As a new journalist in the making, my news room experience has been an eye opener in what i want to do with my life and my career. I started at the Mercury on the 3rd of May with my fellow cadets from the Independent Newspapers Cadet school. I'm one of the first batch to hatch from this prestigous experiment aimed at nuturing young talent in field.
We were placed under the guidance of Jonathan Ancer, a gentle soul who scooped the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Award for best hard news in 2004 and 2005. The opportunity to join the cadet school couldnt have come at a better time as I was stuck in a 9 to 5 government job with no prospect for future employemnt.
It was tough in the begining, I had no journalism experience and couldnt write a news article to save my life. Fresh out of writing essays at varsity I was employed by the department of public enterprises to do resaerch and write media analysis in its communications and International relations unit. My first piece of writing in this intense journalism programme was disected and torn into shreds (verbally), throwing me into a state of brief uncertainty about the future and my ability to cut in this cut throat business. Thankfully, the critisicm came with solutions and I was able to work on my weaknesses and overcome my obstacles.
There is no backing down now, my optical is limitless and i have realised that it doesnt matter what I think is right or wrong. It about the facts and having the ability to report those facts to the people in a way that they'll understand them. David Canning, the previous editor of the Mercury is my mentor and he is helping me walk the walk. I'm also surrounded by a team that works tirelesly to bring hard news to a broad audience and our editor has a vision to turn the paper into a publication that reaches all the different spheres of South African society.
I dont see mself doing anything else for the next five years. We live in a world of endless possibilities, and as long as there is a world and people living in it, their voices will be heard and their stories told.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Pissing against the Wind
Politics in South Africa! Many think that South Africa is heading for political turmoil, economic stagnation coupled with the explosion of her racial melting pot when it reaches boiling point. There is an intrinsic aspect of South African politics that is worth dwelling into, and that is post liberation party politics.
Post liberation party politics has been studied through the assesment of post colonial African independence. Post liberation party politics is studied within post colonial dimensions and the type of states that have emerged from thereof. In South Africa however, the context is entirely different, there was no full scale intrastate conflict or civil war that brought about the libeartion of black people. There were skirmishes, protests, terrorists attacks, sabotage, philosophies such as Black Consciousness, Pan Africanism and international sanctions that contributed to the end of apartheid and the emergence of post liberation party politics.
There is a pattern in African multi party democracies, and that pattern is the dominant party system that has come to characterise the African democratic experience. All one needs to do is look at the state of opposition politics in Southern Africa with examples ranging from Mozambiques FRELIMO, Angola's MPLA, Namibia's SWAPO and South Africas Very own ANC. Now the question that is hot on the lips of every political comentator in the country is, "is the ANC leading South Africa into oblivion"? Not in those words, but clearly the proposed amalgamation of opposition parties in the country signifies the proactive measures that opposition parties are taking in trying to combat the ANC Titan. The question that needs to be raised in South African political discourse is: "To what extent will the governing political party cling to political power?"
Lets look at the political terminology that has charactersied post Thabo Mbeki ANC political discourse over the past couple of years. We have had terms sucha as militancy, cockroaches, womaniser, rapist, tenderpreneurs, hyena's, fat cats, elite, corruption, over indulgent spendthrifts and so on and so forth. Putting those into perspective, where is this country headed? Your guess is as good as mine but untill we move from liberation politics and entitlemnt to nation building, job creation and infrastructure developmentm, the better. Untill then all of our efforts to ensure the effective development of of our country will be like pissing against the wind.
Post liberation party politics has been studied through the assesment of post colonial African independence. Post liberation party politics is studied within post colonial dimensions and the type of states that have emerged from thereof. In South Africa however, the context is entirely different, there was no full scale intrastate conflict or civil war that brought about the libeartion of black people. There were skirmishes, protests, terrorists attacks, sabotage, philosophies such as Black Consciousness, Pan Africanism and international sanctions that contributed to the end of apartheid and the emergence of post liberation party politics.
There is a pattern in African multi party democracies, and that pattern is the dominant party system that has come to characterise the African democratic experience. All one needs to do is look at the state of opposition politics in Southern Africa with examples ranging from Mozambiques FRELIMO, Angola's MPLA, Namibia's SWAPO and South Africas Very own ANC. Now the question that is hot on the lips of every political comentator in the country is, "is the ANC leading South Africa into oblivion"? Not in those words, but clearly the proposed amalgamation of opposition parties in the country signifies the proactive measures that opposition parties are taking in trying to combat the ANC Titan. The question that needs to be raised in South African political discourse is: "To what extent will the governing political party cling to political power?"
Lets look at the political terminology that has charactersied post Thabo Mbeki ANC political discourse over the past couple of years. We have had terms sucha as militancy, cockroaches, womaniser, rapist, tenderpreneurs, hyena's, fat cats, elite, corruption, over indulgent spendthrifts and so on and so forth. Putting those into perspective, where is this country headed? Your guess is as good as mine but untill we move from liberation politics and entitlemnt to nation building, job creation and infrastructure developmentm, the better. Untill then all of our efforts to ensure the effective development of of our country will be like pissing against the wind.
The Discoverers – Bantam Books, July 1994
Here is a book that takes you to the pre colonial era of sea voyagers and adventures that stumbled upon a Africa. The Discoverers reader is taken on a journey that explores pre-colonial trade relations with European traders and African kings in the 15th century. A time when it was every explorers dream to reach the Southern most tip of Africa.
Paul King is well known for publishing pre-colonial voyager literature, with books such as the Dreamers and the Voyagers. The Discoverers was published in 1994 and gives an enlightening historical account of the life of voyagers that sailed across the seven seas hoping to find new worlds accompanied by the promise of riches and adventure. The genre has had an everlasting phenomenon on African culture with other Authors such as Joseph Conrad reaching critical acclaim for their work in books such as the Heart of Darkness and Victory. The literature has directed the African continents historical path, and an interesting fact about the book is that it highlights the how legitimate traders fell into the trap of acquiring quick riches through the slave trade.
The book is centered around the crusades, in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the forces of Mohammed II. The defeated Christians characters embark on individual voyages. Some motivated by honor, greed, revenge and glory. The literature is informative yet provocative in its description of pre-colonial African culture. With some of the characters admiring the exotic and rich culture of African people, while other characters see Africans nothing but godless savages and heathens who have created nothing of any historical value.
The literature is undoubtedly influenced by the likes of Conrad, however there are certain elements in the book that are very informative as the reader is taken on a journey of discovery through the eyes of the explorer.
Ayanda Mdluli
Independent Newspapers, 31 March 2010
Paul King is well known for publishing pre-colonial voyager literature, with books such as the Dreamers and the Voyagers. The Discoverers was published in 1994 and gives an enlightening historical account of the life of voyagers that sailed across the seven seas hoping to find new worlds accompanied by the promise of riches and adventure. The genre has had an everlasting phenomenon on African culture with other Authors such as Joseph Conrad reaching critical acclaim for their work in books such as the Heart of Darkness and Victory. The literature has directed the African continents historical path, and an interesting fact about the book is that it highlights the how legitimate traders fell into the trap of acquiring quick riches through the slave trade.
The book is centered around the crusades, in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the forces of Mohammed II. The defeated Christians characters embark on individual voyages. Some motivated by honor, greed, revenge and glory. The literature is informative yet provocative in its description of pre-colonial African culture. With some of the characters admiring the exotic and rich culture of African people, while other characters see Africans nothing but godless savages and heathens who have created nothing of any historical value.
The literature is undoubtedly influenced by the likes of Conrad, however there are certain elements in the book that are very informative as the reader is taken on a journey of discovery through the eyes of the explorer.
Ayanda Mdluli
Independent Newspapers, 31 March 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Soul-Jah Who Never Dies
They told him he never cried when he was born like the other babies of this world. His struggle has always been defined by conflict, which is why he refers to himself as a Soul-Jah. Not your professional soldier like those fighting in the Iraqi war, or mercenaries from Executive Outcomes, but the Soul of Jah, a proud member of the army of Christ. He is the soldier of society fighting a war against racism, oppression, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Through Gods guidance, he has outlived many of his peers and has overcome those who have tried to change his perspective and eradicate his belief in an after life and the inevitable Day of Judgment and Armageddon.
It’s a lovely Easter Sunday morning at the beach in the beautiful suburb of Sea Point in Cape Town. He sits on a rock and stares into the horizon. His dreadlocks are blowing east in the direction of the sunrise, chanting biblical songs while beating his drum with his palms and fingers. He is the raw breed, the years of pain and experience on face gave that away. The wrinkles on his face tell a different story, they said he is the no nonsense kind, very opinionated and would never renounce what he truly believes in. The wrinkles also said that he was selfish yet giving, loving but hateful, forgiving yet resentful. He is made up of different hypocritical characters that define your average poverty stricken Joe Public.
He agrees that who he is, reflects on the way he treats other people. He tries to be as honest as he can in his interaction with society. He notes that it is difficult, especially when he goes to bed on an empty stomach. Righteousness is his philosophy, with an empty stomach and all; defiant till the end and unfazed by the glitz and glamour the demons of the world throw at his feet. As he explains his position in a cut throat world, full of people who renounce Christ socially and academically, the wrinkles on his face change from that of pain and experience, to that of an undiscovered wisdom that makes South Africa such a beautiful country.
It’s a lovely Easter Sunday morning at the beach in the beautiful suburb of Sea Point in Cape Town. He sits on a rock and stares into the horizon. His dreadlocks are blowing east in the direction of the sunrise, chanting biblical songs while beating his drum with his palms and fingers. He is the raw breed, the years of pain and experience on face gave that away. The wrinkles on his face tell a different story, they said he is the no nonsense kind, very opinionated and would never renounce what he truly believes in. The wrinkles also said that he was selfish yet giving, loving but hateful, forgiving yet resentful. He is made up of different hypocritical characters that define your average poverty stricken Joe Public.
He agrees that who he is, reflects on the way he treats other people. He tries to be as honest as he can in his interaction with society. He notes that it is difficult, especially when he goes to bed on an empty stomach. Righteousness is his philosophy, with an empty stomach and all; defiant till the end and unfazed by the glitz and glamour the demons of the world throw at his feet. As he explains his position in a cut throat world, full of people who renounce Christ socially and academically, the wrinkles on his face change from that of pain and experience, to that of an undiscovered wisdom that makes South Africa such a beautiful country.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Going to School in the morning (Short and Sweet)
He woke up in the morning as he normally does like every other morning between Monday and Friday. His mother gives him a hard tap under his feet and pulls the blanket off his back at around five o’clock. The cold breeze blows through a crack in the shack, piercing his skin making way around the pores on his skin, causing the hairs on his body to stand up and a simultaneous formation of goose bumps around his arms and chest. His mother pours him warm water in a washing basin made out steel. Fresh from the kettle with a green bar of soap sitting in a cracked soap dish which is rough around the edges.
After taking a bath, he wears his neatly ironed school clothes, complemented by a slightly oversized blazer and a pair of parabelum shoes. Shoes so shiny that the reflection of the only light in the shack shows a faded image of his face on the black leather. It is a typical summer’s morning in the informal settlement of Makhaza. The morning sun gives a misty red color to the horizon facing the direction of the suburbs, a destination which he often embarked upon with mixed feelings and emotions.
The passage way through the informal settlement to the bus stop on the main road is filled with different characters and events. He often passes a local shebeen, a place characterized by the stench of intoxication, laughter, life, pain and death. The patrons of Engoja use the spot as a place of communal interaction, the point of socialization. The world view here is different, it is poverty stricken. The faces of each ageing citizen characterized by decades of humiliation and oppression. In the eyes of his community, he is the hope of the slums, he is a living testimony that the ghetto still produces good black men. To his teachers he is the prime example of what every young black man should be. He just takes it a day at a time.
After taking a bath, he wears his neatly ironed school clothes, complemented by a slightly oversized blazer and a pair of parabelum shoes. Shoes so shiny that the reflection of the only light in the shack shows a faded image of his face on the black leather. It is a typical summer’s morning in the informal settlement of Makhaza. The morning sun gives a misty red color to the horizon facing the direction of the suburbs, a destination which he often embarked upon with mixed feelings and emotions.
The passage way through the informal settlement to the bus stop on the main road is filled with different characters and events. He often passes a local shebeen, a place characterized by the stench of intoxication, laughter, life, pain and death. The patrons of Engoja use the spot as a place of communal interaction, the point of socialization. The world view here is different, it is poverty stricken. The faces of each ageing citizen characterized by decades of humiliation and oppression. In the eyes of his community, he is the hope of the slums, he is a living testimony that the ghetto still produces good black men. To his teachers he is the prime example of what every young black man should be. He just takes it a day at a time.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Mud Slinging Politicians Disregard Pledge of Unity
POLITICS has gone from free and fair general elections to Third-World, racially divisive “Rwanda genocide style” name-calling. Name-calling and insults have been the order of the day– and that only a few days after the inauguration of a democratically elected president and the announcement of an inclusive cabinet.
Respected public figures have degraded themselves by claiming that “they have it on good authority that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille is sleeping with members of her cabinet and using them as her concubines”. This came after Zille’s disrespectful and scathing attack on President Jacob Zuma, who she described as “a self-confessed womaniser, who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman”.
I find it disturbing that the ANC and the DA refer to each other as enemies. It is also disturbing that the ANC Youth League wants to use “militant action” to bring about change. Are we not a free and democratic society? In these dark times of economic meltdowns, job losses and escalating poverty, South Africans should be working together, not against each other.
Ayanda Mdluli
Hatfield, Pretoria
Respected public figures have degraded themselves by claiming that “they have it on good authority that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille is sleeping with members of her cabinet and using them as her concubines”. This came after Zille’s disrespectful and scathing attack on President Jacob Zuma, who she described as “a self-confessed womaniser, who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman”.
I find it disturbing that the ANC and the DA refer to each other as enemies. It is also disturbing that the ANC Youth League wants to use “militant action” to bring about change. Are we not a free and democratic society? In these dark times of economic meltdowns, job losses and escalating poverty, South Africans should be working together, not against each other.
Ayanda Mdluli
Hatfield, Pretoria
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