Pieter Dirk Uys - Echo of a Noise - His Memoir

Introducing

Lunch at The Grill Room, Kelvin Grove

Tuesday 4^th December 2018 at 12 noon for 12h30

How fabulous that Cape Town’s favourite son, Pieter Dirk Uys will be with us to introduce his new book The Echo of Noise – A Memoir of Then and Now. 

“PDU un-powdered. No props, no false eyelashes, no high heels, no security blankets.”

This poignant and intimate memoir, revealing the person behind the persona, is both moving and hilarious. Pieter-Dirk Uys has published two previous memoirs: Elections and Erections (2002), focusing on AIDS, and Between the Devil and the Deep (2005), focusing on his theatre career. This time, he recalls his childhood and family, his forbidding and musically driven father, his brilliant but disturbed mother, his sister the child prodigy, and Sannie Abader, the woman who worked in the Uys household “Sonskyn” in Homestead Way, Pinelands, a second mother to Uys. Also featuring his Afrikaner matriarch “Paarlse ouma” and his strudel baking German Oma, his friendship with Sophia Loren, his invention of Evita Bezuidenhout, and the joys, and sorrows of his remarkable life.

The Agony of Theo & Flora

                                                                

Meet Author Mark Winkler

Luncheon at Buitenverwachting Restaurant

Thursday 22^ndNovember 2018 – 12 Noon for 12h30

Guest speaker Mark Winkler is the author of critically acclaimed novels; An Exceptionally Simple Theory (of Absolutely Everything); Wasted and The Safest Place You Know (shortlisted for the Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize). His work is also published in the United States and in France. He lives in Cape Town.

Winkler was born in Johannesburg and grew up in what is now Mpumalanga; he attended high school at St. Alban's College, Pretoria and graduated from Rhodes University with a Bachelor of Journalism in. Like the main character in his new book, critically acclaimed writer Mark Winkler was also moved to create a novel after discovering a box of old letters.

The Book

In Theo & Flora, Winkler tells the story of a stalled novelist called Charlie Wasserman who, when his investment-banker wife divorces him, finds among her belongings a box of letters. Written between 1940 and 1944, the letters reveal a love affair between her grandfather, Theo, a forty-something lawyer at the time, and Flora, a much younger journalist.

Theo & Flora is a narrative enriched by Cape Town’s Jewish community at the time, with cameos by prominent South African visual artists like Irma Stern, Jean Welz and Gregoire Boonzaier, and numerous references to classical music that complements the book’s elegant prose. Not only a period piece, the novel also registers the world’s current political climate – from immigration politics to issues of cultural appropriation. Written with wit and poignancy, Theo & Flora is as moving as it is entertaining and the novel is a gratifying addition to this author’s body of work.

Talented Chef/Patron Edgar Osojnik will be creating a delicious gastronomic delight for our palates which will be accompanied by Buitenverwachting’s elegant wines.  The menu will be circulated as soon as I have it.  The price per person is R440 fully inclusive.

Please contact Sandy on email sandybailey@telkomsa.net or telephone 021 685 8016 for any further information or to book.

Meet Charismatic Author Mike Nicol

Delicious Lunch at Buitenverwachting Restaurant

Thursday 11^th October at 12 noon for 12h30

Born in Cape Town, guest speaker Mike Nicol was educated here and in Johannesburg, where he began his working life as a journalist. During the 1980s he moved back to Cape Town and worked on the magazine Leadership for a number of years. Towards the end of that decade, he published his first novel, The Powers That Be, resigned from the magazine and began what he calls "the scary life of a freelance journalist and writer." 

His genre: Thriller

September saw the publication of Mike Nicol’s exhilarating new thriller Sleeper. Set in locations in and around the city of Cape Town, the book features cool cat surfer PI Fish Pescado and Vicki Kahn, a gutsy local spy who has excellent taste in wine… she drinks Buitenverwachting, she is Fish’s girlfriend, both are well-known Nicol characters.

About the book:

The first bombshell Sleeper drops is the killing of the minister of energy. Then the cop investigating the murder commits suicide. Fearing a conspiracy, the minister’s lover hires PI Fish Pescado to find the killer. Then she goes missing. And Fish is being stonewalled by the cops because…

… In the dark shadows of Cape Town, there’s another game being played out. A complex one involving Iranian agents, the theft of highly enriched uranium, and the kidnapping of a top scientist. Ex-spy Vicki Kahn is bribed by her former handler to track the terrorists. The hunt is deadly and nothing is what it seems. A sleeper has been awoken… ISIS is involved. So is the CIA. There is chatter of a dirty bomb headed for Europe.

The price per person for a gourmet luncheon including Buitenverwachting’s elegant wines is R440 per person fully inclusive.  For more information or to book, please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8016 or get in touch by email sandybailey@telkomsa.net.

Looking forward to a delightful afternoon.

Enumerations by Maire Fisher

Launching a Brilliant Local Book

 Author Mάire Fisher was the guest speaker at a luncheon at Buitenverwachting Restaurant on Thursday 20 September.

Firstly, we celebrated the reopening of the Restaurant after its winter break. A well-rested Edgar Osojnik Chef/Patron prepared a delicious luncheon.

Secondly, we celebrated a local author who has written an amazing book The Enumerations. 

Mάire Fisher lives in Fish Hoek and agreed to be the guest speaker at a September luncheon.  She is a writer and editor, who is a member of The Grail Writing Retreats, her work has been published in anthologies and on various websites. She is also the author of Birdseye. She is married with two sons.

Penguin Random House South Africa sent me her book to have a look at. I couldn’t put it down. It is fascinating and gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her!

The Book

The Enumerations tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noah Groome, who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Noah is caught up in a personal prison, unable to tell anyone about a dark force that is threatening to engulf him.

It is not only Noah that is suffering, but Mάire has also created a touching family drama that includes Noah’s mother, Noah’s emotionally blank father Dominic who has his own demons and Noah’s sister Maddie, his ally and protector, all profoundly affected by her brother’s disorder.

A book about mental health and familial bonds, it is a sensitive, warm-hearted novel which keeps one on the edge…   Professor Dan Joseph Stein, BSc, MB ChB, FRCPC, FRSSAf, PhD, DPhil who is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at UCT and Director of the MRC Unit on “Anxiety and Stress Disorders has read the book and approved Mάire’s research on OCD.

A delicious lunch was enjoyed by all.

Sandy Bailey

Francoise Malby Anthony an Intrepid Woman

Launching – An Elephant In My Kitchen

Thursday 30th August at 12 noon for 12h30 at Catharina’s Restaurant, Steenberg Farm

Guest Speaker – Francoise Malby Anthony

A chic Parisienne, Françoise never expected to find herself living on a South African game reserve. But when she fell in love with renowned conservationist Lawrence Anthony her life took an unexpected turn.

Lawrence died in 2012 and Françoise was left to face the tough reality of running Thula Thula without him, even though she knew very little about conservation. She was short on money, poachers were threatening their rhinos, and one of their elephants was charging Land Rovers on game drives and terrifying guests. There was no time to mourn when Thula Thula’s human and animal family were depending on her.

How Françoise survived and Thula Thula thrived is beautifully described in this charming, funny and poignant book. Their elephant herd, rescued by Lawrence, shared Françoise's grief at his passing but over time forged a new relationship with her.

Meanwhile, Françoise fulfilled her dream of building a rescue centre for orphaned rhinos and other wildlife.

In Françoise’s words: “As I celebrate thirty years in South Africa, I have learned never to give up, to hold on to my dreams, always to search for a silver lining, and that by looking forward, the difficulties of the past eventually fade out of sight.”

This book is funny and insightful, full of wonderful characters, both human and animal. It is co-authored by Katja Willemsen who has written several fiction titles previously. This is her first work of non-fiction.

We return to Catharina’s Restaurant for this our 9^th Birthday. The Club was launched at Catharina’s on Thursday 20^th August 2009.  Chef has created a superb menu for us which will be accompanied by elegant wines from Steenberg.

The price per person is R420 which includes Wine and Service

For more information or to book please telephone 021 685 8016 or email sandybailey@telkomsa.net as always it is first come first served.

Pan Macmillan is proud to be publishing the powerful sequel to the bestselling memoir The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

The Low Down on Steinhoff and Markus Jooste - Book Launch

Launching

 

Monday 6th August at 12 noon for 12h30

in the Ball Room, Kelvin Grove

  

Guest speaker author James Styan is a journalist and has done extensive research in writing this book. He spoke to us at a luncheon last December when we launched his book Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the first heart transplant a brilliant book and the 60 people at the lunch thought James was easily the best speaker heard for a long time.

Hot of the press is STEINHOFF: Inside SA’s Biggest Corporate Crash when I heard he had written this I was quick to approach him and make a date for us with him. Don’t miss it.  I know it is a different day but with the holiday coming up and clashes with other events Monday suited both James and us best. I hope it is good for you.

The Author

James-Brent Styan qualified as an accountant in 2003 and did his articles at an auditing firm before becoming a financial journalist. He has written for Finweek, Forbes Africa, Sake24, Fin24, Beeld and Die Burger and currently works as a communications practitioner. Steinhoff is his third book. His other books are Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the first heart transplant and Blackout - The Eskom Crisis. He is a gifted speaker.

The Book

On 5 December 2017, the Steinhoff group was still worth R193 billion. Twenty-four hours later more than R117 billion of this fortune was wiped out. The Steinhoff Empire, which took 50 years to build into an international business giant, had crumbled overnight.

Markus Jooste, Steinhoff’s flashy CEO, resigned via SMS and has since been fleeing an avalanche of scandals and accusations: luxury homes for a blonde mistress, allegations of fraud, racing horses and unparalleled extravagance, a lavish, black Jaguar for his university residence…

What exactly happened here? Who knew what? What is Steinhoff, who is Markus Jooste and what does it all have to do with the so-called Stellenbosch mafia? Where does business tycoon Christo Wiese, Shoprite and Pepkor fit in and where is the pensioners’ money?

James unpacks these and other questions in this astounding tale of power and greed, of secrets and deceit, and ultimately the biggest financial breakdown in the history of South Africa. Through interviews with trustworthy sources, revelations from confidential documents and in-depth research about Steinhoff’s history, he uncovers what the group doesn’t want you to know.

Steinhoff: Inside SA’s biggest corporate crash is a gripping financial thriller that will be told as a cautionary tale or salacious scandal in both boardrooms and living rooms for decades. 

The Ball Room in the historic Kelvin Grove Club is fabulous.   A two-course lunch with a glass of wine will cost you R300.

For more information or to book please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8071 or by email. sandybailey@telkkomsa.net 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Ministry of Crime - Mandy Wiener

                                                                              

Guest Speaker – Mandy Wiener

The Jonkershuis, Groot Constantia

Wednesday 18^th July 2018 – 12 noon for 12h30

MANDY WIENER is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of the true-crime bestsellers Killing Kebble: An Underworld Exposed and Behind the Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story as well as the acclaimed memoir My Second Initiation (co-written with Vusi Pikoli). Wiener has been reporting on crime, the courts and politics in South Africa for more than a decade.

Both Killing Kebble and My Second Initiation were short-listed for the prestigious Alan Paton Sunday Times Literary Award and chosen as Jenny Crwys-Williams' Books of the Year in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

As a follow up to the bestselling Killing Kebble: An Underworld Exposed (2010), the new book from Mandy Wiener, Ministry of Crime: An Underworld Explored, examines how organised crime, gangsters and powerful political figures have been able to capture the law enforcement authorities and agencies. 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 networks of crime with the assistance of many cops. The criminal justice system has been left exposed and it is crucial that the South African public knows about the capture that has occurred on different levels.

Lunch is at Jonkershuis on the Groot Constantia Wine Estate the Restaurant is very conscious of the provenance, sustainability and the ethical content of all the food prepared as well as reflecting the rich Cape Malay heritage.  Our luncheon will be accompanied by wines from Groot Constantia.

The price per person is R300 including wine and service.  Please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8015 or email sandybailey@telkomsa.net to book or for more information.  Seating is limited so please book early.

THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED

                                                                                                                     

 Launching

An authentic South African crime novel with typical local characters

 Buitenverwachting Restaurant on Thursday 21^st June

12 noon for 12h30

Meet Guest speaker Karin Brynard at the launch of the English version of her best-seller Tuisland.  Her work has been published in Afrikaans, English, German, French and Dutch to great acclaim, having won the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize, two M-Net awards, and an ATKV prize for prose. Tuisland shot to the top of the bestseller list in the country when it was published in 2016. She worked as a journalist and political correspondent for Rapport for many years and now writes full time. She lives in Stellenbosch.

Author Karin Brynard

The Book

Captain Albertus Beeslaar has had enough of the Kalahari. He is about to hand in his resignation, but before doing so he is sent into the heart of an ancient San community: an elder has died after being released from police custody and the San blame the police.

The small town of Witdraai borders on the world-famous Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, where the last of the Kalahari San eke out a living. A violent attack on a German tourist has unsettled the whole town – a case that is rubbing up Beeslaar’s new colleague, Colonel Koekoes Mentoor, the wrong way. She wants to turn her back on Witdraai and the bad memories the place holds for her.

As the heat rises, all hell breaks loose: a policeman is murdered; deep-seated corruption is threatening a major land-restitution plan for the San, and a mysterious killer is prowling the red dunes.

Amid all the controversy, Kytie Rooi, a cleaner at a luxury guesthouse in Upington and self-appointed protector of a strange street child, is fleeing into the deadly heat of the desert with her charge. In this world, places of safety are dangerously elusive.

A delicious lunch awaits accompanied by Buitenverwachting’s elegant wines. Menu available on request.

The price per ticket is R440 which includes wine and service.

Please book early as seating is limited. For more information or to book please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8016 or send an email sandybailey@telkomsa.net.

Woman & Home Book Editor has it as one of her 6 OF THE BEST - EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT THRILLERS in the June issue.

Homeland (Penguin by Karin Brynard

Chaos unfolds in the small town of Witdraai, and Captain Beeslaar is sent there to investigate a violent attack. This is an enthralling page-turner. w&h

My Father Died for This - Lukhanyo and Abigail Calata

Brilliant Historical Memoir

Thursday 24 May at 12 noon for 12h30

Guest Speakers: Lukhanyo and Abigail Calata

Buitenverwachting Restaurant

Lukhanyo and Abigail Calata will be introducing their recently published book My Father Died for This.

I read an extract from their book in the Sunday Times a few weeks ago and then heard an interview with Pippa Hudson on Cape Talk I was incredibly impressed. Contacted their publishers and we are privileged to have them as our guest speakers next week.

The Authors

Lukhanyo Calata is a television journalist, who worked for eNCA before joining the SABC's parliamentary office. He is the son of Fort Calata, one of four anti-apartheid activists from Cradock, assassinated by the government in 1985. He lives in Cape Town.

Abigail Calata is a former journalist who has worked for Beeld as a political reporter and parliamentary correspondent, Die Burger and the University of Cape Town's Law Faculty. She currently works for the Shoprite Group as publicity manager: CSI and Africa. She lives in Cape Town.

The Book

When the Cradock Four's Fort Calata was murdered by agents of the apartheid state in 1985, his son Lukhanyo was only three years old. Thirty-one years later Lukhanyo, now a journalist, becomes one of the SABC Eight when he defies Hlaudi Motsoeneng's reign of censorship at the public broadcaster by writing an open letter that declares: 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 father’s death, despite two high-profile inquests. Join them in a poignant and inspiring journey into the history of a remarkable family that traces the struggle against apartheid beginning with Fort's grandfather, treason trialist and ANC Secretary-General Rev James Calata.

‘An unflinching personal account of an apartheid tragedy, written with wisdom, warmth and clarity.’

– Ray Hartley

‘Fort Calata’s struggles are transposed into the contemporary challenges of managing freedom and democracy through the microcosm of the heroism demanded of today’s generation… A brilliant and emotion-filled read.’

 – Mathatha Tsedu

Chef/Patron Edgar Osojnik promises a delicious menu. The luncheon costs R440 which includes elegant Buitenverwachting wines.  Well worth it as those who attended the last luncheon will attest to.

For more information or to book please email sandybailey@telkomsa.net or telephone 

021 685 8016.

  

Tracy Going introducing Brutal Legacy

Brutal Legacy: A Memoir

Wednesday 11^th April at Buitenverwachting

Guest Speaker: Tracy Going

Tracy Going will be introducing her Memoir Brutal Legacy at a luncheon at Buitenverwachting Restaurant.

When South Africa’s golden girl of broadcasting, Tracy Going’s battered face was splashed across the media back in the late 1990s, the nation was shocked. South Africans had become accustomed to seeing Going, glamorous and groomed on television or hearing her resonant voice on Radio Metro and Kaya FM. Sensational

Brilliantly penned, this highly skilled debut memoir is ultimately uplifting in the realisation that healing is a lengthy and often arduous process and that self-forgiveness and acceptance is essential in order to fully embrace life.

What had started off as a fairy-tale romance with a man who appeared to be everything that Going was looking for – charming, handsome and successful – had quickly descended into a violent, abusive relationship.

Tracy Going is an award-winning former TV and radio news anchor. She is best remembered for the

years spent waking South Africans on SABC 2’s Morning Live and as a prime-time news anchor for Radio Metro and Kaya FM. She has presented a variety of TV shows across the genres of news, business, women, lifestyle and technology. She has also written two successful children’s story-cookbooks, African Animals: Rhymes & Recipes and Awesome Animals: Rhymes & Recipes, which received the prestigious Best in South Africa Gourmand Cookbook Award, as well as the second position at the world Gourmand Cookbook Awards at The Paris Cookbook Fair in 2013. 

Edgar Osojnik's superb menu which includes Buitenverwachting's elegant wines.

Amuse Bouche

Feta –Vegetable Tian,

layered creamy feta, tomato, baby marrows, aubergine, roasted peppers,

garlic cream, rocket, pesto, balsamico – olive vinaigrette,

& pine kernel-parmesan shortbread

Main

Medley of Seafood

set in creamy Bisque, linguine, baby marrow, marinated fennel,

cucumber relish, dried tomatoes

or

Vegetarian

Indian Delights,

vegetable curry, aloo saag, biryani samosa, bhatura, felicity salad,

roti, aubergine pickle, lassi

Dessert

Raspberry Soufflé,

raspberries in jelly, sorbet, espuma, sauce, crispy sponge

Truffles and Filter Coffee or Tea

The price per ticket is R440 fully inclusive.   For more information or to book please telephone Sandy 021 685 8016 or email.sandybailey@telkomsa.net

Sisonke Msimang, author of Always Another Country had the following to say:

“Searing, heartbreaking, triumphant: Brutal Legacy is for anyone who’s been punched in the face by someone they loved and then stood up again. It’s for every mother who has run; every sister who has picked up the pieces and every friend who hasn’t fled. It’s for every brother who’s cried and for the children who have watched. Every South African should read it.”

New Book from Claire Robertson

Introducing

Guest Speaker, Author Claire Robertson 

at

The Palmyra Room, Kelvin Grove

on

Thursday 15 March

Claire Robertson will be talking to us about her latest book Under Glass. She has spent the past 30 years as a journalist, reporting from South Africa, the US and USSR. She has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television and now works as a senior copy editor on the Sunday Times.

Claire Robertson

Michelle Magwood had this to say…

“Claire Robertson’s first novel, The Spiral House, was published in 2013 and quickly picked up both the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and a South African Literary Award, a rare double for a debut author. But Robertson was no novice writer: she’d spent 30 years in journalism and knew how to make every word count.

In just her second outing, Claire Robertson takes her place with the established South African greats. She has the crispness and economy of Coetzee, the subtle, oblique depth of Vladislavić, the storytelling spell of Galgut and Mda. She is technically faultless and intensely imaginative. But she has something more, an affecting, profound humanity that is entirely her own.”

Under Glass is a deeply researched historical novel and an intriguing mystery. It is a high-stakes narrative of deception and disguise that will appeal to a range of readers of literary fiction by one of the country’s finest novelists.

The two-course luncheon including wine, coffee and service will cost R330.

Please either telephone Sandy on 021 685 8016 or email sandybailey@telkomsa.net for more information or to book.

Sara-Jayne King Introduces Her Book - Killing Karoline

The Palmyra Room, Kelvin Grove – Thursday 22 February 2018

Guest Speaker Sara-Jayne King introduces her book

Sara-Jayne King is a mixed-race South African/British journalist and radio presenter whose career spans over a decade and has taken her across the globe in search of remarkable stories and fascinating characters. While studying for an LLB degree in the UK, Sara-Jayne realised her passion lay elsewhere and, after graduating, she went on to complete a Master’s in Journalism in 2004. Her career began as a junior journalist in local radio in London and since then has included roles in the Middle East and Africa, most recently as a senior editor for news channel eNCA and presenter for Primedia’s talk radio station Cape Talk.

King excelled academically, obtaining her honours law degree and a Master’s degree in journalism from the University of Canterbury. She is currently a late night presenter on Cape Talk radio slot which she “loves” because she “can talk about anything”.

Sara-Jayne King

One of our members heard her interviewed on  Radio 702/Cape Talk at the beginning of December and got in touch to let us know that Sara-Jayne was amazing and that we should definitely try and book her for the Thursday Club literary luncheons.  We are delighted that she will be with us on Thursday 22 February!

Her first book Killing Karoline has had rave reviews and is a best seller amongst the non-fiction at Exclusive Books.

The Book

Killing Karoline deals with important topical issues relating to adoption, identity, race, mental health and addiction.  It is Sara-Jayne's story.

Killing Karoline follows the journey of the baby girl (categorised as ‘white’ under South Africa’s race classification system) who is raised in a leafy, middle-class corner of the South of England by a white couple. It takes the reader through her formative years, a difficult adolescence and into adulthood, as Sara-Jayne (Karoline) seeks to discover who she is and where she came from.

A phenomenal; powerful; South African book.

A two-course lunch including wine and service will cost R300.

For more information or to book please telephone Sandy 021 685 8071 or email sandybailey@telkomsa.net 

Launch of Heartbreaker - The Life of Christian Barnard

Heartbreaker

Christian Barnard and the first heart transplant

Wednesday 6th December at 12 noon for 12h30

at The Pavilion, Kelvin Grove

The launch of Heartbreaker: Christiaan Barnard and the first heart transplant in the week of the 50th Anniversary of the First Human Heart Transplant was an exciting affair.

Author James Styan did extensive research in writing this book. There are many unknown facts about Heart Surgeon Christiaan Barnard which the author has uncovered that will warm your heart and some that will surprise you.  An outstanding speaker. 

The Book

In this new biography of Chris Barnard we not only learn about the life of South Africa’s most famous surgeon, from his Beaufort West childhood through his studies locally and abroad to his prominent marriages – and divorces – but James Styan also examines the impact of the historic heart transplant on Barnard’s personal life and South African society at large, where apartheid legislation often made the difficulties of medicine even more convoluted.

The role of black medical staff like Hamilton Naki is explored, as is the intense rivalry that arose between other famous heart surgeons and Barnard. How did Barnard manage to beat them all in this race of life and death? How much did his famous charisma have to do with it all?

In the light of his later years, his subsequent successes and considerable failures, what is Barnard’s legacy today?

Styan covers it all in this fascinating new account of a real heartbreaker.

A two-course lunch with wine was served.

For more information telephone Sandy on 021 685 8071 or email sandybailey@telkomsa.net

           

                                                                                                            

Jaques Pauw's Explosive Best Seller - November 2017

                                                                   

Buitenverwachting Restaurant

 Wednesday 22 November at 12 noon for 12h30

Guest Speaker Jacques Pauw spoke to us about his explosive book The President’s Keepers.

Journalist and author he was a founder member of the anti-apartheid Afrikaans newspaper Vrye Weekblad in the late 1980s, where he exposed the Vlakplaas police death squads. He worked for some of the country’s most esteemed publications before becoming a documentary filmmaker, producing documentaries on wars and conflicts in Rwanda, Burundi, Algeria, Liberia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, among other countries.

When he left journalism in 2014, he was the head of investigations at Media24 newspapers. He has won the CNN African Journalist of the Year Award twice, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting in the US, Italy’s Ilaria Alpi and the Nat Nakasa award for bravery and integrity in journalism. He is the author of five books: four non-fiction and one fiction. They are In the Heart of Whore, Into the Heart of Darkness, Dances with Devils, Rat Roads and Little Ice Cream Boy. Three of his books have been shortlisted for major literary awards.

The Book

Investigative journalist Jacques Pauw exposes the darkest secret at the heart of Jacob Zuma’s compromised government: a cancerous cabal that eliminates the president’s enemies and purges the law-enforcement agencies of good men and women. 

As Zuma fights for his political life following the 2017 Gupta emails leak, this cabal – the president’s keepers – ensures that after years of ruinous rule, he remains in power and out of prison. But is Zuma the puppet master, or their puppet?

Journey with Pauw as he explores the shadow mafia state. From KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape to the corridors of power in Pretoria and Johannesburg – and even to clandestine meetings in Russia. It’s a trail of lies and spies, cronies, cash and kingmakers as Pauw prises open the web of deceit that surrounds the fourth president of the democratic era.

Chef Patron Edgar Osojnik created a delicious menu which was accompanied by Buitenverwachting’s elegant and award-winning wines. 

Please telephone Sandy on 021 685 8016 for more information.  

‘An amazing piece of work, stuffed with anecdote and evidence. It will light fires all through the state and the ANC.’ Peter Bruce

‘This is dynamite. Dynamite that will shake the foundations of the halls of power.’ Max du Preez