Umuzi imprint: 97 books

In a telegram sent on 29 April 1963, Ingrid Jonker thanks André Brink for his letter and flowers. They had met a few days before. He was almost twenty- eight; she thirty. This was the beginning of a correspondence between two writers that lasted up until three months before Jonker drowned herself...

Tired of tragic stories, Chris Harvie sets out to see the positive side of the ‘Dark Continent’ and to enjoy its life and laughter. Do Not Take This Road to El-Karama is the entertaining account of an epic road trip that takes him from his home outside the Kruger National Park to the banks of...

"In October 1941 a young boy and his father disembarked at Durban harbour from a large liner commissioned into emergency service by the Allies. They were Greek refugees from their German-occupied motherland. They spoke no English. They had little money and no prospects. They were heroes, but...

A brave and moving memoir which is both a family history and a story of friendship and betrayal between people caught up in the wrenching forces of the South African Struggle. It is framed as a journey between two railway stations. The departure is from Park station Johannesburg and the destination...

Born in England in 1926 in the historic naval port of Plymouth, David Tidboald now enjoys his retirement in Simon’s Town, South Africa’s equivalent. Improbably enough, it was while doing national service in the Royal Navy that he was sent, at the end of World War II, to Berlin and was there presented...

As a teenager Fred Khumalo greeted his friends with a handshake and the words 'touch my blood'. It implied friendship and trust. The saying became his name. More than that, it became the way he viewed his world. Everything touched Fred Khumalo. Twice he was bewitched. Twice his father - the 'moegoe',...

Pierre de Villiers has walked a hard road. Tortured by his own army, his family killed, surviving cancer; his new life in New Zealand is supposed to bring him peace. But just when his life seems to be on an even keel, his daughter is kidnapped in Auckland and his brother-in-law's wife abducted in...

Convicted on charges of protest sabotage in 1964, Hugh Lewin spent seven years in prison in South Africa, secretly recording his experiences and those of his fellow inmates on the pages of his Bible. On his release, these writings were published in London while the book remained banned in South Africa...

Travelling in West Africa by public transport, Sihle Khumalo turned a wish list into an itinerary. The plans for his trip were lean on practical detail, but grand in concept: Visit five World Heritage Sites listed by UNESCO for their historical and cultural significance. Having never set foot in Sénégal,...

An asteroid the size of Table Mountain crashed into what was to become South Africa over 2 billion years ago, marking the spot. The country’s history since then has always been robust and full of energy. This book takes you in record time from that moment, when the earth’s richest gold reefs were...

Leon Labuschagne’s livelihood depends on death. At nineteen, he is a warder on Death Row: a shepherd who cares for the condemned – and a butcher who escorts them to the gallows. After a gruelling two-week stint in which thirty-two men were hanged, Leon loses control, with tragic results. And now...

Paul du Toit het hom in die Verenigde Koninkryk kom vestig nadat hy Suid-Afrika tien jaar tevore onder 'n wolk verlaat het. Nou is hy geskei en middeljarig, verstrengel in 'n vervelige werk en 'n sukkelende verhouding, Hy aanvaar dus geredelik 'n maklike – of so dink hy – opdrag van 'n ryk Londense...

FISH PESCADO is op sy branderplank. Hy’s lenig en blond – nie jou gewone privaatspeurder nie. Muizenberg se golwe is sy paradys, maar hy sit sonder werk en sy bankbalans sak. ‘Hei, Fish! ’n Oulike chickie soek na jou,’ beduie ’n mede-surfer. Die oulike chickie is Vicki Kahn – snags speel...

Oudbrigadier Piet Byleveld word wêreldwyd gereken as een van die beste speurders van ons tyd. As jy moord pleeg en Piet Byl word ingeroep, is jou plek in die tronk bespreek. As jy kinders leed aandoen, het jy jou eie lot verseël. En is jy 'n reeksmoordenaar, sal hy nie stop voor hy jou agter tralies...