Change is in your pocket
The Big Issue is a socially responsible non-profit organisation that enables willing unemployed and marginalised adults to take responsibility for their own lives through a developmental employment programme.
Crime novelist Irna van Zyl’s seven-year journey to getting published was not an easy one. After countless rewrites, several rejection letters from publishers, and taking a sabbatical in between, she released her debut novel, which is not so dead in the water.
Shirmoney Rhode, author of Nomme 20 Delphistraat, writes about her small beginnings and inspiration, and finding her voice as a young writer from the Cape Flats.
Jocelyn van der Ross is as indestructible as the items she recycles. She single-handedly started the first recycling project in Franschhoek in 2005 and, despite challenges, she refuses to crumble. The proverbial David, she has remained strong against a few Goliaths. We unearth the story behind Green Spot Recycling.
Tekkie Tax, a registered public benefit organisation (PBO), is empowering organisations and companies to change the way they raise and donate funds.
In 2016, The Big Issue opened its doors to the next generation of entrepreneurs as part of its NextGen collaborative workspace initiative. Nasiphi Fazi, managing director of Break Bread Group and a NextGen beneficiary, talks to us about overcoming her fears and pursuing her dreams.
Homeless people. We pass them every other day. Some ask for food, some carry babies. Every so often, we’ll see a couple holding hands. But we never ask them how they met or fell in love. Cape Town photographer Noncedo Mathibela dared to ask.
Where other people see problems, Kennedy Kitheka sees opportunities. The biggest opportunity of all in South Africa? Education.
More and more women are taking on the big challenge of building new businesses from the ground up. They’re highly skilled and motivated, and they are helping South Africa’s economy grow.
When we first heard of Maureen Gericke, a pensioner in Gardens, and the city cats she’s been looking after for 17 years, we couldn’t resist the urge to share this love story with our readers.
For some people the dream of being published can be weighed down by the realisation of just how difficult achieving this dream actually is. Sibongile Machika, junior publisher at Jacana Media, and Dane Bowman, project manager of Staging Post, a service bureau for self-publishers, share insights into the pros and cons of traditional and self-publishing. […]
Tanner Methvin, a partner at Impact Amplifier, and Claire Pengelly, a water analyst at GreenCape, discuss the current water crisis, potential business opportunities, and more.
With water savings foremost on everyone’s minds, it is tragic to see the gallons of water going to waste as a result of burst pipes and leakages.
The three original members of reggae band UB40 will be making a return to South Africa in November with their Red Red Wine Tour. Andrea Vinassa spoke to founder and lead vocalist Ali Campbell about the band’s split into two, his deep love for Madiba and South Africa, maturing, and the task of parenting eight children.
The Big Issue plays a vital role in the development of its vendors’ skills and talents. Nonceba Sondlo, a former vendor, is now living her dream of being an early childhood development educator, thanks to this magazine.
Cape Town’s Sindiwe Magona, an accomplished author, playwright and public speaker, looks back on her life and shares some words of encouragement with her impatient younger self. As told to Melanie Farrell
Growing up in the ’50s, award-winning journalist, filmmaker and writer Sylvia Vollenhoven at first was unaware of herself as a coloured person. But in the ’70s, she embraced black consciousness and recently she’s been delving into her Khoisan heritage and identity, producing a book, a documentary and a dance/drama about it. By Andrea Vinassa
Cape Town cyclist Grant Clark shares how his love for cycling and reading led him on an epic journey from Cairo to Cape Town to raise awareness and funds for childhood literacy.
South Africa’s first township hemp house is cool in summer, warm in winter and emits the fragrance of grass and nature.
When Cape Town photographer Joshua Rubin received his first camera as a childhood gift, it was love at first click. Today, the young photographer is just as fascinated about capturing the world around him.
