The Dictionary of Southern African Place Names - now in its 4th edition - helps you sort your Komkhulu from your Kommetjie with the most comprehensive glossary of Southern African towns, villages, railway stations, mountains, rivers and beaches. The 9 000 short entries incorporate data from sources dating as far back as 1486, encapsulating the linguistic and cultural heritage of all the peoples of the subcontinent, past and present. In this highly readable book the expert authors take you on a fascinating journey of the highways and byways of Southern Africa. Whether you are a motorist, an adventurer or merely an armchair traveller, this book has a multitude of facts and details that will fascinate you. This is much more than a reference book - it gives an insight into what shapes a place and its people through our heroes, events, beliefs, values, fears and aspirations.

Now in its 4th Edition -- this dictionary helps you to sort your Komkhulu from your Kommetjie with the most comprehensive glossary of Southern African towns, villages, railway stations, mountains, rivers and beaches. The 9,000 short entries incorporate data from sources dating as far back as 1486, encapsulating the linguistic and cultural heritage of all the peoples of the subcontinent, past and present. In this highly readable book the expert authors take you on a fascinating journey of the highways and byways of Southern Africa. Whether you are a motorist, an adventurer or merely an armchair traveller, this book has a multitude of facts and details that will amuse and interest you. This is much more than a reference book -- it gives an insight into what shapes a place and its people through our heroes, events, beliefs, values, fears and aspirations.

Fully revised and updated, and with 60 new trails added, this fifth edition of Hiking Trails of South Africa is an essential resource for every hiker. Written by well-known author Willie Olivier, this extensive guide describes more than 500 trails across magnificent landscapes, from the iconic fynbos of the Western Cape to the majestic slopes of the Drakensberg. Whether you choose to hike close to civilization or explore a more remote area, take a short, hour-long walk or tackle an overnight hike of several days, there is a trail for you. Trail information includes: Distance and average hiking time; facilities, accommodation and activities available; points of interest and notes on flora and fauna. The book also includes advice on selecting hiking equipment, staying safe on the trail and dealing with emergencies. Sales points: Over 500 trails, with 60 new ones added; fully updated booking and permit information; trails to suit every level of fitness and ability; expert advice on planning, preparation, nutrition, equipment, first aid and general safety.

Geologists, physicists and ecologists currently promote the idea of a post-Holocene epoch – the Anthropocene. As a result of constant innovation and modernisation in the fields of engineering, natural science, management studies and environmental studies there has been a growing awareness of the intrinsic interaction between humankind and the environment. Humankind has become part of the environmental dynamics, to the extent that they are literally able to change ecosystems. Nowhere is the impact more evident than in the anthropogenic engagement with the hydrosphere – from the smallest pool of water to the earth’s atmosphere. Comprehensive infrastructure development in water and sanitation, the growing trend to seek additional resources in the form of groundwater, desalinated seawater, and recycled wastewater, as well as special attention being given to capturing and preserving rainwater, bear evidence of a timely response to climate change, population growth and rapid development in many water-stressed regions of the world. The purpose of the book is to provide a historical overview of the manner in which South Africa’s water resources have been governed from a time when the Union of South Africa was formed, in 1910, up to 2008, a time of a growing global awareness of the potential impact that climate change may have on water resources in a key region of southern Africa, notable for increasing levels of aridity and more erratic rainfall patterns. This focus on the history of water affairs in South Africa makes it possible for scholars to comprehend the contemporary transitions made in the country’s water governance system since the establishment in 2014 of the Department of Water and Sanitation. The focus is on the Water–Energy–Food nexus, a strategy which holistically contemplates the governance and use of water from the perspective of the interconnection between water, energy and food as resources.

This volume examines the discursive relations between indigenous, colonial and post-colonial legacies of place-naming in Africa in terms of the production of urban space and place. It is conducted by tracing and analysing place-naming processes, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa during colonial times (British, French, Belgian, Portuguese), with a considerable attention to both the pre-colonial and post-colonial situations. By combining in-depth area studies research – some of the contributions are of ethnographic quality – with colonial history, planning history and geography, the authors intend to show that culture matters in research on place names. This volume goes beyond the recent understanding obtained in critical studies of nomenclature, normally based on lists of official names, that place naming reflects the power of political regimes, nationalism, and ideology.