Tafelberg: 581 books

South African politics is riddled with delusions. Many common political arguments come pre-packaged in an old and dusty box - but the self-evident truths are not, in fact, so indisputable. Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh sets out to dismantle that box. He argues that free education is far from impossible, the ANC's...

Nearly two decades after he was anointed by Nelson Mandela as his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa has at last taken office as the president of South Africa. But the country Ramaphosa has inherited is very different from the rainbow nation that Mandela led in the 1990s. The South Africa of 2018 is divided...

When Jacob Zuma retires to Nkandla, what will be left behind? South Africa has been in the grip of the ʻZunamiʼ since May 2009: Scandal, corruption and allegations of state capture have become synonymous with the Zuma era, leaving the country and its people disheartened. But Jacob Zuma’s time...

South Africa's rainbow nation has become a restless nation. Citizens are faced with poor service delivery and corruption, while a new bling culture has infected both politics and business. Renowned political commentator William Gumede takes a fearless look at these and other burning issues which threaten...

Sir David Graaff’s unique South African story begins as a poor child in Villiersdorp, watching over sheep and pigs. He was helped by a well-off friend of the family and taken to Cape Town to work at the man’s butchery. Within a few years, David was not only in charge of the butchery, but was the...

A fresh, nuanced look at an extraordinary woman and her lifelong fight for justice. Defying the constraints of her gender and class, Emily Hobhouse travelled across continents and spoke out against oppression. A passionate pacifist and a feminist, she opposed both the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer War and...

Shocking findings show that South African learners are consistently underachieving, counting not only amongst the worst in the world, but often amongst the worst in Africa. Education policy expert Graeme Bloch states that 60-80% of our schools are dysfunctional. They produce barely literate and numerate...

What happens when you form a political party six months before a general election? And instantly become the hope of the nation?Mostly chaos! At least that is what 26-year-old Michiel le Roux encountered when he quit his enviable job as a banker at Absa to “make a difference”. He volunteered for...

Clem Sunter and Chantell Ilbury’s seminal scenario planning books – The Mind of a Fox, Games Foxes Play and Socrates & the Fox – are now available for the first time as a single-volume e-book. The Fox Trilogy traces the development of a methodology that is now used around the world by large...

The ANC has governed South Africa for more than two decades but its iron grip is slipping. For the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994 there is no guarantee that it will retain power. If ANC support drops below 50% in the 2019 elections, the political landscape will be transformed dramatically:...

South Africa is undeniably the continent's powerhouse. Local corporates like MTN, Standard Bank and Shoprite are African business giants; South Africa is the only African member of BRICS; and a South African heads the African Union Commission. Yet the country is often perceived by other African states...

Cape Town is two cities. One is beautiful beyond imagining, known since its beginning as the 'fairest cape' in the world. Here tourists come to lounge on beaches, scale misty peaks and dine in fine restaurants. The other is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, where police need bullet-proof...

Over 18 000 house robberies are committed in South Africa every year and police attempts to stop it have had little effect.In 2006/7 Rudolph Zinn interviewed a group of convicted house robbers in jail. He found that the average house robber is in his 20s, a young man who is nevertheless a very experienced...

Regile is a zama-zama working illegally in an abandoned mine near Barberton. He has moved up the ranks and is now paid a salary to keep the other child workers in line. Towards the end of a three-month stint underground, a fourteen-year-old boy from Mozambique, Taiba, starts asking questions about...