Lebohang Pita

@LeboPita

The challenges of cross-generational or intergenerational sexual relationships (which usually involve teenage girls and male partners 10 years older) were put under the spotlight at the Pretoria Campus yesterday, 13 March.

John Ngobene, from the Gauteng Department of Education and a human rights activist, gave a motivational talk aimed at addressing the topic.

His talk followed a fierce debate between the Pretoria Campus’ Debating Society and the Directorate of Health and Wellness’ Peer Educators. The theme of the debate was ‘Romance is an important aspect of any dating relationship, but a sugar daddy (an older male partner) will pay more attention to romantic suggestions.’

John argued that most African adolescent girls are vulnerable to engage in risky sexual behaviour because sexual activity can be exchanged for money or gifts. He also said that some older men would engage in sexual activities with adolescents due to the misconception that they are free from HIV/AIDS.

“Young women or girls may be vulnerable to exploitation in such relationships given a lack of choices for those living in poverty or the need to pay school fees or purchase books,” John said.

He added that sexual activity is negotiated between two consenting adults. However, he asked whether cross-generational relationships are based purely on consent or force.

“Gender, age and economic disparities may increase risky sexual behaviour and reduce a young woman’s ability to negotiate safer sex. It has also been reported that girls are unable to negotiate condom use in cross-generational sexual relations.”

He said that being in a sexual relationship with an affluent and much older person increases one’s chances of contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) like HIV/AIDS.

“The majority of teenagers infected with HIV and other STI’s are infected by adult males. According to recent reports, teenagers with older partners use condoms 20% less than teenagers with peer-age partners.”

John said some girls would enter into such relationships to help support their families. “Poorer families in some communities often consent to the intergenerational sexual relationships as a means of temporary income support.”

He said society should stop perpetuating beliefs that having sex with a virgin girl would cleanse you and that men need frequent sexual satisfaction and multiple partners.

“Engaging in sexual relations with older men is a norm for adolescent girls in Sub-Saharan Africa and we as academics need to come up with initiatives to stop this barbaric practice.”

He urged students to stop entering into such relationships because they are exploitative, oppressive and abusive due to older partners’ use of their societal status and financial power.

 “No matter how materialistic you may be, never compromise yourself to get them. Rather work hard,” John concluded.

Sosh SpinKingz host “Legends Only” event

Bruce Mbingeleli

 
The Soshanguve Spinning Kingz (SSK) hosted a Spin City event in celebrating the legends of spin at Soshanguve Spinning Palace (SSP) in Soshanguve Block F over the weekend.

 The event featured an amazing line-up of local spinners and drifters as well as The General and The Sheriff, spinners from neighbouring countries.

 

The SSP was packed with petrol-heads who came out in their numbers to witness one of the most epic spinning events ever hosted in Soshanguve.

 

This event was held to celebrate the motoring tradition and spinners from Gauteng, Rustenburg and Botswana headed to Soshanguve to support the event.

 

Soshanguve Spinning crew, IZR, and Tshepang “Isla Bonita” Mkonza, a member of SSK, kept the crowd captivated with their brilliant performances.

 

Botswana spinner The General, a friend of SSK, came to celebrate and also enjoyed the event.

 

“I feel like a superior person, because Soshanguve is where it all began. This is the place where we perfected our stunts. I make sure that I perfect all my moves and make them as extreme as possible,” The General said.

 

SSK crew member Lebo “Lebojwa” was not intimidated by the wet road surface and although it was tricky, he managed to do burnouts. 

 

The event was a day of excitement for both the spectators and the spinners.

“The Spinning Kingz crew along with all the other spinners and drifters were legendary today,” Lebojwa said.

Adequate information needed to fight cancer

by Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

As part of national cancer week, the Directorate of Health and Wellness at the Tshwane University of Technology's Soshanguve Campus on 4 March held an awareness campaign to make students more aware of the disease, also known as ‘the silent killer’. This campaign also included information sessions about HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s).   

“If more information about cancer was available, especially in rural areas and similar to the kind of information available about HIV/AIDS, people would be able to identify some of the warning signs in time and go to a doctor,” said Paul Maraba, a nurse at the Directorate of Health and Wellness. He added that this could also help to establish the prevalence of the disease, which is relatively unknown.

Paul said that it is important that people go for regular check-ups.

Although there are over 200 kinds of cancer, the campaign mainly focused on educating students about breast, cervical and prostate cancer, which are considered the deadliest.

The most common cancer in women is breast and cervical cancer.

Sister Bella Pholo, Health Promoter at the Maria Ronto Clinic in Soshanguve, said it is important for women to regularly examine their breasts and underarms for lumps,  yellow skin, swelling  and pores, that could all be signs of breast cancer. “If it is detected early, there is a greater chance of survival,” she added.

The most common cancer in men is prostate cancer. Bella said it can also be successfully managed if detected early by testing for it.

Paul’s advice to students was, among others, to lead a healthy lifestyle which included exercise, not smoking, avoiding the sun and doing regular self-examinations.

During the campaign, the Department of Health (DoH) offered free HIV/AIDS testing as the disease is proving to spread rapidly among young people.

Jeffrey Makhwiliri, Head of the programme for HIV/AIDS, STIs and Tuberculosis at the DoH’s Tshwane regional office, urged students to get tested as early as possible because knowing one’s status could help one to lead a balanced lifestyle. 

Dinner time at Nkandla!!!

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

This Fish and Chips advertisement was supposed to be aired on the SABC on Monday but the corporation banned it citing that it implied the presidency endorsed the product.

The SABC's spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said in a statement:"We are of the view that the advert implied an endorsement of the product sold by the Fish and Chip Company."

The commercial shows President Zuma and his family having dinner. A woman seated in  a long dining room table says to Zuma:"Oh Zuzulicious, we're having fish and chips from Shabba today."
An elated Zuma responds:"Eat up honey bunch, there is a lot of good food here. It's from the Fish and Chip Company. There are many of you in this house, at only R25 even Pravin will approve this." 

Kganyago claimed that the SABC did not ban the advert as the media had implied.

"The SABC reserves the right to exercise editorial control over all content, as per our trading terms, licence conditions, and public broadcast mandate,"he said.

Creative director of Metropolitan Republic Group (which made the commercial), Paul Warner said the agency was told that the ad had been banned because it was "degrading to the president."

"They said our [SABC] bosses have made the decision not to flight it," he said.

Courtesy:timeslive.co.za

Hard work leads to success

Letsoko stops a shot from one of his players.

 Lebohang Pita

@LeboPita

Humble, god-fearing and passionate about sport. Romeo Letsoko does not lead a dull life. This active 27-year old is not only a development co-ordinator of Mamelodi Sundowns football club but is a talent scout for various football teams in Soshanguve. He is the marketing manager of the Soshanguve District Football Association.

Letsoko has a vast knowledge of sport. He said his passion for the game attributed to the kind of person he is today.

He is currently the co-ordinator of the three Sundowns satellites development teams.

An introvert by nature, Letsoko said his humility and the spirit of ubuntu had given him the ability to excel at sport.

He said his high work ethic attributed to his success.

“I am a person who likes to share. Teamwork and sharing are the key elements of the sport,” he said.

He served on the local organising committees of cluster, regional, provincial and national youth games. Letsoko was also on the committee that organised the winter school Olympic Games in June in Pretoria.

He said it felt good giving back to the people who moulded him into a community hero.

“I feel I should do more. It says I am not doing enough. We did not have the opportunities that today’s children have. We need to give them every little thing they need to prosper,” Letsoko said.

As an 18 year old, he worked as an administrator for the South Africa under-12 national team in 2002.

He travelled with the team to France to play in the 2002 Danone Nations Cup.

 He said:”It was a frightening experience. For an 18 year-old boy from a township who had never flown before, it was overwhelming.”

A prolific striker in his heyday, Letsoko said he stopped playing football to follow his calling.

“We cannot all be players. We need the Irvin Khozas and Danny Jordaans of this world to administer football. I took an interest in administering sport,” he said.

He said the mandate of the Sundowns satellite schools was to develop young players from Pretoria who would automatically play for Sundowns. As a co-ordinator, his tasks are to ensure that all satellites schools are fully equipped.

Letsoko said he was already seeing crumbs of success as they have developed a group of young, talented and committed players.

He says he enjoys giving back to the community.

 “If you check the current starting eleven of Sundowns, there are few players from Pretoria. The team is looking for players that would play with pride. The programme is already successful because we have committed teams,” said Letsoko.

Most young people in Pretoria have resorted to smoking nyaope because they have little to do. Letsoko said their aim was to remove the children from the streets and let them participate in sport.

“If you play sport your mind would not be idle. You would always have something to do. Where would these boys be if they were not here? The little that we are doing would make a difference,” he said.

Letsoko is the producer of the legends show on Soshanguve FM. In September he was approached by Kaya FM to host a sport show that would focus on the development of sport.

 

"Education is the key to success"-Lebambo

Marcia Lebambo outside TUT's Gencor Hall
after receiving her certificate.

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

Hard working, humble and God-fearing, Marcia Lebambo does not lead a mundane life. This flamboyant 24-year old does not only possess four different academic qualifications but is also a successful residence manager at TUT Soshanguve campus and a sensational current affairs show host for TUTfm live at six.

Lebambo hails from the rural hinterlands of the Mpumalanga province. She said she was moulded into the successful person she is today by her parents who do not have any formal schooling but understood the importance of education.

“My parents do not have a formal education but they knew that education is important in a person’s life,” she said.

She grew up in a destitute family but her parents always reminded her that “the only way to change your situation is through education.”

“The fact that I am from a poor family motivated me to work harder in order to change the situation at home.”

Lebambo believes that success does not fall from trees but to achieve your goals you need to work hard.

She said she had to walk many kilometres to school but decided to take the challenge positively because a “positive attitude leads to positive results.”

“I am very positive about life. I am self-motivated and I believe nothing will change if you do not change anything.”

She completed high school in 2004 and the following year she enrolled for a national diploma in administration management at the Tshwane University of Technology.

In her first year she befriended her books because she was determined to change the dire situation back home.

“I was bitter and frustrated. If someone wanted us to go out, I felt that she was wasting my time because going out would not change the situation at home.”

The flamboyant Marcia Lebambo in one of the residences
she manages.

“I had to manage my time. Even if it meant I lose friends, it did not matter as long as I got what I wanted (a qualification).”

After completing her administration management diploma, she continued studying because she wanted to broaden her knowledge and understand what was happening in other employment sectors.

“My aim was to enrol for more than one qualification. In my first year I passed all my subjects with distinctions.”

In 2008 Lebambo registered for a bachelor’s degree in strategic management before securing a job as an assistant residence manager at TUT Soshanguve Campus.

At the tender age of 19 she became permanent residence manager of TCE1 at Soshanguve South Campus.

Lebambo believes the current infrastructural backlogs in TUT campuses will change with time.

“The progress (since the merger) in terms of the standardisation of infrastructure and facilities is not good at all. It is going to take time but eventually we will have a situation where all campuses look the same.

Under her belt as a residence manager she has produced phenomenal people like Kutloano Mopai, who is currently Miss Gauteng and Miss Africa, through the annual miss TUT pageant.

In 2010 Lebambo registered for a Master’s degree in entrepreneurship and also possesses a certificate in business communication from the University of South Africa and another bachelor’s degree in Public Management.

She said it is important for residence managers to be educated because they would be able to execute their duties properly.

From humble beginnings to a successful life, Lebambo is living proof that all that glitters in the democratic South Africa is not gold but hard work always leads to success.

Itsoseng’s service delivery woes continue

The appalling look of Itsoseng.

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

For the past 18 years, residents of Itsoseng phases 6 and 8’s lack of service delivery frustrations have worsened to such an extent that public protector, Thuli Madonsela was approached for help in July.

In a letter sent to Madonsela’s office, the Itsoseng Concerned Residents Committee (ICRC) requested the public protector to probe the service delivery plight that has befallen the community.

“The community wants electricity for all as a priority and houses built on 900sqm yards and proper infrastructural development,” read the letter.

The committee further appealed to Madonsela to investigate corruption by local ward councillor, William Baloyi who is suspected of selling stands to people who do not live in Itsoseng.

“Houses are being allocated to people who do not belong in Itsoseng. We suspect there are people who are selling stands,” the letter continued.

According to community leader John Motaung, the community’s problems emanated from a municipality decision to force residents to subdivide their 900sqm yards to accommodate other people in 2000. When they refused they were told that they would not get basic services.

“Councillors said we should subdivide our stands. We refused because we fought for our yards against Lucas Mangope and they said we would not get service delivery,” said Motaung.

Motaung said they approached the courts and the national department of housing for help.

A court interdict by the Mafikeng High Court was issued to prevent the municipality from continuing with its plans.

 Motaung said the department of housing concluded that it was residents’ choice whether they wanted to subdivide their yards and that if yards were divided it would affect Eskom’s budget and planning.

However, the municipality continued to force residents to subdivide their stands using the metro police, said Motaung.

He said, furthermore, the municipality installed electricity and built houses for residents who agreed to subdivide their stands and this had divided the community.

According to Motaung destitute residents lived in shabby shacks that are prone to fire and floods.

He said they pleaded with Baloyi several times to help them but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Speaking on behalf of Baloyi, a council worker who refused to give Rekord her name said: “As far as I am concerned there are developments in Itsoseng. I do not know what these people are talking about. There is no corruption or something of that sort. ”

The community is surrounded by rocks and forests.

Motaung claimed that the last time they saw Baloyi was on 31 July 2011.

     Motaung reiterated that in February they approached The Tshwane metro's executive mayor Kgosientsho Ramokgopa requesting him to help the community overcome its service delivery woes.

 He said Ramokgopa had not responded.

The metro's housing provision strategic executive director Nomasonto Ndlovu said an inquiry had been sent to the Housing Provision Management and is receiving relevant attention.

“A service provider has been appointed to do a feasibility study on the current water and sewer network because it has not been handed over formally to the Water and Sanitation Division for maintenance purpose,” Ndlovu said.

Ndlovu further said the study would probe possible future provision of both water and sewerage services to Itsoseng.

“The Housing and Human Settlement will provide an update with regard to the progress made and the Ward Councillor will also be informed accordingly,” she said. 

Motaung said Madonsela promised to look further into the matter and urged the community to be patient.

Spin Kingz of Sosha at it again!!!

Birthday boy Tshepang Mkhonza shows drifting enthusisats

some of his daring stunts.

Bruce Mbingeleli

One of the most Epic spinning birthday celebrations was held this past weekend at the famous Soshanguve Spinning Palace (SSP) at Soshanguve Block F.

The theme of the event was; “if you’re looking for a new challenge in spinning and drifting then frankly the SSP is the right place to be”.

Petrol-heads enthusiasts descended to the Palace with the greatest of ease, to support the Soshanguve Sin Kingz (SSK).

The event, attended by spinners and drifters from Pretoria, Soweto, North West and Limpopo, kept drifting enthusiasts howling while spinners battled it out on the spinning pitch in celebration of Co-founder of SSK, Tshepang “Isla Bonita” Mkhonza’s birthday.

According to Mkhonza, support keeps on increasing after each and every event hosted by the SSK, due to the high profile drifters they invite to their events.

Member of the SSK and owner of Design Ridez, Billal Chaya was pleased with the outcomes of the event.

 “It's an honour be to part and parcel of the celebration of Tshepang’s birthday I really enjoyed myself”, said Chaya.

The masses were amazed by the stunts showcased by Y & Sons on the spinning pitch. Spinners pulled daring stunts by hanging on car windows and jumping onto a moving vehicle.

 

“History influences our future”-YCLSA

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita 

Buti Manamela

The Young Communists League of South Africa (YCLSA) hosted its ‘Bua Thursday’ educational programme at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Soshanguve south campus on Thursday 25 October 2012.

The YCLSA started the programme to open space for a discussion on the legacy of apartheid and its impact on the present-day South Africa.

YCL national secretary and Member of Parliament, Buti Manamela said it was important for South Africans to know their history because history formed people into the individuals they are today.

“It is what happened in the past which informs our current way of life,” said Manamela.

He said although the architects of apartheid and colonialism are dead, their legacy was still visible.

He said its visibility had manifested itself in political and educational institutions and these institutions were designed to favour certain class of people in society.

“The fact that a white child has a better chance to enrol at a university and ultimately get employment opportunities as compared to a black child is a reflection of what happened in the past and its impact today,” he said.

Manamela further said that historic class divisions were the root cause of the high unemployment rate amongst black people.

“There was reserved employment for white South Africans while black South Africans were forced into slave wage employment,” said Manamela

Manamela reiterated that the apartheid era designed so-called white universities in such a manner that they would still favour white students in a democratic South Africa.

Collins Chabane

He further said South Africans should stop pretending to be non-racial because access to basic services and employment was still defined racially and black people inherited poverty from the apartheid system.

“If we do not break the cycle of inequality, we would continue to live in a pretentious non-racial society where we just try to get along yet we are a society that is divided by poverty and unemployment,” he said.

Minister of Performance and Monitoring in the Presidency, Collins Chabane said South Africans adopted violent behaviour from the apartheid system.

He said the reason South Africans always resort to violence to raise their concerns was because of the violence they had to endure during the apartheid era.

He claimed that the reversal of apartheid was going to take a long time as long as there are socio-economic challenges in South Africa.

Chabane said it would be a crime against humanity if society was to forget the legacy of apartheid just because the country has celebrated 18 years of democracy.

“Anyone who does not know his or her history will not know where he or she is going. It is important for the nation to keep reminding ourselves that never in our history should we return to that programme (apartheid),” he said.

Responding to whether the renaming of street and town names was not an obliteration of history, Chabane said: “All these places had their names that were changed to celebrate the Boer’s triumph over the natives. Some of the changes in some places are the restoration of the original name.”

Spar loses business due to strike

Courtesy:Google

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

The three week long truck drivers’ strike ended after the Road Freight Employers’ Association (RFEA) and unions reached a settlement on Friday.

The strike affected many retail outlets in the country. There was a halt in the delivery of goods as truck drivers downed tools for a 12% wage increase.

The three big supermarkets in Soshanguve namely Shoprite, Spar and PicknPay were amongst the affected.

Soshanguve PicknPay public relations officer, Mike Mabiletsa conceded that most PicknPay truck drivers are not unionised but could not deliver goods, fearing that their trucks might be torched.

Mabiletsa said they used alternative trucks to collect goods from suppliers so that they could have ample stock.

Essential foods that consumers needed every day were available. If they ran out of stock, Mabiletsa said they would communicate with their customers.

“We made it a point that people received what they required. If not we took their details and delivered it to them within 24 hours after we had located the specific item.”

Shoprite was also affected partially.

Courtesy:Google

Fresh food manager Jane Modise, said the only challenge they faced was when their suppliers ran out of stock.
She said suppliers might have feared to release their trucks to get goods from producers in fear that their trucks might be torched.
The worst affected by the strike was the Maluleke Spar.

The supermarket lost business due to slow deliveries.

Store manager Lungelo Nkosi said Tops lost approximately R300 000 due to the strike.

“Most of the lines (beverages) are sourced from wine. They come from Cape Town so we lost a lot of money.”

The other affected departments were the fresh produce and dairy sections.

Nkosi said employers need to be honest with employees about salary issues.

“If truck drivers or any employess are educated in terms of what is happening with business, it is going to be much easier," said Nkosi. “Businesses should be open to employees and tell them by how much the business is growing each year," he said.

Truck drivers downed tools three weeks ago, demanding a 12% wage increase. On Friday Unions and the RFEA agreed to a three year deal which entails a 10% wage increase in the first year, 8% in the second and 9% in 2014.

Power mongering breaks PYA

A makeshif coffin by the Pan Africanist Students Movement

of Azania.

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) TUT Soshanguve campus branch has broke away from the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) after a fierce leadership battle.

The PYA, which comprises the Young Communists League (YCL), South African Student Congress (SASCO) and the ANCYL, is the equivalent of the tripartite alliance. The YCL and ANCYL are supposed to mobilise students to vote for SASCO during the Student Representative Council (SRC) elections.

In 2009, the PYA adopted a policy of rotating leadership every year to create equality in the alliance and that both the YCL and ANCYL would be under the umbrella of SASCO.

However, the Youth League felt marginalised and accused SASCO of ruling with an iron fist as it only deploys its members to strategic positions.

“SASCO imposes leadership. It does not allow students to vote for the people they want. Comrades of the ANCYL do not find space in governance as SASCO only elects its members,” said ANCYL branch chairperson Sipho Njokweni.

Njokweni said the ANCYL’s reason to leave the PYA was because of SASCO’s constant debates of leadership succession in taverns.

“If you are a leader, you must lead by example. SASCO discusses leadership in shebeens and we are not invited in the discussions as the ANCYL.

According to a 2009 PYA report, the ANCYL’s role in an institution of higher learning is to mobilise students for SASCO but Njokweni claimed that the PYA, which consists of three structures, is beaten by one structure-PASMA-during SRC elections because SASCO executive has dented the PYA’s image as they come to meetings intoxicated and then insult members as a result.

However, SASCO refuted these claims and launched a scathing attack on the executive council of the ANCYL.

Chairperson, Sipho Mbatha, said in a statement: “SASCO would like to categorically dismiss the group of clowns who are using the name of our good ally, the ANCYL, to discredit SASCO.”

Mbatha lambasted some people in the Youth League whom he believes caused the break-up because they want to be deployed to the SRC.

“These are the people who have been contesting leadership in SASCO and lost because members of SASCO do not make mistakes of electing people without leadership qualities.”

He further said: “SASCO is going to combat, expose and defeat this tendency which seeks to divert the PYA from its historical mission.”

Mbatha alluded that the ANCYL has no capacity to contest elections in an institution of higher learning as it deals with issues concerning the youth and not students.

The YCL, which has stood firm behind SASCO, echoed Mbatha’s sentiments.

Chairman Freddy Khoza said: “The Branch Executive Council (BEC) in the ANCYL does not understand the principles of the existence of the ANCYL on the campus.”

Khoza claimed that power mongering is the root cause of the split.

“The reason that led to the ANCYL to break-away from the PYA is because they lost in the Branch General Meeting (BGM) of SASCO. This (sudden rivalry) between SASCO and the ANCYL is a power mongering feature.”

SASCO commended the YCL for throwing its weight behind the PYA.

The ANCYL contested in the October 10 SRC elections and won 613 votes for the local SRC, better than SASCO’s 553 while it also managed to surpass both SASCO and PASMA in the Central SRC.

The Muslim Holy Shrine



The Moturu Gramat.

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

The holy shrine built in 1969 to honour Abdurahman Moturu.

The Gramat is a sacred site for Muslim pilgrimage. It was built in 1969 to pay homage to Sayed Abdurahman Moturu, prince of Madura in Indonesia. Moturu was one of the first men to serve time on the Island for resisting Dutch rule in Indonesia.

He died on the Island in 1754 and it is believe the Holy Shrine was built on top of his grave. Moturu together with Hajji Matarin was one of the first Imams of Cape Town. Political prisoners like Ahmed Kathrada would go there to pray while some paid their last respects when they leave the Island.

Robben Island: The house of pain



A painting depicting the first man to be imprisoned at

Robben Island, Autshomato

Lebohang Pita
@LeboPita

A great inhabitant for sea mammals like penguins and seals, Robben Island is the original African colony for penguins.

The Island was a peaceful place until it was seized by Dutch settlers in the mid-1600s. In the late 17^th century, Jan Van Riebeeck and his men used Robben Island for the isolation of people who resisted Dutch authority in the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies in Asia.

The first prisoners to be dropped on the Island were slaves who were regarded as failures by the Portuguese in 1625. But Autshomato, an interpreter for Europeans, was the first man to be imprisoned on Robben Island for political reasons after protesting against the Dutch’s unfair treatment of Sans in the Cape in 1658.

There is a Gramat or holy shrine on the Island-a sacred place for Muslims- which is believed to have been built on top of the graves of Islam pioneers in South Africa, Haji Matarin and Abdurahman Moturu. Matarin and Moturu were religious leaders from Indonesia who were sent to the Island for protesting against Dutch rule in the East Indies.

The Island was continued to be used to muzzle anti-apartheid politicians such as Robert Sobukwe and Nelson Mandela by apartheid authorities. Many prisoners spent years of hardship on the Island for resisting an authority that deprived them of their basic human rights.



The leper grave yard at the Robben Island Museum.

People with leprosy were kept on the Island in the 1800s.



The Island did not only serve as a prison but was also used for the isolation of people with leprosy. In the 1800s it was still believed that leprosy was incurable and contagious. Authorities wanted to remove these people from the mainland by forcing them to live in isolation on the Island. Their aim was to let them live and die on the Island.

Lepers lived on Robben Island from 1856 until 1931.

A safement where you could feed on the birds, penguins and seals used to cause people pain. It is believed that for 300 hundred years penguins were extinct on the Island but were reinstated in 1998. The penguins were extinct on the Island because political prisoners hunted them and finished the last species of these sea mammals.

Robben Island was a safe haven until it was misused by cruel and greedy people. The Island deprived Africans of their right to freedom while the natural species of the Island were chased away from their natural inhabitant.

Factional battles ravage break-away parties



Professor Farouk Cassim says ANC

 members created problems in the COPE

and then left.



Lebohang Pita

@LeboPita

Power struggle and infightings in many political parties do not only lead to discontent members defecting to other parties or creating factions but often prompt them to form break-away parties. These parties do not come up with their own ideologies but continue with those of parties which they broke-away from, and this does not create an exciting political environment as all parties will have a similar manifesto and are poised to face the same societal problems.

The United Democratic Front (UDM) and Congress of the People (COPE) are break-away parties from the African National Congress (ANC) and they both resemble the ruling party in many ways as manifested in their respective mission statements.

Both parties (COPE and UDM) were vocal and flamboyant initially. Lack of resources and factional battles ravaged and has led to their abrupt failure to challenge the ANC.

The UDM, formed in 1997 by General Bantu Holomisa after he was expelled from the ANC, was radical and amassed huge support across the country prior to the 1999 general elections but today the party has failed to maintain what it stood for years ago.

Member of Parliament, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, attributed the UDM’s failures to bad-blood with the media and lack of resources in a press conference with TUT students in parliament on 12 September 2012.

He claimed that the UDM had a good relationship with journalists but somewhere things turned sour and it affected the party’s politics.

“In the past we had a good relationship (with journalists) and then somewhere along the line something went wrong. We had to spend the last 2 to 3 years trying to make amends because it has become difficult for us to reach out (to the people).”

Kwankwa said lack of resources halted their progress in making change and they failed to communicate with their supporters as they focused more on trying to control their constituencies.

In relation to break-away parties, Kwankwa believes South Africa need to realize that to make politics in the country more exciting; only two opposition parties are needed.

Nqabayomzi Kwankwa blames the media for

the UDM's failures

“I don’t like this notion of creating 60 or 70 opposition parties. We should get to a point where we realize that we need two opposition parties. If you check the UDM and COPE’s manifestos, it is the same content written in a different way therefore we need two parties like in the USA.”

COPE, started in 2008 by struggle veteran Mosiuoa Lekota and Mbhazima Shilowa after leaving the ANC amid a bitter succession battle between the then president of SA Thabo Mbeki and incumbent Jacob Zuma, has been mired in a factional battle between Lekota and Shilowa since its inception.





The infighting has seen the party’s membership decline with former ANC members who left with Lekota in 2008 returning back to the ruling party.

Farouk Kasim, lead researcher in Lekota’s office, said the party’s problems were created by ANC members who did not want to see COPE succeed.

“Many people who created problems in the Congress of the People never really belonged to the party. They belonged to the ruling party. They came here to merely create problems and leave.”

COPE acquired 1.3 million votes in the 2009 general elections, four months after it was formed. But power-mongering between Lekota and Shilowa resulted in the loss of prominent members and a vast majority of its supporters.

Kasim reiterated that the party is in a rebuilding process and it is also recruiting new members.

“We have started from scratch and the number of people who have applied to be COPE members appear to be telling us that COPE is taken seriously by South Africans.”

The party was believed to be a failed attempt by Lekota to revive his political career but Kasim believes COPE still has a point to prove.

“We believe we have a place and we are going to grow and if we can get our house in order then we will be an important political formation in South Africa.”

 “We would like to promote an activist state where people will become active in their own course and where they will have the financial, administrative and technical resources to be able to argue their case.”

Both the UDM and COPE were poised to be strong political foes of the ANC but the leaders who formed both parties have succumbed to pressure brought on by the ruling party. They have resorted to being critical while the ideology of the ANC still runs deep in their veins.