Makana Municipality and Rhodes University teamed up this week to throw a memorable birthday bash for Funiwe Jane Mahlakahlaka at the with the Ethembeni Service Centre for the Elderly. Mahlakahlaka, who shares a birthday with Nelson Mandela, turned 100 on Wednesday 18 July, 2018. The special occasion was to mark Mandela Day and also launched Trading Live, the Rhodes University Community Engagement-organised project that has inspired joy all over Grahamstown (Makhanda) this week. Running at 150 sites across Grahamstown until 24 July 2018, the uniquely Rhodes initiative seeks to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela and build the community. It involves…
Author: Sim Kyazze
By Jos Wortley I was well enough to attend this year’s Theatre in Motion at the Rhodes Drama department. Sitting next to you Gary, watching a new theatre language unfold before me, I was challenged on so many levels. Memories of me dancing in those very special spaces and now watching new and exciting choreographers and dancers pushing their boundaries paralleled my ‘coming out’ as an artist once again. I have decided to pay tribute to you Gary in the form of a brief letter. Dearest Gary, I wonder if you have any idea what kind of influence you had…
What a time for someone to do something practical about the scourge of plastic. According to a story in these pages (SPAR’s war on plastic), the group’s Eastern Cape operation invested in 300 000 wax-lined, waterproof and reusable paper bags with a 12kg capacity. Over two days early this month, they exchanged 10 plastic bags for a free one of those environmentally friendly alternative. “We believe that safeguarding our environment and the future are often spoken about but not much is done,” said SPAR EC managing director Conrad Isaac, “As the biggest food retailer in the Eastern Cape, I believe…
Rhodes University has decided against being re-named. A meeting of the University Council considered the matter on 30 November, with 15 of the 24 members voting no in a secret ballot, according to a press statement issued this week by the institution. “The matter of the name of the University has been taken very seriously by Council,” read a 6 November statement from the Registrar’s Office. ”It set in motion processes that would facilitate its speedy resolution. Given the University’s precarious financial position and the need for the University to prioritise transformation and be responsive to the challenges facing our…
At the very end, as at the beginning, he said he said it all in song – a long routine with a gadget so delicate it looked like it was made of paper mache. Albert Bisaso Ssempeke, an internationally renowned musician who has spent the last three months teaching and lecturing at ILAM, has now left Grahamstown. But last Friday, he was front and centre in Beethoven Hall at the Department of Music and Musicology for an hour of the most captivating use of traditional musical instruments from East Africa. Born into a clan close to the royal court of…
Staff Reporter Malawian journalist Alick Ponje received the inaugural Southern Africa Media Award in Social Accountability Reporting during the Telkom-Highway Africa Awards Gala Dinner held on the evening of 31 August evening at the 21st annual Highway Africa conference, the world’s largest gathering of African journalists, at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Presented by Highway Africa and the Partnership for Social Accountability (PSA) Alliance, the award recognises journalists from Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia whose investigative reporting on social accountability has contributed to improved services in public health and agriculture, particularly in the areas of HIV and sexual and…
By Mandisa Mpulo Harnessing the power of communities to solve the problems of governance has taken various forms. From our social media timelines, we observe and participate in, the sharing of memes or GIFS capturing our commitment to #CountryDuty. At other times, we take our collective power offline – as in the case of the Abahlali Basemjondolo social movement – to change our societies, by turning the wheels of power that hold together the hulking machinery which produce the status quo. The OSISA workshops on “Media, Accountability and Local Governance” presented an opportunity to explore this year’s conference theme by…
By Patience Shawarira The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef), council concluded its meeting at the 31 August- 1 September 2017 Highway Africa – SACOMM (the South African Communication Association)conference at Rhodes University in Grahamstown with a robust condemnation recent attacks on journalists in South Africa, and rest of the continent. According to a press statement released after its council meeting on 1 September, Information Regulator, Pansy Tlakula and Sanef Member Sizwe Snail ka Mtuze, briefed members on the implications of POPIA (the Protection of the Personal Information Act), to South African journalists. “[Tlakula] pointed out that while there are…
By Sakhile Dube According to Nqobile Ndzinisa, some people in KwaZulu Natal believe there is a cure for HIV-Aids but it is not made available to sufferers because manufacturers and related businesses are still making money from providing ARV (anti retro-viral) therapy. Ngobile, who studying towards an MA at the University of KwaZulu Natal said that there were strong Zulu cultural beliefs that might explain why KwaZulu Natal province has the highest HIV prevalence in South Africa, and also why women have the highest rate of HIV infection compared to men. Ndzinisa argued that women are more likely to be…
By Sakhile Dube The technological future is already here but it is not evenly distributed, with more machines connected to the internet than people, and technology challenging journalists to no longer conform to one role. Electronic devices allow them to publish their work anywhere – anytime. The words of Steve Kromberg, Director and Trainer of Social Weaver, who presented a teach-in on Mobile journalism, which is an emerging form of new media storytelling. This was part of the 31 August – 1 September Highway Africa-SACOMM conference in Grahamstown. Reporters use portable electronic devices with network connectivity to gather, edit and…