Böcker utgivna av Jonathan Ball Publishers SA

A hair-raising account about the ins and outs of practising forensic pathology in Africa.

Toe hy jare gelede vir die eerste keer in Parys aankom, sou die kunstenaar Louis Jansen Van Vuuren nooit kon dink dat hy eendag ╩╝n château in die Franse platteland sou besit nie.In Amper Frans vertel hy hoe hy die plaaslike tradisies en kultuur die afgelope 21 jaar ontdek her – daar is stories oor statige hertoginne en neusoptrekkerige kelners, die berugte Franse burokrasie en dan ook sy talle faux pas in die Fanse taal.Om die vervalle Château de la Creuzette saam met sy lewensmaat, Hardy Olivier, in ╩╝n boetiekhotel te omskep het groot Geduld en uithouvermoë geverg. Talle lesse is op die harder manier geleer, soos dat vier verwarmers nie genoeg s om ╩╝n hele château to verhit nie …Louis verklap ook iets van hul gaste se kaskenades en van hul eie reise soos hulle die land platry agter vlooimarkte en avontuur aan. Die boek is ╩╝n moet vir alle Frankofiele.

‘Only Anton Harber, a pioneer of independent journalism in south Africa and one of the keenest observers of the media around, could have written the thriller that is this book.’ – Jacob DlaminiVeteran journalist Anton Harber brings all his investigative skills to bear on his very own profession, the media. For two years he conducted dozens of interviews with politicians, journalists, policemen, state security agents and ‘deep throats’, before piecing together two remarkable tales.The first is a chilling story of police death squads, rogue units and renditions, and how South Africa’s biggest newspaper was duped into doing the dirty work of corrupt politicians. The second starts with a broken and discarded hard drive and evolves, with many near misses, into the exposure of the depths of the Guptas’ influence over the ruling party.Harber’s two tales reveal the lows and highs of journalism during an era of state capture. His book is both a disquieting exposé of how easily the media can be duped by a conniving cabal for its own selfish ends, and a celebration of brilliant investigative reporting by brave and ethical journalists. 

In Foreign Native, RW Johnson looks back with affection and humour on his life in Africa. From schooldays in Durban - fresh off the aeroplane from Merseyside - to later years as an academic, director of the Helen Suzman Foundation and formidable political commentator.

You're never too young to start saving. Manage Your Money Like a Grownup, by bestselling author Sam Beckbessinger, aims to get younger readers thinking about the basics of money, laying a solid foundation in financial education that most grownups today never had.With illustrations, jokes and fun facts designed to appeal to even the most easily bored reader, this book covers all the basics South African teenagers need to know about money, such as: The relationship between earning, saving and spending; How investing works; Why compound interest is a superpower; Why we pay taxes; and The ethics of money.Informed by discussions with real teens and their parents, this book equips readers with practical tips for earning and investing money at any age, as well as providing questions to spark lively dinner-table conversations.

Die ontdekking van ’n dooie baba in ’n skuur op ’n Amiese plaas in Amerika dreig om ’n jong vrou se lewe te verwoes. Omstandigheidsgetuienis dui daarop dat die 18-jarige Katie Fisher, ’n ongetroude Amiese meisie en die pasgeborene se ma, vir die moord verantwoordelik is. Katie hou vol: sy het nie die baba vermoor nie.Terselfdertyd vlug Ellie Hathaway, ’n ontnugterde advokaat, na familie wat in dieselfde streek woon om haar kop skoon te maak. Haar tannie is verwant aan Katie en kort voor lank stem Ellie teensinnig in om Katie to verdedig.Ellie word as Katie se toesighouer aangestel terwyl sy op borgtog is en moet boonop by die Fishers intrek. Om Katie to verdedig, moet Ellie haar nie net diep ingrawe in ’n wêreld wat radikaal van haar eie verskil nie, maar ook ’n manier vind om Katie volgens háár verwysingsraamwerk te verstaan. Wanneer ’n man uit haar verlede weer sy verskyning maak, word Ellie terselfdertyd gedwing om haar eie vrese begeertes te konfronteer. 

The man who would have been her first client turns around to his clothes on the coat hangers against the wall.''I have to get out of here . . . sir, I am just a child, sir! Please call the police so they will come and fetch me!''''I don''t believe it,'' he says, shaking his head. ''I bloody well don''t believe what I''m hearing right now! Do you know . . . do you know that . . .'' Then he''s out the door.''Help me, sir! Please, help me!'' Engela calls after him as he swiftly disappears down the passage. Sixteen-year-old Engela flees to Bloemfontein because the leader of the Satanic Group 13 wishes to kill her. Her path crosses with Pieter, a friend of her brother''s, who turns her over to the owner of a brothel in return for money he owes him. After a desperate and impoverished childhood Engela, as a rebellious teenager, becomes mixed up with Satanism, alcohol and drugs and is eventually kept as a sex slave. Her only wish is to escape, but how? Every night the club''s doors are shuttered. Her final shot at freedom is the young student Jacques who works in the club''s reception area. But then he also disappears from the scene following a mysterious accident in the Drakensberg . . . In the second part of the book Elanie shares with the reader her awful experiences. She relates how she learned to cope with her feelings of despair, loneliness, pain and humiliation from a Christian perspective. She reaches out to other former victims of sex trafficking and encourages them to open their hearts in order to achieve emotional healing. She talks about the power of forgiveness and acceptance, and also offers essential practical advice for parents and their children.

In the world of espionage, truth is the first victim and nothing is as it seems. Here, for the first time, South Africa''s most notorious apartheid spy Olivia Forsyth lays bare the story of her remarkable life. Olivia Forsyth was a romantic young woman in search of adventure when she joined the Security Police with visions of international derring-do. But Craig Williamson, her unit head, had other ideas and Olivia was trained to spy on students before being dispatched to Rhodes University, a supposed ''hotbed'' of anti-apartheid radicalism.It wasn''t long before Olivia had infiltrated various student organisations, feeding vital information back to her handler. She came to hold prominent positions on campus and, as reward, was promoted to Lieutenant. Having reached the end of her studies, Olivia set her sights on a much more ambitious - and dangerous - target: the ANC in exile. But what should have been her greatest triumph as a spy turned into disaster when the ANC threw her into Quatro, the notorious internment camp in Angola. This is a riveting story set in the final years of apartheid.

“God is nie een of ander control freak nie … Hy laat die gelowige self keuses maak en self verantwoordelikheid neem.”Wat beteken dit om vandag ’n Christen to wees? Dit is lankal nie meer genoeg om blindelings net Sondag ná Sondag die erediens by te woon nie, sê die geestelike leier and oudsoldaat Callie Roos. Dit is slegs deur ’n lewe in Christus da tons werklik God se krag in ons kan beleef.Volgens Callie beleef die kerk vandag ’n krisis en georganiseerde godsdiens hou gelowiges gevange in dogma en ’n behoefte aan beheer. Christene moet onstnap uit die geestelike tronk wat hulle inperk en hul bestaande begripsraamwerk bevraagteken.’n Lewe in Christus behels dat jy uitgaan in die wêreld en daadwerklik ’n verskil maak. Wanneer gewone Christen-mense Christus word vir ander, kan hierdie nuwe manier van glo ’n massabeweging word wat die ganse mensdom ten diepste sal aangryp.In Christus beloof om te inspireer en gelowiges nuut oor hul Christenskap te laat dink. 

“Dit gebeur dikwels dat ’n skietoorlog deur ’n tweede oorlog gevolg word. Dié oorlog word nie met ammunisie of kartetse gevoer of met tenks and bomwerpers nie, maar met words.”In 1987–1988 was die stowwerige Angolese dorpie Cuito Cuanavale die toneel van die laaste gevegte van die Grensoorlog. Sedertdien is dit die fokuspunt van ’n openbare debat oor wie eintlik hierdie oorlog gewen het.Die leierskorps van die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag (SAW) hou vol hulle is nooit verslaan nie, terwyl die alliansie van die Angolese MPLA-regering, Kuba en Swapo beweer hulle het die SAW uit Angola en Suidwes-Afrika verdryf. Hulle glo voorts die SAW wou Cuito Cuanavale beset en as afspringplek gebruik om Luanda in te neem.Maar was Cuito Cuanavale ooit regtig ’n doelwit vir die Suid-Afrikaners? Dit is die vraag wat Leopold Scholtz vra wanneer hy onlangs gedeklassi-fiseerde dokumente in die weermagargief bestudeer en die taktiese en strategiese besluite ondersoek wat ’n bepalende rol in die ses groot veldslae van dié veldtog gespeel het.Sy kritiese ontleding wys hoe maklik propaganda en politiek in die pad van feite kan staan.

‘A shooting war is often followed by a second war. This war is not fought with bullets or artillery shells, not with tanks or bombers, but rather with words.’In 1987–1988 the dusty Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale was the backdrop for the final battles of the Border War. Ever since the war ended, the fighting around Cuito has been the subject of a fierce public debate over who actually won the war.While the leadership of the former South African Defence Force (SADF) claims it was never defeated, the supporters of the Angolan MPLA government, Cuba and SWAPO insist that the SADF was vanquished on the battlefield. They contend that the SADF wanted to overrun Cuito Cuanavale and use it as a springboard for an advance on Luanda.But was Cuito Cuanavale ever really an objective of the SADF? Leopold Scholtz tackles this question by examining recently declassified documents in the SANDF archives, exploring the strategic and tactical decisions that shaped the six main battles, from the SADF’s stunning tactical success on the Lomba River to the grinding struggle for the Tumpo Triangle.His incisive analysis untangles what happens when war, politics and propaganda become entwined.

What stops Africa, with its abundant natural resources, from capitalising on its boundless potential? Well-known Africa analyst Jakkie Cilliers uses 11 scenarios to unpack, in concrete terms, how the continent can ignite a growth revolution that will take millions out of poverty and into employment.

‘This is a book every performer and listener will enjoy reading.’– Gina Beukes, leading international violinist, violist and teacherDo you ever wish you had time to read the programme notes in depth before rushing to take your seat at a concert – or that you could quickly find out more about that sublime piece playing on the radio? Now, with Rodney Trudgeon’s Concert Notes, you can enrich your musical listening experiences at leisure.Rodney Trudgeon has selected nearly 250 regularly performed works from his programme notes and pre-concert talks – covering the Baroque period to the 20th century. From Bach to Weber, Rodney looks at famous concertos, overtures, symphonies and more, describing them lucidly and evocatively.A book as timeless as the music itself …

It’s 2018 and Cape Town is racked by its worst drought on record. The prospect of ‘Day Zero’ – when the taps will run dry – is driving citizens into a frenzy.Then the ruling Democratic Alliance removes control of the water issue from Mayor Patricia de Lille. While politicians turn on each other, revealing deep-lying faultlines and new enmities, critical questions arise: what lies behind the fallout, and what, if any, deeper interests are at play?Against this fraught backdrop, author and academic Crispian Olver resolves to explore how the city of his childhood is run, and he sets his sights in particular on the web of connections between local politicians and property developers. Interviewing numerous people – including many dropped from the City administration in questionable circumstances – he uncovers a Pandora’s box of backstabbing, infighting and backroom deals.Olver explores contentious property developments in agriculturally sensitive Philippi, on the scenic West Coast and along the glorious – and lucrative – Atlantic Seaboard, delves into attempts to ‘hijack’ civic associations and exposes the close yet precarious relationship between the mayor and City Hall’s ‘laptop boys’. In blistering detail he gets to grips with the political meltdown within the DA and the defection of De Lille to form her own party.

Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe: New Reflections brings together a fresh and diverse range of contributors to reconsider the life, ideas and legacy of Robert Sobukwe – teacher, thinker, Africanist and founder of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). For leading the anti-pass campaign of 1960, Sobukwe was jailed for many years by the apartheid government, including solitary confinement on Robben Island, and then banished to Kimberley. Today, there are few memorials to Sobukwe, and while his followers venerate him, he has largely been written out of the history of the liberation struggle. Yet his ideas and example have enduring resonance in contemporary South Africa.Sobukwe’s pan-Africanism was an inspiring contribution to the development of Black Consciousness, which continues to energise new generations of young people. From his stances on the land question and racism to his love of gardening and knowledge of literature, as devoted family man and principled political leader, Sobukwe is revealed at every turn to be profound, erudite, compassionate and concerned with the betterment of all who identify with the advancement of Africa and Africans.

'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 Cairo.''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 JuliaAlbu 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 buck

'There is only one way to survive and even thrive in the third world, and that is by being as Caucasian as you possibly can. Fact: white people have it easier in life because they deserve it.' Coconut Kelz is a young Caucasian woman trapped in a black woman's body. Kelz lives in - and tries never to leave - Sandton and is a staunch member of the DA.With handy tips for how to achieve the white right standard of beauty, deal with your family in the lalis, pick the best suburb to live in and nab yourself a white guy, Kelz offers a complete guide to a full Caucasian conversion.Through the mask of her character Coconut Kelz, whose apparent adoration of all things white has riled many an unsuspecting viewer of her online videos, Lesego Tlhabi speaks straight to the heart of this country's strong residue of prejudice, framing hard and potent truths to incredibly funny effect.

The real significance of this book lies in the fact that it tells us more about the everyday life of black South Africans. It delves into the essence of black family life and the secret anguish of family members who often battle to cope. - Niq Mhlongo A 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.

‘Comrade president, Stellenbosch is a big problem. We know your proximity to Stellenbosch … we have not elected Stellenbosch here … we have not elected the Ruperts here.’ – Julius Malema addressing President Cyril Ramaphosa in the National Assembly on 22 May 2019THE BEAUTIFUL TOWN OF STELLENBOSCH, nestled against vineyards and blue mountains that stretch to the sky, lies a short drive from Cape Town. Here, some of South Africa’s richest individuals live: all male, most Afrikaans – and all fabulously wealthy.Julius Malema refers to them scathingly as the ‘Stellenbosch Mafia’, the very worst example of white monopoly capital. Their critics rail about their influence over the state and the economy. But who are these rich individuals, and what influence do they wield?Journalist Pieter du Toit explores the roots of Stellenbosch, one of the wealthiest towns in South Africa and arguably the cradle of Afrikanerdom. This is the birthplace of apartheid leaders, intellectuals, newspaper empires and more.He also closely examines this ‘club’ of billionaires. Who are they and, crucially, how are they connected? What network of boardroom membership, alliances and family connections exists? Who are the ‘old guard’ and who are the ‘inkommers’?The Stellenbosch Mafia is the first attempt to not only investigate if this group actually exists, but also to determine whether the town has an excessive influence on South African business and society. 

Adam Habib, vice-chancellor of Wits University and the most prominent and outspoken university official during the recent student protests, takes a characteristically frank view of the past three years on South Africa's university campuses in this new book. He focuses on the student protests at Wits, drawing on his own intimate involvement and negotiations with the students, and records university management and government responses to the events. He critically examines the student movement and individual student leaders who emerged under the banner #FeesMustFall, discusses how to achieve truly progressive social change in South Africa, on our campuses and off, and reimagines the future of South African higher education.Rebels and Rage is both a historical account of a tempestuous time and a thoughtful reflection on the issues the protests kicked up from Habib's perspective not only as a high-ranking member of university management, but also as a political scientist and intellectual.