Newly Released Books

This review of books covers mob justice at home and crime abroad, a candidate’s mission to run for president and writing on strategic thinking.

Quote: “Life without books, chocolate and coffee is just useless.” – Nadun Lokuliyanage.

Why We Kill – Mob Justice and the New Vigilantism in South Africa.

This epic piece of investigative journalism, boots-on-the-ground probing and grassroots interviews have turned Karl Kemp’s book into a must-read. Kemp has a public international law degree from the University of Amsterdam and completed an internship at the International Court of Justice at the Hague. He has since written about drug trafficking, gang violence, separatist movements, globalization, nationalism and cultural identity. He has now taken on the monumental task of uncovering South African crime. His meticulous probe unearths that out of the unprecedented 27 000 recorded murders in 2022, about 1 894 or 7% – were triggered by a ghastly phenomenon of mob justice and vigilantism. By September 2023, an additional 1 472 mob justice-inspired deaths were added to the tally by the South African Police Service. As the 362 pages turn, across 40 sweeping chapters, his work chronicles a shocking commentary of how mob justice has taken on a desperate, furious edge – ranging from the Zandspruit massacre to the 2021 July unrest – not excluding the vigilante killings in Phoenix – to the 2022 Operation Dudula march against foreign nationals, to the hellish metropolitan Gauteng townships and the bushvelds of Limpopo. This eye-opening publication lifts the lid of darkness off the roots, realities and consequences of the crisis of vigilantism, with armed mobs taking the law into their own hands and onlookers sometimes hailing these deeds of death and destruction.

I Am The Vision.

Consummate professional and presidential candidate Mpho Dagada has published  his manifesto that could serve as a roadmap out of the doldrums. Ahead of the make-or-break 2024 elections, which he is contesting, Dagada spells out his vision for his homeland across 99 pages in a neatly packaged hard cover book. In 2019, returning home from six months in New York, President Cyril Ramaphosa gave him the Thuma Mina call-me thumbs up into the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The purpose of the commission was to assist government in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital industrial revolution.

I Am The Vision encapsulates the challenging journey of a new movement, an anthem of hope and catalyst for a better South Africa. Dagada launched Arise South Africa, his new party that has already picked up tens of millions of rands in donations to boost his presidential campaign. Dagada writes of corralling the apathetic youth to rise up to vote, mineral resources, energy, electricity and power, agriculture and land, crime and corruption, manufacturing, tourism, leadership crisis, per capita earnings and wealth inequality, education, sports and recreation, media, 4IR (Industrial 4.0) and artificial intelligence (AI). His manifesto presents some fresh, new perspectives; a far cry from the ruling ANC elite’s Better Life for All slogans, and the offerings of the DA, EFF and IFP.

The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking – Leading Your Organization into the Future.

Michael D Watkins lays out how go-getters and high-achievers could master six disciplines he puts forward. He offers high-impact guidelines to inspire leaders to make better decisions, achieve top-ranked results and thrive. One million copies flew of the bookshelves and via online sales in three months. Discussing issues ranging from President JF Kennedy putting a man on the moon in 10 years to chess and other actionable insights, this 180-pager is a must-read-have.

The Now Habit – A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play.

Dr Neil Fiore’s first comprehensive choreography advises on of how to conquer the causes of procrastination and eliminate delaying tactics – where people waste time and don’t get on with it. This 202-page book offers techniques to propel busy men and women to get more work done speedily without the anxiety and stress of the fear of failure to meet the pressing deadlines in the workplace – or to write your memoirs, autobiography or a book. The book has sold 175 000 copies to date. For some swift and entertaining reading on fictional storytelling, flip the pages of thriller writer Harlan Coben’s international best-seller, Fool Me Once, which delves masterfully into the closets of families torn apart by secrets, trust deficit, and husband versus wife, even if one of the pair witnesses a murder.

The Fury

Alex Michaelides of British-Greek-Cypriot heritage and author of the top-selling, The Silent Patient, spans 380 pages, set on an idyllic private Greek island where an ex-movie star hand picks a select group of seven guests – and one of them is a murderer.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”