The definitive account of Commando: A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War, published word-for-word as Reitz first wrote it in the English translation; edited and annotated by historian and Anglo-Boer War expert, Professor Fransjohan Pretorius.
In 1899, Deneys Reitz, then aged seventeen, enlisted in the Boer army to fight the British. He had learnt to ride, shoot and swim almost as soon as he could walk. He made full use of these skills and the endurance he had acquired in the next three years of the war, during which he fought with the Boer commandos.
He was involved in major actions, like the battle of Spioen Kop, and he interacted with prolific political and military figures of the time, such as President Paul Kruger, Boer generals Piet Joubert, Louis Botha, Koos de la Rey, Christiaan Beyers, Jan Smuts and British commander Lord Kitchener. He even
met the young Winston Churchill as a prisoner-of-war in Pretoria. Reitz forged a strong personal and political friendship with General Jan Smuts after the war, built on reciprocal respect.
Commando is more than a historical document; it is a literary masterpiece that transcends time. With prose that captures both the brutality and the beauty of war, Reitz weaves a narrative that resonates with authenticity and
passion.
As relevant today as when it was first penned, Commando has become aSouth African classic and stands as a testament to the indomitable human spirit
Crash and Burn is an insider’s tale of the South African airline industry over the past thirty years and the dramatic collapse of Comair in 2022, as told by Glenn Orsmond, twice CEO of Comair and the founder CEO of 1time. Orsmond takes the reader on a wild ride through the ultra-competitive sector of low-cost airlines that boomed after South African Airways’ stranglehold on the skies was loosened in the 1990s. Comair – which operated both Kulula and British Airways – and 1time were at the forefront of this new wave of airlines that saw domestic flying and tourism take off.
But after some incredible highs and lows, Comair crashed under Orsmond’s watch despite the company’s 75-year unblemished profit history. The pandemic’s impact, the grounding of aeroplanes after a questionable regulator investigation and poor management decisions all contributed to its downfall.
Expect tales of industry legends and innovation, but also of competitors trying to gut each other, battles between pilots and accountants, unions and bosses at loggerheads, and warfare between shareholders and directors in boardrooms. You’ll never think of flying in South Africa in the same way again.
The first Italian POWs arrived in the Union of South Africa in early 1941, most of them being held in Zonderwater Camp outside Cullinan or in work camps across the country. The government of Jan Smuts saw them as a source of cheap labour that would contribute to harvesting schemes, road-building projects such as the old Du Toit’s Kloof Pass between Paarl and Wo
