A Legacy of Spies
John le Carré, A Legacy of Spies (Penguin Random House) IN the novel that first made John le Carré’s name, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Alec Leamas and Elizabeth Gold are shot […]
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The President’s Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma in Power and out of Prison
Jacques Pauw, The President’s Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma in Power and out of Prison (Tafelberg) HE became South Africa’s president in 2009 already deeply compromised by the arms deal. Subsequently Jacob Zuma has behaved like […]
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Hitmen for Hire: Exposing South Africa’s Underworld
Mark SHAW, Hitmen for Hire: Exposing South Africa’s Underworld (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 2017) WANT someone rubbed out? It could cost you as little as R10 000 in a society in which extreme violence is commonplace […]
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Oliver Tambo: A Jacana Pocket Biography
Hugh MACMILLAN, Oliver Tambo: A Jacana Pocket Biography (Johannesburg: Jacana, 2017) HAD it not been for the Treason Trial of 1956, Oliver Tambo would almost certainly have become an Anglican priest. He was close to […]
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Not Without a Fight: The Autobiography
Helen ZILLE, Not Without a Fight: The Autobiography (Cape Town: Penguin Random House, 2016) HELEN Zille arrived home one night after a visit to a Cape Town township believing her car had been stoned. However, […]
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The Man Who Founded the ANC: A Biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme
Bongani NGQULUNGA, The Man Who Founded the ANC: A Biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme (Cape Town: Penguin, 2017) THE title of this book is a little misleading. The significance of Pixley ka Isaka Seme’s […]
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Spy: Uncovering Craig Williamson
Jonathan ANCER, Spy: Uncovering Craig Williamson (Johannesburg: Jacana, 2017) HUNDREDS of apartheid-era operatives have quietly disappeared into the forgotten recesses of post-liberation South Africa. An exception is the much-reviled Craig Williamson: “I feel anger; seething […]
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We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge
Albie SACHS, We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge (Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2016) THE South African Constitution is a constant benign presence in this book, Albie Sachs’s anthology of writings and talks. It […]
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No Longer Whispering to Power: The Story of Thuli Madonsela
Thandeka GQUBULE, No Longer Whispering to Power: The Story of Thuli Madonsela (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 2017) Her whispering was so pronounced that Thuli Madonsela’s media appearances were often all but inaudible. This was in stark […]
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History Matters: Selected Writings, 1970–2016
Bill NASSON, History Matters: Selected Writings, 1970–2016 (Cape Town: Penguin, 2016) SOMETHING of a self-indulgence? Many might regard auto-anthology in such terms, but would surely excuse a writer of Bill Nasson’s exceptional quality. If the […]