It delves into the essence of black family life and the secret anguish of family members who often battle to cope.’ – Niq MhlongoA secret torment for some, a proud responsibility for others, ‘black tax’ is a daily reality for thousands of black South Africans. In this thought-provoking and moving anthology, a provocative range of voices share their deeply personal stories.With the majority of black South Africans still living in poverty today, many black middle-class households are connected to working-class or jobless homes. Some believe supporting family members is an undeniable part of African culture and question whether it should even be labelled as a kind of tax.Others point to the financial pressure it places on black students and professionals, who, as a consequence, struggle to build their own wealth. Many feel they are taking over what is essentially a government responsibility.The contributions also investigate the historical roots of black tax, the concept of the black family and the black middle class.In giving voice to so many different perspectives, Black Tax hopes to start a dialogue on this widespread social phenomenon.

    Ben will stop at nothing to save his son, but what awaits him is an evil, more dangerous and insidious than he could have ever anticipated. Into the Lion’s Den is a fast-paced action thriller, a compelling saga of the love of family and the indomitable will to survive in the face of an implacable malevolence.

    Her long dark auburn hair cascaded over her shoulders and her pale, attractive face, wide set eyes and full sensuous lips took his breath away. Robert could not help staring at her in frank amazement. He found it difficult to equate this alluring woman with the tall, awkward girl he vaguely remembered while a young boy at Fairlee Manor in Scotland.* * *Action, adventure and erotic entanglements loom large in young Robert Hamilton’s future as he seeks to make his fortune in the rough and tumble world of the Johannesburg goldfields in the closing years of the nineteenth century.Robert’s business interests and adventures in the wilds of South Africa, bring him into close contact with the Boer peoples of the Transvaal Republic. As the threat of a British invasion looms large over the country, his support for the Boer cause finds him on the opposing side to his fellow uitlanders – foreigners. He is dismayed to discover that both of his brothers have enlisted in Canadian regiments ready to fight on the side of Britain in the Anglo-Boer War.

    Raised by the dragons, she was born to become the magical Earth Queen, the only one who can stop the Sea Queen’s mad plan to drown everything in existence. But there’s one problem: Vahly possesses no magic whatsoever. The oceans begin to rise, limiting the dragons’ hunting grounds and fouling their water supply, endangering their very home. Vahly can’t let the dragons she calls family die under the Sea Queen’s magic, so as a last hope, she journeys to a legendary arcane library in search of answers. When she discovers an ancient scroll about a ritual conducted deep in the homeland of the elves, she gathers her dragon allies to find the king of that great, forest-dwelling race.Before she reaches that kingdom, she finds a handsome elven royal cloaked in dark magic, twisted and powerful. Arcturus. His memory has holes he can’t explain, and when they learn his king is in league with the Sea Queen, Vahly and Arcturus must band together to defeat the elven king and to gain access to the secrets of Vahly’s unique magic before the ocean swallows the dragons’ homeland.Download the complete set of the Dragons Rising series today and enjoy reading about thrilling dragons, mysterious elves, exciting gryphons, sword and sorcery, and a nice dose of humor and romance!***written in the same world as Enchanting the Elven Mage, Kingdoms of Lore Book One, but readers can begin with this series

    But that's about to change. By 2025 spending by African consumers and businesses will exceed $5 trillion, and by 2035 Africa will have the world's largest urban population and a workforce larger than China's or India's. That points to exciting opportunities for global and Africa-based companies looking to access new growth markets--and to build large, profitable businesses in sectors ranging from resources to manufacturing to services. Their momentum will be fuelled by Africa's young and fast-growing population and by the rapid adoption of technology across the continent. But Africa's business environment remains poorly understood and known to many executives in the West only by its reputation for complexity, contradiction, and corruption.Africa's Business Revolution provides the inside story on business in Africa and its future growth prospects, and helps executives understand and seize the opportunities for building profitable, sustainable businesses. The authors--Acha Leke, Mutsa Chironga, and Georges Desvaux--are senior leaders in McKinsey's African offices and draw on in-depth proprietary research by the McKinsey Global Institute as well as their own extensive experience advising corporate and government leaders across Africa. Brimming with company case studies and exclusive interviews with some of Africa's most prominent executives, this book comes to life with the vibrant stories of those who have navigated the many twists and turns on the road to building successful businesses on the continent.Combining an unrivalled fact base with expert advice on shaping and executing an Africa growth strategy, this book is required reading for global business executives wanting to expand their existing operations in Africa--and for those seeking a road map to access this vast, untapped market for the first time.

    The story that he tells, nearly 40 years later, is of his early days at home and in school, brought up in a strict mission household and conflicting with his father.

    

    The middle-class pair become victims of the same brutal violence that the poor and powerless suffer.

    Many of the characters here have a relationship of sorts with the US, be it the refugee children who dream of being adopted by US parents or the mother who writes to her son who has emigrated to the US asking why his Western Union payments to her have dried up.He casts a pitiless eye on Nigeria: brutally artless on the commodification of women and young girls in much of Nigerian society, the wastrel dreams of many of its young men, and the savagery of the police force.

    My older sister Fikile’s last breath before she dies is nothing of the sort. There is no rattling noise at the back of her throat. No relentless twitching. No clinging to life. Fikile dies with no more fuss than a switch of a light bulb.” With her sister, Fikile, dead from breast cancer, her father long gone, her mother emerging from years of slumber, and her younger brother, Mbuso, consumed with rage that refuses to settle, Anele Mabuza has no choice but to collect herself and grow up. Or does she? Because, if truth be told, she has not signed up to be her family's caretaker. Surely her dreams are valid? The Ones with Purpose is a remarkable story of family, disappointment, sacrifice, forgiveness, and love.

    Wish You Were Here A routine trip to the vet begins a wild adventure when Suzy Maycomber and her cat, Snowball, take a shortcut through the cemetery and find themselves in the mystical land of Nightshade, where magic exists and cats talk. Only the librarian, Rachel, the most powerful witch in Nightshade, can help Suzy get home. One big problem: Rachel's just been murdered. Desperate to find her way home, Suzy reluctantly agrees to take Rachel’s place as Nightshade’s resident witch, where she’ll have access to the spell books that might hold the answers she needs. But her search for the truth draws Suzy ever deeper into danger. There is someone – or something – in Nightshade that doesn’t want Suzy to get home. Rachel’s murderer is prepared to kill again – and Suzy may be next. If Suzy wants to get home, she’ll have to learn to be a witch first. 2. Witch Spells Trouble Just when Suzy Maycomber is getting settled at the Academy in Hemlock, trouble strikes again. Suzy discovers one of her classmates murdered in the basement of the school, and the only witness is a ghost that speaks in riddles and rhymes. Determined to unmask the killer, Suzy enlists the help of Snowball and Alfie... but something doesn't feel right. The toil and trouble doubles when almost everyone in Hemlock begins acting differently, including Alfie. Can Suzy cast her way out of another case of murder, mystery, and mayhem or will whatever is taking over the town get her too? 3. Stone Cold Witch After a werewolf is found dead in the woods after having been turned to stone, the entire town of Nightshade is on edge. At a werewolf wedding that Suzy and Snowball are invited to, a second werewolf is targeted. However, the second murder is vastly different from the first, leaving local authorities confused about a possible motive. Is the killer targeting werewolves? Or, is there more than one killer? Trouble seems to follow Suzy, but she promises to help solve this new mystery. Along with her friend Red Sumac, they head to the town of Safe Haven – home of the world’s greatest experts on stone - gargoyles. However, while in Safe Haven, Suzy discovers a truth about her past that will change everything. Can Suzy and her friends bring the killer to justice? And, can Suzy do it all while juggling the female vampire in town who has her cold, dead heart, set on winning over Val? 4. Life's A Witch After a spate of gargoyle murders, Suzy Maycomber finds herself running out of time to catch the culprit and save her friend, Red Sumac, who has been framed for the murders. Gargoyles daring to seek better lives for themselves has caused the cult group, the Anti-Masons, to re-emerge and target them. As the granddaughter of one of the world’s most notorious Anti-Masons’, Suzy’s friend, Red Sumac, is automatically under suspicion of murderous activity in Hemlock. Join Suzy and friends as they go deep under cover as Anti-Masons to discover the truth, while endangering their own lives. Will they succeed or will Red Sumac be doomed to spend the rest of her days in a witch’s prison? 5.

    Even more exciting, each of these stories will spin off into a series of its own. Maggie Shayne’s CHRISTMAS BLUESA true believer returns the music to a lonesome drifter’s soul.Miranda’s Shayne’s FINDING CHRISTMASA small-town coffee shop owner melts a humbug hero’s wounded heart.River Shayne’s A HERO FOR HANNAHCan a woman in grave danger learn to trust one more time?Jessica Lewis’s THE SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS BABYA lonely serviceman comes home for a holiday he’ll never forget.Grab a cup of eggnog, curl up near the tree, and fall in love with the holidays all over again!

    But for a one small boy in the leafy northern suburbs of Johannesburg ... his beloved housekeeper is serving fish fingers for lunch.This is the tale of Hamish Charles Sutherland Fraser – chorister, horse rider, schoolboy actor and, in his dreams, 1st XV rugby star and young ladies’ delight. A boy who climbs trees in the spring and who loves a girl named Reggie.An odd child growing up in a conflicted, scary, beautiful society.A young South African who hasn’t learnt the rules.

    Even though apartheid itself had no virtue, the author, himself a young black man who spent his childhood under apartheid, insists that it was not a vast moral desert in the lives of those living in townships. In this deep meditation on the experiences of those who lived through apartheid, it points out that despite the poverty and crime, there was still art, literature, music, and morals that, when combined, determined the shape of black life during that era of repression.

    A portrayal of contemporary Ghanian urban society and working class lives.