Two very different women meet during a long wait to buy subsidized rice and discover they have more in common than their poverty; an old man and a child share a last loving waltz; a cynical, disabled gangster learns humanity from a committed social worker, and a young girl finds her missing father and her role in the political struggle. This collection of stage plays, one radio play and a cinepoem, captures the essence of Zakes Mda’s method as a dramatist- a slow but intimate process of revelation (on the part of the characters). It is an artistic cooperation of the most pleasurable kind.

Retinal Shift is the catalogue for Mikhael Subotzky's 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist Exhibition, which will tour every major museum in South Africa. Retinal Shift investigates the practice and mechanics of looking - in relation to the history of Grahamstown, the history of photographic devices, and Subotzky's own history as an artist. The works draw on archival portraits from the last century, found surveillance footage, as well as Subotzky's own photographs from various series' that he re-contextualizes. The opening work in the book is a self-portrait that Subotzky made with the assistance of an optometrist. High-resolution images of his left and right retinas sit side by side. Says Subotzky: "I was fascinated by this encounter. At the moment that my retinas, parts of my essential organs of seeing, were photographed, I was blinded by the apparatus that made the images.

I hope this book will help all those who face the dilemmas of being Christian in this evil apartheid society and who, because of their commitment to the liberation struggle, can truly say they have no life of their own. --Frank Chikane Frank Chikane, one of the leading figures in the Christian resistance to apartheid, recounts his life--beginning with his childhood, growing up black under apartheid, and continuing through his call to Christian ministry. He tells of his family's increasing involvement in the struggle against apartheid, of disapproval and suspension from his own church. He relates a harrowing story of escalating harassment, detention and firebombing, torture and exile--and his return, despite death threats and further detention, to South Africa to continue the fight. Through it all, one thing is clear: Frank Chikane is a man whose faith compels and sustains him in a courageous and selfless journey toward freedom.

In a world first, almost incredibly, Riaan Manser rode a bicycle right around the continent of Africa. It took him two years, two months and fifteen days. He rode 36 500 kilometres through 34 different countries. In Around Africa on my Bicycle, Manser tells the story of this epic journey. It is a story of blood, sweat, toil and tears. It is a story of triumph and occassional disaster. Of nights out under the stars, of searing heat and rain, of endless miles of Africa and of pressing on and never surrendering whatever the odds. Mostly however it is the story of one man's courage and determination to escape the mundane and see the continent he loves and feels so much a part of. It is a story of the human warmth he encounters, and occasionally human wrath and hostility as he crosses troubled countries and borders.

A provocative look at Julius Malema, South Africa's most controversial politician, as he continues to shake up the political landscape. Julius Malema, South Africa's eminent new socialist, was sworn in as a member of parliament on 21 May 2014, days after his political party – the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – secured more than one million votes in its first elections and 25 seats in the national assembly. It marked a new chapter in Malema's political career, but it was also a crude awakening for the Cape Town parliament: the portly rebel and his EFF colleagues marched into the chamber wearing bright red workers' overalls and their signature red berets as they promised to take the interests of the poor to the floor of parliament. Love him or loathe him, Malema is undeniably one of the most controversial politicians of modern-day South Africa, if not a radical product of more than 100 years of struggle politics. Following on from the success of the bestselling* An Inconvenient Youth,* this revised edition of Still an Inconvenient Youth: Julius Malema carries on traces Malema's life, from his early, poverty-stricken years in Limpopo to his political awakenings in the ANC, the party he called home until he was ousted in 2012. It charts the early days of the EFF and looks at the young men and women leaders who helped secure the party its first votes in 2014. What does it all mean for South Africa? Does the EFF have the staying power that is needed? Or is it simply a front for the dubious Malema 'brand'? Still an Inconvenient Youth unpacks the rabble-rouser's new socialist revolution.

In the last five years Riaan Manser has re-written the definition of tenacity and become the epitome of determination. Riaan rose to prominence when he became the first person to cycle around the entire perimeter of Africa. For over two years, he padalled a mammoth 37,000kms through 34 countries; some of which rank as the most dangerous places on Earth. It was a feat that earned him the title Adventurer of the Year 2006 and made his resulting book, Around Africa on my Bicycle, a best-seller. In July 2009 Riaan again set another world first when he became the first person to circumnavigate the world's fourth largest island of Madagascar by kayak; another expedition achieved alone and unaided. This incredible journey, 5000km in eleven months, was considerably more demanding, both physically and mentally. Daily, Riaan had to conquer extreme loneliness while ploughing through treacherous conditions such as cyclones, pounding surf and an unrelenting sun that, combined with up to ten hours in salt water, was literally pickling his body. The perseverance, of course, brought memorable close encounters with Madagascar's marine life - humpback whales breaching metres away from his kayak, giant leatherback turtles gliding alongside him and even having his boat rammed by sharks. Riaan travelled around Madagascar during a period of the country's political turmoil, which gave him unrivalled insight into the exotic island's psyche and even earned him two nights in prison on suspicion of carrying out mercenary activities. Around Madagascar in my Kayak is packed with engaging stories and beautiful photographs and is set to become another best-seller.