Marlene Emslie (Stall holder at Village Green, in Grahamstown) : “The change has been good, even the people are happy with the move because now people can move around. It's airy and it's much better than last years. I mean when we were there we didn’t complain and since its moved here is much better.”
From the left; Nompumelelo Buthelezi-poetry, in the middle; Nozipho-Solowist and Amonette Pereira.
Suddenly, my street vendor friend is surrounded by six police men and women. I ask what all the fuss is about. The vendor opposite him—he’s a Ugandan whose name I didn’t catch— tells me the police wanted to know whether my friend was in South Africa legally.
My friend is Emeka Okusons, a Nigerian who came to South Africa specifically for the Festival to sell jewellery and make some money.
As the Ugandan and I are talking about Emeka’s problem, a police officer comes over and starts speaking to me in isiXhosa. “I am sorry I don’t speak that language,” I say.
“Oh I’ll have to see your passport then,” she says. Luckily, I am carrying my passport for the first time since I arrived on 3 July. I hand it over to the officer—H. Janesha. After looking through my passport, she’s all nice asking questions like “so this is your first time here?”; “are you enjoying yourself?”
I thought to myself, “Is that an irony or what?” I go to investigate someone’s immigration status and the police turn on me for my own immigration status. I breathe a sigh of relief and head to the Absa Bank branch on High Street to change some money.
At the bank, I am at the back of a long queue. Finally, it’s my turn and the cashier takes my dollars and my passport.
“What are you doing in South Africa?” she asks.
“Where are you staying?”
“What is your address in SA?”
It went on and and on. She made a copy of my passport and then gave me SA Rands.
My two encounters with SA officialdom happen back-back and stress me out completely. I start to think that maybe the Rainbow Nation that I’ve fallen so much in love with is not that nice to foreigners especially black ones. This is because I notice the police are only stopping and checking the status of black foreigners, yet I can see many more white people walking by without being hassled.
All confused, I go back and speak to the cashier about why she had to ask me all those questions and photocopied my passport. I just can’t comprehend why I had to go through all that just to change money as this is not done in both England and Ghana where I grew up.
The nice cashier lady tells me it’s procedure and that South Africans go through an even tougher process.
Alas! I feel better and start to fall in love with South Africa all over again.
Set and shot in Durban, Claire Angelique’s debut feature film ‘My Black Little Heart’ explores streets and avenues the Tshwane Tourism Board leaves off its attractions list and its municipality outright denies exist. This gut wrenching “semi-biographical” piece sheds light on Durban’s dark and septic underbelly, a world plagued by self mutilators, addicts, prostitutes, street delinquents, hustlers, gangsters and ex-cons. Flung back and forth between the beachfront based porn industry and the inner city drug racket My Black Little Heart's protagonist, Chloe (played by Angelique) is subjected to countless debasing sexual acts while battling addiction to crack and heroin. One can’t help but feel a strong sense of claustrophobia no matter how big the theatre they’re in may be. Although set in Durban Angilique rarely gives us moments ease, or sight of sky or sea for that matter. Instead her locations are littered with rotting mattresses, peeling walls in grotty little holes crammed with drug paraphernalia and strange sex toys. Anthony Dod Mantle’s (Slumdog Millionaire) cinematography backed by an amazingly poignant soundtrack by Chris Letcher gives My Black Little Heart a gratuitous flare and aesthetic the likes of which have never been seen on South African screens.
After 80 minutes of circling the drain audiences might expect, better yet, hope and pray for ‘happy ending’ where Chloe licks her habit and gets a job in reception or data entry, but I’m afraid there isn’t one. Although the last scene is set in rehab, there is no ‘back from the brink’ recovery. Instead there’s an uncompromising aesthetic and message to the movie - there’s no easy way out and addiction finally gets repetitive, boring, mundane, crummy and squalid, you soil your soul.
At a previous screening Angelique said “I wanted to create a work that delved deeply into the psychology and dark side of our nature, something that would be transcendental and complex. [Something] that hopefully wouldn’t undermine our audience’s intellect - as Hollywood blockbusters do. They feed the world with junk food and sooner or later it’s gonna to be bad for your health, mentally by watching this plethora of saturated fat. [When it comes to films] I don’t just want to go grab a pizza, I want the food to be the work, I want to feel full and be able to digest what I have seen and heard.”
When the end credits began running and the lights came on the screening audience I was part of seemed baffled, some shocked and squeamishly nauseated. I particularly felt restless and worn-out and quite distured.
Last night I decided with my friends that we go out and watch the repeat of Vortex at the Monument. Guess we liked their performance last week and we just thought – why not. But to our amazement, the show was a flop.
So you think you’re funny winner, Sifiso Nene cracked the jokes and he had his flow with the audience. Until he made a joke about Zuma, the audience went quiet and furious. He said the crime rates were high in SA, Zuma is the president, Shaik is out of prison and so on – I mean everybody just stared at him with angry looks but he eventually tried to redeem his stature by changing the joke.
I am sure everybody has had enough about Zuma and it’s time to accept him as our president. I appeal to all comedians to do so too, otherwise they won’t have audiences in their shows anymore.
It is a general belief that we shouldn’t talk ill of the dead. Even if he was born black and died white, it doesn’t really matter. What matters most is that he touched lives all over the world with his music. The most interesting thing is that Jackson was part of our childhood. We grew up wishing we could meet him someday, we danced like him, wore his gloves, and mimed his songs.Michael Jackson was a living legend and will always be a legend, so I feel he should be treated fairly by respecting his wish to be buried at the Neverland Ranch unfortunately he was betrayed by those closest to him.So for those who think your wishes will be respected after you’re gone, maybe you should have a rethink because wishes no more come true!Many people are afraid of it; some are not even bothered by it. Others believe it’s a solution to every obstacle encountered; while some believe, of course, it’s not a way forward.
These days, death can knock on anyone’s door, and it has done so to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The media had put Jackson in the spotlight for so many years and even after his death, he still is. It is about time the media let him rest in peace.
Generally death affects everyone and not matter what your stature. I am sure every person has some wishes regarding what should be done when they die and those left behind should respect and fulfil those wishes.
The most important time to pay respects to the dead is at the funeral. The family, relatives and friends say their last goodbyes because they will never see the person again. People usually judge one another looking at how much was spent their funerals which I believe it shouldn’t be an issue.
The media cannot stop being subjective on death reports. I believe all it can do is to apply the ethic that says, “Don’t intrude into private grief and distress.”
Lwando Helesi . FJP
In the moment: JC, a local poet, reads a poem called Sanctuarian Man
Pic:Lucky and Nadi
Way forward: Andre Arendse addressing the public at Eden Grove.
Bongani Mthethwa
We have 340 days before the FIFA Soccer World Cup kicks-off in our country. Ordinary people like me and you ask what this event has in store. When you talk about 2010 most people think it’s a soccer event for rich people.
Think!Fest invited the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Andre Arendse to talk to the opportunities this tournament has for all of us. This talk was held on 5 July at Eden Grove, at Rhodes University.
The 2006 World Cup in Germany saw the GDP of Europe’s largest economy increase by R63 billion and tourism shoot up by 33 per cent. If SA beats these figures and jobs are created, this will do wonders for Africa’s largest economy. I am sure you have noticed how almost every road in the country appears to be under construction; not to mention the new stadia across the nine provinces.
They are all guaranteed to create jobs and put food on thousands of tables across South Africa. With fans from 32 countries coming to SA to support their respective teams, this is where you and I come in. These people need places to stay; they need to transport; they definitely need food; and they need to be protected.
Bed & Breakfast motels might be the way to go and those who own security companies might be applying for government tenders, but we can all get a bit of the largesse—as tour guides, turning our houses over to visitors for a fee, using our cars to transport people, selling merchandise and food, etc. These are just a few of the ways someone can make some money during the tournament. Remember, we were told SA needed more beds during the Confederations Cup.
The only way one can do this is to get as much information as one can to make sure that one does it in a right way. Government will be giving away tenders to the public. So we need to be as informed as we can.
There are things though that our government need to do to make sure that this event is successful. Many foreign critics did not give us a chance to host a successful Confederation Cup and I am sure they can not wait for next year. Former Bafana goalie Andre Arendse is not one of them.
The 2006 Soccer World Cup was successful but the only word that can describe our World Cup is colourful. When it comes to entertainment—arts, dance and music—we will wow the world.
This is the defining event for Africa and you, me and the World Cup should really have fun together.
· Bongani Mthethwa. Journalism student at Durban University of Technology. He is participating in the Future Journalists Programme (FJP) Winter School at Rhodes University.
"Thina asiphangeli lento iyasichaphazela. Noko bekubhetele kulo nyaka uphelileyo."
Lungiswa Makhephula from Xolani location in Grahamstown.
"I was clever, I worked hard at a private school before the fest so I could have enough money to spend during this time."
Lee Windvogel-Rhodes student.
"I'm not affected, I'm from Germany and in Pretoria I get the same amount to spend each year."
Clara Fernau
By: Andile Dube and Masebe Qina
Pix.: Masebe Qina
“I want get tested because I’d like to know where I stand with my health and see how I can prolong my life.” Babalwa Sidinana
“I’d like to know so that I can use my status to promote HIV awareness to the community” Maya Genovesi. American student
Twittering About the FestBy Colin Wardle
At this point I am sure we are all well aware of, if not annoyed by Facebook.
Twitter is the internet’s latest social networking and micro-blogging offering. It enables users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users (known as followers) who have subscribed to them.
The brainchild of American software architect and businessmen, Jack Dorsey, Twitter began life as a crude notebook sketch some nine years ago, but has grown into a social networking service with over a million users. Since its launch two years ago Twitter has gained notable popularity worldwide and has often been referred to as the “SMS of the internet.”
One of the biggest changes to this year’s National Arts Festival would have to be its use of new media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.
There are a number of tweets out there dedicated to Arts Festival News to people this year. The festival itself has a Twitter page with almost 500 followers (a lot by South African standards). The NAF CEO Tony Lankester has himself has tweeted about everything from the shows he’s seen and recommended, to various press interviews and a few organisational mishaps (like the relocation of Fair from the Village Green to Rhode). Local publications like Cue and Grocott’s Mail all have been delivering festival reviews, news headlines and snippets through Twitter. So has School of Journalism & Media Studies Prof. Guy Berger, who tweets more than several organisations put together.
A simple ‘artsfest’ keyword search on Twitter will reveal countless real-time Arts Festival-related tweets (try it).
For the past six days I, along with 17 other participants in the Future Journalist Programme (FJP), have spent most of our time cooped up in the Rhodes University Fountain computer lab. Like most people who travel to Grahamstown this time of year, we are trapped in a bubble where the only news that seems to freely reach us is festival news. Local sports and business pages have shrunk to give way to festival reviews, profiles, photo spreads and features. Without radio or TV, we have had to look to Twitter for everything from celebrity gossip to this year’s Wimbledon scores.
The National Arts Festival has always been a social networking catalyst for me; and if it were not for some friends I made at the National Arts Festival in 2007, I probably wouldn’t be on Facebook today. If it wasn’t for the FJP’s Winter School, I probably wouldn’t tweeting or have that much to ‘tweet’ about for that matter. One can only wonder what the next Festival holds.
Colin is a student at the University of Cape Town. He is participating in the Future Journalist Programme (FJP) Winter School at Rhodes University.
