Mbeki brings African Unity to Rhodes

We live in a country where by it is important to reinforce academic and democratic ideals and one of the most important ways of making that happen is by taking the time to reflect on our continent and the its history. Do we really unite as Africans or do just prefer to section ourselves within our ethnic groups? This was the agenda on the tray for South Africa’s former president, Mr Thabo Mbeki who gave a speech at Rhodes University about African pride and integrity.

This was an event to start off the Africa week programme which has been planned by students. “They had the courage to summon me here”, Mbeki said with a smirk. It’s the things like this which make one proud to be part of a space of youth with more than enough bravery and initiative to see how far they could make things happen. I would like to thank the students who organised this event- we truly are fortunate to have them amongst us otherwise there would be a time when I'd wonder if I would've ever seen Mr Mbeki.

Besides the exited souls outside the Rhodes theatre thinking,” gosh, I get to see him”; I was particularly proud at the behaviour of my fellow students. No singing of ‘struggle’ songs outside and no spontaneous dance acts. No, “comrades, comrades settle down”. (Thank you) Before he came in, the crowd around was wondering whether he was going to pull a ‘Julius Malema’ or not- i.e. was he going to show up? Unfortunately, phones were to be switched off. But I played the ‘dangerous journo’ and sneaked in a couple of pics. Although they were not the best of quality- they’ll do! I’ve also posted a video which I hope you’ll be able to see.

Mbeki walked onto the podium, looked at the crowd and as he started speaking; his quiet and effortless charisma surrounded the theatre. His slow pauses in between his words kept us in suspense as we waited for the ‘next best quote’ from him. All eyes were in wonder because in actual fact, he was everything we expected him to be and he wore a seemingly familiar grey suit. Breaking the ice; he told us about his new cell phone which he’s been ridiculously trying to get used to- reminds me of my dad!

“It is important to recognise that South Africa is part of Africa. Africa has been forgotten”, he began. Do we as a country associate ourselves with the continent or are we just sitting in our corner? This can cause so many problems for us as a people. Before even touching on the continent of Africa; it was quite annoying to find a couple of students who felt that somehow, Mbeki should’ve addressed the speech in IsiXhosa. Now, I asked myself,” but what about me? - I’m Zulu”. Mbeki even asked, “Is there a Xhosa society?” and all the super-exited students screamed, “Yeah- oh Yeah”. He then promptly asked, “What is that?” That is the question we need to ask ourselves, why is there no African society? It’s ok to realize ones pride in their language, but to be convinced that the crowd should know isiXhosa- which is only one of the official languages- is just stirring up a debate of disaster. The truth is that more than half of Rhodes students are not Xhosa and by an implication that one needs to spoken in one of the mother tongues to be African, many of us Zulu, Sotho, Venda and even English students were offended. Its thoughts like this which causes assumptions of exclusion by South Africans in relation to the continent.
On the issues of development, Mbeki went on to talk about what the youth can do ‘from the grass-roots’ in order to change what is happening. “Don’t make an excuse of being a ‘normal’ person unable to do anything- just to avoid making change”, he said. We need to understand that Africa is not incapable of helping itself. If anything, we have the right organizations and unions; however, Africa always feels that it needs to seek help from other continents i.e. Europe for help. Mbeki says that we need to make an effort and refuse to be defined by the rest of the world.

After the speech, the question and answer session started and the most distinctive issue was that of HIV/AIDS. A woman in the crowd asked Mr Mbeki to explain his earlier comment about the disease not being an issue in South Africa. His diplomacy was more than pleasing as he explained the issues of the disease and its importance. “They said I must not say anything”, he joked. “But the issue of the disease being an immune virus is important” he continued. He meant that in other words, we need to find solutions to strengthen the immune system of our people as health and education are the most important issue in Africa. He ended saying that, “We would respond better if we understood the questions”. Meaning that we need to ask questions as what the problems are so that we can face the issues in a better way.

I wish that this did not sound like a report, but there are so many things which were important about Mr Mbeki’s address that there is no other way of saying things better than he had. There was a large amount of unfortunates that missed this historic event. It’s as if he didn’t come to Rhodes to redeem himself as a political image; but rather to move on up and lead a legacy of leadership.

The count-down begins...

Am i the only one thats noticed that June is right next door. Granted June means its exam time but even better than that...FEST and yes drumroll please, we are all gonna be back together again r u not as excited as I am.

I'm so stoked to see everyone one again but right now ofcourse I wish you all the best for the upcoming exams work hard folks becuase we aint getting to Third year without getting through this year.

Le dulce Vita

See you all soon soon.

Mcwa
C

My views towards "birthdays"

We just voted trying to make a change. Now Let take for instant.My birthdate is on june 13 this coming month,so i wouldn't mind if anyone who knows me can buy me a gift,wherether belatest or what as long as He or She will supricse me with a gift at the end.So I think it great thing to share a birthday cellebration by contributing somehow.I am expecting something to people who know me on my birthday.belatest it will be fine by me."Your coorparation will bring a change,let do practical not theory".A change begins at home.

Taking back the Night...

This day the 8 May 2009 marks the fourth anniversary of the Rape judgment which gave Jacob Zuma freedom on a silver platter and denied justice to Kwezi "the rape survivor". Tomorrow Jacob Zuma becomes the president of the Republic of South Africa, a truly sad day in SA history. But TONIGHT, we took back the night! With all this in mind, today also marked a very important day on the Rhodes calendar "the 1 in 9 campaign", where over 400 hundred students participated in the biggest movement yet on campus.

From early this morning over 200 women had their mouths tapped shut, including yours truly, to represent the 8 in 9 rape survivors who remain silenced by an injustice society, where rape is made 'okay' because we refuse to ackowledge that it is a plague affecting our country. Your mother, your sister, your niece, your brother and nephew are all potential victims including yes, me and even YOU. Rape is no longer just my problem or yours, it is OURS. So today we broke the SILENCE and we marched in the early evening and took back the night.

"I said NO!", "My Vagina says NO!", "My Vagina is Pissed off", "Real men don't rape".

Enough is enough!!!

can we please pick this bone.

Hello everyone. I have a bone I will like us to pick. The topic says, what do we call a 50 year old person who does not show the characteristics of maturity? I think it will be best if you can first tell what does mature person do. While still on that line, what difference can you show or tell between a boy and a man. These are the topics that we discussed in our university during our social gatherings at student Christian organization (sco)

THIS FREEDOM WE HAVE TODAY SOME PEOPLE DIED FOR IT.

Yesterday we were celebrating Freedom Day and some people put their lives on the line for us to have that freedom. Maybe its time we look back and take the good things those people did for me and you to enjoy this freedom today. We can look at the Youth of 1976, they did not have this freedom we have today but they fought for what they believed in and they did it. The mistake that we do as the youth of today is to think that the struggle is over. I truely believe that even if have freedom but we can not say the struggle is over. How can we say its over if we have the high rate of unemployed young people? How can we say its over if we are dying from Hiv/Aids? How can we say its over if we have the problem of drugs abuse and violence in our schools?
The youth of 1976 fought against the apartheid government, we have to make ourselves employable. They had to wore baraclavas to protect themselves from the teargas, we have to wear condoms to protect ourselves from Hiv/Aids. They had to fight the usage of Afrikaans in native schools, we have to fight the usage of drugs and violence in our schools.
So we can not say the struggle is over yet the only difference is that we are fighting the different battle today.

Are you Free or are you Dom...

The 27 April 2009, marks 15 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa. So technically if our democracy was a person, she would be celebrating her fifteenth birthday, having just entered the dreaded stages of puberty. Recognising how immature we all were at that tender age, perhaps we should give props to South Africa, for showing a lot of maturity as indicated by the April 22 elections.

Now moving on from my favourite subject POLITICS, I hope you all have a superb FREEDOM Day. Spend it catching up on school work I would advice, after all the right to quality education was one of the many freedoms which was fought for in years gone by. "Me, myself, personally" (Jeffrey, 2009), much work must yet be done before I'm finally in the groove of this new term.

While I am on the subject of work, kindly log onto www.rhodesmusicradio.co.za and listen live every Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday MORNING between 7 and 9 to your girl Cee.

Till next time.

X marks the Spot...

I waited four days before I finally did this because I wanted to see what South Africa thought first, before I made my comments. Yes, I am talking about the most fulfilling moment yet in my short life, marking my X on the ballot.

I am barely 20 years old so I had yet to partake in my universal right to have my voice heard. The only truth I knew when I cast my vote, is that my decision was made to protect the values that I believe South Africa still stands for.

We had had so many a heated discussions during the Program based entirely on the then upcoming elections that it was part of the fuel which energized me as I cast my vote. At that moment, I truly believed that a change was dawning on this country, that the vice grip that the ANC has had on the country was finally abating and that I could finally call South Africa a democratic country with a viable opposition party(s). That the ANC garnered 66% of the vote but very importantly, missed the highly contested 2/3 majority, surely reinvigorated the hope and belief I have in this country. The people had spoken.
Granted the ANC won an outright majority, but what I see as encouraging is that there were still millions of South Africans, who put their faith in an opposing party and for that I thank all South Africans.

Democracy is an ongoing process and every society defines the boundaries of democracy differently and I strongly believe that South Africa is slowly on the way to establishing a truly democratic society. My one little vote represented my one screaming voice, but I can see that together, someday our voices will make someone LISTEN. Once again I thank you South Africa for casting your vote and making your voices heard.

FJP students in the media!

FJP students published on City Press online

Jeffrey Shisinga, one of our FJP 2009 participants from University of Limpopo has had his election pics published on City Press online! Check it out: http://jv.news24.com/City_Press/Gallery/Home/0,,galleries-48-7564,00.html.

Anele Ngwenya, FJP 2009, and Simphiwe Kanityi, FJP 2008, also had their voting experiences published on the City Press website:
http://jv.news24.com/City_Press/Elections/0,,186-2483_2505166,00.html.

Dj in the making

Justice Mduduzi Nyalunga, a student at University of Zululand and FJP participant 2008, is in the Top 10 of a Dj competition to become Gagasi 99.5fm’s new dj! Each week two people will be voted off over the next 6 weeks, starting this past Monday.

Please support Justice by smsing "Dj 7" to 39068. Smses cost R1.50. You can vote as many times as you like. Also see the finalists, including Dj7, on http://www.gagasi995.co.za/competitions_Vodacom.htm and keep up with the competition. Justice will also be co-hosting the 12:00-15:00 show tomorrow so listen if you can and support a one of our own! You can listen to the show via their website by clicking on Listen Live.

Those of us who know Justice also know how much he loves radio. Justice did live daily reports from the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown for SABC radio station, Ligwalagwala FM, last year. WELL DONE to him for making it into the Top 10 of the competition.

Well done to all the FJP students!

Voted today!... Yes I did- indeed

Today, I voted for the first time ever- there were no nerves at all until my dad called me and put on his ‘do-this-or-else’ voice, “Anele, make the right choice!”. That’s when he advised me to vote for a certain party in order to get what I want for my country. As the queue shrunk a bit, I thought to myself; what kind of a difference would I be making by voting.

I don’t think many young people know that; although we are tiny little particles- we still make up a dense vote towards our country- so that we can contribute to the maintenance of democracy and human rights. Young people, as educated as we are, do not consider the change which could occur by our vote. There was a guy in front of me who hadn’t registered or had his ID- he said he was not aware that we had to go through ‘all of that’ to vote. My argument is that this kind of lethargic behaviour is exactly what will bring our country to ruins.

When we vote, it’s as though sigcina icala ( doing it for the sake of freeing our conscience) and we don’t understand that disadvantaged people fight for so much more- water, lights, health care. We can still get our birthday BMW’s- because our middle class parents can work for that but somewhere out there- there is a person drinking dirty water.

As young, educated and politically aware people, we should get in line and make the right decisions- not because we feel like it but simply because it’s the right thing to do so that the next young person can get electricity to read a book.

Thumbs up!

I went and voted today and I have the inked thumb to prove it.

Woke up this morning...

I woke up not all that excited to go and vote. Sure the novelty had worn off, but it was more the dilemma of who do I vote for. But that is not the point. The point is that I did go and vote some time after 1pm.

I was not going to do the whole waking up at 4am and camping outside of the Rhodes University Theatre (which is where I voted). I value my sleep much too much. After watching all the political leaders and fellow South Africans voting around the country on the various TV channels (local and international), I finally took the not so long walk to the voting station.

Short walk to a long queue

I was pretty relaxed about it, not expecting a long queue at all as I had voted here before and never stood in a queue. I remembered literally popping in and popping right out. Imagine my shock when I arrived and could not see the back of the queue from the front of it. It was going to be a loooong day. I contemplated going back home and coming back 10 minutes before closing time, but a friend I had not seen in about two years, who is now studying in Port Elizabeth, was in town for the day to vote and convinced me to "just get it over with". Easy for her to say when she could see the door from where she was, but she had a point and I made my way to the back of the queue. This is not the kind of queue where your mate can squeeze you in and you crack a joke to diffuse the daggers in the eyes of the people behind you.

As I stood in the line (as we call it in SA) I regretted not bringing a book or my ipod or my phone's hands free at least to free myself from the torture of listening to 'funky' first years talking about cool things and boys. I mean let them talk on but I'll skip it any day. I'm getting old, deal with it.

X marks the party

But I finally made it to the promised land, had my ID scanned and received the little ticket with my ID number on it. Then moved on to the guy with the 'push-back' hair style who crossed out my name on the list. Then it was off to the inking lady, followed by the two ballot paper ladies who handed me my stamped provincial and national ballot papers. Off I went into the booth where my cross was made, after a moment of taking all of it in and what it meant for me and my country. Out the booth, into the boxes they went and with that my contribution to democracy and the future was made. Exhale.

Show me your thumbs up!

I was saying to my sister over the phone tonight that voting is just the first step in us becoming more responsible and active citizens. I think the reason I stood in a longer queue than I had previously, was because South Africans have finally woken up to living out "the people shall govern" and all the political drama has reminded us that we cannot govern on our bottoms. We must get up, go and do something. It's up to us to ensure that our votes mean something by holding the people we voted for accountable to their promises.

So, did you brave the queues and maybe even the cold, as many South Africans did, and voted? Let's see your thumbs up! Take a picture of your inked thumb and post it on the blog.

Sharp sharp!

Moagisi

pictures and comments for elections 2009

Iam Jeffrey Shisinga student at university of Limpopo turfloop campus. I am currently doing second level for a degree in media studies. these are the pictures and comments that I got from the people who were in the poll at university of Limpopofor the 2009 general electins. the first two are phoshoko Donald and japhta Lebese raising their hands , who are the anc party agent. this is what they said ,"currently here at turfloop the elections are going smooth ,we are sure that Anc has already won because we have lobbied many students during our campaign" The second picture is for all parties agents monitoring the polls as you can see they are inside the hall where people are voting. the lady from the right is Mphahlele Meryjane , who is the party agent for cope this is what she said, in history of south African politics cope is growing rapidly , so we are sure that also the results are going to be like that(growing rapidly). The third picture is the masses of students who were still on the Que tho go and vote. amongst them is Caiphus Senona who said that " we do not want manual voting in the future we would prefer the electronic system like SMS and face booking.because people are intimidating us". there was a group of students who were wearing Anc t-shirts standing near the Que where people were queuing .


by Jeffrey Shisinga

students from different university

these are the media studies students(2nd level) from ul,uj,uct, fort hare, mango suthu buthelezi and rhodes. we were attending the programme called future journalists programe held at rhodes university, from the 4th up to the 10th of april 2009. it was a fun and a eriendly way of exposing us(students ) to the top profession of media industries.

Future Journalists Programme: SOME WISDOM

http://onamandla-stuff.blogspot.com

FJP- The Fun Times

Pictures are memories captured in a second, minute or in a hours or hours. They often tell the truth without saying much. They also tell of good times and special times. Times that can be forever cherished even when time passes by.

Elections campaigns are waste of money!

For me all this campaigns for the up comming ellections are now the waste of money,the reason why I am saying this is because if you look all the billboards aside of the road, it only about political party especialy ANC(am not taking side am neutral) But it clear to everyone that posters of JZ are all over and that limits the space of advertising for the 2010 for the comming world cup and other important ads that can be put on boards.No offence to anyone!

SOME WISDOM

Some wisdom has just came to me.

In this world there are the people who will forever search for something that will give meaning. Then there are those people who are just passer by's. You then have the Domineering ones that believe that they will some day control the world. Then you have people such as ourselves.

I was not the spirit of goodwill or teamspirit but it was the spirit of UBUNTU and the spirit that even though we are all uniquically made there is something common, something that binds us, something that some many philosophers have explained and will try to explain and no amount of DNA or links or blood line will prove that it is the heart and mind the unites us all into one ball of candy floss.

What i have witnessed here is something spectacular and irreplaceble and NO! not the song but the truth that will forever be memorable even after the years have passed. Now i know it may not make sense i don't even get what im saying im just merely delievering the message that wonderful people are not just made by there backgrounds but the way one chooses to face the worlds challenges.

Take time to reflect because not everyone gets that opportunity.

how do u tell the whole class that you are not selected

if god says yes then relax and wait for your turn. guys i want to share with you, the discouragement i went through before i got here at future journalists programme. it was friday afternoon i was attending media class @ 15:50. when mr muswede( media lecturer) came to class and he announced that myself and nadi are selected to attend the future journalists programme at rhodes. remember it was thursday and by friday @ 8:00 i was expected to bring my cv to prof mmusi's office. heeee the following day when i went there i found the secretary and she said to me, "i dont no you so i cant fax your stuff(cv)". i didnot have money to go off camp and fax my stuff. so i begged, beggedand begged. finaly she said bring. when i thought that the breakthrough has arrived. she looked at my cv and said, "i dont think they will take you". for my suprise according to what i have read from the paper that was sent to us by the fjp's coorddinators, it said, just supply us with students(2) that you think are more deserving. it was not for her to judge. believe it or not i stayed few days being hurt in my heart, because it was announced in front of everyone in class and yet someone's telling you that i dont think they will take you. mind you every student keeps on saying to you , aah man you realy deserve it. how do you then explain to them(students)?

The fun we've had!

Ongezwa
Today is the last day for us here at the Future Journalist Programme Workshop at Rhodes University. It is a sad day but it’s ok. Some of us miss home and some don’t. But we keep telling ourselves that we will see each other in June. That’s pretty close if you think about it. I remember when we first arrived, it was strange. We didn’t know each other but after a day or so things changed. We were no longer strangers but a team.
I, for one, didn’t know what to expect or what was expected of us but within no time I felt comfortable. The camp was my first camp, it was my first time away from home, and I have never had to spend days with strangers. The outcome for me was great. Teamwork, friendship, patience, confidence and trust are just a few of the things that we learned from the Team Building Camp at Umlambo. As we got back from the Camp we did a lot together and shared our life experiences. That for me has made me realise that there’s more to life and also that nothings impossible. This programme has been a real eye-opener for me and probably the whole group.

What destroys/build my community?

I would like to write about the community where I come from, what seems to be destroying and building it. I live in a township called Zwelitsha in King Williams Town.
We have a Head office of the South African Police Service, Department of Education and Home Affairs. All these that I have just mentioned helps to build my community by creating jobs, using the community radio”Izwele2 fm” informing the unemployed first before post are advertised on newspapers.
We as a community benefit largely. In terms of crime, the restructuring of Head offices has played an impact in lowering the crime rate in most of the areas. Previously the Head office of SAPS was in Bhisho. We have a community executive that is progressive and works together with the police. As a community we are always briefed and warned about any particular event that will be taking place in the community, for example “ electricity, water, meetings etc”
What basically destroys my community?
Firstly let me highlight that my community is Xhosa Orientated .Mostly children lack education...They don’t have respect for anyone and I personally think it’s because they don’t go to school. During school hours they go taverns or sheebens, alcohol is sold to everyone, regardless of your age. Unless of course you are about 9, 10,11etc
The billboards that are mostly hanged and grab attention are the ones that destroy our youth. For Example: “ABORTION IS SAFE”. For me it promotes unsafe sex and increase of HIV/Aids. I think we can use those billboards for informative and entertaining projects, i.e. “warning on cholera, how to use water etc”. Everyone just seems to be living for the sake of living, no dreams or goals. I feel that something must be done as I truly believe that our future lies in our hands.