News values 101

The re-defection of former South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) president Mlungisi Hlongwane from the Congress of the People (COPE)to the African National Congress (ANC) is not surprising.

I wonder why the Congress of the People (COPE) allowed a leader of his calibre into its own ranks in the first place.

Hlongwane has been one of the most divisive and controversial leaders. Sanco has become dysfunctional and irrelevant under his leadership.

Talk Radio 702 refused to allow the ANC to air the announcement live because it was not a "matter of national importance."

I wonder why the ANC did not use its propaganda mouthpiece, the SABC. I think the comrades will go back to their political dictionaries and try to unpack the word "national importance" in respect of newsworthiness.

More students need financial aid, says Manamela

Buti Manamela, YCL secretary, addreessing students at rhodes university, south africa


Young Communist League national secretary, Buti Manamela, told students that they must ensure that higher education becomes accessible to all the youth who cannot afford to pay by pressuring university management to enrol more students.

Addressing about 200 students at Rhodes University on Thursday night Manamela said: “There are students who have passed matric and are considering doing crime or prostitution because they cannot afford to go to university.”

He said that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, set up by the government to finance destitute students to study at tertiary institutions, must fund more students and stop operating like a bank by charging interest on loans.

Before Manamela’s arrival, some of the students left the venue after they were told that ANC Youth League president, Julius Malema, would not be attending the meeting.

Manamela said that the university had refused to grant Malema permission to come and address students and that this should be discouraged because “students have a right to invite leaders of their choice to address them in the run to the national elections.”

He took a swipe at the Congress of the People (COPE) when he said that the party goes around “creating uncertainty by telling people that the president will be a reverend.”

A group of protesters belonging to the 1 in 9 Campaign waved placards in protest against the statements made by Malema when he said that the Jacob Zuma rape complainant had a good time.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters Larissa Klazinga said that they believe that rape survivors had to be treated with dignity and that Zuma’s statements during his rape trial were uncalled for.



members of the 1 in 9 Campaign wave placards in protest against Zuma & Malema's statements regarding the Zuma rape complainant

Anglican Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George in Church Square, Grahamstown, South Africa

The breath taking Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George in Church Square, Grahamstown, South Africa. I set off early in the morning to get some shots of this monumental building.

The DA, the ANC and the missing COPE

1 nation, 1 future.
A poster of the DA on Prince Alfred street next to the Rhodes Theatre, Grahamstown


JZ for President
The ANC car, with a poster of party president Jacob Zuma, parked on Prince Alfred street next to the Rhodes Theatre, Grahamstown



COPE logo



Ever since I arrived in Grahamstown I've never seen an African National Congress (ANC) poster in the city centre except the one on this car. Democratic Alliance (DA) posters are all over the place.

Does that mean the ANC does not bother about winning the white voters of this place? Have they given up even before they try? It looks like the DA will have a field day in the city. But in the African townships posters of the ANC are plenty and the people will probably vote for the ruling party.

The less said about the Congress of the People (COPE) the better. I've never seen an election poster of this party anywhere else. COPE needs to catch a wake up call otherwise no one will take them seriously.

The queen hugs me

The queen poses for a pic (photo by Alinka Brutsch)



The queen hugs me (photo by Alinka Brutsch)



While we were touring the African township of Grahamstown as part of our assignment for the Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism and Media studies class we arrived at a place called Joza.

People were going up and about, some were sitting under the trees to avoid the scorching sun, and children were running around generally indifferent to the curious students who had just alighted from the bus and were looking around, listening to the tour guide while taking down notes.

An unkempt, petit dark skinned woman, with a thick layer of clay smeared all over her face emerged from nowhere and pounced on the team. Her locks looked as though they had not seen water for ages. She greeted everyone and asked for money. Otto Ntshebe, our tour guide, called her the queen.

“I have no money,” one team member said as she stepped backwards when the queen approached her. I recalled that I had a few coins and so I gave her some. Unexpectedly she hugged me, cheerfully thanking me.

“God will bless you, He is in the sun” she told me as she pointed at the sun as though she could see God in it. When the bus left I happy that I had met the queen. But later it turned out that the woman was not of royal descent; “the queen” was merely a name Otto affectionately used to call her.

Time voters show ANC the door

The African National Congress has too much power for its own good. The release of Shabir Shaik from prison on medical grounds is unfair and unreasonable. The man was not terminally ill.

It is time Nqconde Balfour stepped down. In the past the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Poprcu) called for his resignation and this is the right time for him to resign and save his department the embarrassment.

Shaik is the next president's friend and former financial adviser. It is clear the minister was acting on instructions from his masters within the ruling party. Besides, Shaik was going to be released sooner or later.

So justice favours the rich. Prison is a place for the poor who don't have money and political connections. I wonder what happended to "all shall be equal before the law." Evidently, some are more equal than others.

The only people who hold the power to stop the ANC's abuse of power is the voters.