19 New South African Books To Read This Heritage Month

In South Africa, homicides are sometimes for insurance. But sometimes the insurance is just an added bonus.

In Bryanston, Johannesburg, one couple has loved, married and is plodding on after surviving a betrayal.  In Fourways, Johannesburg, a man is holding on to a secret that he cannot share with his wife.

Then on a rainy summer’s night, as if conspired by the universe, the lives of the two couples are forever changed. An instant connection leads to a safe and healing love, one that not even a designated WhatsApp family group or attempts at seduction can extinguish. But love is messy and life is complicated. 

And when a stylish man with a prosthetic right arm shows up brandishing a .44 Magnum, the lovers may just discover how some great love stories end. That sometimes ‘till death do us part’ has a different meaning to different people.

I Do … Don’t I? is the much-anticipated sequel to the popular novel The Thing with Zola. It continues the sparkling and tender love story of free-spirited Zola and charismatic Mbali, traversing the vibrant landscapes of Kigali and Johannesburg as they navigate a long-distance relationship and the question of commitment. Will they say I do?

The cast is complete with the interweaving of the vivacious Okuhle on her heart-stirring journey to marriage, the audacious Thobile rebelling against societal norms, and the stoic Ongama navigating upheavals in her married life.

Personal desires collide with expectations, painting a unique picture of the nuances of love, dreams, and the trials of responsibilities and relationshipping. The result is a whirlwind of emotions, laughter, poignant revelations and the quest for a fairytale ending.

It is 2005, a time of silent anticipation and hidden possibilities in the rugged Cederberg mountains. Cameron Coal is embroiled in a desperate fight to save his family’s rooibos farm, which is a hair’s breadth from bankruptcy, while wrestling overwhelming grief after his wife’s death and trying to build a relationship with his blind daughter. His father, John, might be the family’s last hope to save their farm from an enemy lurking in plain sight. But in the shadows, Cameron’s brother, Sole, harbours a secret that could shatter their world. 

Amid the chaos of a veld fire, Cameron’s gaze falls upon an enigmatic nurse, Luna Parks, who is new to their town. As Luna and Cameron grow closer, her mysterious past and closely guarded secrets could shatter the very foundation of their relationship. 

In the meantime, several questions must be answered: Who wanted Cameron’s wife dead? How far will Cameron go to keep his enemies at bay? Will Luna ever tell him the truth about her past? Who really owns South Africa’s indigenous plant, the illustrious rooibos? And will Cameron’s decisions cost another life, or will they ensure the rise of the Tea Merchant?

Two problems. One fake dating solution. And a crash landing into love… 

Things Pippa enjoys: her job, airplanes, synonyms and tropical fish. 

Things Pippa does not enjoy: repeating patterns, tight clothes, people asking why she’s single and school reunions. 

After four months of only speaking over intercom, when air-traffic controller Pippa Edwards finally meets pilot Andrew Boyce-Jones face-to-face, they discover they’ve got much more in common than simply working at the same airport. 

In fact… they both need a date. 

Tired of every relationship ending before it’s even begun, Pippa wants to evade the inevitable questions at her dreaded ten-year school reunion in Cape Town. And Andrew needs to get his well-meaning family off his back about settling down. 

The solution seems simple. A pact – a fake dating pact – for as long as it’s mutually beneficial. It’s perfect. 

Or at least it would be if their very real attraction wasn’t about to make Pippa question everything she thought she wanted…

‘What are you thinking about?’

‘I think I might have killed someone’

How far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Two car accidents take place on the same night, on the same stretch of twisting valley road. One is fatal, and six friends’ lives will never be the same. Only two of them know what really happened that night – and one will stop at nothing to get to the truth. When your life is on the line, who can you really trust?

Gabriel Laucus has lost his job and his parent’s home is about to be repossessed. Desperate and on the brink of financial ruin, he devises a risky insurance scam to salvage his crumbling life. This sets in motion a catastrophic chain of events.

Soon, Gabriel and his friends have a psychopathic hitman, a ruthless drug lord, and a relentless investigator on their tail. As Gabriel navigates a world of fraud and dangerous alliances, he must outwit his pursuers and confront the harrowing repercussions of his choices.

Deadly Benefits is a heart-pounding journey through the high-stakes game of survival. The price of one wrong move could mean life or death.

Revenge is an act of passion

Paul Morgan, a washed-up novelist, is wasting his life away in Zanzibar. But his luck changes when he meets Angelika, a young orphan girl, and her guardian, a retired British spy…

Sandollar, the ex-spy, tells Morgan the story of his deadly World War Two spy career, complete with Nazi gold and assassinations. He then sets Morgan off on the trail of the psychopathic British spymaster who betrayed him.

On his quest, Morgan finds himself trapped in a dangerous web of deceit and murder, and finally uncovers the terrible secret the British spy establishment is desperate to keep.

Whisper of Death is an action-packed spy and adventure tale that sweeps from Zanzibar to the Tanzanian wilderness, from London to deepest Africa.

When Murphy Meyer arrives at Eden State Hospital on the first of January 2001, driven to solve a small, personal mystery, the young doctor has no idea she’s deposited herself into something larger and darker than she could ever have imagined; something that has a life of its own.

Few at Eden State Hospital can claim to be single minded where duplicity is standard operating procedure. 

Detective Ruben Ellis wants to die. The only reason he hasn’t killed himself is because he first needs to hunt down the man who kidnapped and murdered his daughter.

Meanwhile, another victim is being held captive in a twisted underground dystopia. But does Ruben have enough will left to find her in time? Can his partner, Zander, and his brilliant therapist, Melissa, help him unravel a mystery as dark and unseen as the gold mines that run deep beneath the streets of Johannesburg? And will they discover the mind-bending truth about Thing – the deeply troubled figure in the basement?

Now You Suffer is a chilling and wholly unforgettable thriller – the first in bestselling author Gareth Crocker’s riveting new Ruben Ellis series.

When an unusual building appeared overnight in a remote northern Cape community in the 1970s, and disappeared a few weeks later, it seemed to point to a series of baffling existential overlaps.

Some individuals claimed that occasionally they found themselves on the other side of a restive civil war divide, in identity embodiments that were highly contrary versions of themselves. In other cases, absurd social situations seemed to mock ‘normal reality’ by alternating with it. When a small-town journalist reported on the events, his quiet life became cruelly disrupted by unwanted attention.

Were these accounts imagined or real? Real enough to the eyewitnesses. Traumatised and adrift, the journalist later wrote up his story in reportage style when a childhood friend invited him to recuperate on her farm. He believed he had narrowly escaped the disappearance of an entire region – a place nobody has ever heard of – and its people, including the love of his life.

As the mystery unfolds, with an aura of retrieved memory, the narrator’s lost love becomes an increasingly evocative presence. The Equality of Shadows is a compelling novel – in some places uproariously funny, in others filled with deep pathos – about the vagaries of identity, love and time.

Siphokazi Jonas is a weaver of seemingly discordant worlds; growing up in an Afrikaans dorpie, attending an English boarding school, and going on annual holidays to a village emaXhoseni during the transition years of South Africa’s democracy made this a necessity.

In Weeping Becomes a River she confronts the linguistic and cultural alienation experienced as a black learner in former Model C schools in the 1990s and early 2000s, then fashions the fragments to reclaim and rewrite her place within a lineage of storytellers.

Migrating between forms, between poetry and intsomi, she navigates the waters of tradition, religion, intergenerational experiences of rural and urban spaces, and the ways in which family dynamics affect the body. She is not only a referee of the raging tensions within her, but she also pieces together a language for pathways of leaving and returning.

Her poems grapple with the past, the present, and possible futures without forgetting that “the body is marked territory from birth, and the scent of it never leaves”.

In a future dominated by technology, John grapples with the oppressive regime of The Federation, which promotes emotion suppression and AI control. Assigned to infiltrate a colony of Feelers — humans resistant to AI influence — John encounters Joshua, sparking forbidden feelings. Meanwhile, approached by time travellers, John faces a choice: go back in time to prevent technological tyranny or continue serving The Federation in ignorance.

‘I straighten her little tiara every morning – I lift her chin and remind her that she is meant for greater things than playground bullies.’ 

‘Everything shines in its own time. There is no timetable for life. Timetables are for classrooms, not for people.’ 

These are just some of the wisdoms shared on The Village, South Africa’s beloved Facebook group for parents raising tweens, teens and young adults. 

Having kids is a baffling endeavour beset with sulks, meltdowns, anxiety and disappointment – and that’s just the parents! When you get that call to the principal’s office, when the school acceptances don’t come, when the bedroom door slams and you hear your child sobbing behind it? All awful but the family years are also, to many of us, our most precious time. The trick? To find a way to enjoy our families, love our children and believe in them and ourselves despite the daily challenges. And laugh… 

In this book, Vanessa Raphaely and Karin Schimke have gathered together experiences and insights from The Village members. These are the gems and remedies from the real parenting experts – the parents – to help you raise your family in your own perfectly imperfect way.

So you’ve come up with a killer business idea and you’re ready to turn it into a side hustle or startup. What now? What do you need to do to bring it to life?

Whether you’re looking to earn some extra money on the side or dreaming of starting The Next Big Thing, Side Hustles and Startups is packed with the information you need to take this big step into your bright future. We’ll teach you how to:

• Find your passion.
• Test your idea.
• Write a business plan.
• Get funding.
• Ace your business admin, tax and compliance.
• Brand and market your business.
• Manage your money.
• Set up systems.
• Build your team.
• Take care of you.

Heavy Chef sat down with some of South Africa’s foremost entrepreneurs, side hustlers, strategists, marketing whizzes, venture capitalists and, yes, even tax specialists to help you get going. Combined, they have centuries of experience in creating and growing side hustles and startups. We’ve turned their advice into bite-sized lessons for you to snack on – as if you’re firing off instant messages to these trailblazers whenever you get stuck on your journey. Go on. Start up and hustle away.

Former Miss Universe and Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Tebow confesses the danger of tying our identities to our accomplishments. Discover the truth of who you were created to be and how to use your platform, no matter how big or small, for eternal impact.

The purpose of our lives is to love and serve God and others. Demi shows how you can be encouraged to focus not just on your aspirations, but on your greater purpose and leave behind a footprint of significance, not just success.

Born in Qgeberha in the 1990s, popular Aids activist Nozibele Mayaba’s upbringing was one of struggle and strife. She was raised by the tough hand of her mother in the confines of a strict Christian household. Nozibele strove to be the “good girl” that everyone adores to win her mother’s approval and the affection of her absent father. 

She lived by the book and was steered by her faith. Hers becomes a life of firsts. She is the first person in her family to travel overseas. The first to graduate from university. It is also her first love, with his infectious smile that infected her with HIV. 

This diagnosis throws her life into disarray. Fearing stigma and feeling the need to maintain her “good girl” image, she kept her status a secret. However, she soon succumbed to depression. It is in the aftermath, when she picks up the broken pieces of her life that she finds purpose in all the pain she has endured. 

She went public with her story in a video that went viral and launched her onto a new path. Nozibele, who has since gotten married and recently became a mother, has made it her mission to hold open conversations about her journey living with HIV. 

Told with gut wrenching honesty, Nozibele is at her most vulnerable in this brave account about what it means to live and love beyond HIV.

So here I am, at a psychiatric hospital, looking for myself in a building I’ve never been to before. A few nights ago, I was ready to rid myself of myself. I still am, only, in a different way…

Patient 12A is Lesedi Molefi’s absorbing memoir, reflecting on his time spent in a psychiatric clinic in 2016. With vulnerability and candour, Lesedi reflects on the moments, large and small, that led him there. It is at once a personal history, an observation of how childhood experiences can have a profound effect on the adults we become, and a commentary on how mental illness remains a difficult conversation in black families. More than anything, in Patient 12A, Lesedi allows himself to filter out the noise in his head to find the truth, however uncomfortable that may be.

As a follow-up to his hugely popular 2016 autobiography Trail Blazer,  Ryan Sandes’ new book explores the gripping and often life-threatening adventures this extraordinary ultra-trail runner has experienced around the globe since then. Not only have these projects tested the very edge of human endurance, but on several occasions, Ryan literally had to run for his life.

Along with a 1 500-kilometre Himalayan adventure, read about his attempt at completing the first 700-kilometre solo run up Namibia’s legendary Skeleton Coast – only to stumble upon some very angry Namibian soldiers conducting illegal and, possibly, government-sponsored seal clubbing. And, with his running partner Ryno Griessel, becoming the first people to run the entire circumference of Lesotho, during which they find themselves fighting off an attack from local herdsman armed with rocks and clubs.

In between these adventures, Ryan battles to balance a challenging career with a dedicated commitment to his young family. Risk. Run. Reward. is packed with adventure, humour and some fascinating insights into the psyche of an ultra-endurance athlete. Trust me, these people are not like you and me…

In The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives, Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo offers an elegy to her father, the late Professor Stan Sangweni, which explores the personal saga of a family’s lineage rooted in Zuka on Suspence Farm, Newcastle, in what is now northern KwaZulu-Natal.

In turn, Prof Sangweni opens a window into a past where his grandfather, with foresight and ingenuity, became part of The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives, a group that secured land for their families, including his family of seven wives, and for succeeding generations at a time when Black people in South Africa were being systematically dispossessed of their land.

While packing up her father’s study as her parents prepare to move from their home after 27 years, Lindiwe and her father uncover his lifelong collection of documents and pictures that detail the intricacies of his life as a devoted family man, an ANC veteran and anti-apartheid activist, a pioneer of public service excellence in post-apartheid South Africa and an inveterate stickler for detail in every aspect of his life.

Inspiring, often humorous, occasionally cataclysmically disruptive and generally victorious, this memoir is a tribute and a testament to the enduring legacy of those who paved the way amidst the trials of history for future generations.

Showcasing African Gothic at its finest, this hypnotic novel tangles together classic texts of madness and female rebellion alongside elements of the jingoistic novels of Victorian adventurer H. Rider Haggard. The result is an extraordinary reinvention of colonial and patriarchal perspectives.

The unnamed narrator spins a web back through a century of colonial possession – political, spiritual and mental – to imagine the stories of conquest and captivity, control and disruption, from the perspective of the women and men ‘half-broken’ by the stigmas attached to race and mental illness. Equally ‘half-broken’ are those dehumanised by their insane greed for dominion and treasure.

With trademark compassion and complexity, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu balances the humanity of her characters against the cruelty of empire, making for a spellbinding and literally haunting account of love and magic.

A gripping new thriller by the master of adventure Tony Park about rescue, revenge and redemption, and the things we do to protect the ones we love.

Professor Denise ‘Doc’ Rado is South Africa’s expert on pangolins, busting poachers and freeing the endangered anteaters in elaborate undercover stings. After a risky operation backfires, Doc’s life is shattered, but she still has to lead an eclectic group of donors on a wildlife tour of Southern Africa.

But there’s a target on her back. As the safari ventures deep into Africa, Doc fears they’re being followed and she will do anything to keep them all safe – especially Ian Laidlaw, a handsome Australian businessman turned accidental philanthropist. Is Doc being hunted by the poachers she once fought, or is there some other bloodthirsty predator prowling the wilderness?

When she turned ninety, my mother sprang a final surprise on us. She started speaking in the voice of a stranger.

Peter’s mother is dying. Born in England and having spent most of her adult life as a doctor in Zimbabwe, she now lies on a hospital bed in the partitioned living room of his sister’s London apartment, her accent having overnight become posher than the Queen’s. Unsentimental, fiercely stubborn and at times hilarious, she finally drops her guard, losing all fear of conflict to become the family provocateur.

While confronting the revelations of what his family was – and wasn’t – and the stoicism that sometimes threatened to destroy them, Peter also mourns the ending of his long marriage. At this point of rupture and healing, Peter reflects on his family’s legacy of exile and their tenuous hold on home.

In Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss and Occasional Wars, Peter Godwin considers, with both tenderness and candour, the life of émigrés, exiles and refugees, and grieves the many losses that make life both magnificent and unbearable. He brings us into the spaces that make us question, suffer and celebrate the relationships we have among family and friends, and the healing of our own wounds.