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A story about technology, about revolutionising communication, about business, but above all a story of lives changed by mobile phones, Mobinomics tells of the people behind the Mxit phenomenon, and the potential for change that mobile phones have brought to Africa.

This is a tale of dragons and knights played out from South African town of Stellenbosch and of its impact felt in social chat rooms, in games played out on the moon, in mathematics classrooms across the African continent and in drug-ravaged communities on the Cape Flats.

Read this story to understand the impact of mobile technology in Africa.

Alan Knott-Craig is a South African mobile entrepreneur with a passion for African business opportunities. He is former CEO of iBurst and now runs World of Avatar, the company that recently acquired Mxit. His first book was the very successful and inspirational Don’t Panic compiled to remind South Africans “why not to pack for Perth”.

Published by Pan Macmillan.

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Goat and Donkey are best friends and they end up in crazy misunderstandings as the one does not always know what the other is doing!

There are three stories in the series so far, perfect for a story time, so do come along and meet these rather silly friends.

A great morning to celebrate our best friends

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“This book will serve as a living memory of the evil of the apartheid regime. It is an opportunity for me to speak to my children.” – Emma Mashinini

Strikes Have Followed Me All My Life describes in compelling detail the life of Emma Mashinini, one of South Africa’s leading trade union organisers and gender-rights activists.

From her childhood in Sophiatown to the dark days she spent in detention under apartheid and her lasting contributions to labour organisation in South Africa, Emma’s selfless and courageous story – published for the first time in South Africa – recalls and preserves a vital chapter in our country’s history.

Praise for Strikes Have Followed Me All My Life

“This book is more relevant today than ever. It is yet another indication of the heavy price paid for freedom so that we and those who come after us live in a society free from oppression and hate, a society that respects the right to life and dignity and a society where the only limitations placed on us is our own imagination.”                      Jay Naidoo

Emma Mashinini’s activism began when she was elected as a shop steward and later appointed as a floor supervisor at Henochsberg’s clothing factory. In 1975, Emma took up a position as the first General Secretary of the Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union of South Africa (CCAWUSA), growing the union substantially in the following years. She was arrested in 1981 under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act and held in solitary confinement at Pretoria Central Prison for six months. After her release she spent some time regaining her strength at a clinic in Denmark before resuming her post at CCAWUSA for another four years. In 1985, through her role in CCAWUSA, Emma was involved in the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). In 1986 she was appointed head of the Department of Justice and Reconciliation, later working as Deputy Chairperson of the National Manpower Commission and then as the Commissioner for Land Restitution. She lives in Pretoria.

Published by Pan Macmillan.

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Maurice Sendak (1928 – 2012) passed away this month. The man who brought us the unforgetable Where the Wild Things Are, which reminded us to stay a child forever.

In his memory we will read our favourite Maurice Sendak stories today and remember the wild rumpus.

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From the author of the Booker nominated Gift of Rain. Malaya, 1949. After studying law at Cambridge and time spent helping to prosecute Japanese war criminals, Yun Ling Teoh, herself the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle fringed plantations of Northern Malaya where she grew up as a child. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the Emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in Kuala Lumpur, in memory of her sister who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses, but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice ‘until the monsoon comes’. Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to her sensei and his art while, outside the garden, the threat of murder and kidnapping from the guerrillas of the jungle hinterland increases with each passing day. But the Garden of Evening Mists is also a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? Why is it that Yun Ling’s friend and host Magnus Pretorius, seems to be almost immune from the depredations of the Communists? What is the legend of ‘Yamashita’s Gold’ and does it have any basis in fact? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

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