Sakhisizwe -Building the Nation - Bou Die Nasie

 The " Hlwaphs", a word that Jasnine, Sahisizwe's Reporter couldn't pronounce well. At the end, we manage at least to have the meaning of that Xhosa word : Freshness. We were joined in the studio for some Hlwaphs by Yanga Mkonto and Mkondo, both from the MK Production. They are a group of graduates from Gugulethu  passionate about Arts. They are very involved in creative Arts a part of many schools programs like theater and performance, workshops... The Mk Production was created out of the need to inform people about theatre events. Many shows happen in Baxter, Artscape and others, but goes unknown. One of the main platform's to interest people is their phones via Facebook or other social platforms. The MK Production would provide a live, vibrant, spicy, salted and hlwaphs show to capture people's attention so they can not only see the show, but to develop that love and passion for theatre. For Mkonto and Mkondo, theatre is very important and is for a...

We were joined on the phone by Nazeema Mohamed who is The Executive Directorate at Inyathelo to talk about how Higher Education in South Africa looks like. I nyathelo  was established as a non-profit Trust in October 2002. Their vision is a vibrant democracy in South Africa with a robust and sustainable civil society and higher education sector, supported by a strong local philanthropic movement, rooted in the African cultural heritage of sharing.  Their mission is to help build a strong, stable civil society in South Africa by contributing to the development of sustainable organisations and institutions. They do this through the development of effective grant seeking and grant making practices, and through capacity development in the higher education and non-profit sectors in South Africa, and on the African continent. They also work to increase corporate and individual social giving through promoting dialogue, sharing information, and providing ...

#United behind is an organisation that fights for the rights of commuters on trains. They are constituted of over 20 organisations that organizes and mobilizes together around common campaigns and local struggles. Matthew Hirsch and Zukie Vuka came to us to talk about the # fix our trains-campaign and their demands to arrest and prosecute the criminals responsible for the collapse of South African's commuter rails. Metrorail for the commuters has for a long time, let the Capetonians down. The trains are always late, the ticket cost keeps on increasing every year, a lack of good safety on the trains and within Metrorail, many cases of corruption. In 2017, # fix our trains-campaign started to bring awareness to the commuters, a petition that requires signatures on it was launched and it will be given to the Minister of Transport to tell them how people feel about PRASA. #United Behind needs your help to make our trains safe, reliable, affordable and efficient. They want to s...

"I Turn Away And She Was Gone" is the story of t hree incarnations of women: a daughter, a mother and an old crone. It's the journey of how a woman goes from childhood, a period of beauty, irresponsibility, dependence, ignorance to become a mature, a grown  independent woman and being able to face the strange realities of life to later on, become an old woman. Time has an effect on all of us and through it we become different, we change. One day, you are a small child with all your beauty and hopes, the next thing, adulthood knocks on your door, you have responsibilities now and then you look on the past just to realize how things had changed. Your past beauty has evolved....The future is not reassuring as well, you grow crone with wrinkles. Through this journey, you learn to grow and realise from your mistakes and not being to overprotected. The only way the daughter can grow is by leaving her mother to explore on her own, to become independent. Jennie Rezne...

Established in 2005, Gender Dynamix (GDX) is the first registered Africa-based public benefit organisation to focus solely on trans and gender diverse communities. GDX has since become an institutionalized non-profit organisation that is fundamental to the development of the trans and gender diverse movements in South Africa and across Southern Africa.   We spoke to Greyson Thela about the different issues that the LGBTIQ community still face in our so-called modern society. Although we have a strong Constitution that protects the Rights and Freedom of everyone in South Africa and that same Constitution stipulates that no-one can be discriminated on gender based preference, transpeople still live on a constant struggle. Many physical, moral abuses and violence's crimes are reported everyday to the Police, currently, there is a shortage of testosterone for transgender in South African hospitals, access to health care is not easy and the health care providers are ...

Women and Beyond is a non-profit organisation which provides services to women and children  exposed to poverty. They aim to offer counseling, support and intervention to women and children affected by poverty related to societal problems such as abuse women and children living with terminal illness, the HIV/AIDS inflicted, taking care of the aged, raising orphaned, abandoned and disabled children. We were joined in the studio by Basha Taylor who is the founder of the Organisation and Candice Conradie who is the Coordinator at Women and Beyond to talk about the project they started in 2010. Women in general are victims of many social injustices within families, communities and school going women (children) specially as they are the prey of the rest of the world. By the time they are 18-years-old or less, they are mothers who has dropped out of school. To educate them is very crucial that is why Women and Beyond takes time to go to the schools to talk to the young women about...

WaterAid Southern Africa is an international non-profit organisation that was set up in 1981 as a response to the United Nations (UN) International Drinking Water and Sanitation. They are determined to make clean water, reliable toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. Since 1981, they have empowered millions of people with clean water, 25.1 millions of people with reliable toilets. Dirty water causes Diarrhea and poor toilets kills almost 800 children a day, indecent toilets and lack of good hygiene keeps kids out of school, adults out of work and traps people in poverty but t he human rights to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic (household) use. Chilutya Chileshe who is the Regional Advocacy Manager at WaterAid  Southern Africa  talked about the conference they are having on 18-22 February 2019 under the theme of African S...

Imagine yourself being in a big house in the middle of nowhere with your five-years-old, it's midnight. Suddenly, you faint or worse you have a heart attack. The only help you can get that night is from your child but she/he can't do anything, but calling you in her/his soft voice... while life is fading away from your body little by little.. It's sad. Isn't it? Helping Hands Academy  is an organization whose sole purpose is to train individuals in first aid skills. They provide comprehensive and fully accredited level one, two and three first aid courses.They also offer basic Fire Fighting courses.  Apart from that they offer free public workshops as well as specialized workshops to school groups. They believe that first aid is for everyone.  Now, they are teaching pre-school children the first aid skills. One of the course is to call an ambulance. 1. Dial 10111  2. Ask for an ambulance 3. Give your address 4. Describe what is happening  ...

The National Aids Convention of South Africa (NACOSA) is a network of over 1,700 civil society organisations working together to turn the tide on HIV, AIDS and TB in the Southern Africa. NACOSA promotes dialogue, builds capacity with accredited training, mentoring and technical assistance and channels resources to support service delivery on the ground, particularly among children and youth, women and girls. We talked to Sophie Hobbs about their organisation and HIV, AIDS and TB. South Africa is the country with the highest rate of HIV, AIDS in the world. Approximately, 7 millions of people are infected. On top of it, TB is the nation's leading cause of natural death as well. Whether you like it or not, you are infected or not, with those numbers, we are all affected, the economy, families, communities, children... we all suffer from it so " Desperate times call for desperate measures". NACOSA was created out of the need to bring HIV, AIDS and TB communities toge...

Adee Jay is a young South African R&B artist who started to dream about being a singer and being on stage at the age of five-years-old. He started singing in church with the congregation's choir, participating in school an community competitions. After he matriculated, he toured Europe for five years and now he is back in the Mother City. Adee came to us to talk about his progress through time. Let's hear from him. "After touring in Europe, where I performed live music in Madrid, Barcelona, Andorra, I learnt a lot about music and now I am growing as an artist and as a person. For me, the more you are on stage, the more you learn about the craft. " practice makes better" one said. As music speaks in all languages and all emotions, I do my craft to please everyone." "For new coming artists, read books about the industry before you dive in, learn about the business. You don't go to a war without learning to use a gun". Don't think...

In the community, 67% percent of  boys grow up without a father-figure and many mothers are forced to raise their children by their self. To be a single-mother is not surprising. Men are in jail, couples are divorced so Jaco created The Character Company to help boys without a father figure to have the opportunity to have someone to look up to. For him, the current culture of violence and abuse in South Africa is due to the fact of not-having a father or a father figure around. In our society, men behave badly, sometimes by lack of knowledge or they did not have a father-figure themselves while growing up, so boys are left alone with the mother who can't play both roles: of a mother and father. They don't have a positive role model to look up to so they quickly fall into social ill's. The Character Company comes into play to rescue those boys from as young as the age of: 5-10 years-old. They start with them a long term project where boys learn to become gentlemen throu...

The Zanokhanyo Network is a non-profit organisation that offer a transformational Job Readiness journey that serves as a bridge to opportunity by restoring dignity and hope, equipping people to realise their potential and connecting graduates to employment networks. It started when Zanokhanyo and Common Good joined forces in 2015 to form the Zanokhanyo Network. Kasuba Stuurman who is the Zanokhanyo's Communication Officer came to talk to us about their organisation. South Africa is one of the countries with the highest rate of unemployment so finding a job can be a job by itself. The Zanokhanyo Network was created to help unemployed people without any discrimination through its Job Readiness course. The Organisation has grown with time, not only do they have Job Readiness course's, they have now courses such as computer, hospitality and financial literacy that teaches people how to manage their money. According to a statistic made in 2018, 840 students who follo...

The Clothing Bank is a non-profit organisation that empower unemployed women to become self-employed business owners. They believe that self-employment is something that everyone can do, regardless of their education levels and resources, as long as they are self-motivated and well supported (mentally and emotionally). The Clothing Bank supports the goal to up-skill and equipping over 1000 previously unemployed women per year to have the ability to personally change the course of their destiny. Tracey Gilmore who is the Co-Founder of the Organisation came to talk about The Organisation and the projects they are busy with. The Clothing Bank started 10 years ago, when Tracey's business establishment failed. Her female employees became jobless and they couldn't find employment. Looking at the different clothing industries, she realized that many clothes are wasted, a huge amount of excess clothes could be sold: The Clothing Bank got started. Currently, they are running...

Professional Alliance Combating Transphobia (PACT) is a dynamic and vibrant Organisation of professionals who have an interest in advocating for the rights and freedom of their transgender clients or patients. We spoke to Anastacia Tomson who is a medical doctor, author and activist to talk about the concept of transphobia. In a community where LGBT and ICUE people are being marginalized, a community who expect everyone to be straight, male or female only: gender equality activists must double their effort to educate people through seminars and debates. At schools or in ours tertiary institutions, they don't teach anything about the acceptance of transgender. What is transphobia? Transphobia is defined as all acts that marginalizes, discriminates, degrades a transgender individual. From homophobia, physical violence, moral humiliation, refusal to give health care to all prejudices against a person only because they are different. One on the way to find a resolution for t...

Alexandra Muller and Talia Meer, both from The Department of Social Development at University of Cape Town (UCT) had a phone interview with us regarding "Invisible or Invincible Voices of queer African Youth Project" and the health and well-being of LGBT people. Invisible or invincible voices of queer African youth project was done in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Botswana to get information about LGBT people's lives because in those three countries being gay, lesbian or transgender is still a big deal. Nothing is done to raise awareness about LGBT people. They are not well represented in the community: no books, no newspapers give us data about them. The project was done by young LGBT people to help other young LGBT people who started to discover things about themselves: their bodies, their personalities in order to teach them that they can have a life like any other individual. In South Africa, LGBT people have struggles as well even though the law protects them. They face c...

On 13 February 2019,United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrate the 8th edition of World Radio Day. This day marks a time where people around the world celebrate radio and how it shapes our lives. Radio informs, transforms and unites people and communities from all backgrounds together to a positive dialogue. We had a interview with Brenda Leonard who is the Station Manager at Bush Radio and Denver Breda from the Soepu Soepu Movement to talk about Word Radio Day and the impact of community radio in the community. The theme of this year is “Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace”. Radio should give a platform to people for dialogue and productive conversation regarding issues that we meet in the community. Issues such as rape, gender equality, origin acceptance, famine,lost of language, unemployment..We don't dialogue enough said Denver.  Radio should build tolerance between people of the community. We are not the same, we differ in skin colo...

Suicide in general is such a morbid act that makes people think about the deep reasons why one can choose death instead of life. But when a Teen, someone in his/her flower of age, someone with many years to come decide to commit suicide, to opt to end his/her own life, you sit back and call an expert to find out more... We had a phone interview with Vanishaa Gordhan who is the Call Center Manager of South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) which is a non-profit organisation.  It has a team of Psychiatrists, Psychologists to help patients with suicidal thoughts. It was created 20 years ago to serve people who live with mental health problems. They raise awareness in the community, schools, universities by having seminars to inform the public about the issue, they distribute brochures to people so they can be aware of the problem. Teens commit suicide, it is not a joke. Last year only, a six-years-old killed himself. The community should be aware of this situation...

We were joined on the phone by Doctor Mamitele who is a medical doctor and a neurologist specialist in Pretoria. We wanted to know more about Diabetes and erectile dysfunction (ED). Doctor Mamitele said that Diabetes can cause erectile dysfunction if not taken care of. For a man to reach a full erection, a good quantity of blood must flow in his genitalia, but when you suffer from Diabetes, your male organ receive less blood so you can not achieve a good erection: your nerves can be damaged. It is good to know that Diabetes does not only damage your genitalia, but your brain causing a stroke, your heart causing heart attack, your kidney causing kidney failure and your eyes causing blindness as well. It is imperative to take it seriously. If Diabetes is a chronic sickness meaning that you can not be healed from it, erectile dysfunction can be reversed and other worse issues can be avoided by lowering your blood pressure, stop smoking, having a good cholesterol level, limiting you...

All lovers are getting excited when they are about to reach Valentine's day: flowers, chocolates, gifts exchange, dinner in expansive restaurants, beautiful clothes are on the program, we all fall in love again. Imagine yourself loving someone with Dementia! Can you see yourself with someone who has Alzheimer?!!! Maybe a father, a brother, a mother, a sister, a love one... We were joined by Karen who is the the director of DementiaSA to talk about Alzheimer. We learnt that the idea of  the organization started in 2003 when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. For over two decades she suffered from it. DementiaSa is a South African non-profit organisation that assists families, communities and health professionals who have limited access to private health care, to live with dementia or care for those with dementia. Alzheimer's disease is a chronic disease that usually starts slowly and worsens over time. It is the cause of 60-70% of cases of dementia. Th...

Lawrence Musunte came to us to talk about his new non-profit organization Unique Public Speaking (UPS). It is an entity that equips voices with tools for effective public speaking. UPS was born to empower people who previously thought that they didn't have a voice to speak up, we are the voice of the voiceless, is a worthless saying because everyone has a voice, a story to tell. No one has the right to shut someone up. Everyone has the constitutional right to speech regardless of his/her gender, sex, skin colour, religion ect... Speaking in public, can be scary, we might even think that we are not eloquent or that we don't speak a certain language very well but for Lawrence, what matter is your story told in your unique way of speaking, speak in your language, tell your message to the community. It's up to you to break all the barriers that makes your voice unheard. Give people the tools to speak, teach them to be confident, you will be surprised to hear what they ha...

In studio, we were joined by Alexandre to talk about IPAF and their upcoming event. International Public Art Festival (IPAF) is non-profit organization that educate the community through art by painting large scale mural. They believe in educating present and future generations. Street art and graffiti promote dialogue and collaboration that one can use to empower individuals and communities. IPAF was created out of the need that many street artists struggle to make a living by doing art. In the community where people still think that a good living can only be made by being doctors, lawyers....It's not easy to be an artist. So three years ago IPAF started. Drawing or painting on mural is still a new thing in the community. It's not a thing we see every day so it raises awareness within people. The community get curious, pupils come to see and we pass on our message. " GENERATION NEXT" is the theme of the upcoming event that will run from the 9-17 February 201...

Ntombozuko Bota, Founder of Hope Foundation, Akhanya and Siqalo joined us in studio to talk about their organization and the new project they are busy with. Hope Foundation started in November 2017 from an humble beginning to a day to day progress. It is a charity organization trying to increase awareness to the needs of the most vulnerable in the community. The Foundation's management is held by young people who think that any change within the society should start with the Youth in charge. Ntombozuko said that they did not expect the Foundation to grow this way, from an uncertain beginning to a great visibility in the community, the impact was and still is huge. They have been involved in many projects: the last one was when fire broke in Khayelitsha, 70 bags of clothes were distributed to the victims. As a growing organization, they have the support of CPUT Engagement Unit, Mpumelelo Zanokhanyo,  Educate Home and The Hope Revolution, four entities that are willin...

In studio, we were joined by Kim Webster who is the Sunflower Fund's Head of Communication and Nizaar Gamieldien, a 45-year-old man diagnosed with leukemia to talk on the importance of becoming a stem cell donor. The Sunflower Fund, hope begins with you is a non- profit organization. They are dedicated to create awareness through education and raising funds to cover tissue-type testing for the recruitment of blood stem cell donors. Many people such as Nizaar could be saved by a stem cell transplant. Basically, Nizaar would need someone to donate his/her blood for him to stay alive. The issue is that 25% of the patients will find a matched donor within the family but 75% of them will depend on YOU . Nizaar Gamieldien was diagnosed December 2015, "we were getting ready for the festive season, my wife and my child. I started to feel some discomfort in my body: tiredness, swelling in my left inside, night sweats, but I brushed everything off. Finally, I went to see my Docto...

We were joined by Stefan, Charton, Andr'e and Nicole to talk about the growth of their organization since its creation in 1998 and how it affects the youth within the community. Emile Jansen of "Black Noise" created Heal the Hood in 1998. Its mission is to establish a network of young artists nationally and internationally through which jobs and new skills are created: art's products and art's related information could be distributed. Basically, they offer a platform where children learn and develop the skill of being artists. They have been behind many seminars, workshops, events, books publication in order to educate children through decades. In most of the communities, gangsters make the law. It is important to frame the youth according to the saying"Changing minds, changing actions". Parents, principals, of different schools are opened to support this Project. Stefan and Charton adds that they are so grateful of the Heal the Hood Project, beca...

We were joined by Vusumzi Landu from The Commission  for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to talk about the National Minimum Wage. He's the Senior Commissioner of the Organization. The National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018 (NMWA) came into operation on 1 January 2019. The Minister of Labour also released the National Minimum Wage Regulations, 2018 which came into operation on 1 January 2019. The regulation provide information on the criteria to be met: All workers: R20 per hour Farm workers: R18 per hour Domestic workers: R15 per hour The minimum wage is established to help the vulnerable, South African people who used to earn less than R20 per hour. Yes it is true that farm and domestic workers are getting less. The Minimum Wage Act has the advantage to look over the interest of the workers now, not the employers. According to the legislation, the minimum wage should increase yearly but in practice, it's another issue. If an employee think that he/she ...

In the studio, we had Sihle Mofokeng who is Allan Gray Orbis Foundation's Fellowship Selection Officer to talk about their Fellowship application. The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation is committed to investing in the education and development of individuals with entrepreneurial potential in the Southern Africa. The Foundation takes a holistic approach to entrepreneurial development and believes that entrepreneurial-minded individuals, with ethical values and strong leadership skills, hold the key to change in South Africa and the Globe. Allan Gray created the Foundation in 2005 to fight the triple devils in South Africa: unemployment, inequality and poverty. For him, the only way that fight could be efficient is to find people with entrepreneurial mind set. The Fellowship application is not just a financial transaction but more than that, it's a journey to develop someone's entrepreneurial mindset. It promotes entrepreneurship through seminars, workshops with the help of ...

We were joined by  Hairspray production's crew members,  Neil (Director and Music Director) and Noah (Actor) to talk about Hairspray and their next production from February 2 to 16, 2019. Hairspray is a musical and winner of 8 Tony awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, and 4 Laurence Olivier Awards, An adapted film version was released in 2007 with actors like John Travolta, Queen Latifah... Hairspray is a story that is happening in 1962 in Baltimore, a period of segregation where whites and people of colour are divided. There is a young white teenager girl of 15 years- old of age, full of life, enthusiastic with love to give who want to become a dancer in the Broadway and a celebrity. Though, she reaches for her goal, she is body ashamed by the people around her because of her weight and her hair style, those same people don't approve her choice of black friends. She decides to fight back, to destroy the racial barrier and all kind of discrimination in order ...

We were joined by author Martina Dahlmanns in the studio,  born in Germany in the 1960s to war-traumatized parents. She grew up surrounded by silences and unacknowledged prejudice. She came to South Africa on a holiday after the first election, missed her flight back and never left. She came to talk about her new book: A PERSON MY COLOUR. In the beginning, the book was destined to only a limited audience: her three adopted person of colour children. So, it is truly a personal journey within the struggles and the joys that a mixed family can encounter, it is as if you read in someone's else diary. The book tell us the story of a mixed family within a South African society still divided by racism. It starts with a white mother who grew up on a side of ignorance where children learn from their parents that whites are superior than blacks and that they should be repulsive toward people with colour. There comes a time whereby, you educate yourself first about subjects like racis...