Issue 126
Mancoba in a class of his own
The late Ernest Mancoba, painter and sculptor, should be to South Africans as Van Gogh is to the Dutch and Picasso is to the Spanish. He, like others, have for too long been excluded from the South African narrative. He is considered to be in a class of his own and yet his work is not sufficiently studied at South African universities or art schools. The father of writer Njabulo Ndebele, Nimrod Ndebele, a playwright and friend, is known to have described Mancoba as the leading intellectual of his generation in the 1930s.
Towards a new national narrative
Shepherd Mphofu and Zubeida Jaffer Despite the attainment of democracy in 1994, South African children continue to understand their history as one which coincides with colonialism. The authors outline a way forward to tell a fuller story of the people of this part of the world. South Africa’s transformative national narrative sprung from the intellectual strata. Way back in 1911 a South African lawyer, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, delivered a lecture that gave intellectual stimulation to the...
In defiance of prejudice
South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza has come home to present a special solo concert at the Roodepoort Theatre on 2 November 2021. She will sing a selection of opera arias and traditional South African songs from her current repertoire.I was fortunate to be invited to preview the show with family and friends at the theatre on Friday 15 October 2021. She and her accompanying pianist Paul Ferreira received several standing ovations from the enthusiastic audience.
Decolonising Journalism Education
Ylva Rodny-Gumede, Colin Chasi, Zubeida Jaffer and Mvuzo Ponono There is no doubt that in the 21st century, journalism is undergoing radical and fundamental change. Journalism worldwide is adapting to an ever changing digital and social media environment with competing forms of information dissemination, and stricter if not harsher economic conditions. In South Africa, questions regarding whether journalism will survive this time of flux are often coupled with further enquiry around the role...
Politics and Media Freedom
Dr. Onkgopotse JJ Tabane Dr. Onkgopotse JJ Tabane argues that media and politics cannot be separated as both exist within the public sphere which should ideally afford all freedoms of expression. The Journalist publishes this commentary and excerpts from Tabane’s PhD research Bridging The Gap: An Analysis Of The Complicated Relationship Between The Government And The Media 23 Years Into Democracy. The tension that is alive between media and the government is caused by wrestling for either to...
Black Wednesday Edition
As South Africa commemorates the 44th anniversary of this day – October 17, 1977 – which, in history became a dark spot and a reminder to reflect on how freedoms of expression were trampled upon, violated and suppressed by the apartheid government, this edition examines where we are today and where South Africa needs to be, looking into the future as we guard against tampering with all freedoms provided for in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, including the media’s. The Journalist team has...
The history of SA’s Media Freedom Day
Ongeziwe Babane and Phindile Xaba What came to be known as Black Wednesday – October 19, 1977 – has left an indelible blemish on the history of the National Party’s (NP’s) rule and its suppression of freedom of expression. On this bleak day, then apartheid state minister Jimmy Kruger clamped down on the media leading to the closure of The World and Sunday World, and the Christian Institute's publication Pro Veritate that was edited by anti-apartheid activist and Dutch Reformed Church...
Media Freedom Statement
Zubeida Jaffer, Shepi Mati, Frank Meintjies and Phindile Xaba South Africa has come a long way from the dark day of October 19, 1977 when the Apartheid regime squeezed the noose tightly around press freedom. Known as Black Wednesday, the day has appropriately become the official South African Media Freedom Day. On that day in 1977, the whites-only racist government banned 19 Black Consciousness Movement organisations and detained scores of activists. It further closed The World and Weekend...
Writing Ourselves Into History: The liberating narrative of who we are
Sylvia Vollenhoven“My initial foray into the world of telling stories for a living leads me into a media environment that requires you to leave your critical faculties behind.
Sol Plaatje – a writer as the righter of past (mis)representations
Sabata-mpho Mokae “I have been busy writing two books. One is a novel - a love story after a manner of romances; but based on historical facts. The smash up of Barolongs at Kunana by Mzilikazi. The coming of the Boers and the war of revenge which smashed up the Matabele at Coenyane by the Allies, Barolong, Boers and Griqua when Halley’s Comet appeared in 1835 - with plenty of love, superstitions and imaginations worked in between the wars. Just like the style of Rider Haggard when he writes...
Can Themba – A form of self-liberation
Frank Meintjies Can Themba’s contribution to freedom of expression straddles journalism and work in fiction and poetry. And we have much to learn about the underlying drive that informed his work – a focus on the stories and lives of ordinary people. Themba’s life testifies to a commitment to both journalism and creative writing, even though his gainful employment was squarely in the sphere of journalism and, at certain points, teaching.
