Church structure blown away

Mohau Ramashidja

Thembi Vilakazi of Block KK in Soshanguve

points at a church structure which fell on

her house last week Friday. 

Shalom Christian Church is left without a church structure after their structure has been in existence for four weeks.

This comes after last week’s Friday strong winds which blew the church structure away to fall on top of the two homes which were opposite where it stood.

 

From the early hours of 10am, community members in block KK picked up what was left of the crunch up corrugated iron of Shalom Christian Church.

Today Shalom find themselves without a church structure after four weeks it has been in existence.

 “It is about four weeks since we had this church structure. Before that we were gathering in a tent for our church services. It’s a great loss for us because the whole structure cost us approximately R36 000 to build,” said the pastor’s wife Khanya Ndlovu.

Elizabeth Khoza was in her house when she suddenly heard a violent crash on top of her roof. “I was from work when the wind blew out of control. It was few minutes after I had entered the house when I heard a violent crash on top of my roof.

My house is badly damaged. The windows are broken and there is a huge crack on it that might cost me to rebuild the house if the crack is beyond repair,” she said.

While Khoza managed to come out of her house; her neighbour’s daughter Dimpho Vilakazi found herself trapped in her home after the church structure had landed on top of it.

“I was in the house when I saw the roof crashing in. I was trapped inside for a while until my neighbours came to help me out,” she said.

To repair the overall damages on the two homes, the church said it was willing to provide assistance where needed.

 Amongst their plans the church said it was to speak with the ward councillor to come up with other arrangements to solve this problem. The ward councillor and the Tshwane Metro were not available for comment.

Sewage problem reigns for three months

 

By Mohau Ramashidja



Thabita Tshabalala with her 8month baby points to one

 of the sewage spill which is affecting the community

 of Boikhutsong in Soshanguve.



After four months of having to live with a damaged sewage pipe; the community of Boikhutsong still find themselves having to live with the smell of a sewage odour.

 This comes after an alleged poor installation of a sewage system in the area by the Tshwane Metro.“This problem started during winter. It becomes a problem even at night because there are flies everywhere. We cannot sleep,” said a community member Thabita Tshabalala.

After their unsuccessful attempts of trying to get in contact with the Tshwane Metro; the community in the area feels neglected by it. “We have been calling for assistance but still there is no help granted to us,” said Tsabalala’s son Bobo. 

A mother of three Elsie Molea who is also negatively affected by the sewage spill said the sewage odour has caused her new born to be constantly sick.“This sewage problem affects us because our young ones are always sick,” she said.

 The situation might be more than just the new borns getting constantly sick with minor flue infections. A paediatrician in Pretoria Dr Johnny Lotter said the sewage spill would lead to the newborns getting exposed to diseases because of their weak immune system. “A sewage spill contains lots of bacteria and viruses that an immune system of new born baby can’t handle,” he said. 

With such a detrimental effect the sewage spill has on newborn babies, ward councillor of ward 25 Phumzile Hlatshwayo apologised for the dysfunctional sewage system. And though the Tshwane Metro was not availabel for comment the ward councillor assured the community that the situation would improve for the better. “On behalf the Tshwane metro we are very sorry and we will monitor the situation from time to time,” He said.

 

Soshanguve Hosts 50 days countdown to COP17



Tshwane executive Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa; Minister of International

Relations and Corporation Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and Gauteng MEC for

Agriculture and Rural Development Nandi Mayathula-Khoza look foward to COP17

 confrence which will be held in Durban.  

  By Mohau Ramashidja

Community members of Soshanguve flocked to Giant stadium in their numbers to be the first to witness and be part of the official 50 day countdown to the United Nations Convention on Climante Change. It is the 17^th Conference of the Parties (COP17/CMP7) on climate change, Which will be held in in Durban from  28 November to the 29^th of December.

The day’s event was filled fun and excitement with every member of the community willing to participate.The day’s proceedings progressed quite well with the Executive Mayor of the Tshwane Metro Mr Kgosientso Ramokgopa, the Gauteng MEC of Agriculture and Rural Development Nandi Mayathula-Khoza as well as the Minister of International Relations and Corporation Ms Maite Nkoana Mashabane were all present to address members of the public about issues of Climate change.“It is very important as for ordinary community members to be aware of issues of climate change and also a basic understanding of COP17. We must be able to correlate it with the lives of ordinary citizens and how it affects them,”  Ramokgopa said.

He also edged by the to monitor their carbon footprints as this also contributes to climate change. “The developed-world must change their ways of energy production and under developed­-countries must ensure that they do not contribute in the deterring of the Ozone layer,” said Ramokgopa. Nkoana-Mashabane who is also the current president of COP17/CMP7 gave a flashback on the tornado incident which affected the community of Ficksburg four weeks ago. She said the negative effects of climate change were upon us as Johannesburg had a snow fall recently. “This serves as a warning that indeed we are negatively affected by climate change,” she said.

 The minister continued by saying that the sudden erratic weather patens are not causes by witchcraft. “I am so glad to be here in the community of Soshanguve to make you aware that erratic weather patterns are not the causes of witchcraft but are caused by climate change,” said the minister.

With the main objective of COP17/CMP7 being to come up with solutions to harmful effects of climate change on food security, agriculture and health; the minster stated that the 20 000 delegates from 194 member countries must come up with a mutual agreement in their resolution to climate change. She continued by saying that “It is in Durban where parties will be held accountable to the global citizenry– ordinary people that suffer daily from the impacts of climate change have high expectations from their leaders to find resolutions to this problem which is currently affecting their livelihood,” she said.

And as for the major contributors to climate change; the minister made her intensions clear that developed worlds were to pay for their negative contribution to climate change.In all the day’s event ended with a rather entertaining twist into it. Artists such as Winnie Mashaba, Solly Moholo, Mckenzie and DJ Cleo went all out to dazzle the crowd.

 Sundowns host trails in Soshanguve

Sundowns development coach Enrique Doran Dias with a group of selected

under 13 players after they were trailed.

By Mohau Ramashidja

Sundowns hosted soccer trails at Giant stadium in Soshanguve last Saturday. Various teams in and around Soshanguve participated in the trails to prove their worth of forming part of the Sundowns devlopment team. “We don’t want anyone  who would be happy to play in small leagues like Castle and Vodacom League. We want International quality,” said Sundowns development Head Coach, Sam Mbatha.



Under 13 players going all out in the field of play



The soccer field was divided in to four sections to accommodate all who were present for the trails. 15 minutes of football turned out to be more intense for the players as they battled one another for a spot in the development; utilising every moment as an opportunity to impress the coaches.

 Amongst those who managed to impress was 12 year-old former Tuks development player Tshegofatso Ndlovu who was happy to be amongst those who were selected. “I feel great because I was previously playing for Tuks Development and had to quit because my school was far away from Tuks and I couldn’t come up with finances to get me to Pretoria,” he said.

Another hopeful made it to the Sundowns’ list; while other players played out of frustration and showing dangerous slide tackles to catch the Sundowns coaches’ attention; 13 year old midfielder Nkosinathi Mhlanga shared his secret on how he got to be the only one who got selected from his local team.

“I always knew that that I was going to be selected, I previously went on trails at Platinum Stars FC and this is where I was taught what is needed from a player. I just focused on the basics of football like trapping, marking and passing and that was it,” he said. Mhlanga’s coach Johannes Matime was not surprised that Mhlanga was the only player who got selected in the team. “He is a good listener and applies everything we tell him,” said Matime.

With the last round of trails bringing the day’s event to an end; another 13 year old defender who surprised his coach was Frans Mamolele from Future stars FC. Knowing very well that he was a defender he trailed as a goalkeeper and got selected.  “I was motivated by Ofentse Mosiliki who is our number one goalkeeper in the team. This being my first attempt on the poles, I managed to give a good performance and I’m happy that I got selected,” said Mamolele.

Former Barcelona FC Development coach Joan Nanoel Nena was quite impressed with the football talent Soshanguve had to offer. “They are a very good talented players but they just need to work on their technique and follow the same methodology to improve their football skills,” he said

Journos visit Robben Island

By Mohau ramashidja

After a well of excitement was stirred up inside journalism students on their first day of arrival in Cape Town; dancing their first night away in the infamous Long-street was their only option to explore the renowned mother city.  The next morning was sure a bang. A bang on the head like they were hit by a train or something, and that something was the mother of all after effects of boozing the night away. A hangover.

This resulted in the unacceptable behaviour of oversleeping and therefore being late for the departure time to Robben Island. “We went clubbing last night at Long-street and returned this morning at around 4am, slept like an hour or so... Dude I’m so hung over right now but what I can tell you is that if you’ve never been to Cape Town get yourself toCape Town, visit Long-street and pee. I think I peed in a couple of clubs and I was there,” said the hangover AfrikaMdolomba the following morning.

The first night at Cape Town certainly proved that students were party animals on the loose ready to tread on the city and have fun while doing it. A 1hour 30minutes walk from Green Point to Sea Point was certainly not their ideal idea of exploring the whole city. “I can’t believe they told us it was a 30minutes while actually it is a 1hour 30minutes walk,” said SimphiweManana who was actually frustrated for having walked such a distance.

Rudzani Makumbe next to a prison cell of
former president Nelson Mandela

While others managed to get there on the required time; majority of the students slacked behind, causing the whole group to be divided into three groups in their visit to Robben Island. This caused several students to scramble for tickets which granted access to the island. The behaviour however shocked other students who were quite astonished by rowdiness of their fellow classmates. “Now they are fighting over tickets. I mean dah... we are the last group to go to the island and it’s going to be so much nice and fun because it will only be a few of us,” elaborated one of the patient students, SesanaMabuza.

Arriving on the island students were taken on a grand tour around the island before entering into the Robben island prison. Luckily enough they also got the opportunity to enter into different cells of former political prisoners such as Tokyo Sexwale, Govern Mbeki and Moses Masemola. “First of all this cell is small for a person to live in. It doesn’t matter that this was in fact a cell meant to keep political prisoners; you can’t expect a human being to live in such a crammed up space such as this one,” said Boikhutso Ntsoko. 

  

The Robben Island prison made up of high walls and, narrow corridors, steal doors and intense hard labour; sure made a state at the island for prisoners an unpleasant one. While touring within the walls of the Robben Island prison; students were also taken on a mind trip of what political prisoners went through. “Each prisoner was given a prison clothes, a prison number and a prison card. The prison number such as of the former president Nelson Mandela 46664 means that the Mandela was prisoner number 466 and he arrived on the island in 1964,” said former political prisoner and now a tour guide at the island, Jama Matakata.

This turned out to be an eye opener for most students; one of the journalism students Kgothatso Madisa couldn’t help it but sense the mode of the prison cells he entered in. “This place is depressing, I already feel like a prisoner, all this walls around. All this messages on the walls about prisoners who were in these very cells; they had it though,” He said.

As the group left Robben Island to the mainland, only powerful memories which serve part of South Africa’s history would remain with the students 

Cape Town an absolute bliss for students

Student journos outside parliament in Cape Town

 

By Mohau Ramashidja

A long awaited day finally arrived as a group of excited second year journalism students from Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) embarked on a journey to Cape Town.

The trip was scheduled for a 6 day stay in Cape Town, the seventh being a departure day back to Pretoria in Soshanguve. Students got the opportunity to explore the wonders of Cape Town, making visits to Robben Island, a two day visit to parliament and one of the largest media house in Africa Media24.

“I definitely can’t wait to get there; I definitely can’t wait to see Robben Island, Media24, the parliament and everything else,” said one of the ecstatic journalism students MapulaHloaela.
What was promised to be a 17 hour trip turned-out to be a 22hour long tedious drive for the over excited students. This coursed the group to be a little impatient with the speed rate the driver was driving in. “If the fact that the bus driver could drive at the speed of 200k/h I would be happier. And as for the assignment we are to do in Cape Town I will think about it when I get back. I just want to get there and enjoy everything that we will be doing there, whether it is educational or not,” elaborated one of the students Simphiwe Manana.

Students pose for the camera in the
their first stop to Cape Town 

After making several stops in petrol stations throughout the night; students finally arrived at the highly anticipated Cape Town. Wasting no time it was their very first night being in the mother city that the students endeavoured to explore the streets of Cape Town. There was a lot to explore, but they had to start somewhere. And so it was that they made their way to the infamous Long-street to dance their first night away.

“We went clubbing last night at Long-street and returned this morning at around 4am, slept like an hour or so... Dude I’m so hung over right now but what I can tell you is that if you’ve never been to Cape Town get yourself to Cape Town, visit Long-street and pee. I think I peed in a couple of clubs and I was there,” said the hangover Afrika Mdolomba the following morning.

Although the day of arrival brought an opportunity to explore the streets of Cape Town; amongst those streets being the renowned Long-street; the second day in Cape Town turned out to be a tour of a lifetime for the students. For them it was an experience of a lifetime having to step on the very grounds which political heroes of the country such as Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe and Nelson Mandela stepped on.

Well of course it is not just an island but a world heritage site; a museum filled the rich history of South Africa. From the day Dutch settlers occupied the Cape in mid-1600s and used the island as a prison, to the imprisonment of Muslim leaders from East Indies, African leaders, Dutch and British political prisoners– to the imprisonment of political anti-apartheid activists.

Tshepo Ntsolengoe and Perl Nicodimus
 on the boat to Robben Island

What was supposed to be a 30 minutes’ walk from Green Point to Sea Point turned out to be a one and a half hour walk for the students. This caused for students to be separated into three groups. This caused students to scramble for the first round of tickets which were bought at the nelson Mandela gateway to Robben Island. “I’m so excited, I can’t wait to see where Nelson Mandela was,” said the impatient student Constance Moyo.


Some were quite shocked to witness the raucous behaviour of their fellow students “Now they are fighting over tickets. I mean dah... we are the last group to go to the island and it’s going to be so much nice and fun because it will only be a few of us,” elaborated one of the patient students, Sesana Mabuza
As for what was anticipated to be a drag of the whole Cape Town experience turned out to be the epitome thereof.

There was not a sign of excitement about spending the whole day in parliament amongst the students; being aware of the reluctant faces TUT Journalism department senior lecturer Mr Fannie Groenewald advised the students that they should “Enjoy the day; keep together in groups at parliament and DON’T SLEEP,” he said. The emphasis on the last two words by the lecturer reassured the feeling of the idea that it was sure going to be a long boring day.

The proceedings at the parliament turned out to be the opposite of what the lecturer and the students anticipated. It was in that very day that the state president was scheduled to pay a visit to parliament in order to address issues which concerned the nation.

Students couldn’t help it but to be dazzled by the way the president answered questions and how he out manoeuvred allegations of incompetence against him. One of the Journalism students Neo Manganyi was quite astonished by the parliament proceedings and how members of parliament conduct themselves. “Parliament was just amazing, seeing Zuma addressing all members of parliament in the way he did. And how he matters such as disability issues were addressed it was quite amazing. I feel that more could have been dealt with because there were no resolutions at the end of the discussion,” she elaborated.

 The two day visit to parliament brought a stay at Cape Town to be a short visit; most students turned to be reluctant to about leaving the beautiful mother city. “Do we really have to go home, I’m already missing Cape Town and I’m not even out of this place,” moaned Neo Manganyi who was packing her back on the last day in Cape Town.

Journalism students having
a blast at the beach

“I want to go to the beach,” complained Lerato Motholo who was actually frustrated with the fact that it was cloudy and drizzling the whole week and now that the team was leaving Cape Town; the very day turned out to be warm and welcoming.

 Only good memories will remain in the hearts and minds of the students who paid avisit to Cape Town. Amongst those memories will be the beloved Long-street, the infamous Table Mountain, the iconic Robben Island, the parliament and the diversity of rich cultures and cultural performances by both the coloured and Xhosa people.

Post your views on the story

The ICRC continues to remain impartial in Libya

By Mohau Ramashidja

 Journalism students at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) had a public lecture about the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) it does in war torn countries worldwide.

With the current trend of rebel after rebel toppling dictatorial governments in Africa, Libya finds itself as one of the most war torn countries in the world. In such incidences many lives are lost and families are separated from their loved ones. With the situation getting out of hand the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) steps in to play an impartial role; providing aid for both parties partaking in the war.

“Our role is to play an impartial role and remain as neutral as possible in order to provide for the humanitarian needs that are needed in Libya,” said ICRC spokesperson Tebogo Mogaswa. With the ICRC providing humanitarian services worldwide to those who need it. It continues to be an independent non-governmental organization promoting humanitarian laws and principles which serve as a fundamental basis to protect human rights.

The ICRC was established in 1863 under the leadership of Henry Dunant and the assistance of his friends Gustave, Defour, Appia, and Maunior. Since then, the symbol of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent has been a great sign of hope in many countries all over the world. “With the current situation in countries such as Libya and Somalia, we continue to provide food, water, medical assistance if needed and we have a tracing system that we use to help and try unite family members who were separated by outbreaks of wars, ” added Tebogo Mogaswa.

The work of the ICRC has gained momentum in recent years; it now has permanent presence in approximately 35 countries in Africa, including 25 delegations, 5 missions and a number of country offices and over 5 thousand people work for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Africa both being expatriates and national staff. “The work of the ICRC in Somalia has been questioned by the media recently as we do not have offices there. However the ICRC has been monitoring the happenings in Somalia as we have a delegation in Nairobi, Kenya which makes it easier to help out Somalia the best way we can.”

As countries such as Libya continue to fight for peace and freedom in their country; the International Committee of the Red Cross continues to remain to be an impartial, neutral and independent organization which continues with its international humanitarian mission to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence providing them with assistance.

It continues to direct and coordinate the international relief activities conducted by the movement in situations of conflict. It also endeavors to prevent human suffering by promoting and strengthening universal humanitarian law and principles.

Hancock review

 A nice curve of bringing back the tradition of super heroes; from bad guys who seek nothing else but trouble to the good guy who actually has super powers to combat evil. Though the end result is usually predictable in these kinds of movies; both writers of the movie [VY Vincent NGO and Vince Gilligan] did a splendit job in highlighting the processes and functions of Public Relations and how well the general public can benefit from it.

Al though the movie Hancock forms part of other aspects of media entertainment. It can be argued that though a very dull angle of trying to resurrect the dead era of the time where superhero movies dominated the screens and hailed by the mass viewers worldwide; the movie, from a sociological perspective has achieved its goal as it has managed to instill an intrinsic quality of what media entertainment is suppose to do; which is to orientate, integrate and educate people in their societies.   

Public relations is an organization’s efforts to win the cooperation of groups of people (Lesley, 1987)

 

In basic terms Public relations is a channel which provides a platform for an effective communication between the two parties. The word “ass-whole” is used quite often in the movie in most cases referring to the lead actor Hancock. As a matter of fact it is used from the beginning right up to the very end of the movie referring to one person as an “ass-whole”. The lack of appreciation from people Hancock is trying to help deters him. He then develops a bitter attitude, caring less on whether his help is appreciated or not.

This is where Public Relation gets in. Ray, a Public Relations officer who has a dream of changing the whole for the better meets up with Hancock, and tries to help Hancock with his issues. In this part a few points standout in Ray of what to look for in a public relations officer and these are:

    Tenacity and adaptability- Ray patiently works with Hancock and does his level best to convince him that being imprisoned is the best option for him, with the idea in mind that the public will miss Hancock the moment they see crime escalating.

  Organizational ability and administrative talent- Ray organizes the media for Hancock in order for him to plead with the public that he is one of his kind and that during his incarceration he will do his best to develop for the better.

 Communication proficiency- in this case after a careful study on Hancock conducted by Ray he comes up with a final conclusion saying that “It gets redundant after a while but my basic diagnoses of your fundamental problem is… You wanna hear it?  You are an ass whole”. Well this might seem a beat improper for a professional language that is likely to be used by public relation officers but it sun in well into Hancock’s system.

  Professionalism- The way the media was organized by Ray in order for Hancock to address the public at large about him going to spend some jail time answered a lot of questions about Hancock also being subjected to the constitutional law.

  A lively enquiring mind- for what seemed to be a media attack on Hancock for being in contempt of court as he failed to make appearances in court for the 600 subpoenas he was summoned for; Ray saw it as opportunity to make the public realize the worth of Hancock by him going to jail.

  Moral courage and integrity- Ray as the public relation officer convinces Hancock that it is for his good to stay in prison while learning some public relation life skills.

In this movie we turn to see that public relation is not just a typical job; it is art. It requires the ability to observe, analyze and manipulate every situation into your advantage. In this case Ray saw that the FBI wanted Hancock behind bars but they didn’t have the backbone to do so. Ray also realized that the only way that the public was to be in good relations with Hancock was that if separated from the public and be missed for a while. This tells us one thing that public relations also plays a managerial role hence this enables the public relations officer to mow and identify what’s really needed to solve an issue.

The movie does so well to highlight some of the characteristics of public relations which are to: maintain relationships and build new ones by constantly adjusting and changing; analyze a situation and factors influencing it and evaluating the progress of the solution implemented. Like the time when Ray analyzed Hancock’s behavior on youtube and therefore coming up with a strategy to solve Hancock’s problem; one of the goals Ray set was that eventually the general public was going to need Hancock’s help, thus the plan was to make the public miss and be in desperate need to get Hancock’s help; the action required from Hancock was to improve his behavior while he did time in prison; one of the things that the superhero had to learn was to learn to appreciate the effort of others by saying to them “Good job”. This was to be evaluated when he was out of prison and helping to fight crime along with the police; and for Hancock it was not an easy job to adjust to the new attitude, like for example, saying “Good job” to a fellow crime fighter but he eventually did.

In all of this we turn to see how the public relation officer analyzed social opinions and trends by planning and performing an action to ensure that Hancock came out of his depressed self to being one of the most productive members of society in the aspect of solving crime. And major success achieves by the public relations officer it is that he managed to train Hancock to solve problems without damaging the states infrastructure and buildings.

Separate from the fact that the movie failed to adopt to the evolution from the traditional movies of superheroes you would watch in the early and late 90s; it has achieved its goal by highlighting some important fact of life. The first one being, believe it or not we are made in pairs and we are bound to grow old someday. Secondly, no one can be forever young time is ticking, what are you doing with you own life. And lastly changing the world will be quite a mission for one to accomplish but changing my approach towards life to a more positive approach will certainly make a big difference in this world. 

Post your comments and tell me what's your take on the story

The Heinemann book of South African short stories

Editors: Denis Hirson and martin Trump

Number of pages: 248

About the book: it compasses 45 years of apartheid regime since the National Party came into powere in the 1940’s– to the release of former president Nelson Mandela

Three short stories of The Heinemann book of South African short stories

1.      The prophetess by Njabulo Ndebele

The short story is about a staff nurse named Masemola who sent her son to a well-known prophetess to fetch for her the holly water which was to heal her ailments. As the old saying goes; “Boys will be boys,” he delayed his return from the prophetess’ house as he chatted along with some old friends whom he met on his way back. As it grew darker, a picture of his ill mother flashed in his mind.He then surged through the wind with his feet running before him and moments later he found himself on the ground– wounded.

Being aware that the holly water was no more because the bottle burst open as he fell to the ground; deceit was his last resort. He was to cheat his mother into healing as he picked up a bottle which was identical to the one which carried the holly water and made his way to the communal tap which was a few metres away from his home. As he returned home to his ill mother, only hope encored his spirit as he remembered the very words of the prophetess “Go and heal your mother”.

The author brings a glimpse of a lesson to the reader’s attention, that it takes a like hope, a little step of faith to perform a miracle. And so it was that the boy’s mother’s face lit up as she drank the so-called “Holly water”. From that day the boy new that the very tap in Mayabastreet was his stream of holly water to hill his mother.

2.      Familiarity is the kingdom of the lost by Dugmore Boetie

As most writers turn to show off how much they know the English language; Dugmore Boetie takes the opposite curve as he displays skill, simplicity and pun in his writing. It is as if he is telling the story verbally. Fiction or not; the author takes the reader into a mind trip on how an 11 year old boy by the name of Charlie who  grew up on the streets and the adventurous experiences he went through.

For most of his life, Charlie did voluntary work at a bus depot in exchange for a four hours sleep inside the last bus which knocked off at 12 o’clock in the evening. This was a daily life routine for him until one day he met up with Krommie; a shallow man who saved him from being cough by a baker after stealing a couple of loafs. The two had something in common; they were both thieves and gutter tunnels were rooms were they place their heads to rest.

Amongst other interests, Charlie was a passionate lover of music. He loved it so much that he went through all the trouble of stealing it from the shops; this however led to his arrest in which he had to serve six months in the reformatory. “When I came out, I was bitterly reprimanded by my father [Krommie] for stealing records instead of food.” The gramophone was the cause of all of this and there was one thing left for Krommie to do to bring his son into order; he got rid of the gramophone. This revoked anger and bitterness in Charlie’s life and decided to run away from his stepdad to join a circus.   

From the streets of Sophiatown to a first time glance at the city of Cape Town; Charlie figured that the circus job he got was not for him. He saw much potential in himself than settling for washing the feet of elephants. It was back to the old ways of life; being street wise. Being in a new city, his first attempt to cut off the moneybag form the bus conductor did not succeed and that resulted to serving two years Tokai reformatory.

In this climax of this short story the other drags a solid point to the fore; that there is no place like home. It was after that went Charlie was given work span of weaving fishnets in the reformatory that he learned that there was a fish train which journeyed from Cape Town to Johannesburg stopping only at Bloemfontein for a water break. For him it was a chance to escape from the reformatory and leave Cape Town. Not even a single thought of enduring a non-stop trip plus chunks of ice which the line coaches carried to keep the fish fresh– stopped him to make his way to Johannesburg. For him being frozen alive in a 13hour trip; it was a small price to pay.

3.      The brothers by Ivan Vladislavic

In this short story the author tries to educate his audience of the fact that there are opportunists out there, who stand watching at the sidelines when one seems to battle with hardships of life. And the moment when one is in a trance of fatigue and s/he is tired of pushing to make it through in life; it is a moment when one is at a brink of his or her success. It is unfortunate for the fact that what we go through as a people we turn to be fragile in certain stages of our lives and turn to be misled and manipulated by opportunists.

In this short story two brothers by the names of Oswald and Blokjan who own a pig farm in Nooitgedatch are the main characters. As the brothers made their way back to their farm from a business meeting they had attended in the provincial capital; Oswald tripped and kicked a yam. Being unable to walk, his brother Blogjan carried him until he got blisters on his feet and couldn’t walk any further; on so did his brother Oswald returned the favour.

Throughout their journey the brothers interchangeably carried one another as the other grew weary. “Don’t fret, brother, it’s just around the corner. I can carry you,” the other would say. Along the way the brothers got rid of some of their clothes they wore such as shoes, a shirt and a jacket as they progressed to reach their destination. The author achieved his goal of bringing a life lesson to the fore; that when one goes through the tangles and sways of life, the world turns to watch and follow your tracks; picking up bits and pieces you left behind [like the brothers’ shoes, shirt and a jacket] to present them as gifts, with the intentions of luring you in their trap.

The shoes were too hot that they gave you blisters, you had a running stomach and so you had to ‘use’ your shirt to wipe your behind and you got rid of the jacket for it made you look silly walking barefoot with a jacket on but with no shirt to complement the jacket. And you got rid of those things not because you were confused but you just had to.

As the brother came closer to their destination the wearier they became as they saw the obstacles which lay ahead. Being aware of the precious opportunity, a stranger presented himself as a solution to the brothers’ problem and made them to believe that they were a burden to one another. Although the brothers pinpointed loopholes in the stranger’s speech that he was up to no good; they agreed to being separated from one another on the verge of their breakthrough.

“It happened that they had stopped on the edge of the valley of disenchantment, through which they would have to pass to reach their salvation.” Being aware that you are in the most fragile stage of your life and you are about to cross through into your destination; opportunists know when to lure you into their harness knowing that your big break is just around the corner.

 Blokjan lives his weak brother behind with the idea that he will return for him with help when he gets to the other side. And it turned out it was all in the stranger’s plan to cross over with Blokjan hence Blogjan was the stronger brother and that he would carry him as they crossed over.

     

After a two week uproar between CEPWAWU and its employers which led to an 8.5% deal between the two parties; two locals share a glimpse of their nightmare experience during the strike.

Mohau Ramashidja reports… 

Post your comments and give your vies on the story

The following sound clip is a review of a cocumentary of poor whites in South Africa

Documentary follows bellow...

Post your comments and tell me what do you thing of the documentary. 

The international community held an emergency meeting in Rome earlier this week to help ease the famine that is currently taking place in Somalia. Thousands of children have died due to a lack of food and water supply.  Representatives from the G20, UN agencies and NGO’s are determined to turn the Somalian situation around.

Mohau Ramashidja reports….

Post your comments an tell me what can we as individuals do to help Somalia

The collector of treasures

About the author



Bessie Head



Bessie Head was born on 6^th July 1937 in Pietermaritzburg.  Bessy Emery, the mother of Bessie Head, was judged mad after her elicit relationship with a black man who worked on her farm. Due to the laws of apartheid, the act of people from different cultural backgrounds being in a relationship was regarded as insipid and illicit. Even though Bessie Head was relegated due to being born out of a mixed breed, her mother had saved up some money for her education. Bessie Head worked as for a minimum period of three years and then moved to Johannesburg to kick off his career as a Journalist. Some of her articles were published in Drum magazine.

Bessie Head lived in the times were in South Africa racial discrimination and prejudice was at its highestpeak. By the year 1960 she moved to live in district six, Cape Town. All the years having to deal with the plight of racial discrimination, she longed to live in a more harmonious state, where racial lines had no place to hinder relations of mankind due to the color pigment of the skin. It was then that after her unsuccessful marriage to Harold Head in 1962, that she moved to Botswana to start her life afresh. Although her living in Botswana birthed out new challenges, a delay of her citizenship being one, her exile home finally gave her citizenshipthat she long waited for.

Bessie Head lived most of her life inSerowe among other refugees. Although, at the time, Botswana was under the iron fist of colonial rule, she was astonished by the by the distinctive spirit and attitude of the Botswana people and their cultural lifestyle of ancient Africa. Her new home provided her with that which she longed for,a sense of belonging.

She wrote her first novel titled: When rain clouds gather in 1959 and then got published in NewYork. After suffering from a nervous breakdown in 1967, Maru was her second novel which got published and announced her comeback to the world of literature in 1971.A question of power was her third novel which was published in 1973. Followed by her compilation of short stories, The collector of treasures was published in 1977. Serowe village of the rainwind was the last novel which got published under her name in 1981. After travelling some parts of the world such as Germany and Australia, she passed away in her new home of Botswana.

Top three short stories of the collector of treasures

Jacob: a story of a faith healing priest

Isn’t amazing how we as human beings can be full of prejudice without realizing it. We turn to have preferential treatment, judging one by their status in the community we live in. A rich individual is the first on the list to be catered for than a homeless man on the street. This is how it is sometimes and most of the time, we turn to boost about how good and righteous we are in our deeds. But are we, really?

The short story is about is about two prophets, one good, one evil, who lived in a village called Makaleng located in Botswana. One of the prophets, Jacob, lived in rags and scatters; he had no shoes to wear and lived in a poorly furnitured house. He relied on his God for everything he was in need of, most especially encouragement to keep him through the hardships he had to endure. He was born out of a mixed marriage of a Motswana woman and a wealthy German man who was a cattle trader. After s tragic death of Jacob’s parents, Jacob and his twin brother Isaac where left under the merciless hands of the Uncle.

From a lifestyle of leisure to penury, the brothers had to adapt to the new living conditions. Subjected to slavery in the harness of their own uncle, no blanked was given to them to keep them worm in the night and porridge and salt was their daily meal. The twins did all the hard work in their uncle’s household whiletheir uncle’s children lived like kings with their cousin’s inheritance.  Theliving conditions the brothers were subjected under were too hard to bear and as a result, Jacob’s twin brother Isaac died under those conditions.

The author (Bessie Head)brings a solid point to the fore; that we turn to judge the actions of Man, forgetting that there is a greater influence from their past which causes them to behave in a certain manner.

Jacob emerged to become a businessman, owning a beer brewing business in the village to maintain an expensive lifestyle his wife desired. Obsessed with success and determined not to let anyone one steal from him like his uncle did. Jacob found himself in the same position as he did after the death of his parents, everything he had worked hard for got stolen within a blink of an eye. It was at this point in time that Jacob was called by God to live his family and fulfil what the almighty has called him to fulfil. Separated from his family, Jacob lived in the eastern part of the village but was not welcomed by Lebojang. Lebojang was also a prophet who hismiraculous prophesies and healing powers were rooted in the grounds of witchcraft. His congregation was aware of his partial treatment towards them, but what they were not aware of was, Lebojang wore a mask of a priest but being a witch at heart.

Lebojang used human body parts to enhance his spiritual abilities. In order to obtain human body parts particularly those from children, Lebojang formed an alliance with the chief of the village and Bogosi to kill children for their body parts.

A man in passing from his workplace overheard an argument taking place within the bushes over; who were to take certain body parts and who were not supposed to. Lebojang and his allies were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The erroneous believe of using human organs to accumulate wealth still continues in mos parts of Africa. Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter, Zoe Daniel did a documentary– highlighting the man slaughter currently taking place in South Africa. It is estimated that about 300 people fall victims into this practice and the favourite targets are children. It is believed that the aim is not to kill but to harvest human organs while they are still alive.     

The wind and a boy

The short story is about an illegitimate youngman called Friedman who lived with his grandmother in the Gasefete–molemo ward in Botswana. The boy in his teenage years, about to turn fourteen years, was an absolute darling in the eyes of all women in the village. Using his innocent looks as an advantage, as no parent in the village could think of Friedman doing wrong like any other teenager would, Friedman manipulated every opportunity he got to be the naughtiest of them all.

While he pioneered all wrong doings in the village for the purposes of him and his friends having a good laugh about it; his friends paid for every sin he had committed just for a good laugh they sought to have. Like any other human being the villagers were deceived by the looks of the young man.

The author highlights that other than the looks of the young man had, Friedman was talented with many things apart from having a pretty face and having a lilt voice. He was the best wire car designer amongst his peers and an absolute mastermind for his age. This made him to be every girl’s dream and every boy’s envy in the village.

Like his grandmother he was wit and coherent with his approach to life. After Friedman had turned fourteen, his mother who lived in the urban areas because of work bought him a bicycle as a birthday present. After a few test rides and exploring his new toy, the two were inseparable. It was after his grandmother had sent him to buy something for her that Friedman took what turned out to be his last ride on his bicycle.

As Friedman was riding through and with the wind, he was hit by an unlicensed truck which dragged him a few metres away from the exact sport of the accident. The truck driver belonged to an elitist civil–servant class which were earning a lot of money after gaining independence. This class of elitist were in such a hurry to of being respected and seen as dignitaries amongst common dwellers. And as a result they bought road unworthy cars in pursuit of being modern citizens which resulted in many lives being lost due to car accidents, amongst them was the life of Friedman.

In this short story we realise that what Friedman had always wanted (a bicycle) led to his tragic death. Bessie Head brings a solid point to the fore that one has to be grateful for what one has and never be in a rush to obtain what one desires, for it might be the end of the road for them. In today’s South Africa, were people obtain their driving licences without going through driving tests. Many innocent lives are lost through road accidents. We as the recipient of the news in today’s modern world turn to be entertained by such media reports.

Kgotla

Beauty dwells in the eyes of the beholder. Well, in this case, it is rather strange how a blind man ends up with two women at the palm of his hand. One beautiful filled with wisdom and calm reasoning and the other being a widow–breaking all laws of tradition just to be with a blind man.

These laws required the widow to live without a man for a minimum period of twelve months. Was it that Gobosamang, blind as he was; had the ability to sweep women off their feet? Or was it peaty they had towards him and if so, how does it justify the two women fighting over him? The author makes it clear that, it was his ability to cause women with words and not any other thing.

All the drama between the two women takes place in the tribal court in a Botswana village. The first wife, beautiful as she was, was claiming back her husband from the widow who also claimed that Gobosamang (the blind man) was her husband.

The tribal court being respected for its just judgementswere unable to come up with a conclusion in this matter. What made it mindboggling for the tribal court was that the first wife left her husband because of his preconceived ideasthat she was cheating. She had now returned to her husband only to find him having moved on with his life with another woman. Trying to fight to have her husband back the second wife was reluctant to let go. The tribal court was puzzled at this matter, not knowing how to arrive to a logical conclusion which would please both parties.

The author highlights an old saying that says “Good things come from afar” to introduce the wit of the first wife who is from Rhodesia. She came up with a suitable conclusion saying that she would pay off the money the widow had spent with her husband on a monthly basis, so long as the widow left them in peace. Her conclusion brought a sigh of relief to the oust tribal court as the widow agreed with the terms.