Former F1 champion Michael Schumacher has left a Swiss hospital to continue his recovery at home, his manager says. Sabine Kehm said in a statement that he had made “progress”, but there was “a long and difficult road ahead”. Schumacher suffered a head injury in a skiing accident in France in December last year and [...]Michael Schumacher leaves hospital is a post from: AutonSpire
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Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has sent his condolences to the family and friends of legendary poet and short story writer, Pascal Mafika Gwala.

Gwala passed away on Sunday.

“It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of legendary poet and short story writer, Pascal Mafika Gwala after an illness.

“We offer our condolences to his family, relatives, friends and the writing fraternity in the country, continent and all over the world. In fact, his impulse to testify through literature defined the vision for a new society and contributed to the resilient spirit among the oppressed,” the Minister said.

Gwala was a committed anti-apartheid critic and cultural activist who, from a young age, was part of the Black Consciousness Movement that championed the principle of self-determination for African people.

Gwala was born in Verulam, north of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in 1946. He spent most of his adult life in Mpumalanga township, west of Durban.

He was at the forefront of the revival of African writing in the 1960s. He published short stories and poems in The Classic magazine, founded by Nat Nakasa in 1963.

His generation of writers, including Mongane Wally Serote, Njabulo S. Ndebele, Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali and Sipho Sepamla, among others, became major contributors to the South African literary landscape after the banning of political parties and the imprisonment of many activists in the 1960s.

He authored two volumes of poetry, Jol’iinkomo (1977) and No More Lullabies (1982), and he also contributed to several literary journals, including as the editor for The Black Review in 1973.

He co-edited Musho! Zulu Popular Praises with Liz Gunner in 1991.

As a student activist, Gwala was a prominent member of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) in the 60s. Together with Steve Biko, Gwala and others who espoused Black Consciousness, broke away to found the South African Student’s Organisation (SASO) in December 1968.

He was a regular contributor to The Black Review and the SASO Newsletter.

Gwala inspired and mentored many writers, who later became household names in the South African literary landscape.

At the time of his passing, arrangements were at an advanced stage for him to contribute his wealth of knowledge and skills to the arts fraternity through the Arts in Schools project.

This would have provided him with the platform to mentor and impart critical thinking and writing skills to nurture new voices in poetry and prose at schools in the Hammarsdale area.

“We convey our deepest condolences to his family and all those who were touched by his work. His passing is a great loss not only to his immediate family, but to South Africa and the world at large.

“We find solace in his words which will never die. May his soul rest in peace,” Minister Mthethwa said. – SAnews.gov.za

Democracy is a much yearned for and sought after system of governance. As a system where the popular will of the people is superior to the will of individuals, democracy represents the Elysium of multitudes of people around the world. Democracy and its actors are seen to bring policies and frameworks that will safeguard a well-run, productive, efficient and competitive state.

One of the most well-known democratic systems is that of ancient Greece. A democratic system in the Greece of 5th century BC was comprised of three separate institutions: the ekklesia, a sovereign governing body that wrote laws and dictated foreign policy; the boule, a council of representatives from the ten Athenian tribes; and the dikasteria, the popular courts in which citizens argued cases before a group of lottery-selected jurors. In the 21st century AD democratic systems continue to have these essential institutions in place to provide oversight of the excise of democracy. Such is the enduring nature and longevity of democracy as a system of governance.

The system popularised by the Greeks in the 5th century BC has defined the journey of many civilisations since – it has defined the struggle for liberation and freedom from oppression for thousands of years and by countless martyrs, heroes and heroines. Why? In the words of the Greek historian Herodotus “In a democracy there is, first, that most splendid of virtues, equality before the law.” It must be that inherent in each civilization, in each nation, the need for the equality of its people supercedes many of the other conventions. This equality is also an essential driver of social cohesion and citizenship.

South Africa before 1994 was a country in search of the Promised Land of Democracy. Its people yearned to contribute to a country of the people for the people. We longed for a time that we would equally know, live and enjoy the freedoms associated with democracy. We looked forward to being able to express ourselves, engage in robust debate on issues that are dear to us, associate with people of different race if we chose to, live in areas of choice, pursue careers of our choice and closely related to all of these – was the opportunity to express our choice of who would govern our beloved and beautiful country. We eagerly awaited a time when our humanity and citizenship would give us equal rights and opportunities in our country.

We trembled with hope and anticipation and not an insignificant amount of trepidation and fear about what the South Africa of the future will look like. How would it work? How would we relate to each other?

Twenty years later and we now know that freedom of speech, association and movement, amongst a range of others. We have in place institutions that govern and guide our journey towards building a robust democracy – a government (or the Ekklesia of ancient Greece); a Parliament (the Boule) and a well-run transparent and effective judiciary (the dikasteria). We have a country in which the multitudes of our citizens – from their diverse genealogies – the San, the Khoi, the Basotho, Dutch, the British, and the French – have a place in our country and are, as articulated by Herodotus, equal before the law. This is the quintessential nature of our democracy!

The question has been asked in the last few days – are recent events in our chapter 9 institutions, parliament, and government – a manifestation of democracy or anarchy? I think that as much as we can look to the past for examples we can emulate in nation building, we more often need to take responsibility for what we have as a nation, build on what is good and let go of what does not serve us in our quest for equality, freedom and liberty.

Yes, we have the freedom of speech we so ardently sought. We have the institutions that protect our freedoms including Parliament and the judicial system. However, with freedoms and rights comes responsibility. In South Africa we have a responsibility to remember where we come from with a singular focus on where we want to go – to a point of nationhood where we no longer see each other in our different colours, genealogies, religions, tribes – we need to see each other as South Africans playing our part to build and grow our nation. We want to take the unique lessons of our history and turn them into powerful motivators for the present and the future – motivators in our quest to build a cohesive and strong nation, the ambassadors of which will be our more than 50 million citizens.

As we commemorate National Heritage Month, let us remember that our heritage, our story as a nation, our democracy is what we bequeath to our children and the generations of South Africans who will come after us. We owe it to them to protect our democracy and its institutions. We must leave our children in a better space than we find ourselves, even though it is a huge improvement on that of our own forbears. This requires that we impart to them a greater understanding of what our heritage stands for and consequently an appreciation and respect for those institutions that hold our constitutional democracy together and keep it alive. Disrespect and disregard for the very institutions that ensure that the centre of our nascent democracy holds and that anarchy is not unleashed on our society; is in itself not only a betrayal of our struggle for that very democracy, but also of our nation building project.

What is it that we want our children to remember us for – the building, safeguarding, refinement of our hard earned democracy? Or for its destruction as a noble system that enables everyone to know and exercise various freedoms and responsibilities that allow us to live our best lives? Only we can decide and only we can act accordingly.

Government has sent congratulations to the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality for scooping the Stockholm Industry Water Award and to Professor John Briscoe of South Africa for receiving the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize.

eThekwini Water and Sanitation, serving the Durban metropolitan area, received the award for its transformative and inclusive approach to providing water and sanitation.

Professor Briscoe was awarded for his unparalleled contributions to global and local water management, and his unwavering commitment to improving the lives of people on the ground.

Acting GCIS CEO Phumla Williams said the fact that South Africa is the recipient of two of the three awards indicate that the country is moving forward towards realising a standard of excellence in access to clean water.

“Government is equally proud of the learners, who are from a South African public school. They focused on harvesting and purifying rain water to the level of consumption.

“Their initiative to address water related issues is an inspiration and an indication that South Africa’s learners are future leaders and experts that will play an instrumental role in addressing global challenges,” Williams said.

Government also encourages all municipalities to follow similar initiatives and endeavours to constantly seek ways of improving the quality of services offered to the public.

“The method used by eThekwini is an example that could be implemented in South African municipalities and communities across the world that face similar challenges,” said Williams.

Government also congratulated learners from Taxila Secondary School in Polokwane, Limpopo who were finalists at the global conference. The learners, who were competing against other learners across the globe, invented a method that uses sand filters to treat contaminated water and recover water for reuse.

The 2014 World Water Week, which started last week Monday and closed on Friday, was hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute. The week emphasised the importance of water efficiency.

The conference focused on the development and management of energy and water for the good of society and ecosystems at local, national, regional and global levels.

During the summit, experts at the 2014 World Water Week, in Stockholm, agreed that more needs to come out of the existing networks of organisations, and resources must be pooled to increase access to water and sanitation, so more people can enjoy this basic human right. – SAnews.gov.za

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A high-level United Kingdom delegation will arrive in the country next week for a visit that willÂ* focus on strengthening commercial opportunities, science and innovation, skills development and education relations with South Africa. The delegation will be led by the Mayor of London, Alderman Fiona Woolf, the Minister for Africa James Duddridge and Prime Minister [...]
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Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says economic growth benefits must be shared by all equally.

“Inequality is an affront to our new democratic order and undermines our ability to extend rights and opportunities to all our people,” he said.

Addressing the 19th Nedlac Annual Summit held in Johannesburg, on Friday, Deputy President Ramaphosa said there is a need for the country to confront poverty and inequality.

He said the high levels of inequality make it harder to reduce poverty when economies are growing.

“As partners, we need to have urgent conversations about how to tackle these domestic constraints such as that we accelerate the sharing of the democratic dividend.

“We need to start by ensuring that our social dialogues processes become effective tools that solve problems,” he said.

Nedlac is a multi-sectoral forum established to provide a platform for dialogue and also brings together people from different sectors who contribute to policy development bringing together the various inputs, strengths and comparative advantages from each sector.

The Deputy President’s participation at the Summit comes against the background of the responsibility assigned to him by President Jacob Zuma to convene social partners at Nedlac to consider issues around wage inequality and national minimum wage.

With regard to the National Development Plan (NDP), Deputy President Ramaphosa said government acknowledges the concerns that have been raised by organised labour.

“We need to engage on areas of disagreement while working together on those areas we agree on, such as the need to speedily eliminate inequality, unemployment and poverty.

“There is no way that any social partner can be left behind in our efforts to achieve the objectives of the NDP,” the Deputy President said.

Deputy President Ramaphosa explained that the NDP sets out the country’s priorities and key targets for the next five years.

“We are working to correct spatial imbalances in economic opportunity and eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens.

“Critically, we are focused on expanding and improving education and skills development appropriate for a growing economy,” he said.

The Deputy President said there is a need to have urgent conversations about how to address domestic constraints, to accelerate the sharing of the democratic dividend.

“As we work to address the challenges of the present, all social partners including government, need to recommit themselves to the founding principles of Nedlac as the Apex forum for national social dialogue and to strengthen their participation,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

Stockholm Water Week – Working smarter and improving collaboration across different sectors has been identified as a crucial step towards a water and energy secure future. Experts at the 2014 World Water Week in Stockholm, which ends today, agree that more needs to come out of the existing networks of organisations, and resources must be [...] Stockholm Water Week make crucial steps is a post from: EconSpire
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NewMusicSA is pleased to announce the complete schedule of Unyazi IV Electronic Music Festival, which takes place as part of the Fak'ugesi: Digital Africa Festival line-up, at Wits and the Goethe Institute from 9 to 13 September.

With a total of nine concerts, an artistic sound installation, as well as a non-stop listening room, the five-day music festival promises to highlight the brightest up-and-coming artists and the wealth of established musical talent in South Africa and beyond.

Says Cameron Harris, co-curator of the Unyazi event and lecturer in Composition and Music Theory at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg: “The 2014 schedule encompasses top quality concerts, talks, demonstrations and workshops, all of which will provide unsurpassed insight into the composers and musicians behind the music.”

Running throughout the festival, a well-equipped listening room will be both aurally and physically at the centre of activities. Curated by Carl Stone, you can look forward to a programme of over 30 composers from around the world.

Also poised to become a major highlight and talking point of this year’s festival is Lukas Ligeti’s sound installation, which will run for the duration of the festival at the JoziHub venue. In this not-to-be-missed loudspeaker installation, sounds recorded at soccer games at World Cup matches in Brazil - fans chanting, players panting, vendors hawking, balls hitting goalposts - are reassembled into a new, fictional match.

Prof Christo Doherty, co-founder of the Fak’ugesi: Digital Africa Festival and Head of Digital Arts at Wits University, says: “The collaboration of local and international artists is one of the most exciting aspects of the festival. It’s a brilliant platform for artists and is sure to delight audiences.”

Another must-see event is the Unyazi at Goethe concert taking place on 11 September at the Goethe Institute in Parkview featuring The South African New Music Ensemble at its finest.

A festival pass for admission to all Unyazi IV Electronic Music Festival events can be purchased for R100. On Wednesday the 10th and Saturday the 13th there will be two concerts per evening - a double-bill price of R50 per evening will apply. Festival goers can also take advantage of low general admission pricing at R40 for evening concerts, while at lunchtime concerts admission is free.

The Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Enver Surty, says the hand-over of a new primary school in the Western Cape will go a long way in increasing access and in improving the quality of education in the area.The Deputy Minister said this when handing over the newly-refurbished Die Duine Senior...

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