Polity Author Articles

In this memoir, Zelda La Grange shares Madiba’s teachings about humility, respect, honesty, and the biases and blind spots we all have. It is only by truly listening – trying to understand, not listening only to respond – that we can overcome the distrust among us. La Grange also explores the toxicity of social media and how Nelson Mandela’s lessons are equally relevant in the digital age.

Filled with wisdom and hope, this book invites each of us to honour Madiba’s legacy by living with integrity. Because, as La Grange says, ‘he gave us the courage not to try to change those around us, but to change ourselves’.

‘It is not our mistakes that define us, but how we learn from them . . . I can’t blame you if you can’t forgive me if I struggle to forgive myself. But I have realised an act doesn’t have to be forgiven in order for you to learn from it. I have learnt to speak about my mistakes so that others, too, may find the courage to do so.’ - Zelda La Grange

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zelda la Grange worked alongside Nelson Mandela as his closest aid for 19 years. Her memoir, Good Morning, Mr Mandela (2014) was a South African and international bestseller. La Grange has presented TED talks at Oxford, Flanders and Porto, and has made two documentaries about Mandela.

'What Nelson Mandela Taught Me: Timeless lessons on leadership and life' is published by Tafelberg, an imprint of NB Publishers

Nick Kerr has drawn from copious amounts of research and reflection on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, from many different points of view and from different disciplines.

Nick has chosen sources that he believes have credibility, integrity and respect in their various fields, whether historical, political, biblical, theological or psychological. His prayer is that in a way similar to South Africa’s relatively peaceful transition to democracy, Israelis and Palestinians may also find a solution to their long-standing conflict.

“For several years, thoughtful observers of the Middle East, and particularly of Israel / Palestine, had warned of the likelihood of another Palestinian Intifada. They wrote and spoke often of the simmering resentment and mounting anger of Palestinians against Israel’s long and humiliating occupation of their land.

But few could have anticipated the suddenness, savagery and scale of the attack by Hamas fighters that erupted out of Gaza on unsuspecting Israelis on the 7th of October 2023 with its cataclysmic consequences and global repercussions.

A few days after the attack, Antonio Guteures, Secretary-General of the United Nations ‘condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7th of October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians.’ ‘But,’ he added, ‘it is also important to recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum’.

Nick Kerr’s passionately written, most carefully researched and deservedly highly commended ‘A Wound Unhealed’ fills in the vacuum, comprehensively and compellingly. It is a tragically timely book and a fine one.” - Reverend Peter Crooks, MBE, former Dean of St George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Kerr was born in and lives in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Nick attended school at Michaelhouse. He has worked as a (plant) nursery assistant, wool classer, agricultural student, and then teacher (at Cowan House) and priest.

He was ordained in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in 1984, in the Diocese of Natal, and has served mainly in two parishes: Hillcrest and Mooi River. He is now retired.

During the turbulent years of the 1990s in the province of KZN, he formed the ‘Thousand Hills Peace Committee’, as a result of political violence in the area, along with fellow clergy of different denominations. The political parties then signed a ‘peace agreement’. This group oversaw the postponed local elections in 1996 in the Hillcrest/Valley of the Thousand Hills area.

Nick is married to Barbara (nee Fabricius), who is a former junior primary music teacher, and currently a counsellor and trainer with the Philippi Trust. They have two adult children, Andrew and Philippa.

He has completed four Comrades Marathons and is still a regular runner. He also enjoys gardening and reading and he is a volunteer teacher at local state schools.

Nick holds the following qualifications: B.A. (Geography and Biblical Studies. Unisa) B.A. (Hons. Biblical Studies, Unisa) H.E.D. (Unisa), Dip Theol. (St Paul’s College), and M. Phil. (Linguistics: Intercultural Communication. University of Stellenbosch).

In The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives, Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo offers an elegy to her father, the late Professor Stan Sangweni, which explores the personal saga of a family’s lineage rooted in Zuka on Suspence Farm, Newcastle, in what is now northern KwaZulu-Natal.

In turn, Prof Sangweni opens a window into a past where his grandfather, with foresight and ingenuity, became part of The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives, a group that secured land for their families, including his family of seven wives, and for succeeding generations at a time when Black people in South Africa were being systematically dispossessed of their land.

While packing up her father’s study as her parents prepare to move from their home after 27 years, Lindiwe and her father uncover his lifelong collection of documents and pictures that detail the intricacies of his life as a devoted family man, an ANC veteran and anti-apartheid activist, a pioneer of public service excellence in post-apartheid South Africa and an inveterate stickler for detail in every aspect of his life.

Inspiring, often humorous, occasionally cataclysmically disruptive and generally victorious, this memoir is a tribute and a testament to the enduring legacy of those who paved the way amidst the trials of history for future generations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo is a veteran hotelier who holds a BSc degree in Hotel Management from Penn State University. She is currently the chief operating officer and a board member of City Lodge Hotels. As the founder of Pronet, an intergenerational networking forum, Lindiwe fosters self-development and career progression for young people, with a particular focus on facing challenging business environments in various industries. She enjoys family time and travel with her husband Salif.

'The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives: The Stan Sangweni Story' is published by Pan Macmillan South Africa

In this rhyming picture book two quirky raindrops, Splish and Splash, find themselves far away from their comfortable cloud. They both soon realize that they miss their family. Building up courage, they have to work together to discover a path that leads them home.

“Wee!” said the friends, as they started to giggle.

They swerved and they swam, then they jumped with a jiggle.

The story’s rhythmic beat and use of onomatopoeia make it fun to read aloud, with lovely Illustrations that capture the characters’ thrilling adventure, and your little one’s imagination. You can use this book to introduce the important role that water plays in our environment and to show your children how wondrous nature can be!

There is also a diagram at the end with a simple explanation of the water cycle. This book will help children to remember the water cycle and is a great resource for teachers and homeschooling. It is suitable for 3 to 8 year-olds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in South Africa, Adele Lamothe grew up alongside a sister and two brothers, nurtured by Italian parents who instilled the values of unconditional love and family support. In childhood, hours were spent dreaming of travelling to distant lands and finding solutions to the world’s challenges, forming connections with both people and animals.

Adele met her husband in Johannesburg, and together they are raising two children, whose growth is a source of incredible joy and inspiration. The cherished moments of reading stories and sharing quiet time at the end of busy days remain some of her most treasured experiences.

In 2022, the family relocated to Canada, allowing Adele to pursue her dream of writing children’s books. They now reside in a tranquil neighbourhood populated by rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and birds, surrounded by beautiful forests, lakes, gardens, and the ever-changing wonders of nature.

Adele finds her greatest joy in writing, spending time with family, and exploring the outdoors. Her books aim to inspire children to connect with the world around them and foster a deep appreciation for the environment.

Professor. Pundit. Public nuisance.

In his columns, books and on social media, Jonathan Jansen is prolific, and he likes to speak his mind about schools and universities, race, politics and our complex South African society.

He has brought incisive analysis, compassion and a sense of humour to some of the most controversial issues in our country for many years. And now, in this memoir, Jansen goes back to his early years: growing up in a loving, fiercely evangelical family on the Cape Flats, being put on the road to purpose by an inspiring school teacher and becoming the first of his generation to go to university. Journey with Jansen as he finds his passion for teaching high school and becomes a leading academic and thinker amid great transformation in post-apartheid South Africa.

His gift for story-telling and his interactions with people from different walks of life offer moving insights into the intricacies of South African society, insights that are filled with wisdom and leadership lessons. Jansen’s patchwork of memories tells a bigger story than that of his own life. It’s a tale of learning the value of ‘breaking bread’ with others, of finding mutual recognition in our different fears and faiths, our fumbles and fortitude, our hurts and our hopes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Jansen is a Distinguished Professor of education at Stellenbosch University. The eldest son of a preacher and a nurse, he grew up on the Cape Flats in a conservative evangelical church which shaped his values for good and bad. He was a biology teacher in the Cape before studies abroad, then returned to leadership in South African universities. Relieved of administration, he now does what professors are supposed to do: think. His family makes him possible and he lives for his two amazing granddaughters.

'Breaking Bread' is published by Jonathan Ball Publishers

This book represents accounts of David Easton's logbook entries of tenders for proposed dam projects, successful and implemented, but many not realised. As water is such a precious commodity it is with concern that the construction of large dams has slowed drastically in South Africa.

However, in recent years the need to maintain and retain a sustainable water source for the population of South Africa has meant that some of these shelved proposals of the past, are once again being discussed and some exciting new projects are on the horizon in terms of water projects.

In the words of former Water Affairs Minister Kader Asmal:

Water is not for fighting over. Water is for conserving.

Water is for bathing. Water is for drinking. Water is for sharing.

Water can be our catalyst for peace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Devon, England, David Easton is a retired Construction Manager. David's career began in England as a site engineer employed by Britain's foremost contracting company, Sir Robert McAlpine. He was engaged in a supervisory position at Bradwell Nuclear Power Station. David moved to South Africa on contract in 1965 and spent four years working with another United Kingdom Company Alfred McAlpine & Son. He then joined LTA Limited (now part of Aveng) as Chief Estimator. He remained in that role for more than 22 years. During this period, David was also seconded to Marples International Limited for projects in Hong Kong, Lesotho, Sudan, and Swaziland. Until 10 years ago David ran his own consultancy as an independent cost assessor and worked with several local authorities and government departments including the Department of Water and Sanitation and Eskom.

‘“Do you see that big tree on our right?” asked Isaac, as soon as we had crossed the river. “Wellington used to have lunch and rest there when he was ploughing the fields. It was him, Jambren, and Monyebere. Sometimes they would work until late in the evening or through the night, by tractor lights.”

With that single mention of Jambren’s name, Isaac had triggered what became an animated, lengthy conversation about the many Afrikaner farmers in the Letaba-Mooketsi valley and how our land was taken away. Their names were popular in the region, so much so that you could swear there was something otherworldly about them. There was Jambren’s brother Rossi (Stephanus Ross Pohl), their father Thununu (Stephan Montaque Pohl), as well as Fresi (Fritz de Beer) and Jako (a Mr. Duvenage).’

This is the Seale family story, about the travails of lifting themselves out of the morass of poverty and deprivation land dispossession has created. As the name suggests, this book is a heart-breaking account of the impact of South Africa’s failing and flailing land reform on ordinary people desperate for restorative justice – in this case it is the author’s ancestral land. It reveals that not only is the ideal of land reform in South Africa a criminal failure and monumental disappointment, but more than that, it is a betrayal.

The Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994, and especially Section 25 of the Constitution, specifically affirmed an individual’s right to land restitution. As such, there were great expectations that the Natives Land Act of 1913 and other subsequent legislation that formalised land dispossession would be reversed. However, as we have seen, land reform in South Africa has been painfully slow and complex.

Lebogang Seale’s extraordinary story is told through the voices of his family and community members. They reveal the pain of living and working on white people’s farms, the same land which had been stolen from their family. They describe the struggle of battling bureaucracy and the endless time they have devoted to trying to reclaim their ancestral land.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lebogang Seale is a multi-award-winning journalist and media and communications practitioner. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Wits University, and has a wealth of experience in the mainstream media spanning over a decade. He has served as the editor of the Sunday Independent and has also managed the University of Johannesburg’s Strategic Communications division. He is a co-author of the book, The A-Z of South African Politics, Jacana Media.

'One Hundred Years of Dispossession: My family’s quest to reclaim our land' is published by Jacana Media

From Zama zamas running riot, water cuts, blackouts, exploding streets, political instability. The list goes on. Is the City of Gold in a death spiral?

Nickolaus Bauer examines the current crisis by starting right at the beginning, with Johannesburg’s origins as a cauldron of cultures and a hustler’s haven.

He looks at how a city of migrants turned into a xenophobic hotspot, how the politics of gold, the shadow of apartheid and the evolution of the tsotsi – crime and criminality – affect life in Johannesburg today, and what can be done about these.

With chapters on redlining, the walkability of the city, corporate corruption, mayoral musical chairs and the proliferation of illegal backyard buildings, Great Johannesburg provides a comprehensive analysis of the current malaise, as it outlines possible solutions. Bauer, ultimately provides hope about how we can rescue Africa’s economic powerhouse.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nickolaus Bauer has covered Johannesburg as a political journalist since 2008 and lived in the inner city from 2010, 8 years of which were in Hillbrow and 5 years in the Ponte Towers. He worked within the Johannesburg city administration as a Deputy Director for the Environment and Infrastructure Services Department in 2022.

'Great Johannesburg: What happened? How to save an African economic giant' is published by Tafelberg, an imprint of NB Publishers

We Were Always Here : Stories of Black Inventors Across the African Diaspora tells the unknown stories of the innovation and ingenuity of Africans who are solving African problems for African people.

The book includes exclusive interviews with Dr Marian Croak, a Vice President of Google as well as Mark E Dean who is the co-inventor of the IBM personal computer. There is a foreword written by world cricket legend Michael Holding who writes: “This book contains stories that are just not taught in the mainstream education.”

One of the most remarkable inventions featured in the book by a South African is by Professor Mashudu Tshifularo. He is the first surgeon in the world to operate and install a 3D-printed middle-ear implant.

He is humble in his achievements. ‘I did not do medicine for the money. I did it to heal people and help improve lives. And it is a privilege. I respect my work and do not take it for granted.’ He has these words of encouragement for learners and aspiring innovators: ‘Adapt or die. Innovate or perish. We black people can solve our own problems, find our own solutions. Africans are innovators. We must not give up…’

Other featured inventors include Richard Turere, from Kenya, who invented a way to keep cattle safe from predators at night when he was only 11 years old. South African, Neo Hutiri invented the Pelebox, which is a smart locker medication collection system.

The Nasa sheroes from the Oscar award winning film, Hidden Figures are included: Dorothy Vaughn, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson. Other contributors to the space age are George Carruthers, the inventor of the camera that landed on the moon in 1972, Patricia S. Cowings, inventor of a space sickness solution and Emmett Chappelle, a NASA scientist who discovered a way to detect life on other planets using a substance derived from firefly abdomens.

The book covers inventors from as far afield as the Caribbean, America, Tanzania, Ghana, Lesotho and South Africa.

‘We Were Always Here will inspire young Africans to dream big and think out of the box. The stories are inspirational. They celebrate the success of inventors and entrepreneurs across the African diaspora. Young readers will identify with their brown skins and their shared childhood experiences. We want a nation that thinks out of the box, because in the future that is what will be needed. This is an important book which will impact positively on the goals and the dreams of all who read it.’ − Paulos Ngcobo, Chairperson Beier Group

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

Dr Candice Bailey is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of the Witwatersrand under the SA UK Bilateral Chair for Political Theory, looking at issues of democracy, citizenship and participation. She is also a journalist and editor with 22 years of experience. She currently works as the strategic initiative’s editor of The Conversation Africa. She is also on the board of Health-E News.

Lerato Makate is an experienced broadcast content producer and media trainer. She spent 12 years working in commercial, public and community radio. The central objective of her work is to use the radio medium and digital space to tackle social issues using the power of storytelling.

Sizwe Malinga graduated with a BCom degree from the University of Cape Town, majoring in Economics and Finance, in 2021. He was part of the UCT Futures Think Tank and contributed to the book A School Where I Belong.

Les Owen lectured on the MBA programme at the University of Durban Westville for 30 years.

Therese Owen is an entertainment journalist and author. She was the national music writer for Independent Media Group from 2004 to 2014. She was also a regular columnist for the Sunday Independent, Saturday Star, Sunday Tribune, The Star and Daily News Tonight for 20 years.

It is possible to find success by stumbling from one disaster to another. I did.

Alan Knott-Craig, bestselling author and serial telecoms and tech entrepreneur, has founded, funded or run 21 companies, including Cellfind, iBurst, Mxit and HeroTel. Here he shares candidly what he has learnt, mostly by losing.

'Brave, smart and raw. Read it.' - Mark Levy, founder of Digital

Planet 'Told with Alan's classic dry humour, sprinkled with brilliant nuggets and juicy behind-the-scenes insights.' - Aisha Pandor, co-founder of SweepSouth

'Alan shares both his triumphs and missteps, providing valuable life lessons for anyone building a business.' - Itumeleng Kgaboesele, founder of Sphere Holdings

'A rare glimpse into the realities of entrepreneurship.' - Luvuyo Rani, co-founder of Silulo Ulutho Technologies

'Generous... shares battle scars and tips.' - Omri Thomas, co-founder of ABAX Investments

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alan Knott-Craig is an entrepreneur, author, and founder of fibertime M, aiming to eradicate the digital divide through innovative pay-as-you-go fibre internet solutions for townships. His smash bestseller Don't Panic based on an email to employees was published in 2008. He lives in Stellenbosch.

'Life Lessons: How to fail and win' is published by Tafelberg, an imprint of NB Publishers