Bosveld Ekologie en Bestuur

Bosveld Ekologie en Bestuur

Redakteur: P.T. van der Walt,  ISBN:9781875093946, R219.00

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Ook beskikbaar in Engels

17 van ons land se voorste boskundiges skryf oor die Bosveld se bewaring en bestuur, die geologie en grond, veld en plante, houtsoorte en ouderdomme van bome, oorlewing en veldgebruik in historiese tye, hedendaagse toerisme en wat dit sou behels om ’n plaas hier te koop.

In die volksmond verwys ‘bos’ na ’n houtagtigheid wat in samestelling, digtheid en hoogte verskil. Dit is ’n plek waar die lewensiklusse van sowat 5 700 plantsoorte bydra tot die polsende ritme en dinamiek van soet-, suur-, gemengde of dorre bosveld. ’n Anderhalf miljoen besoekers put jaarliks enorme plesier uit hierdie kosbare bioskat, maar dit is besig om vinnig te verarm weens die druk van menslike aktiwiteite en wanbestuur. Die benutting daarvan moet dringend met meer sensitiwiteit en kundigheid benader word. Om hierdie ideaal groter momentum te gee, deel 17 van ons land se voorste boskundiges hul kennis op ’n maklik verstaanbare en kleurvolle wyse – wonderlike leesstof vir die bewaarder, boer, student en elke bosliefhebber.
Hierdie bondige kroniek vertel van die Bosveld se bewaring en bestuur, die geologie en die grond, die veld en die plante, van houtsoorte en die ouderdomme van bome, van oorlewing en van veldgebruik in historiese tye, van hedendaagse toerisme en wat dit sou behels om ’n plaas hier te koop.

’n Eiesoortige veldgids vir ons geliefde Bosveld – ’n moet vir elke Bosvelder en Bosveldbesoeker.

Bushveld Ecology and Management

Bushveld Ecology and Management

Editor: P.T.van der Walt, ISBN:9781875093946,
R219.00

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Also available in Afrikaans

17 of the country’s most prominent bush experts share there knowledge about conservation and management of the Bushveld, its geology and soil, veld and plants, timber and age-old trees, survival and usage of the veld in historical times, modern-day tourism and how one goes about buying a farm here.

In popular parlance, ‘bush’ refers to a woodiness that differs in composition, density and height. It is a place where the life cycles of some 5 700 plant species contribute to the pulsing rhythm and dynamics of sweet, sour, mixed or arid Bushveld. One and a half million visitors find enormous pleasure in this precious biotreasure every year, but it is deteriorating fast as a result of human activities and mismanagement. Its use should be approached with much more sensitivity and proficiency. To give more impetus to this ideal, 17 of the most prominent bush experts of the country share their knowledge in a clear and colourful way – wonderful reading matter for the conservator, farmer, student and every lover of the bush.
This short chronicle tells of the conservation and management of the Bushveld, its geology and soil, its veld and its plants, its timber and age-old trees, of survival and of usage of the veld in historical times, of modern-day tourism and how one goes about buying a farm here.

A special field guide to our beloved Bushveld – a must for every resident and visitor.

Long Shadow of Apartheid, The

The Long Shadow of Apartheid - Race in South Africa since 1994

by Lucy Holborn, ISBN:9781869825836, R160.00

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The Institute’s research on changing racial sentiment in South Africa since 1994 has been published under the title The Long Shadow of Apartheid: Race in South Africa since 1994. The research includes interviews with senior business and academic leaders in South Africa. The project was funded through a grant from the Maurice Webb Trust. 

South Africa is a country obsessed by race. Yet beyond the coverage of high-profile incidents and statements, and our individual experiences, we know relatively little about the state of race relations – about the way in which people of different races view and treat one another. Have race relations got better since 1994? What factors influence race relations? Is South Africa drifting towards a race war, as some have predicted? Why does race dominate political discourse so many years after the end of apartheid? Why have some of the most high-profile incidents of alleged racism in recent years involved people too young to remember racial segregation? Are race relations in South Africa’s farming communities at breaking point?
Improving race relations and erasing the legacy of racial division left by apartheid is likely to be a slow process. This work assesses what progress has been made over the last 15 years, and in doing so exposes the important role politicians, the media, and civil society can play in improving – or worsening – relations between the races.

Hairdresser of Harare

by Tendai Huchu, ISBN:9781770099074, R125.00
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"Like very good dark chocolate this is a delicious novel, with a bitter-sweet flavour.

Vimbai is a hairdresser, the best in Mrs Khumalo's salon, and she knows she is the queen on whom they all depend. Her situation is reversed when the good-looking, smooth-talking Dumisani joins them. However, his charm and desire to please slowly erode Vimbai's rancour and when he needs somewhere to live, Vimbai becomes his landlady.

So, when Dumisani needs someone to accompany him to his brother's wedding to help smooth over a family upset, Vimbai obliges. Startled to find that this smart hairdresser is the scion of one of the wealthiest families in Harare, she is equally surprised by the warmth of their welcome; and it is their subsequent generosity which appears to foster the relationship between the two young people.

The ambiguity of this deepening friendship - used or embraced by Dumisani and Vimbai with different futures in mind - collapses in unexpected brutality when secrets and jealousies are exposed.

Written with delightful humour and a penetrating eye, The Hairdresser of Harare is a novel that you will find hard to put down."

‘A subtle and refreshing story of life in contemporary Harare … a novel of morality, prejudice and ambition told with humour and tragedy.’
- Brian Chikwava, award-winning author of Harare North.

Zimbabwe - Years of hope and despair

Zimbabwe - years of hope and despair

by Philip Barclay, ISBN:9781408805664, R190.00

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Philip Barclay lived and worked as a diplomat and blogger in Zimbabwe during 2006-2009 - one of the few permitted Western observers of events on the ground. In this electrifying first-hand account we witness the key events that marked the decline of this once prosperous and stable nation. In early 2007, The Movement for Democratic Change (led by Morgan Tsvangiari) held large rallies, leaving Tsvangiari severely beaten and activists killed and arrested. Philip Barclay attended the trials of the MDC activists while campaigns for the next election were beginning to take shape, even though both parties were divided. Although it looked certain that President Robert Mugabe would win the next election in March 2008, given that he controlled all state media, as Philip travelled around the country there was a sense of hope and excitement at the prospect of change. On polling day it became immediately obvious that the MDC had won. The following months saw a widespread outbreak of violence; reports came in of rape, murder and mass evictions as the military and party militia's assaulted and intimidated the supporters of the MDC. Mugabe was not ready to stand down. Philip witnessed a bomb site where activists were burned alive and interviewed rape victims and members of illegal refugee camps. Philip himself was stopped and threatened by a ZANU-PF militia. By July 2008 the country had fallen apart. Hyperinflation ensued, utilities failed and the worst Cholera epidemic in recent world history hit a starving population. A unity agreement was eventually signed in early 2009, but is this really a new dawn for Zimbabwe? Concise, fluent, imaginative and authoritative, Zimbabwe gets to the terrifying core of a country systematically destroyed by its own government, and asks important questions about what the future may hold.

Snakes in the garden of Eden

Snakes in the Garden of Eden

by Normal Canale, ISBN:9781868062935, R169.95

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See the article on TimesLive about 'Snakes in the Garden of Eden'

Marginal Safari, The

The Marginal Safari

by Justin Fox, ISBN:9781415200582, R220.00

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Justin Fox, the well-known travel journalist and deputy editor of Getaway magazine, journeys counter-clockwise around the edges of South Africa, starting in Cape Town.

Justin Fox, the well-known travel journalist and deputy editor of Getaway magazine, journeys counter-clockwise around the edges of South Africa, starting in Cape Town. It is 2006 and his famous father Revel has been diagnosed with cancer. Worried and guilt-ridden, he takes to the road nevertheless, making full use of the advantages that distance and the sheer physicality of driving affords a troubled soul.
For this trip becomes something of a soul journey: "Restless, anxious about an uneventful slide into my late 30s, hungry for adventure – or colourful change at least – I've been craving the road for some time." As he stops at places frequented or famously erected by his architect father, his thoughts congeal around notions of fatherland and fatherhood. He tarries at outposts and colourful towns, skipping entire cities at times to favour the off-beat treasures of human souls fashioned less by convention than by their own sheer will pitted against nature or circumstance.
Fox travels like Theroux and reports like a novelist, with pithy dialogue and sharp observations, and strings together scenes, pictures, communities and characters to form a totality of what South Africa is today as seen from its margins: a poignant, exciting clash of histories and stories which Fox tells in a quietly charming and irresistible way.