Breaking the Bombers - How the hunt for Pagad created a crack police unit

Mark Shaw

Summary

'Mark Shaw is the foremost analyst of organised crime in SA.' – Jonny Steinberg
At the dawn of the country's brave new democracy, Cape Town was at war. Pagad, which began as a community protest action against crime, had mutated into a sinister vigilante group wreaking death and destruction across the city. Between 1996 and 2001, there were hundreds of bomb blasts – most infamously at the Planet Hollywood restaurant at the VA Waterfront – and countless targeted hits on druglords and gang bosses.
The police scrambled desperately to respond. The new ANC government was shaken. Citizens of Cape Town lived in fear. Who could save the city?
Mark Shaw tells the incredible tale of how former foes – struggle cadres and the apartheid security apparatus – pulled together to break the Pagad death squads. Out of this crisis emerged the elite law enforcement unit, the Scorpions.
It is a story that has never been told in full. Now many involved have broken their silence about this pivotal chapter in South Africa's history, which offers far-reaching lessons on how to deal with organised crime today.

Available since: 09/18/2023.

Print length: 296 pages.

Other books that might interest you

What If Love Is the Point? -...

Carlos PenaVega, Alexa PenaVega

The world saw Carlos Pena and Alexa Vega enjoying the success of their acting careers--Carlos on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush and Alexa in the Spy Kids movies. But what they didn't see was the question both Carlos and Alexa were asking in the midst of all that fame and fortune: What's the point of it all anyway? 
Overflowing with both laughter and honest reflections, What If Love Is the Point? shares Carlos and Alexa PenaVegas' incredible story--from the red carpet, Spy Kids movies, and Big Time Rush to Dancing with the Stars to marriage and their greatest adventure, parenthood. 
Join them as they:Offer an inspiring window into how God builds young faith and strengthens it into lasting loveGive insight into how to put God at the center of relationships, family, and careerExplore why society's expectations never fulfill our true needsShare ideas for resisting the hustle of today's culture and finding true rest 
Carlos and Alexa believe that following Jesus was what they were made for--and they believe it's what you were made for too. If you find yourself asking, "Isn't there more to life than this?," lean in to their remarkable story of tender faith, God's persistent work, and learning why love is always the point of it all. 
Praise for What If Love Is the Point?: 
"This is more than a book. It's a story of freedom, hope, redemption, and love. Being in the public eye, I understand the struggles they faced (and continue to face), individually and as a couple. I recognize myself in a lot of the stories they share. What If Love Is the Point? helped me heal from life's wounds. It taught me that I'm not alone and I know this book will help so many others grow their faith and live out love. I didn't want it to end." 
—Sam Acho, author of Let the World See You, analyst at ESPN, and nine-year NFL linebacker

Show book

A Hundred Little Pieces on the...

John Rember

Written with clarity, tenacity, humor, and warmth, A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of the World attempts to find tolerable ethical positions in the face of barely tolerable events—and the real possibility of an intolerable future. It is a compelling, surprising, disturbing, and highly literate work of reportage and contemplation. It is both a collection of gentle-spirited wisdom and a rumination on ruin, as if distilled in equal measure from the spirits of Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It and Cormac McCarthy's The Road.Through these ten essays, each further broken into ten smaller pieces, Rember examines the practical and ethical dilemmas of climate change, population, resource depletion, and mass extinction. At the same time, he never forgets those improbable connections between human beings that lead to moments of joy, empathy, and grace.

Show book

Bible For Young People Vol 2

Anonymous Anonymous

The Bible for Young People tells the sweet and simple stories of the Bible in the Bible language, omitting only genealogies and doctrines, and whatever is generally regarded as unprofitable to young readers. Moreover, it is so divided into subjects, forming complete stories, that the child will be interested in every part of it. ...Verse divisions have been disregarded, and a totally new system of chapters introduced in place of the familiar ones, and it is hoped that this novelty will give fresh interest to the old book. One of the features which will be appreciated is the table of contents, giving the subject of each book and its subdivisions, so that one may readily turn to any Bible story of which he is in search."With great discrimination and sympathy, the compiler, Mrs. Joseph B. Gilder, has accomplished this task, and the book now stands as the embodiment of what is universally considered the best in the Bible for young people, "best" meaning here what is most suited to the minds of girls and boys and appropriate to their moral range." Volume 2 comprises the stories of the New Testament.  - Summary from Publisher's note

Show book

Gunboat Command - The Biography...

Antony Hichens

This biography draws heavily on the personal diaries of the subject, Robert Hichens (or Hitch as he was universally known).After a brief description of his early life, time at Oxford, his motor racing achievements (including trophies at Le Mans in his Aston Martin) and RN training, the book focuses on his exceptional wartime experiences.  Hitch was the most highly decorated RNVR officer of the war with two DSOs, three DSCs and three Mentions in Despatches.  He was recommended for a posthumous VC.  We read of his early days in vulnerable minesweepers and the Dunkirk Dynamo operation, (his first DSC).In late 1940 he joined Coastal Forces serving in the very fast MGBs, soon earning his own command and shortly after command of his Flotilla.  He was the first to capture an E-Boat.  His successful leadership led to many more successes and his reputation as a fearless and dynamic leader remains a legend today.The book contains detailed and graphic accounts of running battles against the more heavily armed E-boats.  Tragically he was killed in action in April 1943, having refused promotion and a job ashore.

Show book

True Crime Case Histories -...

Jason Neal

12 Disturbing True Crime Stories of Murder, Deception, and Mayhem
Volume Nine of the True Crime Case Histories Series (2022)
Fans Love This Series—Over 7,000 Five-Star Ratings
If you’re a fan of true crime, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the big-name cases: Ted Bundy, BTK, David Berkowitz, Christopher Watts, Diane Downs, Casey Anthony, Jeffrey Dahmer, Jodi Arias, Ed Gein, etc. The list of well-known, notorious cases throughout history is seemingly endless. Books, websites, podcasts, streaming television series, and magazines are filled with their abhorrent tales of mayhem. They’re some of the most foul killers the world has ever known.
In my books, I do my best to find stories you may not have heard of. To do this, I count on my audience to send me stories that may have gone forgotten and aren't found all over the internet.
Several submitted stories found in this volume, including the story of five-year-old Stephanie Hebert, who walked only three houses down her quiet suburban sidewalk and disappeared forever. Her case went cold for 40 years before other children from her neighborhood came forward in their adulthood with information leading to the killer.
In this volume, you’ll find 12 assorted true crime stories ranging in date from the 1950s to 2020.
There’s the story of the sadistic mother who viewed her children only as the spawn of their demon father, torturing them for their entire short lives.
You’ll also hear of the deranged husband and wife team who started their own cult and made it their life’s mission to rid the world of witches.
Another story tells the disheartening tale of a toddler’s skeleton found in a suitcase on the side of the road. Motorcyclists discovered her mother’s skeleton more than 600 miles away. Five years had passed, with no one even realizing they were missing.
Plus many more disturbing stories.

Show book

The Family in Kyoto - One...

Hidemi Woods

A long time ago, when Japan had the feudal system, my family was a landlord of the area. It has come to a complete downfall over the years, but my family still clings to its past glory. For them, to succeed the family is critical. I’m firstborn and have no brother which meant that I was a successor and destined to spend the whole life in my hometown.
But music changed everything. To pursue a career in music, my hometown was too rural and I had to move out. Back then I was a college student and moving to a city meant dropping out of school. My parents fiercely opposed but as usual, they left the matter to my grandfather who controlled the family. Considering his way to keep a tight rein, everybody including myself thought he might kill me.
I could have run away, but I wanted to tell him for once what I want to do for my life.
As long as I could remember, my family members had told me that I was a successor of the family and I was to live with my family all my life as my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather and on and on and on did, by taking a husband into our family to bear our family name. They kept saying that as a usual chant so repeatedly that I was sort of under the spell that I would be stuck in the house as a successor until the day I die.
So, I was an outsider when other girls chatted giggly about what last name they would bear after their marriage or where they would live in the future. I knew what my last name and what my future address would be because they wouldn’t be changed. My whole life was so predictable for that matter. Since I knew my future, I had no interest in my life, and days were so boring.
I changed my future completely by abandoning my family, my friends, my hometown and the old tradition. Now, I’m free from my once-arranged future. Instead, I dread my uncertain future everyday…

Show book