Book picks similar to
The Last Words of Rowan du Preez: Murder and Conspiracy on the Cape Flats by Simone Haysom
africa
general-interest
politics
read-e-books
The Profiler Diaries: From the case files of a police psychologist
Gérard Labuschagne - 2020
My Own Liberator: A Memoir
Dikgang Moseneke - 2016
In tracing his ancestry, the influence on both his maternal and paternal sides is evident in the values they imbued in their children – the importance of family, the value of hard work and education, an uncompromising moral code, compassion for those less fortunate and unflinching refusal to accept an unjust political regime or acknowledge its oppressive laws. As a young activist in the Pan-Africanist Congress, at the tender age of fifteen, Moseneke was arrested, detained and, in 1963, sentenced to ten years on Robben Island for participating in anti-apartheid activities. Physical incarceration, harsh conditions and inhumane treatment could not imprison the political prisoners’ minds, however, and for many the Island became a school not only in politics but an opportunity for dedicated study, formal and informal. It set the young Moseneke on a path towards a law degree that would provide the bedrock for a long and fruitful legal career and see him serve his country in the highest court. My Own Liberator charts Moseneke’s rise as one of the country’s top legal minds, who not only helped to draft the interim constitution, but for fifteen years acted as a guardian of that constitution for all South Africans, helping to make it a living document for the country and its people. “This memoir is a fascinating account of the formation of the cadres who would have the responsibility both to help liberate our country and attend to its reconstruction and development.” Thabo Mbeki
Footprints Of Lion
Beverley Harper - 2004
At stake: possession of a land rich in gold, diamonds and cheap human resources.Atrocities of the Anglo-Boer war take a terrible toll on soldiers and civilians alike. Lorna fears for her husband and sons - extrovert Cameron; brooding and secretive Torben; roguish Duncan; and Frazer, the youngest, softly spoken and artistic. She worries for her daughters - medically minded Ellie, who is never far from the front line, and headstrong Meggie, baby of the family. None are left untouched.From battlefields stained with blood and concentration camps rife with disease, to a pride of veldt lions thriving in the madness of war, Footprints of Lion is an action-packed sequel to Shadows in the Grass. Love, hate, revenge, triumph and much more stalk the pages of this unforgettable novel from Beverley Harper.
The Boy from the Wild
Peter Meyer - 2017
Peter Meyer grew up on an African game reserve. His idyllic childhood was spent running wild in the bush with Zulu friends and other free spirits. His adventures in the wilderness honed his character, nurtured by an inspirational father who taught him to believe that everything is possible. Before he had turned eight he had survived Rhino attacks, close encounters with Buffalo and Wildebeest — and the terror of twice being bitten by snakes. His pets were a baby Elephant, Warthogs and an Ostrich that frequented his backyard. He lived in a world where beauty was tempered by daily struggles for survival. He discovered that the reality of the bush is often heart-breaking, such as when an Nyala doe that he had hand-reared was taken by predators. He learned through first-hand experience that the cycle of life on Africa’s feral outbacks can be as unforgiving as it is magnificent. These were the key lessons from the wilds of Africa that he took with him when his family left the continent; from school days in England where his tough upbringing resulted in being a top sportsman, to studying at an exclusive Swiss hotel school and becoming one of the youngest directors in the Hilton group, managing exotic resorts in Jamaica and the Middle East. He was on top of the world when everything came crashing down due to tragedy. Drawing on resilience learned in the African bush, he started to rebuild his life, becoming an actor and model, clawing his way up in one of the most critically demanding industries in the world. This is an inspiring true story of living the dream — a dream nurtured by the freedom and self-reliance of growing up wild in Africa.
Happiness is a four-letter word
Cynthia Jele - 2010
Suddenly, no amount of cocktails can cure the stress that simultaneously unsettles their lives. Nandi’s final wedding arrangements are nearly in place so why is she feeling on edge? Zaza, the “trophy wife”, waits for the day her affair comes to light and her husband gives her a one-way ticket back to the township. Tumi has only one wish to complete her perfect life – a child. But when her wish is granted, it’s not exactly how she pictured it. And Princess? For the first time ever, she has fallen in love – with Leo, a painter who seems to press all the right buttons. But soon she discovers – like her friends already have – that life is not a bed of roses, and happiness never comes with a manual . . .
Nowhere
Roger Smith - 2016
A dark tale of fate, revenge and violence in a country where wrong is the new right.When the president of South Africa murders his wife in a fit of drunken rage he charges his most trusted henchman, the bloodthirsty Steve Bungu, with orchestrating a cover-up that pivots on blackmailing Joe Louw, a retired cop of impeccable ethics, to mount a fake investigation that'll clear the crooked head of state.In a seemingly unconnected case, Investigator Disaster Zondi (Mixed Blood, Dust Devils) who, because of his criticism of the corrupt post-apartheid regime, has been banished to the fringes of law enforcement, is given the thankless task of traveling to the remote Kalahari Desert to arrest Magnus Kruger, a notorious white supremacist who rules over an Afrikaner-only enclave, for the slaying of a young black man.As Louw and Zondi peel away layers of lies, hatred and festering secrets they reveal the connections that bind them, connections that reach back deep into the nightmare of South Africa's apartheid past.
The Touch of Innocents
Michael Dobbs - 1994
A gripping thriller from the author of the Goodfellowe Series.
No Longer Whispering to Power
Thandeka Gqubule - 2017
In her final days in office she compiled the explosive State Capture report and, before that, the report on President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla residence. Praised and vilified in equal measures, Madonsela has frequently found herself at centre stage in the increasingly fractious South African political scene.Yet, despite the intense media scrutiny, Madonsela remains something of an enigma. Who is this soft-spoken woman who stood up to state corruption? Where did she develop her views and resolve? This book attempts to answer these questions, and others, by exploring many aspects of Madonsela's life: her childhood years and family, her involvement in student politics, her contribution to the constitution, her life in law.Madonsela once described her role as Public Protector as being akin to that of the Venda traditional spiritual female leader, the Makhadzi, who whispers truth to the ruler. When the sounds of the exchanges between the ruler and the Makhadzi grow loud, Madonsela said, that is when the whispering has failed.No Longer Whispering to Power is about Thuli Madonsela's tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper grew into a cry. It is the story of the South African people's attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector. More significantly, this important book stands as a record of the crucial work
The Lost Boys of Bird Island: A shocking exposé from within the heart of the NP government
Mark Minnie - 2018
Serious allegations surface against three prominent National Party cabinet ministers, one of them the second-most powerful man in the country. They are, it is said, regularly abusing young boys on an island just off the coast of Port Elizabeth. From opposite ends of South Africa, a brave cop and a driven journalist investigate. Mark Minnie and Chris Steyn independently uncover evidence of a dark secret. But the case only surfaces briefly before it disappears completely. Thirty years later, the two finally connect the dots to expose this shocking story of criminality, cover-ups and official complicity in the rape and possible murder of children, most of them vulnerable and black.
491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela - 2013
Rounded up in a group of other anti-apartheid activists under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, designed for the security police to hold and interrogate people for as long as they wanted, she was taken away. She had no idea where they were taking her or what would happen to her children. For Winnie Mandela this was the start of a 491-day period of detention and two trials. Forty-one years after Winnie’s release on 14 September 1970, Greta Soggot, the widow of David Soggot, one of Winnie Mandela’s advocates during the 1969–70 trials, handed her a stack of papers that included a journal and notes that she had written in detention. Their arrival brought back vivid and horrifying memories and uncovered a unique and personal slice of South Africa’s history. 491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69 shares with the world Winnie Mandela’s moving and compelling journal as well as some of the letters written between affected parties at the time, including Winnie and Nelson Mandela, who by then had been in prison for nearly seven years. Readers gain insight into the brutality she experienced, her depths of despair as well as her resilience and defiance under extreme pressure. This young wife and mother emerged after 491 days in detention unbowed and determined to continue the struggle for freedom.
Khwezi: The remarkable story of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo
Redi Tlhabi - 2017
Another nail was driven into the coffin of South Africa's fight against sexual violence. Vilified by Zuma's many supporters, Khwezi was forced to flee South Africa and make a life in the shadows, first in Europe and then back on the African continent.A decade after Zuma's acquittal, Khwezi died. But not before she had slipped back into South Africa and started work with journalist Redi Tlhabi on a book about her life. About how, as a young girl living in exile in ANC camps, she was raped by the 'uncles' who were supposed to protect her. About her great love for her father, Judson Kuzwayo, an ANC activist who died when Khwezi was almost ten. And about how, as a young adult, she was driven once again into exile, suffering not only at the hands of Zuma’s devotees but under the harsh eye of the media.In sensitive and considered language, Red Tlhabi breathes life into a woman for so long forced to live in hiding. In telling the story of Khwezi, Tlhabi draws attention to the sexual abuse that abounded during the struggle years, abuse that continues to plague women and children in South Africa today.
An Island
Karen Jennings
He tends to his garden, his lighthouse, and his chickens, content with a solitary life. Routinely, the nameless bodies of refugees wash ashore, but Samuel--who understands that the government only values certain lives, certain deaths--always buries them himself.One day, though, he finds that one of these bodies is still breathing. As he nurses the stranger back to life, Samuel--feeling strangely threatened--is soon swept up in memories of his former life as a political prisoner on the mainland. This was a life that saw his country exploited under colonial rule, followed by a period of revolution and a brief, hard-won independence--only for the cycle of suffering to continue under a cruel dictator. And he can't help but recall his own shameful role in that history. In this stranger's presence, he begins to consider, as he did in his youth: What does it mean to own land, or to belong to it? And what does it cost to have, and lose, a home?A timeless and gripping portrait of regret, terror, and the extraordinary stakes of companionship, An Island is a story as page-turning as it is profound.
Brad Thor Collectors' Edition #4: The Athena Project / Full Black / Black List
Brad Thor - 2012
Follow counterterrorism operative and ex-SEAL Scot Harvath’s action-packed exploits, and discover why Brad Thor has been called “America’s favorite author” (KKTX). The Athena Project When a terrorist attack in Rome kills more than twenty Americans, four of Delta Force’s best and brightest women—part of a top-secret program codenamed the Athena Project—are tasked with hunting down a Venetian arms dealer. But as team members Gretchen Casey, Julie Ericsson, Megan Rhodes, and Alex Cooper close in on their target, the deadly assignment unearths a grisly discovery in the jungles of South America...and a foreign spy penetrating a mysterious secret hidden in the American West. With an unthinkable second attack already set in motion, the women of the Athena Project race to uncover the greatest of threats: the secrets kept by their own government.
Full Black
Born in the shadows and kept from heads of state, some missions are so deadly, so sensitive, that they simply don’t exist. When one such mission goes horribly wrong, only former Navy SEAL Team 6 member turned covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath can carry out an audacious plan to prevent the United States from facing complete and total collapse. But as the identities of the perpetrators are laid bare, Harvath will be left with only one means to save America. Unable to trust anyone, he will be forced to go full black.
Black List
Somewhere…deep inside the United States government is a closely guarded list. Once your name is on the list, it doesn’t come off…until you’re dead. Someone…has just added counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath’s name. Somehow…Harvath must evade assassination long enough to untangle who has targeted him and why. Somewhere, someone, somehow…can put all the pieces together. But Harvath must get to that person before the United States suffers the most withering terrorist attack ever conceived.
How Long Will South Africa Survive?: The Looming Crisis
R.W. Johnson - 2015
Now, after more than twenty years of ANC rule, he believes the situation has become so critical that the question must be posed again. He moves from an analysis of Jacob Zuma's rule to the increasingly dire state of the South African economy, concluding that the country is heading towards a likely International Monetary Fund bail-out which will in turn lead to a regime change of some kind. Johnson's analysis is strikingly original and cogently argued. He has for several decades now been a senior international commentator on South African affairs, known for his lucid analysis and complete lack of deference towards the conventional wisdom. He writes without fear or favour. This is a book for every South African.
Term Limits
Steve Powell - 2018
Having been a press officer for a US Senator for a number of years, I’ve had a front row seat to the inter workings of Capital Hill. To my mind, Powell has masterfully combined the timeliness of today’s political intrigue with a gripping detective story/who-done-it. By bringing the mind-boggling swirling mess that is Washington politics down to the level of one family’s pain he held me glued to the page."What I found particularly remarkable was how easily I found myself sympathizing with the ‘villain’, and how well-crafted and human was Powell’s plea that we need to finally bring common sense back to our government and its approaches to critical problems facing the country and the world."A deceptively easy read — given its thunderous message. Term Limits should be require reading for every new politician heading to Washington."Murder – week after week, month after month, across the country. Pushed beyond his limits, one man takes on the establishment, the gun lobby, and corruption at the highest levels. To break the power of entrenched elites, he leads the nation on a grisly hunt. He’s hunting them. And they’re hunting him. One side will have to blink. In the meantime, people are dying. Term Limits is a thriller from the front pages of our newspapers. It couldn’t be more topical.