412pp., paperback, Penguin Books, Cape Town, 2026
ISBN: 9781776393145
The latest instalment in Jackie Phamotse''s BARE Series explores the ways corruption and abuse of power shape everyday life in South Africa.
Gibson Kente is no ordinary businessman, but his desire to possess Imani Lebone distracts his focus and, in a moment of pleasure, the truth is finally revealed.
"I wrote The Big Five Cartel because silence is complicity ... For years I have observed the intersection of power, capital, and impunity in this country. I studied the systems, questioned the networks, and documented what many know but few name in public." Jackie Phamotse, in an open letter to her readers
Jackie Phamotse is the author of the two-part romantic thriller, The Tea Merchant and The Advocate. The second novel in the Bare series, The Cradle of The Hockey Club, won the 2020 SA Book Award for Best Fiction. She lives in Johannesburg.