My Father Died
for Thisby Lukhanyo Calata
and Abigail Calata (Tafelberg)
When the Cradock Four’s Fort Calata was murdered by security agents of the apartheid machine in 1985, his son Lukhanyo was only 3 years old. Thirty-one years later Lukhanyo, now a journalist, is one of the SABC Eight.
He has defied Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s reign of censorship at the public broadcaster by writing an open letter declaring: “My father didn’t die for this.”
With his wife Abigail, Lukhanyo brings to life the father he never knew and investigates the mystery that surrounds his death despite two high-profile inquests.
A poignant and inspiring journey into the history of a family, the book traces the
struggle against apartheid, beginning with Fort’s grandfather, Rivonia trialist and ANC secretary-general Reverend James Calata.
The introduction is by anti-apartheid activist Paul Verryn.
Ministry of Crime: An Underworld Explored by Mandy Wiener (Pan McMillan)
Wiener is one of the country’s best known and most credible journalists and, as an investigative reporter, has uncovered some incredible but true high-profile cases.
A follow-up to the bestselling book Killing Kebble: An Underworld Exposed (2010), Wiener’s latest tell-it-all examines how organised crime, gangsters and powerful political figures have been able to capture the law enforcement authorities and agencies.
According to Wiener, these various organisations have been eviscerated, hollowed out and left ineffective.
They have been infiltrated and compromised and, as a result, prominent underworld figures have been able to flourish in South Africa, setting up elaborate crime networks with the assistance of many cops.
She traces an underworld trajectory from Kebble to prominent underworld figures like Radovan Krejcir after having gained exclusive access to on- and off-record interviews with underworld characters and police officers at all levels.
Similar to The President’s Keepers, this explosive and immaculately researched book tells a frightening story of how frighteningly intertwined the worlds of politics, law enforcement and organised crime are.
The “Ministry of Crime”, says Wiener, runs from the very top ranks of senior politicians and high-ranking police officers all the way to the murky depths of the underworld.
'Speak No Evil' by Uzodinma Iweala (John Murray)
On the surface, Niru leads a charmed life. Raised by two attentive parents in Washington, DC, he’s a top student and a track star at his prestigious private high school.
Bound for Harvard, his prospects are bright.
But Niru has a painful secret: he is gay - which is an abominable sin to his conservative Nigerian parents.
No one knows except his best friend, Meredith, who appears to be the only person who doesn’t seems to judge him.
When his father accidentally finds out his secret, the fallout is brutal and swift.
With her own troubles to deal with, Meredith finds she has little left emotionally to offer him.
As the two friends struggle to reconcile their desires against the expectations and institutions that seek to define them, they find themselves spiralling towards a future more violent and senseless than they can imagine, in which neither will escape unscathed.
Speak No Evil is a novel about the power of words and self-identification and who has the power to speak for other people.