Books published by Jonathan Ball Publishers SA

LOUIS BOTHA, THE FIRST PRIME MINISTER of the Union of South Africa, was a brilliant Boer general who won significant victories over the British in the early stages of the Anglo-Boer War. When the weight of the British arms eventually overwhelmed the Boers, Botha and Jan Smuts encouraged peace between English and Afrikaner and led the four South African colonies into Union in 1910.Botha was a big-hearted and generous man in his dealings with all. In 1914, he had to put down an Afrikaner rebellion over the Union’s participation in the Great War. The experience broke his heart, as many of the rebels were old Anglo-Boer War comrades. At Versailles in 1919, representing South Africa, he pleaded unsuccessfully for magnanimity towards a defeated Germany. Globally respected, Botha and Smuts operated as a double act before Botha’s untimely death in August 1919.Richard Steyn’s recent books, Jan Smuts: Unafraid of Greatness and Churchill and Smuts: The Friendship, have won him a loyal readership. In Louis Botha: A Man Apart, he again masterfully brings to life a great South African.

The South African Special Forces achieved exceptional results with small groups of elite soldiers instead of larger, conventional teams. The Team Secret shows that the same principle applies to the business world – a small team has a greater chance at completing projects efficiently, within a budget and on time.Teams, rather than individuals, form the DNA of many companies and they play a pivotal role in achieving strategic and financial success. Like Special Forces teams, they must function as a well-oiled machine firing on all cylinders.The book identifies the key characteristics of an efficient team, how to select the right team members, how to inculcate an ethos centred around team principles and how to lead an effective team. It speaks to both team members and team leaders across all managerial levels – from a team leader in a call centre to a project manager or CEO.In short: To fast-track your business, shape up your teams!

Through the institution of the Zulu monarchy, the distinguished historian John Laband has written a riveting account of the whole sweep of Zulu history. Shaka, Africa’s most famous warrior-king, was the formidable, conquering founder of the Zulu kingdom. Two hundred years later, Goodwill Zwelithini, the current king, is a constitutional monarch with only informal political influence.Beginning with the reign of Shaka, the book follows his successors – Dingane, Mpande and Cetshwayo – tracking their drive to power through assassination and civil war, and charting their resistance to colonialism. Although defeated in war, Cetshwayo and his heir, Dinuzulu, struggled to retain something of their kingly authority during the brutal transition to full colonial control. Laband describes how, in the oppressive century of colonial and apartheid rule, their successors – Solomon and Cyprian – strove to have their abolished royal status restored, and how Goodwill Zwelithini finally achieved this goal when the post-apartheid government recognised his royal rank once more.The Eight Zulu Kings also places the Zulu kings in the context of other African monarchs and discusses their shared royal traditions and their common challenges. By bringing the personalities of the Zulu kings into focus, the book assesses how effectively, within the possibilities of his own era, each ruler dealt with the opportunities and threats of his reign.

Jan Christian Smuts was soldier, statesman and intellectual, one of South Africa’s greatest leaders. Yet little is said about him today even as we appear to live in a leadership vacuum. Afrikaner sonder grense is a re-examination of the life and thought of Jan Smuts. It is intended to remind a contemporary readership of the remarkable achievements of this impressive soldier-statesman. The author argues that there is a need to bring Smuts back into the present, that Smuts’ legacy still has much to instruct. He draws several parallels between Smuts and President Thabo Mbeki, both intellectuals much lionised abroad and yet often distrusted at home. This book is a highly readable account of Smuts’ life. It also examines a number of overarching themes: his relationships with women, spiritual life, intellectual life and his role as advisor to world leaders. Politics and international affairs receive the lion’s share, but Smuts’ unique contributions to other fields - for example, botany - are not neglected. Afrikaner sonder grense does not shy away from the contradictions of its subject. Smuts was one of the architects of the United Nations, and a great champion of human rights, yet he could not see the need to reform the condition of the African majority in his own country.   

A brave civil servant blows the whistleTHE STORY OF A SARS 'ROGUE UNIT' became entrenched in the public mind following a succession of sensational reports of illegal spook operations published by the Sunday Times. The unit, the reports claimed, had spied on President Jacob Zuma, run a brothel and entered into illegal tax settlements.In a plot of Machiavellian proportions, Johann van Loggerenberg, who headed the elite crime-busting unit, and nearly the entire top management were forced to quit SARS. Van Loggerenberg's select team of investigators, with an impeccable track record of busting high-level financial fraudsters and nailing tax criminals, lost their careers and their reputations.Now, in this extraordinary account, they finally get to put the record straight. There was no 'rogue unit'. The public had been deceived, seemingly by powers conspiring to captures SARS for their own ends. Shooting down the allegations he faced one by one, van Loggerenberg tells the story of what really happened inside SARS and shares details of some of the unit's real investigations.

South Africa is a land of contrasts, as the tourist brochures promise, and this is true for the game of rugby. From the Pretoria heartland to the aspirant Eastern Cape, from the hardscrabble Cape Flats to the islands of privilege at Bishops and Grey College. No other rugby-playing nation has to grapple with so much diversity. Different languages, classes, races and cultures - each bearing the wounds of the country''s fractured past - have to be melded into winning teams. Liz McGregor has spent the past three years shadowing Currie Cup, Super 14 and Springbok teams across the country, and has come to the conclusion that it is this very diversity, combined with the pain of the past and the dreams of a great united future, that provide the elusive alchemy that separates a good team from a great one. Touch, Pause, Engage! is more than a book about rugby. It is an intimate look at how South Africa''s erstwhile elite is adapting to its new circumstances. Team South Africa has been through many a maul and bruising scrum, but is inching closer and closer to the tryline.

Here is Nelson Mandela the statesman, the prisoner, the father, sometimes the joker, and occasionally the disciplinarian. Mandela is shown in snapshot, in the memories of old friends like George Bizos, in the words of inspiring legends like Muhammed Ali, leading the Defiance Campaign against apartheid laws, or doing the famous Madiba shuffle to Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Queen Elizabeth II. 100 Mandela Moments is an accessible introduction to the man who so profoundly influenced the South Africa of today. The story of his life that emerges is as varied and complex, as touching and inspiring, as Madiba himself.

Just like in the squatter camp in Atteridgeville, there was no electricity in our new home. But here it was very different: it was safe. Only years later I figured out why the crime rate was so low in our village: there was nothing to steal.Born in Chains is a fist-hand account of living in abject poverty in South Africa. Clinton Chauke was born in 1994 into a Vatsonga household and has faced all the challenges of growing up at the edges of society: first in rural Limpopo, then in a village bordering the Kruger National Park, and finally in a squatter camp near Pretoria.Navigating a world of racism and tribalism and confronting urban life as a country 'bumpkin', the author depicts the lifelines and pitfalls of a young life: going to school, coming to terms with tradition, religion and politics, becoming a man and - ultimately - finding his identity as a young black person in South Africa.Uncompromising, honest and witty, Chauke's memoir is a story of hope and perseverance and of succeeding against all the odds.

I love her with all my childish heart even though I am still small enough to fear her. Sometimes I also hate her. She says she loves me because I'm her daughter but she doesn't like me. I think I would prefer it to be the other way around but I can't decide which is better. From her very beginning, when Suzan is adopted in the late 1960s, she is set on a collision course with her adoptive mother and with polite Pietermaritzburg society. Suzan grabs her childhood life with unrestrained zeal - an exuberance that is barely tolerated by her mother, and which spirals into rebellion, landing her in a place of safety at the age of thirteen. As a ward of the state, Suzan fights to survive in an underworld of drugs and prostitution. She tells her story with a sometimes tender, often angry, frequently funny eye in this engrossing tale of a singular childhood.

The ANC received a bloody nose in the 2016 local elections, when it lost three major metros to the opposition. Will the fractured ruling party be able to reunite under Cyril Ramaphosa and gain a majority at the polls in 2019? Or could the DA and EFF overcome their vast ideological divide to oust the ANC?The South African political landscape has changed dramatically since Jacob Zuma stepped down as president. Veteran political journalist Jan-Jan Joubert looks at all the possible scenarios, taking us behind the scenes into a world of political horse trading to analyse the options available to all the parties in the run-up to the next election. Will the oldest liberation movement in Africa have to form a coalition to stay in power? And what is the likelihood of the ANC's turning to the EFF to bolster its support?One thing is certain: deals will be done. By examining the results of the local elections, Joubert argues that the 2019 national elections may well be the first in 25 years in which no party wins an outright majority.In exclusive interviews, political leaders also share their views on the major issues dividing - or perhaps uniting - South Africa today, and point the way to a new political future.

As the Queen walked over to the lounge in her beautiful, wide-brimmed hat, I realised I'd just been speaking to the Queen of England. She was sweet and caring, with a warm family feel about her - obviously very well spoken, yet I'd felt like I was speaking to my gran. How does all that power and influence fit into one lovely, caring lady, I wondered.Brett Ladds' cooking has made Quincy Jones sing, his kindness has charmed the likes of Tony Blair and King Mswati III, and his humanity has won over hard-bitten bodyguards.For many years he also served Nelson Mandela many cups of rooibos tea and made him his favourite meals. As executive chef of the South African government and manager of the Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria from 1994 to 1999, Ladds was responsible for serving both Mandela and his successor, Thabo Mbeki.His stories about meeting kings and queens, presidents, musicians, supermodels and even the Pope are laced with his trademark self-deprecating humour. Ladds' disarming honesty is as funny as it is touching.The Madiba Appreciation Club offers a heart-warming insider's view on what it takes to look after a head of state and tells of a young man's coming of age at a turning point in our history.

Early on in his life, Siya discovered that rugby could be his route to a better life. He worked hard and earned a scholarship to Grey High School in PE, one of the best rugby school in the country. But leaving the people he knew and loved, and thriving in a whole new world, was a struggle for young Siya. His talent and personality have taken him all the way to the top of South Africa's beloved sport, and given him a way to look to the future and make peace with the past.¿Siya Kolisi is part of the series, Road to Glory, which covers some of South Africa's sporting legends as they set out on their journeys to becoming national and international stars.

'AB hopped over the boundary rope and onto the field, grinning at the sight and sound of a packed Wanderers Stadium. He swung his bat from side to side and listened to the crowd roaring his name.'With two much older brothers, AB learned early how to play hard and never give up. In this inspiring and entertaining story we watch one of South Africa's favourite sporting stars rise to fame as he progresses through school and university, playing against the best. The story takes the reader close to the action and the ups and downs in AB's life.AB de Villiers is part of the series, Road to Glory, which covers some of South Africa's sporting legends as they set out on their journeys to becoming national and international stars.

When Neil Reynolds was first asked to work as a private military contractor in Iraq, he didn't even know where it was on the map. But the Border War veteran and former SANDF officer would quickly learn the ins and outs of working and surviving in that war-torn country. It was 2003 and the US-led coalition that had toppled Saddam Hussein was confronted with a savage insurgency.His candid, unvarnished account tells of the numerous challenges faced by private military contractors in Iraq: from avoiding ambushes on the highways in and around Baghdad to buying guns on the black market and dodging bullets on several hair-raising protection missions. He describes how his team's low-profile approach allowed them to blend in with the local population and mostly kept them and their clients safe.Reynolds also tells the tragic story of four South African colleagues who were kidnapped and killed outside Baghdad in 2006.

Dad thinks lots of things are right-wing. He even thinks He-Man is right-wing. I ask Dad who we are and he says left-wing. Left is opposite to right. If right is bad, then we're the opposite of that, which means we're good. It's post-independence Zimbabwe and an atmosphere of nostalgia hangs over much of Harare's remaining white community. Hayden Eastwood grows up in a family that sets itself apart, distinguishing themselves from Rhodie-Rhodies through their politics: left is good; right is bad. Within the family's free and easy approach to life, Hayden and his younger brother, Dan, make a pact to never grow up, to play hide and seek and build forts forever, and to never, ever be interested in girls. But as Hayden and Dan develop as teenagers, and the chemicals of adolescence begin to stir, their childhood pact starts to unravel. And with the arrival of Sarah in their lives, the two brothers find themselves embroiled in an unspoken love triangle. While Sarah and Hayden spend increasing amounts of time together, Dan is left alone to deal with feelings of rejection and the burden of hidden passion, and the demise of a youthful promise brings with it a wave of destruction. Laced with humour, anger and sadness, Like Sodium in Water is an account of a family in crisis and an exploration of how we only abandon the lies we tell ourselves when we have no other option.

Advocate Thuli Madonsela has achieved in her seven years as Public Protector what few accomplish in a lifetime; her legacy and contribution cannot be over-stated. In her final days in office she compiled the explosive State Capture report and, before that, the report on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence. Praised and vilified in equal measures, Madonsela has frequently found herself at centre stage in the increasingly fractious South African political scene.Yet, despite the intense media scrutiny, Madonsela remains something of an enigma. Who is this soft-spoken woman who stood up to state corruption? Where did she develop her views and resolve? This book attempts to answer these questions, and others, by exploring many aspects of Madonsela’s life: her childhood years and family, her involvement in student politics, her contribution to the constitution, her life in law.Madonsela once described her role as Public Protector as being akin to that of the Venda traditional spiritual female leader, the Makhadzi, who whispers truth to the ruler. When the sounds of the exchanges between the ruler and the Makhadzi grow loud, Madonsela said, that is when the whispering has failed.No Longer Whispering to Power is about Thuli Madonsela’s tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper grew into a cry. It is the story of the South African people’s attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector. More significantly, this important book stands as a record of the crucial work 

Predictability isn’t a word you will find in any Bushveld dictionary, and the life of wildlife guardian Mario Cesare has been anything but. After years as warden of Olifants River Game Reserve, his feet are firmly planted in this magnificent slice of Big Five country to the west of the Kruger Park, where he has experienced a rich life packed full of incidents far from routine.In Heart of a Game Ranger, Cesare recounts some of these hair-raising, heart-breaking and heart-warming moments: a buffalo calf reunited with its pining mother, injured lions given second chances and rhinos lost, one by one, to poaching.Nestled among these tales, Cesare pays homage to the brave, dedicated and curious personalities engaged in a deadly combat on the most majestic of battlefields. Yet, while rhino poaching is by far the reserve’s biggest problem, Cesare reveals how the daily struggles of a game ranger are so much broader – and the rewards, when they come, immense.Heart of a Game Ranger is a story of extremes, one of fierce loyalty and devastating betrayal where spectacular days that end in exhausted satisfaction and achievement are balanced by those that leave behind only despair and frustration.Seen through his eyes and spoken from the heart, Cesare tells a deeply personal story – not only of a life lived wild, but of the joy of Africa’s incredible natural world.