodesia, staving off cannibals in Sierra Leone or assisting a civil war in Angola the mercs put their lives on the line for a cause. Many mercenaries freelanced, but under talented freebooting leaders some groups became crack outfits. South Africa's executive outcomes became a legend in its own time like a quasi military itself, as it dispatched fighters throughout the continent. Like an ad hoc Foreign Legion, fighters came from around the globe to participate in combat. In the US, the publisher of Soldier of fortune magazine organized repeated expeditions, from Laos to Peru. In Afghanistan the renowned helicopter gunship pilot 'Nellis' has recently lent his skills after almost singlehandedly defeating gruesome insurgencies in Africa. In this book Venter, who was actively involved in the direction and production of segments of the TV series Mercenaries, provides both background to this unique class of warriors, and a fascinating look at their methods and actions.

Al Venter has been free-diving (without cages) with sharks for 40 years and has had three of his friends killed by them. The international author known for his war writing now turns his efforts on highlighting their importance to the world s ocean ecosytems.He regards the shark as one our greatest oceanic assets: remove the shark from the maritime environment and an ecological disaster will follow. For decades, the waters around South Africa have had more sharks and a greater variety of these predators than any other coastline in the world. There are several reasons, one being the annual sardine run up the east coast. The sharks draw many South Africans and others from around the world, among them Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and King Abdullah of Jordan. Working with specialist divers and friends, as well as world-class photographers, Venter has created a book on sharks that is not only instructive but also breathtakingly beautiful and fascinating. Photographers who submitted work for publication include Fiona Ayerst, Morne Hardenberg and the diminutive shark warrior Lesley Rochat."

At a time when international terrorism is the focal point of our concerns, a far more pressing threat has arisen to the balance of power in the world and ultimately to the security of our country. Since the Islamic Republic of Iran admitted, just two years ago, that it was secretly producing highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium, leading nations have struggled to react in an appropriate manner. In this book, the U.S. public is able to learn, in full detail and for the first time, exactly what the Europeans and UN have been trying to forestall.

In Iran we see a country, located at the center of the Middle East, which could very shortly have the ability to strike its immediate neighbors and nations farther away with nuclear weapons. With the innate size to dominate its region, Iran is also a country with an avowed mission to export it's theocratic principles, and a nation which has, over the past 25 years, been a notorious supporter of terrorist organizations. Its parallel development of atomic bombs comprises the greatest threat that we have seen in the new millennium.

In Iran's Nuclear Option, defense expert Al J. Venter details the extent to which Iran's weapons program has developed, and the clandestine manner in which its nuclear technology has been acquired. He demonstrates how Tehran has violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and details the involvement of several countries who have been shown by the IAEA to have trafficked in illegal nuclear materials. He proves, for the first time, a direct link between the now-defunct South African apartheid regime's nuclear program and Tehran's current nuclear ambitions.

Venter digs deep into ancillary subjects, such as Iran'sfervor on behalf of Shiite Islam, its missile program-developed alongside its nuclear one-and the role of the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards), whose tentacles have spread throughout the Middle East and increasingly further afield. While noting Tehran's support of terrorist groups such as Hizbollah, Venter follows closely how the Persian homeland itself has progressed toward a strategic nuclear capability that would make recent terrorist attacks look obsolete.

Iran's Nuclear Option is essential reading for anyone with an interest in global security and the perilous volatility of the Middle East. It also comprises an indicator for America's own options, should it be willing to counter the threat while time remains, in favor of world peace rather than greater global instability.

REVIEWS

"the place to turn for technical details and footnoted references...offers the most systematic exposition to date about Iran's nuclear program and its role in world affairs..." Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2006

.,."of great interest to anyone watching the current nuclear proliferation problem..."Parameters, Spring 2006

.,."a chilling insight into the scope and sophistication of Iran's concerted, multi-decade quest for the atomic bomb... a sobering blow by blow account of how Tehran managed diplomatically to stall, mislead and confound the IAEA..."The National Interest 06/2005

"an outstanding survey of the threats the present Iranian regime poses to the world. One of this books great strengths is how carefully Venter documents Iran's efforts to obtain parts and personnel for weapons building....shows clearly and convincingly why stopping Iran's nuclear program is a cardinal interest notonly for any particular state, but for humanity as a whole."Jerusalem Political Studies Review, Fall 2005

Oxford Successful Accounting is a trusted Accounting course that is used by teachers all over South Africa. The rich content fully covers the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Features: all planning tools are fully worked out and photocopiable, which saves time when preparing lessons and ensures correct pacing and progression; assessment guidance and flexible assessment tools allow teachers to adapt the assessment tools to meet specific class needs.

A former South African Air Force pilot who saw action throughout the region from the 1970s on, Neall Ellis is the best-known mercenary combat aviator alive. He started flying Alouette helicopter gunships in Angola, and for the past two years, as a “civilian contractor,” Ellis has been flying helicopter support missions in Afghanistan, where, he reckons, he has had more close shaves than in his entire previous four-decades put together. He saw action all over world. After Angola he has fought in the Balkan War (for Islamic forces), tried to resuscitate Mobutu’s ailing air force during his final days ruling the Congo, flew Mi-8s for Executive Outcomes, and thereafter an Mi-8 fondly dubbed 'Bokkie' for Colonel Tim Spicer in Sierra Leone. Finally, with a pair of aging Mi-24 Hinds, Ellis ran the Air Wing out of Aberdeen Barracks in the war against Sankoh's vicious RUF rebels. Twice, single-handedly (and without a copilot), he turned the enemy back from the gates of Freetown, effectively preventing the rebels from overrunning Sierra Leone’s capital - once in the middle of the night without the benefit of night vision goggles. Nellis (as his friends call him) was also the first mercenary to work hand-in-glove with British ground and air assets in a modern guerrilla war. In Sierra Leone, Ellis' Mi-24 (“it leaked when it rained”) played a seminal role in rescuing the 11 British soldiers who had been taken hostage by the so-called West Side Boys. He also used his helicopter numerous times to fly SAS personnel on low-level reconnaissance missions into the interior of the diamond-rich country, for the simple reason that no other pilot knew the country - and the enemy - better than he did.

Oxford suksesvolle rekeningkunde is 'n rekeningkundekursus wat deur onderwysers regdeur Suid-Afrika vertrou en gebruik word. Die ryk inhoud dek die Nasionale Kurrikulum- en Assesseringsbeleidverklaring (KABV) ten volle. Kenmerke: alle beplanningshulpmiddels is volledig uitgewerk en fotokopieerbaar, wat onderwysers tyd spaar wanneer hulle lesse voorberei en die korrekte tempo en progressie verseker; assesseringsriglyne en buigsame assesseringshulpmiddels stel onderwysers in staat om die assesseringshulpmiddels aan te pas om aan die spesifieke behoeftes van die klas te voldoen.

Following the publication of Al Venter's successful Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa - shortlisted by the New York Military Affairs Symposium's Arthur Goodzeit Book Award for 2013 - he delves still further into the troubled history of this former Portuguese African colony. For the sake of continuity, the author has included several chapters on that colonial struggle in this work, with the main thrust on events before and after - including the civil war that followed Lisbon's over-hasty departure back to the metropole, as well as the role of South African mercenaries in defeating the rebel leader Dr Jonas Savimbi (considered by some as the most accomplished guerrilla leader to emerge in Africa in the past century). He is helped by several notable authorities, including the French historian Dr Rene Pelissier and the American academic and former naval aviator Dr John (Jack) Cann. With their assistance, he covers several ancillary uprisings and invasions, including the Herero revolt of the early 20th century; the equally-troubled Ovambo insurrection, as well as the invasion of Angola by the Imperial German Army in the First World War. An important section deals with the South African Border War, because without Angola, that would never have happened - nor 'Operation Savannah' and the invasion of Angola from the south. Finally, the role of the Cuban Revolutionary Army receives the attention it deserves.

"I Think I Need to Talk to a Doctor" tells author Jason Ventre's life story-so far anyway. He shares his history for many reasons, but chief among them is the need to explain his life experiences so that others may try to avoid having them. Diagnosed with bipolar syndrome, he talks honestly about the repercussions of his decisions-mostly bad ones, when considered on a scale from moderate to devastating. He still deals with repercussions from those choices on a daily basis.

From describing the funny challenges of childhood and trying to figure out what mattered and what didn't to recalling his failed relationships, Ventre paints an honest picture of a boy who was just different. Rather than trying to change who he was, he just went with whatever he felt-with unforgettable results. Now he takes those results and unapologetically turns them into lessons. Ventre reminds us that we all have pasts full of mistakes; although it might be a great thought to say that we can learn from our past, history has shown us that we're more likely to just "think" that we've learned from our mistakes as we continue to make them.

"I Think I Need to Talk to a Doctor" shows that sometimes laughing at our irrational decisions might be the only way to grow from them and hopefully teach others not to travel down the same road of lost maturity.

"I Think I Need to Talk to a Doctor" tells author Jason Ventre's life story-so far anyway. He shares his history for many reasons, but chief among them is the need to explain his life experiences so that others may try to avoid having them. Diagnosed with bipolar syndrome, he talks honestly about the repercussions of his decisions-mostly bad ones, when considered on a scale from moderate to devastating. He still deals with repercussions from those choices on a daily basis.

From describing the funny challenges of childhood and trying to figure out what mattered and what didn't to recalling his failed relationships, Ventre paints an honest picture of a boy who was just different. Rather than trying to change who he was, he just went with whatever he felt-with unforgettable results. Now he takes those results and unapologetically turns them into lessons. Ventre reminds us that we all have pasts full of mistakes; although it might be a great thought to say that we can learn from our past, history has shown us that we're more likely to just "think" that we've learned from our mistakes as we continue to make them.

"I Think I Need to Talk to a Doctor" shows that sometimes laughing at our irrational decisions might be the only way to grow from them and hopefully teach others not to travel down the same road of lost maturity.

Almost half a century has passed since the Nigerian Civil War ended. But memories die hard, because a million or more people perished in that internecine struggle, the majority women and children, who were starved to death. Biafra's war was modern Africa's first extended conflict. It lasted almost three years and was based largely on ethnic, by inference, tribal grounds. It involved, on the one side, a largely Christian or animist south-eastern quadrant of Nigeria which called itself Biafra, pitted militarily against the country's more populous and preponderant Islamic north. These divisions - almost always brutal - persist. Not a week goes by without reports coming in of Christian communities or individuals persecuted by Islamic zealots. It was also a conflict that saw significant Cold War involvement: the Soviets (and Britain) siding and supplying Federal Nigeria with weapons, aircraft and expertise and several Western states - Portugal, South Africa and France especially - providing clandestine help to the rebel state. For that reason alone, this book is an important contribution towards understanding Nigeria's ethnic divisions, which are no better today than they were then. Biafra was the first of a series of religious wars that threaten to engulf much of Africa. Similar conflicts have recently taken place in the Ivory Coast, Kenya, Southern Sudan, the Central African Republic, Senegal (Cassamance), both Congo Republics and elsewhere. As the war progressed, Biafra also attracted mercenary involvement, many of whom arriving from the Congo which had already seen much turmoil. Western pilots were hired by Lagos and they flew the first Soviet MiG-17 jet fighters to have played an active role in a 'Western' war. Al Venter spent time covering this struggle. He left the rebel enclave in December 1969, only weeks before it ended and claims the distinction of being the only foreign correspondent to have been rocketed by both sides: first by Biafra's tiny Swedish-built Minicon fighter planes while he was on a ship lying at anchor in Warri harbour and thereafter, by MiG jets flown by mercenaries. Among his colleagues inside the beleaguered territory were the celebrated Italian photographer Romano Cagnoni as well as Frederick Forsyth who originally reported for the BBC and then resigned because of the partisan, pro-Nigerian stance taken by Whitehall. He briefly shared quarters with French photographer Giles Caron who was later killed in Cambodia. Prior to that Venter had been working for John Holt in Lagos. It is interesting that his office at the time was at Ikeja International Airport (Murtala Muhammed today) where the second Nigerian army mutiny was plotted and from where it was launched. From this perspective he had a proverbial 'ringside seat' of the tribal divisions that followed as hostilities escalated. Venter took numerous photos while on this West African assignment, both in Nigeria while he was based there and later in Biafra itself. Others come from various sources, including some from the same mercenary pilots who originally targeted him from the air.

One of the great tragedies of Africa is not only the fact that a million people-mostly civilians and a large proportion of them children-died in one of Africa's first post-independence wars, but that until it happened the world thought Nigeria was immune from the wasting disease of tribalism. It certainly was not because the Biafran War is still the most expansive tribal conflagration that the continent has experienced-barring perhaps the ongoing Great Lakes conflict-involving the forces of East and West, only this time, with the British siding with the Soviets. Worse, some of the religious differences that emerged before and after that dreadful carnage are still with us today. During the course of hostilities that lasted almost four years, a lot of other shortcomings surfaced in Africa's most populous nation, including the kind of corruption that, until then, had always been linked to countries rich in oil. Disunity, incompetence and instability-from which Nigeria never really recovered-also emerged. Two bloody army coups followed after the rebels capitulated, together with an appalling series of massacres, mostly of southern Christians by Muslim northerners. Half a century later the slaughter continues.