FEATURED STORY: "Written on the body: Tattoos go mainstream"

"People used to spit at me and throw stones at me when I walked down the street with lots of tattoos...but now they ask me where I got them and if I can give them a better price." - Simon White, co-owner of Wildfire Tattoos.

LONG gone are the days when tattoos were the sole preserve of vagabonding sailors, white supremacists and hardened criminals. So long gone, in fact, that it's trite, even a little embarrassing, to mention it. You can't switch on the TV or open a magazine without seeing some sports star or celeb sporting new ink. And you'd be amazed at how much body art hides beneath the collar and tie corporate armour worn by those in big business. It might even be surprising for some if the annual budget meeting was held in the buff: "The boss has a tattoo where?" > READ MORE AND COMMENT

 

Portia Mbimbi

PORTIA is very excited for her "waiting" interview. She has some serious aspirations and can't wait to discuss them. Her dream since childhood has been to give back to her community through home-based care. Helping others and being able to support her family seems like the ultimate win-win, she says.

She arrived in Cape Town looking for job opportunities in 2002 but joined The Big Issue soon afterwards when it became apparent that her options weren't looking too good. She has her grade 11 certificate and would like to complete grade 12 but is realistic when it comes to her time constraints and responsibilities.

Portia is married and has two children: a son aged five and a 12-year-old daughter who is physically disabled and attends a special needs school in Gugule ...
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Get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes workings of THE BIG ISSUE by visiting our blog.

When I first read Saliem Fakir's comment piece on Julius Malema (published in the latest edition of The Big Issue under the headline "Malema's nobody's muppet"), I was hesitant to run it. I wasn't concerned about caus...
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VISION

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.

MISSION

To publish a saleable, quality magazine that serves as an economically viable job-creation tool offering developmental self-employment opportunities to marginalised adults to enable them to move from social exclusion to self-sufficiency.

To create a platform that promotes the principles of social responsibility.

To empower beneficiaries to achieve the dignity of independence through life intervention and skills development programmes.

To achieve organisational self-sustainability through socially responsible income-generating activities.