Street vendors’ protest sparking a revolution

Posted on January 27, 2012  /  No Comments

There are some unlikely comparisons between the work lives of Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit seller who sparked the Arab revolution, and Francis Tachirev, a fruit seller in Zimbabwe.

The protests that started it all began after Bouazizi burnt himself after the police confiscated his fruit-vending cart. Nationwide protests after Bouaziz’s death led to Tunisia’s former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali fleeing the country and giving up power. Bouaziz’s dramatic death changed the world, starting what is now referred to as the Arab Spring. (more…)

Behind the scenes cover shoot

Posted on January 27, 2012  /  No Comments

Photos by: Retha Ferguson (more…)

Refugee Centre now under fire over allegations of assault

Posted on January 27, 2012  /  No Comments

The Maitland Refugee Centre is mired in controversy again following allegations that a Zimbabwean man was seriously assaulted by security at the centre yesterday.

The incident is said to have taken place just a day after another refugee, a 33-year-old Bangladeshi man, died while waiting in the snaking queue in scorching heat. (more…)

Asylum seeker who died in Refugee Centre queue identified as Bangladeshi national

Posted on January 26, 2012  /  No Comments

The identity of the refugee who died while waiting in a queue at the Refugee Reception Centre in Cape Town yesterday has not yet been released, but police have confirmed the 33-year-old man was from Bangladesh.

“The cause of death is still unknown. We are waiting for the Department of Health to give us a post-mortem report. No foul play is suspected and no one has been arrested,” said SAPS spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut. (more…)

Afghan academy seeks to ease pain of war with music

Posted on January 26, 2012  /  No Comments

A cacophony ranging from Asian string instruments to the delicate cadences of classical piano pours out of a two-storey building in central Kabul. Here, at Afghanistan’s sole music academy, students are taught music with the hope it will bring comfort in the face of war and poverty, bringing back cellos and violins to revive a rich musical legacy disrupted by decades of violence and suppression.

“We are committed to rebuilding ruined lives through music, given its healing power,” said Ahmad Sarmast, head of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. (more…)

‘Occupy Rondebosch Common’ summit to go ahead despite City’s threat of legal action, say organisers

Posted on January 26, 2012  /  1 Comment

Organisers of the Land, Jobs and Housing Summit say threats by the City of Cape Town to “criminalise” a mass occupation meeting will not stop them from going ahead with the three-day sit-in summit at the weekend.

Hundreds of residents from the city’s sprawling townships are expected to occupy Rondebosch Common to discuss plans for better employment opportunities and access to land and housing in what convenor Mario Wanza calls “one of the most unequal cities in the world”. (more…)

Why SA shouldn’t bow to the East

Posted on January 27, 2012  /  No Comments

I read Stanley Kwenda’s report on the rising tension between Zimbabweans and Chinese investors and entrepreneurs in our neighbouring country in The Big Issue’s latest edition with a creeping sense of dread. Alarm bells began to ring as similarities between China’s business interests in Zimbabwe and the powerhouse’s dealings with our own country became ever more striking. (more…)

The end of the world as we know it…here’s hoping

Posted on January 16, 2012  /  No Comments

So, this is the year the world is supposed to end. I don’t quite believe “The End is Nigh” hysteria — and neither do most Mesoamerican experts. I’d wager the Mayans probably just ran out of clay to make another calendar beyond 2012. Or they reckoned they had made enough for a couple of centuries and needed a good old holiday. Maybe they even got unionised and went on strike. I can just picture those callus-handed workers, sick of painstakingly carving out all those symbols in circular stone slabs, downing tools and hitting the bargaining table: “Boss, we’ve made these damn calendars all the way to 2012, can’t we give it a break for a couple of years?” Little did the Mayans know they’d be wiped out before they had the chance to pick up their chisels again. (more…)

When private security becomes a public concern

Posted on October 21, 2011  /  1 Comment

I’m a big fan of the improvement district (ID) concept. It works like this: if the majority of property owners in an area vote for that area to be turned into an ID, they pay an extra levy via their rates. Those funds are then channelled from the city to the ID to be used for improving the designated area. Most of the IDs start off focusing on tackling “crime and grime” but, like the Muizenberg Improvement District which I live in, they move on to include beautification and greening projects and initiatives to promote business and tourism to the area, and generally make life a lot peachier for residents. (more…)

Patronising, brought to you by the SA government

Posted on September 27, 2011  /  46 Comments

The below column, published in The Big Issue in March 2011, won Sipho Hlongwane the Vodacom Columnist of the Year award for the Western region in the 2011 Vodacom Journalist of the Year awards

Sometimes I wish someone would take a big sjambok out and give South Africa a jolly good hiding. The amount of snotty-nosed stupidity this country can generate beggars belief. (more…)

Words may lead to sticks and stones

Posted on September 23, 2011  /  20 Comments

So, the Breitling-boasting Julius Malema has been found guilty of hate speech for singing Dubul’ iBhunu (Shoot the Boer). Wait, don’t move off the page, I promise I’m not going to join every other commentator in SA and debate the merits or demerits of the judgment. (more…)

Face-to-face with irrational shark fear

Posted on September 12, 2011  /  17 Comments

‘Why am I doing this, why am I doing this” is on loop through my head as my sweaty hands struggle to slip on my fins while I peer down into the tank below where dark shadows circle. My heart’s beating way too fast as I struggle to shove the Jaws soundtrack back into the 80’s playlist box in my brain, where it belongs under chain and padlock along with Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley. (more…)