March Local Non-fiction

Falling Forward is a story of reclaiming identity, voice and power.  In this deeply personal memoir, released alongside her documentary, Rachel Kolisi takes readers behind the public image and into the private moments that shaped her. With courage and clarity, she traces her journey through childhood, motherhood, love, marriage, her faith in God tested and rebuilt, loss and reinvention, and the complex reality of living a life under constant scrutiny. This is not a story of perfection or arrival, but of becoming. Of breaking, rebuilding and choosing to rise anyway. Through hard-learned lessons and unflinching honesty, Rachel reflects on what it means to let go of who you were expected to be and step fully into who you are. Together with Rachel’s personal journey, she shares how purpose and service became anchors in her healing process. Her commitment to uplifting others is not separate from her story, but a natural continuation of it. Raw yet hopeful, grounded yet powerful, Falling Forward is for any woman whohas had her world turned upside down and found the strength to begin again.

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In the next twenty-five years, Africa’s population is predicted to double in size to 2.5 billion, so that by 2050 one in four people on earth will be African. How can Africa accommodate and benefit from this huge demographic shift? In The Invisible People, former MTN CEO Phuthuma Nhleko calls for a new African renaissance based on three pillars. The first involves building a confident common identity, rooted in Africa’s long and rich history, and celebrating its fundamental contributions to modern civilisation, religion and culture. The second is unleashing the kind of economic development that has so far eluded Africa, by leveraging its significant assets and resources, abandoning outdated and inadequate economic models, and carving a new path grounded in a Pan-African vision and based on technological and economic leapfrogging. The third pillar involves bolstering Africa’s geopolitical influence, by redefining its relationship with the US and China, and embracing a strategic path in its own interests, to take its rightful place in world affairs as home to a quarter of humanity. An insightful and inspiring journey through history, economics and geopolitics, The Invisible People will change the way that people view the future of Africa and the world.

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‘Benni had everything that a coach loves in a player.’ – José Mourinho Benni McCarthy is South Africa’s most successful footballer – he’s the all-time top scorer for Bafana Bafana, the country’s only Champions League winner, and he is now forging a successful career as a coach. Benni has gone from growing up in the ganglands of the Cape Flats to playing at some of the biggest arenas in sport, moving from South Africa as a teenager to become a much-prized player at clubs in the Netherlands, Spain and England. He was the top scorer at the Africa Cup of Nations finals, he also found the back of the net at the World Cup, and he helped FC Porto and their fabled coach José Mourinho to win the top club prize in world football. Since hanging up his boots, Benni has embarked on a coaching career that has seen him win silverware in South Africa and then go on to work on the staff at Manchester United. He is now building a national team for Kenya as they ready themselves to host the 2027 Cup of Nations tournament. Overcoming formidable obstacles has been the hallmark of Benni’s career, be it defying neighbourhood gang bosses, a series of vindictive coaches or self-serving South African football administrators. His defiant approach to officialdom often landed him in hot water but he has always stayed true to his principles, resulting in a love-hate relationship with Bafana Bafana that has never been properly explained … until now.

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Much has been said and written about Radio 702, but until now the full story of how it was founded, the impact it made and the enduring legacy it has left has not been told. In Touch In Tune and Independent: The Story of 702 provides just such a history. Largely based on the reminiscences of those who were part of the saga during the station's formative decades, it will be welcomed and appreciated by the stations many thousands of devoted fans, past and present.“No newspaper or broadcasting station in South Africa had been closer to the momentous political events of the 1980s and 90s than 702. More than playing a reporting role, the station had itself become part of the process that opened up democracy”.In the final decade of apartheid rule, a feisty new independent station called Radio 702 exploded on the scene in South Africa. Innovative, in-your-face and exciting, it revolutionised the local broadcasting scene, breaking boundaries and challenging conventions as never before. Radio 702 became the station that everyone was talking about. From the outset, it imbedded itself in the community it served, continually finding new ways to connect and engage with its audience so that listeners could feel that the station truly belonged to them. In the process it became a beacon for much of the country's most promising broadcasting talent, from the legendary John Berks to John Robbie, Jenny Crwys-Williams, Dan Moyane and many others.

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South Africa’s mining journey began with the discovery of ‘mountains of copper’ in the drylands of Namaqualand, laying the foundation of an industry that would forever shape a nation’s destiny. Nowhere else in the world has a mineral revolution proved so influential in weaving the political, economic and social fabric of a society. Digging Deep explores South Africa’s great mineral revolution – the lucky strikes and the struggles of prospecting in the late 1800s, the rushes to boom-and-bust towns in the Eastern Transvaal Goldfield, the dubious beginnings of the Witwatersrand, and the stories of the visionary men like Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Beit, Barney Barnato, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, Sammy Marks and Hans Merensky who pioneered and shaped the industry on which modern South Africa was built. This epic retelling is the only single-volume account of how South Africa’s gold, diamonds, platinum, coal and a host of other metals and minerals – the richest treasure trove ever discovered in one country – transformed a colonial backwater into the greatest industrialised power on the African continent. In this second edition, Jade Davenport adds two new chapters that closely examine the era since the advent of democracy in which time the mining industry has gone through a profound and distressing transformation.

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Getting Back on the Bike is a compelling and deeply inspiring South African memoir of resilience, triumph and personal transformation as it weaves together sport, personal healing, and the pursuit of meaning. Former cycling champion Cathy Carstens – physiotherapist, consciousness coach, and legendary South African cyclist – chronicles her rise in a male-dominated sport, her five consecutive victories in the Cape Town Cycle Tour (formerly the Argus), and her unexpected return to elite racing in her forties, where she went on to win two UCI Masters Road World Championships.Told with honesty, humour, and spiritual depth, Cathy’s story moves from early struggles and devastating setbacks to remarkable comebacks and rediscovered joy. Whether navigating 700-kilometre stage races, mastering the art of resilience, or finding clarity in life’s hardest moments, her journey reminds readers that the greatest victories often follow our most painful falls.This book is a powerful reminder that the race of life is won not by perfection, but by the courage to begin again. Blending cycling history, lived wisdom, and emotive storytelling, this book offers both an inspiring sports narrative and a guide to living with courage, purpose, and authenticity.

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South Africa’s fiscal and governance challenges are not merely political—they’re structural. In The Bottom Line, Chartered Accountant and CFO Yusuf Bodiat applies a strategic finance mindset to the business of government, reframing South Africa as a case study in turnaround management. Using the same analytical tools that drive corporate recovery, Bodiat presents a CFO’s blueprint for stabilisation, credibility, and sustainable growth. This is not another political commentary. It’s a financial playbook for rebuilding a nation, grounded in rigour, accountability, and execution. With practical frameworks, diagnostic tools, and case studies, the book bridges the gap between strategy and delivery—offering decision-makers in both public and private sectors a roadmap for reform.

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Make your Brain POP is a practical, easy-toread guide for parents focused on developing a growth mindset in children through mindful communication and purposeful parenting. Thisbook draws from personal experience and research-backed concepts, particularly CarolDweck’s work on mindset psychology, to help set our children up for mental success.

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Although hailed, alongside Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo, as one of the ANC’s holy trinity, Walter Sisulu has remained a relatively neglected figure in the historiography of the struggle for liberation in South Africa. Modest and unassuming, Sisulu was always content to stay in the background in a way that has belied his importance. This nuanced and highly original biography of Walter Sisulu, drafted by political historian Tom Lodge before his untimely death, provides a powerful corrective. Lodge pronounces Walter an exceptional organiser, the most influential planner of the ANC’s mass campaigning during the 1950s, a principled but undoctrinaire communist, and alongside Mandela an advocate of the necessity of armed struggle. He also served as the careful navigator of the ambiguous relationship between the ANC and Umkhontho we Sizwe, and Lodge details how Sisulu’s exceptional grasp of this enabled him to confound the prosecution when he later played a lead role as a defendant in the Rivonia trial. Sentenced to life imprisonment with his fellow trialists, Walter’s became a calming influence amidst the divisive ideological debates which took place on Robben Island, as well as a constant source of strength and support to Mandela. Then, after his release from jail – ahead of Mandela – in 1989, he again demonstrated his prowess as the chief organiser of the ANC as it re-established itself prior to the 1994 elections. In this powerful account of his life, completed by Roger Southall, Lodge provides the detailed analysis of his commitment and contribution to South African freedom that Walter Sisulu deserves.

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In this intimate and modern poetry collection, Zubayr Charles seeks healing amidst the shocks of personal and social rejection, navigating the paradoxes of identity and love. Vivid, brave and witty, the sad boy’s starter pack is a reclamation of the self and a homecoming for the lonely and estranged. Invoking a strong sense of place, Charles’ Cape Town shapes what it means to be queer and Coloured. With a deft hand, the poet shapes the city in turn. Charles’ poems explore the tension between desire and detachment, longing and all-consuming love. This volume takes familiar, timeless themes by storm, forging them anew with luminous self-possession.

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