Max du Preez, newspaper columnist and author of A Rumour of Spring: South Africa after 20 years of Democracy, will be starting a job at News24 this week.

Du Preez resigned from Independent Newspapers last month because after a disagreement with executive editor, Karima Brown. Following allegations of racism from the presidency, Brown issued an apology for a column in which Du Preez criticised President Jacob Zuma, without consulting him first. The presidency had complained that Du Preez’s piece was racist, but Du Preez says that his criticism of Zuma made no reference to race. Furthermore, he says the column contained no factual inaccuracies, and therefore did not warrant an apology.

News24’s Editor in chief Andrew Trench said that he is pleased Du Preez will be making his home at the company.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer a ‘home’ to Max. His reputation for truth, his passion for press freedom and his calibre of journalism make him one of the best, and exactly the kind of unapologetic opinion we want on News24,” Trench said.

Read the article:

Du Preez said he was privileged to have a voice on News24.

“I’m going to do my best to make sure that my conversations with readers on News24 will help stimulate healthy, rigorous debates and contribute to an informed public opinion.

• Complete article: News24

• More about Max du Preez on Books LIVE

Book details

• A Rumour of Spring: South Africa after 20 years of Democracy by Max du Preez
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  EAN: 9781770225435
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Julian Rademeyer, the author of Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade, has responded to the arrest of Hugo Ras and nine of his associates in an article posted on his blog.

In this post, Rademeyer gives some details of the people arrested and the charges that have been made against them. Rademeyer met Ras some time ago, and the wrote about him in Killing for Profit. An extract from the book, which deals with Ras’s dubious dealings and the charges that failed to stick, is included in the post.

Read the blog post:

I first met Hugo Ras in April 2012 in the corridor of the Pretoria North Regional Court. I’d heard the dark tales that swirled around him and stories about the numerous run-ins he’d had with the law. But, as he boasted, few of the cases ever stuck.

Now, more than two-and-half years later, Ras is accused of being the “ringleader” of a poaching syndicate that “contributed to the brutal slaughter and mutilation of 24 rhino in state and privately-owned reserves”. Two rhino survived, both horribly disfigured.

• Continue reading: Killing for Profit blog

Book details

• Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade by Julian Rademeyer
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  EAN: 9781770223349
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Britain’s great historian Eric Hobsbawn has named Charles van Onselen’s latest work, Masked Raiders: Irish Banditry in Southern Africa, 1880–1899, one of his 2010 reads of the year. High praise indeed from the revered author – a real feather in van Onselen’s cap!

Two excellent books this year remind me of some of my own past researches: John A Davis’s The Jews of San Nicandro is about the Italian peasants who converted to Judaism; and Charles Van Onselen’s Masked Raiders: Irish Banditry in Southern Africa.

• More at the Guardian‘s 2010 Books of the Year

About the book

For two decades before a railway system linked southern Africa’s principal cities in the mid-1890s, the world’s richest supplies of diamonds and gold were transported by coach and horses to distant ports for export. For Irish soldiers based at Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, the temptation of this fabulous wealth proved irresistible: they deserted by the score and, as members of the criminal ‘Irish Brigade’, embarked on a spree of bank, safe and highway robberies.

Masked Raiders follows the wild exploits of legendary brigands like the McKeone brothers and ‘One-Armed Jack’ McLaughlin, who ravaged the subcontinent, from the mining towns of Barberton, Kimberley and Johannesburg to the borders of Basotholand, Bechuanaland, Mozambique and Rhodesia. With tales of heists, safe-cracking, illegal gold dealings, prison breaks and hidden roadside treasure, the book reveals the potency of the highveld’s ‘criminal heroes’, a force – until now – largely hidden from history. Startling new insights reveal how the hidden grammar of brigandage informed political actions of the day, such as the Jameson Raid, and how the movement of bandits across the interior helped shape the borders of what was to become modern South Africa. With inimitable storytelling flair, Charles van Onselen illuminates the intrigue and influence of a secretive, oath-bound brotherhood.

Book details

• Masked Raiders: Irish Banditry in Southern Africa, 1880–1899 by Charles van Onselen
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  EAN: 9781770220805
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Zebra Press and The Bay Bookshop invite you to the launch of Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa’s Fighting Spirit by Tim Butcher.

For many years Sierra Leone and Liberia have been to dangerous to travel through, bedeviled by a uniquely brutal form of violence from which sprang many of Africa’s cruellest contemporary icons – child soldiers, prisoner mutilation, blood diamonds. With their wars officially over, Tim Butcher sets out on a journey across both countries, trekking for 350 miles through remote rainforest and malarial swamps. Just as he followed H.M. Stanley through the Congo – a journey described as his bestseller Blood River – this time he pursues a trail blazed by Graham Greene in 1935 and immortalised in the travel classic Journey Without Maps in which he and his cousin Barbara were carried. Tim walks every blistering inch to gain an extraordinary ground-level view of a troubled and overlooked region.

As a journalist in Africa, Tim came to know both countries well although the wars made the trips to the jungle hinterland far too risky. This is where he now heads, exploring how rebel groups thrived in the bush for so long and whether the devil of war has truly been chased away.

Hear more of Butcher’s story: see you at the Bay Bookshop!

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
• Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
• Venue: The Bay Bookshop
  27 Somerset Road
  cnr. Dixon Street
  126 The Square, Level One
  Cape Quarter
  Green Point
  Cape Town
• RSVP: capequarter@baybookshop.co.za, 021 421 1301

Book Details

• Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa’s Fighting Spirit by Tim Butcher
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  EAN: 9780701183615
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Herschelle Gibbs meen sy outobiografie, To the Point, is nie so erg soos wat die koerante berig nie.

Hy het in ‘n onderhoud aan SARIE gesê hy het verwag dat van sy mede-krieketspelers ontsteld sou wees oor die boek, en dat hy selfs vriende sou verloor. Maar hy sê ook: “Hulle het nog nie die boek nie en tot tyd en wyl hulle die boek onder oë kry, sal hulle agterkom dis nie so erg soos wat dit gemaak word nie.”

Die omstrede krieketspeler besef hy het ‘n hele paar spanmaats teleurgestel en seergemaak met sy openhartige lewensverhaal. Hy gesels met SARIE se Phyllis Green.

Hier waar ons in Melville, Johannesburg, by ‘n straatkafee sit en gesels oor sy omstrede outobiografie, To The Point, The No-Holds-Barred Autobiography, Herschelle Gibbs met Steve Smith (Zebra Press, R200) lyk hy verbasend ontspanne. Hy besef hy gaan heel moontlik ‘n klompie vriende verloor, maar dis dan maar so. Hy glo hy het sy verhaal vertel, oop en eerlik en spontaan, soos hy is en dat dit die enigste manier was hoe hy dit kon doen.

• Lees die volledige artikel in SARIE

Book details

• To the Point: The No-Holds-Barred Autobiography by Herschelle Gibbs, Steve Smith
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  EAN: 9781770221314
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Zebra Press en The Book Lounge nooi jou uit na die bekendstelling van Oor krygers, korrelkoppe en konkelaars deur Max du Preez.

Daar is kleurryke stories oor Khoi-hoofmanne wat in die sewentiende eeu oorsee gegaan het; die Boesmans se verdrag met leeus; die wyse Mohlomi; die krygshaftige vrou Mantatisi; Coenraad de Buys, die skurkagtige pionier; die swart Jode van Venda; Christiaan de Wet en sy broer Piet, wat aan verskillende kante in die Anglo-Boereoorlog geveg het; die dapperheid van generaal De la Rey se vrou, Nonnie; en die planne om Mandela uit Robbeneiland se tronk te laat ontsnap. Daar is boonop heeltemal nuwe verhale oor skipbreukelinge van die sestiende en sewentiende eeu, van wie baie met Zoeloe- of Xhosavroue getrou het; oor Guillaume Chenu de Chalezac, die Franse seun wat in 1680 deur ‘n Xhosa-hoofman aangeneem is en later ‘n Pruisiese generaal geword het; oor die merkwaardige Engelse vrou Sarah Heckford wat ‘n handelaar in die Boererepublieke en raadgewer vir koningin Modjadji geword het; en oor die Duitse oorlogsweeskinders wat tydens die Tweede Wereldoorlog na SA gekom het.

Ons sien daarna uit om julle daar!

Besonderhede

• Datum: Maandag, 15 November 2010
• Tyd: 17h30 vir 18h00
• Plek: The Book Lounge
  71 Roeland Straat
  Cape Town | Kaart
• RSVP: booklounge@gmail.com, 021 462 2425

Boekbesonderhede

• Oor krygers, korrelkoppe en konkelaars: Ongewone verhale uit ons verlede deur Max du Preez
  Boektuisblad
  EAN: 9781770220867
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MD of Exclusive Books, Fred Withers introduces Ronnie Apteker and Gus Silber :

Why does an entrepreneur, like a comedian, need to close a deal every 15 seconds? It is said that inside every successful entrepreneur there is a stand-up comic struggling to get out. Well, meet one who managed to escape. His name is Ronnie Apteker, and no, he’s not an apteker. He’s the high-energy, high-tech founder of South Africa’s first internet service provider, Internet Solutions, and a number of other innovative online ventures. But his real business is getting a laugh out of people, whether it’s in a boardroom, on a stage or on a movie set. As a storyteller, moviemaker and creative spirit, Ronnie takes business seriously enough to know that you don’t need to take yourself too seriously to succeed.

Funny Business was launched to much laughter earlier this week at Exclusive Books Hyde Park.

Ronnie Apteker and Gus Silber at the podium talking Funny Business :

• More snaps on Facebook

Book details

• Funny Business: The Secrets of an Accidental Entrepreneur by Gus Silber, Ronnie Apteker
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  EAN: 9781770220898
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Joburg’s favourite breakfast show, The Rude Awakening, said a sad goodbye to presenter Jeremy Mansfield yesterday morning. After 13 years Mansfield has decided to take a break and is looking forward to “a life that is not structured” complete with breakfast in bed.

As Joburg bids goodbye to Highveld Stereo presenter Jeremy Mansfield, so will several other popular characters will also be lost to radio.

Today, the Monday morning following the end of the World Cup, was Mansfield’s last stint on the popular Rude Awakening show after 13 years at the helm.

He is leaving to embark on “a life that is not structured” and to pursue new interests.

• Complete article in the Tonight

Book details

• Zhoozsh! by Jeremy and Jacqui Mansfield
  EAN: 9781770077850
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Image courtesy Times Live

Jeremy Mansfield, well known for his vocal acrobatics on Highveld 94.7 is the voice behind Lifer, a Chatter telephone, in the newly released Toy Story 3.

Radio personality Jeremy Mansfield announced on his show on 94.7 Highveld that he is set to voice a character in Toy Story 3.

“It’s official and has just been finalised. This is really exciting news! I am a big fan of Disney. Pixar and this is indeed an honour,” said a thrilled Mansfield this morning.

Mansfield’s voice will be used for the character of Lifer, a Chatter telephone who has spent his life in the toy box at a children’s nursery school.

• Complete article in the Sunday Times

Fifteen years have passed since the release of the original animated film that showed what toys get up to when their owners aren’t looking and what animation fantasias can be conjured up by computers.

It’s been more than a decade since Toy Story 2, which was initially intended for video release only and ultimately was a bigger hit than the first film.

It looks as if Toy Story 3 will be worth the wait – experts believe it could be the biggest hit of 2010.

• Complete article in YOU

Watch the trailer:

Book details

• Zhoozsh! by Jeremy and Jacqui Mansfield
  EAN: 9781770077850
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Image courtesy Eyewitness News

The police have played a central role in South Africa’s troubled past, are caught up in its crime-ridden present, and remain key to a more peaceful future. Despite this, most citizens know very little about the lives and experiences of the average cop in the 185 000-strong South African Police Service.

Behind the Badge: The untold stories of South Africa’s police service members book is composed of excerpts from interviews with twenty-eight current and former members of the service who, for the first time, share their personal experiences of life behind the badge. There is mantra among the police: “What happens on the shift stays on the shift.” In Behind the Badge, members talk openly about the experiences hidden behind this wall of silence. The book covers a wide range of themes, including reasons for signing up; training; transformation from SAP to SAPS; the case; lethal force; torture; corruption; ethics; experiencing loss; work and home life; the emotional toll; humour; sex and power.

About the author

Andrew Faull is a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies and a reservist in the South African Police Service. He is the author of a book, Policing Diversity: An analysis of a diversity intervention in a South African Police Service station, as well as numerous papers and articles on police and policing.

Book details

• Behind the Badge: The untold stories of South Africa’s police service members by Andrew Faull
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781770220553
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