Download or read book We have now begun our descent written by Justice Malala and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This book was released on 2015-10-12 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I am angry. I am furious. Because I never thought it would happen to us. Not us, the rainbow nation that defied doomsayers and suckled and nurtured a fragile democracy into life for its children. I never thought it would happen to us, this relentless decline, the flirtation with a leap over the cliff." In a searing, honest paean to his country, renowned political journalist and commentator Justice Malala forces South Africa to come face to face with the country it has become: corrupt, crime-ridden, compromised, its institutions captured by a selfish political elite bent on enriching itself at the expense of everyone else. In this deeply personal reflection, Malala's diagnosis is devastating: South Africa is on the brink of ruin. He does not stop there. Malala believes that we have the wherewithal to turn things around: our lauded Constitution, the wealth of talent that exists, our history of activism and a democratic trajectory can all be used to stop the rot. But he has a warning: South Africans of all walks of life need to wake up and act, or else they will soon find their country has been stolen.

Download or read book We Are Now Beginning Our Descent written by James Meek and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2014-03-04 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] sharply observed meditation on modern war . . . as far from Tom Clancy’s entertainments as a vintage Mini Cooper is from a snarling Hummer” (Alex Berenson, The New York Times Book Review). James Meek’s masterful historical novel, The People’s Act of Love, received accolades around the world, earning Meek comparisons to Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Conrad, and Greene. We Are Now Beginning Our Descent is a tour de force of storytelling, furthering his reputation as one of the most exciting and original young novelists writing today. Adam Kellas, a British journalist, would-be thriller novelist, and failed lover meets Astrid Walsh, a self-possessed, hard-charging reporter while the two are covering allied military operations in the Afghan mountains. After sharing one passionate night in a watchtower near a defunct airfield, Astrid disappears from Adam’s life. A year later, following a disastrous dinner party in London during which he destroys his few remaining friendships, Adam receives a short, beseeching email and hastily embarks on a transatlantic journey to a small town near the Chesapeake Bay where he believes Astrid waits for him. He envisions the fresh start his new life with Astrid might offer, unaware that she may be harboring unsettling secrets of her own. A passionate, incisive novel, We Are Now Beginning Our Descent lays bare the entwined hypocrisies, foibles, and desires of our age, and is a testament to the obsessive pull of love. “I am full of admiration for Meek’s precise and lyrical prose, for his mapping of the political landscapes through which his characters drift and for his evocation of the strange, torn geometries of the life in the global news stream.” —The Washington Post

Download or read book The Inheritors written by Eve Fairbanks and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This book was released on 2023-02-15 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Lyrical, deep, chilling, and prescient, this is a book we will be talking about for years to come.' - Justice Malala, author and commentator. South Africans face a reckoning: mourn a miracle nation that never came into being, fight on to give it birth, or make something else out of 1994's ashes? In The Inheritors, award-winning writer Eve Fairbanks tells the stories of ordinary people facing this stupendous question. These are the kinds of lives rarely examined in such depth: political activist Dipuo, her born-free daughter Malaika, and Christo, one of the last Afrikaner men drafted to fight for the apartheid regime. All three have to remake their own lives while facing the questions: what do I owe to my forebears, and what does history owe to me? They tell of the unresolved rage, generational guilt, and enduring hope that many South Africans struggle to speak aloud to themselves in private, let alone share. Observing subtle truths about power and inheritance, Fairbanks explores questions that preoccupy so many South Africans today: how can one let go of one's past? How should historical debts be paid? And how can a person live an honourable life in a society that – for better or worse – they no longer recognise?

Download or read book Destroying Democracy written by Jane Duncan and published by Wits University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-01 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the erosion of democracy across the globe Democracy is being destroyed. This is a crisis that expresses itself in the rising authoritarianism visible in divisive and exclusionary politics, populist political parties and movements, increased distrust in fact-based information and news, and the withering accountability of state institutions. Over the last four decades, democracy has radically shifted to a market democracy in which all aspects of human, non-human and planetary life are commodified, with corporations becoming more powerful than states and their citizens. This is how neoliberal capitalism functions at a systemic level and if left unchecked, is the greatest threat to democracy and a sustainable planet. Volume six of the Democratic Marxism series focuses on how decades of neoliberal capitalism have eroded the global democratic project and how, in the process, authoritarian politics are gaining ground. Scholars and activists from the political left focus on four country cases – India, Brazil, South Africa and the United States of America – in which the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled and highlighted the pre-existing crisis. They interrogate issues of politics, ecology, state security, media, access to information and political parties, and affirm the need to reclaim and re-build an expansive and inclusive democracy. Destroying Democracy is an invaluable resource for the general public, activists, scholars and students who are interested in understanding the threats to democracy and the rising tide of authoritarianism in the global south and the global north.

Download or read book How Long Will South Africa Survive written by Richard William Johnson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1977, RW Johnson's best-selling How Long Will South Africa Survive? provided a controversial and highly original analysis of the survival prospects of the apartheid regime. Now, after more than twenty years of ANC rule, he believes the situation has become so critical that the question must be posed again. He moves from an analysis of Jacob Zuma's rule to the increasingly dire state of the South African economy, concluding that the country is heading towards a likely International Monetary Fund bail-out which will in turn lead to a regime change of some kind.

Download or read book Rescuing Our Republic written by Bronwyn Williams and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This book was released on 2023-10-16 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: South Africa stands at the edge of a precipice. Almost thirty years after its first democratic election, poor policy and rampant corruption have left the country standing on the brink of becoming a failed state. In this thought-provoking book, Bronwyn Williams and Ludwig Raal interview a diverse group of public intellectuals, business leaders and political mavericks to discuss tangible ways South Africa can rescue itself from itself. Through a series of illuminating conversations, a group of independent thinkers explore the root causes of South Africa's problems and offer insightful and radical ways to solve them. From addressing land reform and economic development to rooting out corruption and overhauling political institutions, the conversations in this book come together as a roadmap towards a better South Africa that leaves no one behind. While the challenges facing the young democracy are immense, these experts provide hope and inspiration towards productive actions that we can take together to build a brighter future. For anyone interested in understanding the complex issues facing South Africa today and how they can be addressed, Rescuing Our Republic is essential reading. It is a powerful reminder that the fate of a nation is not predetermined; that individuals, citizens and corporations still have powerful agency and that when that agency is directed towards the right ideas and actions, South Africa can still realise its full potential.

Download or read book No Longer Whispering to Power written by Thandeka Gqubule and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This book was released on 2017-05-02 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thuli Madonsela achieved in seven years as Public Protector what few accomplish in a lifetime; her legacy and contribution cannot be overstated. In her final days in office she compiled the explosive State of Capture report and, two years before that, Secure in Comfort, the report on President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla residence. Praised and vilified in equal measure, Madonsela frequently found herself on 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? In No Longer Whispering to Power Thandeka Gqubule, journalist and one of the 'SABC 8' fired and rehired by the broadcaster, attempts to answer these questions, and others, by exploring aspects of Madonsela's life: her childhood years and family, her involvement in student politics, her time in prison, her contribution to the Constitution, and her life in law.

Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Democracy and Security written by Leonard Weinberg and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-22 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook explores how democracies around the world seek to balance democratic values with the requirement to protect their citizens from the threat of politically motivated violence. Over the past few decades, the majority of the world’s democracies have had to confront serious security threats, and in many instances these challenges have not come from rival states but from violent groups. This volume offers readers an overview of how some democracies have responded to such threats. It examines the extent to which authorities have felt compelled to modify laws to evade what would ordinarily be regarded as protected rights, such as personal privacy, freedom of movement and freedom of speech. Grounded in historical analysis, each of the sections addresses past and emerging security threats; legal and legislative responses to them; successful and unsuccessful efforts to reconcile democracy and security; and a range of theoretical questions. The case studies provided vary in terms of the durability of their democratic systems, level of economic development and the severity of the threats with which they have been confronted. The volume is divided into three thematic parts: Strong democracies: United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Israel Challenged democracies: India, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Romania Fragile democracies: the Philippines and Nigeria. This book will be of much interest to students of democracy, security studies, political philosophy, Asian politics, Middle Eastern politics, African politics, West European politics and IR in general.

Download or read book Jinn written by Matthew B.J. Delaney and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is May 1943. On the remote island of Bougainville, in the South Pacific, a squad of United States Marines beats their way through the thick jungle. They've landed to do battle with the Japanese soldiers on the island, but in short order, they begin to realize that the forbidding battleground holds an ancient secret a hundred times more terrifying than any enemy army---especially when they start finding the bodies. Flash-forward to July 2008. In the slums---and the skyscrapers---of Boston, a new kind of depraved serial killer is stalking human prey and terrifying the city. The bodies have been found posed and mutilated in bizarre ways that the two police officers in charge of the case have never seen before---and never want to see again. Are the two scenarios connected? Detectives Jefferson and Brogan have no idea that to solve the biggest case of their careers, their investigation must take them around the world and through time and history---from a mysterious salvaged submarine with a shocking secret, to an inhumane prison where the inmates are even more scared than usual of "the Pit," and finally back to the beginning: the sinister island in the South Seas where something inhuman has been biding its time. Matthew B.J. Delaney's Jinn won the 2003 International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel.

Download or read book How to Steal a City written by Crispian Olver and published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'In March 2015, I was tasked by Pravin Gordhan, the minister responsible for local government, to root out corruption in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in the Eastern Cape. Over the following eighteen months, I led the investigations and orchestrated the crackdown as the "hatchet man" for the metro's new Mayor, Danny Jordaan. This is my account of kickbacks, rigged contracts and a political party at war with itself.' How to Steal a City is the gripping insider account of this intervention, which lays bare how Nelson Mandela Bay metro was bled dry by criminal syndicates, and how factional politics within the ruling party abetted that corruption. As a former senior state official and local government 'fixer', Crispian Olver was no stranger to dodgy politicians and broken organisations. Yet what he found in Nelson Mandela Bay went far beyond rigged contracts, blatant conflicts of interest and garden-variety kickbacks. The city's administration had evolved into a sophisticated web of front companies, criminal syndicates and compromised local politicians and officials. The metro was effectively controlled by a criminal network closely allied to a dominant local ANC faction. What Olver found was complete state capture – a microcosm of what has taken place in national government. Olver and his team initiated a clean-up of the administration, clearing out corrupt officials and rebuilding public trust. Then came the ANC's doomed campaign for the August 2016 local government elections. Having lost its way in factional battles and corruption, the divided party went down to a humiliating defeat in its traditional heartland. Olver paid a high price for his work in Nelson Mandela Bay. Intense political pressure and even threats to his personal safety took a toll on his mental and physical health. When his political support was withdrawn, he had to flee the city as the forces stacked against him took their revenge. This is his story.

Download or read book The Sisters Bloom written by Roma Brooks and published by Roma Brooks. This book was released on 2023-07-22 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Three estranged sisters meet at a seaside inn to celebrate their mother's 60th birthday. The oldest is struggling with a rocky marriage. Another is at a crossroads after being fired from her job. None of them are prepared for the secrets that are about to be revealed. As one shocking truth after another comes to light, the sisters will forget their differences and come together as a family. The Bloom sisters have forgotten the rapport they once shared. Iris is exhausted from raising four kids and has turned into a controlling woman with an acid tongue. Hyacinth, the academic, faces a void after losing the job she worked hard for. Neither can understand the other's choices in life but they agree on something. Poppy, their youngest sister, needs to stop gallivanting around the world and get serious about her life goals. Mary Bloom has a big surprise in store for her daughters but she can barely get a word in. Saddened by the constant bickering, she decides to remain a silent spectator. Meanwhile, innkeepers Pete and Zadie are doing their best to make their guests feel welcome, plying them with delicious seafood and desserts. As the sisters face one shock after another, they will bond like never before, finally realizing what matters most in life: family. If you like stories about strong women, family life, beach settings and yummy food with a dash of intrigue, you will love The Sisters Bloom. *Contains delicious recipes from the Rising Tides Inn and yummy descriptions of food. . Readers who like Cape Harriet also like books by the following - Michele Gilchrest, Rachel Hanna, Pamela Kelley, Meredith summers, kay Correll, Katie Winters, Amelia Addler, Hope Holloway, Elizabeth Bromke, Maggie Miller, Anne Marie-Meyer, Grace Palmer, Nancy Thayer, Olivia Miles, Nicole Ellis, Jessie Newton, Leigh Duncan, Judith Keim, Fiona Baker, Grace Meyers, Rachel Bloome, Melissa Mcclone, Amy Ashley, Tess Thompson, Sara Jane Bailey, Julia Clemens, Ashley Farley, Merri Mayweather, Stacy Rae, Lindsay Harrel, Kimberly Thomas, Melody Grace, Debbie Macomber, Robyn Carr, Sheryl Woods, Kristin Hanna, Marie Force, Emma Davies, Jill Shalvis, Susan Mallery, Carolyn Brown, Cora Seton, Stacy Claflin, RaeAnne Thayne, Jean Oram, Kate Russel, Melissa Crosby, Melissa Storm, Ruth Ann Nordin . Keywords - Cedar Cove, Hallmark Movies, Hallmark channel, Chesapeake Shores, Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias, sisters fiction, second chance romance, small-town romance, feel-good romance, contemporary romance, series, modern romance, urban romance, cape cod, Virginia, lighthearted romance, light romance, hot romance, contemporary romance 2023, swoonworthy, romance series, romance books, beach reads, free ebook, freebie, free book, free reads, free romance novel, free romance book, free beach read, romance books free, alpha male, dominant male, hot guy, heartwarming, heart-warming romance, family, love, emotional journey, sparks, loyalty, swoon, beach romance, books for summer, books for the beach, beach series, love and friendship, inn, bed and breakfast, foodie fiction, books with food, books with recipes, southern, American, enemies to friends, interracial romance, diversity, diverse characters, women's fiction, contemporary women, strong women, saga, HFN, happily for now, HEA, happily ever after

Download or read book Beyond the Sky and the Earth written by Jamie Zeppa and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2000-05-01 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jamie Zeppa was 24 when she left a stagnant life at home and signed a contract to teach for two years in the Buddhist hermit kingdom of Bhutan. Much more than just a travel memoir, Beyond the Sky and the Earth is the story of her time in a Himalayan village, immersed in Bhutanese culture and the wonders of new and lasting love. Whether you're travelling to Bhutan, looking for the best travel writing around, or wishing to be transported to a culture, mindset, and spiritual ethos wonderfully different from your own, Beyond the Sky and the Earth is a joyous and lush memoir that will transform the way you think of faith, Western life, and love.

Download or read book A Love Letter to the Many written by Vishwas Satgar and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-07-04 with total page 724 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: South Africa was the hope of the world. It had an impressive and rich tradition of left politics. At the heart of post-apartheid democracy-making was a revolutionary nationalist ANC, the oldest Communist Party in Africa, the SACP, and one of the most militant labour union federations in the world, COSATU. Yet, South Africa is at a crossroads and many are deeply concerned about its future. This book explains through a political economy/ecology analysis why and how the degeneration of national liberation politics has happened, while making praxis-centered arguments for a new transformative left politics.

Download or read book A Flight Attendant s Diary written by K.A. Russell and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2015-02-20 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Flight Attendant's Diary is an exciting book of the adventures K.A. Russell experienced during her flying career. The stories are filled with humor, fun, laughter, adventure, and curiosity about what is going to happen next, whether in the air at 30,000 feet, or on the ground. For all frequent fliers, or those that have never flown, it will give you true insight as to what is possible during flight. You may want to begin your flying career after reading her entertaining stories!

Download or read book Africa s Lost Leader written by and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-09-28 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president on 10 May 1994, South Africa enjoyed an unprecedented global standing. Much of the international community, particularly Western states, saw the new South Africa as well equipped to play a dynamic and dominant role on the continent; promoting conflict resolution, economic development, and acting as a standard-bearer for democracy and human rights.Yet, throughout the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, South Africa has failed to deliver on this early promise. Its continental primacy has been circumscribed by its own reluctance to lead, combined with widespread African hostility to its economic expansion, antipathy towards its democratic ideals and scepticism about its suitability as Africas global representative. With an onerous domestic agenda, as it continues to tackle the profound socio-economic legacies of apartheid, and with its military power also on the wane, South Africa must now adapt to an emerging multipolarity on the continent. This transition which may produce a new concert of African powers working in constructive collaboration or lead to fragmentation, discord and gridlock is likely to determine Africas prospects for decades to come.This Adelphi book squarely challenges the received wisdom that South Africa is a dominant power in Africa. It explores the countrys complex and difficult relationship with the rest of the continent in the post-apartheid era and examines the ways in which the country has struggled to translate its economic, military and diplomatic weight into tangible foreign policy successes and enduring influence on the ground. The conclusions of this book will be valuable to academics, policymakers, journalists, and business leaders seeking to understand the evolution and trajectory of South African policy in Africa.

Download or read book Elections and TV News in South Africa written by Bernadine Jones and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-08-02 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes television news seriously. Over the course of nine chapters, Elections and TV News in South Africa shows how six democratic South African general elections, 1994–2019, were represented on both local and international news broadcasts. It reveals the shifting narratives about South African democracy, coupled with changing and challenging political journalism practices. The book is organised in three parts: the first contains a history of South African democracy and an overview of the South African media environment. The second part is a visual analysis of the South African elections on television news, exploring portrayals of violence, security, power, and populism, and how these fit into normative news values and the ruling party’s tightening grip on the media. The final part is a conclusion, a call to action, and a suggestion to improve political journalistic practice.

Download or read book South Africa s Energy Transition written by Andrew Lawrence and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-08-30 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a succinct overview of the evolution of policies addressing energy and climate justice in South Africa. Drawing on a range of analytical perspectives, including socio-technical studies, just transitions, and critical political economy, it explains why South Africa’s energy transition from a coal-dependent, centralised power generation and distribution system has been so slow, and reveals the types of socio-political inequalities that persist across regimes and energy sources. Topics explored include critical approaches to the South African state and its state-owned energy provider, Eskom; the political ecologies of coal and water; the politics of non-renewable energy alternatives; as well as the trajectory and fate of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), the country’s major renewable energy policy. The book concludes with reflections on alternative, neglected energy and development paths, suggesting how the political economy of South Africa’s energy system could be further transformed for the better.