Fest Prisoners

Every year I work as a theatre technician at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. This year my venue was Commemoration (Commem) Church and because this is a church productions that were performed there had to have a celestial feel about them. There were orchestras, jazz bands, marimba groups; and then there were two prison groups - and both performed free shows.

One group is from eXesi (Middledrift) and the other is local. The group from eXesi did two performances outside just below the church stairs. They were doing quasi-traditional dance to maskanda music which they apparently recorded. I fell in the habit of trying to figure out what each could be in for. Their leader seemed like a wealthy man and he joked with the prison warders a lot. I figured that he should be a loan shark or a drug dealer. There was one fellow who did not seem mentally stable - the type who could rape a five year old child. He kept saying: "Only God knows', and when I asked what he meant by that he only stared blankly into my eyes and I almost froze.

The group from the Grahamstown prison performed in and outside. Inside because they were doing drama and outside for marimba and gospel music. One time outside while they were singing a song entitled 'Kwanele' meaning 'enough' a man came running with a plastic bag in his hands but was caught by two other men who were about to stab him when the police arrived and rescued him by arresting him.

Another time after their performance inside a boy of about nine demanded to be let through backstage. However I tried to convince him that he was not allowed to, he kept asking who I was to tell him that. Eventually the man he wanted to see came out. When I told him about the trouble the boy was giving me he looked depressed.

He later confessed that he had a reputation for being good with the knife, so much that family members had become errogant knowing he would fight their battles for them - and that's what has kept him in the world of crime for so long. The nine year old was his sister's child and he had already started using a pen as a knife at school.

Shame! some of these fellows did look rehabilitated. The only pity is that they will come out of prison with some unfortunate scars. In one of their drama pieces they confessed to being used as women in prison. This means that they are being raped by other men.

By: Thozamile Enock Ngeju on July 14th 2011 09:57 [0 comments]

Posibilities

Two weeks ago, we had a documentary showing for Mary Waters learners at their school. The documentary is entitled 'Alive With Posibilities'. 16 learners were present in the preparatory class but only 11 turned up during the actual showing. That is probably because it was a public holiday.

I have contacted them again this week to try and finish up what we couldn't then; they have not turned up. Only one did say 09h00 was too early for him, but he did not say he was not turning up completely.

These are opportunities that we miss. I also am not immune to this. I have neglected my daily duties since the beginning of this week. I suppose I will pay for this when the Grahamstown National Arts Festival is over.

By: Thozamile Enock Ngeju on July 1st 2011 10:08 [0 comments]

2011 Local Government Elections in South Africa

 

South African local government elections took place on the Wednesday 18^th May this year. I wonder how much interest the youth showed seeing all of them were born into democracy and they only read about our past.

Although the ANC won with over 60% overall, it was with surprise that the DA took some of the municipalities that were expected to go to the ruling party.

The ANC had 1.8 million votes in Gauteng, South Africa's economic hub, by midday on Thursday, with the DA on 950 801. The ANC had 61.99% of the vote, compared to the DA's 31.82%. The Congress of the People had 1.13% (33 854 votes). Total voter turnout stood at 1.3 million, with 5.5 million voters registered.

The Democratic Alliance garnered 59.94% of votes in the Western Cape compared to the ANC's 30.04%, according to votes counted by noon on Thursday. The DA received about 1.4 million votes and the ANC 686 587. The embattled Congress of the People continued to feature on the results board, obtaining 2.37% or 54 186 votes. Total voter turnout so far stood at 877 862 in the province with some 2.7 million registered voters.

The DA was looking forward to results from major metropolitan areas around the country, its leader, Helen Zille, said at the IEC's results centre in Pretoria on Thursday."So far it's been great," Zille told reporters. "We are looking forward to the metros." She said the tightly-fought Midvaal area, where the DA had won 60.71% of the vote and the ANC 37.17%, showed "an increased maturity" in votes.

Midvaal had been the only municipality held by the DA in Gauteng. The ANC has furiously campaigned to win it from the DA. The DA was claiming nine of the 14 seats in the council, said DA strategist Ryan Coetzee. Zille said the election had helped the DA "break through race being the primary issue" of elections in South Africa. She was confident that the party would win 20% of the national vote. She congratulated the Independent Electoral Commission on a sterling job.

The ANC was blazing ahead in the Free State's Moqhaka municipality, where it had built unenclosed toilets, according to election results in by 11.30am on Thursday. The party had 32 724 votes (61.43%) while the DA - also guilty of constructing open-air loos in Cape Town - followed with 14 404 votes (27.04%). According to results so far, of the 81 617 registered voters in the municipality, 16 356 had turned up to vote. The Congress of the People followed with 4 042 votes, or 7.59%. The Freedom Front Plus received 1 080 votes or 2.03% of the total votes cast in the municipality.

The unenclosed toilet saga saw much mudslinging between the ANC and the DA in the run-up to the 2011 local government election. The ANC had 52.14% of the vote in the Durban metro, followed by the DA with 26.30% by 11am on Thursday. The ANC had 82 761 votes and the DA 41 743 votes as the count continued. The Inkatha Freedom Party followed the DA, with 5.02% or 7 966 votes and the National Freedom Party, an IFP breakaway, 4.06% or 6 440 votes. In all, 1.7 million people registered to vote in the metro. A total of 158 726 valid votes had been counted.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe and IFP coordinator Musa Zondi renewed old bonds of friendship at the Independent Electoral Commission results centre on Thursday. "This guy, he makes me laugh so much, Mantashe said as he and a giggling Zondi shared a joke. People nearby were taken aback at the jolly duo. "We are old political friends," said Zondi as the pair shook hands and wished each other well in the elections. They were laughing about former Inkatha Freedom Party chairwoman Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, who now leads the National Freedom Party, an IFP splinter group. Zondi told Mantashe he had heard a rumour that Msibi planned to destablise the ANC. Laughing, Mantashe said the ANC had nothing to do with her and that she was "power hungry". Showing that there was no animosity between the two parties, Mantashe then went and shook each IFP member's hand.

The ANC had a tight grip on Tshwane by mid-morning on Thursday, with about 53% of the vote compared to the DA's 40%. More than a million people voted in the municipality. By 10am, more than 100 000 votes had been counted. The DA was hoping for victory in the area, where it claimed to have made significant inroads in traditional ANC strongholds. The Christian Democratic Party held third place, with 0.60% of the vote.

Please note that the much anticipated coalitions eventually did not feature that much. That is with the notable exception of Durban where the IFP won through collaboration with other parties. Of course there were other coalitions but, like I say, they did not turn out to be as newsworthy as we'd expected.

Grahamstown was not to be outdone. She got her fifteen minutes of fame on the eve of the elections by appearing on national TV protesting against poor service delivery. They burnt tyres next to the BAB (Bantu Administrative Building). Protests like these are liable to litigation. That is not as bad as it sounds though.

We claim to have one of the tightest constitutions in the world. However, constantly challenging it strengthens it. If there are loopholes they get ironed out so that it doesn't become a bug infested document lying in an office somewhere in the Union Buildings.

The outcome in the Cacadu District was not really surprising, the ANC and DA shared the spoils between them. But I hear from a very good source that COPE stood a very good chance as they are very strong in this region. However they decided to withdraw participation in this district when they failed to submit their candidates list before the cut-off date.

Let's muse a little on this point. Most of us lived without the right to vote for a greater part of our lives. Now that we can vote we make a big issue out of going to the polls. So much that we throw toys about the state of democracy when it seems a candidate seems forced upon us. That was the point of the protest in Grahamstown – besides poor service delivery.

But, really, are we really that important on the galactic scale? While we're worried about elections there could a major crisis in a star somewhere in the universe that we're too primitive to know about. Staying on the global level, the elections came at a time when the world was putting pressure on Gadafi of Libya to step down. Our elections, therefore, will just be a footnote in this years news.

By: Thozamile Enock Ngeju on May 31st 2011 07:57 [0 comments]

Eastern Cape Schools Festival 2011

This year's event took part on 16th & 17th May in the 1820 Settlers Monument. The VSA with sponsorship from the Schools Festival office had the privilege of taking fifteen awareNet learners from Grahamstown East (Benjamin Mahlasela Secondary School, Nathaniel Nyaluza High School, Nombulelo Secondary School & Ntsika Secondary School).

It was two cold days but you wouldn't tell given the vibe and energy the learners had. Gumboot dance, concentration games, physical theatre and 'the Facebook effect' were among the workshops. I especially had the task of going up and down the stairs to see what was happening in the various workshop venues.

I remember on Tuesday morning when we had to be late because of the taxi the learners kept sending me 'please call' messages. So eager were they to get to the festival; and I think that eagerness resulted from their Monday experience. That took me back to the first time I attended the Schools Festival in my school days. I saw another protest theatre production called 'Master Harold & The Boys' and John Kani, our doyen of theatre, was one of the performers.

They mingled with learners from other parts of the province. I hope this reinforces in them how useful knowing the Internet is – you learn even more online.

The First Physical Theatre Company presented 'On the Move', a piece that uses physical theatre to explore the use of the word 'falling' (falling in line, falling in love, falling behind, falling flat, falling short, etc) in the English language. It is impressive how these dancers manage to control the way they use their bodies while throwing themselves around on stage.

Another interesting production was 'Woza Albert' ('woza' means 'come back' but here it means "Rise Albert"). It was written by Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon in 1981 and during the 1980s this production was regarded as the most successful play to come out of South Africa, winning more than 20 prestigious awards worldwide.

Two actors play dozens of parts that involve them using many skills - acting, mime, singing and dance. They also create images using a few words and actions. They play various roles common to black South Africans - a vendor, barber, servant, manual laborer, soldier - in apartheid South Africa. The news that Christ (Morena) has arrived. Christ's arrival precipitates a crisis, and the government launches a nuclear bomb against the peacemaker. In the ruins, great South African leaders in resistance to apartheid such as Albert Luthuli (assassinated African National Congress 1960s president) are resurrected.

By: Thozamile Enock Ngeju on May 25th 2011 08:52 [1 comment]

Opportunities

During my school days you joined a typing or Home Economics class at the risk of

being called a sissy. So, although I knew I wanted to write, I did woodwork

instead. We call those the good old days.

Fortunately for me, during those extended school boycotts some friends of

mine and I took part in classes of an NGO called GPP (Grahamstown People's

Programme). My three friends took up karate, I took a piano class. Because I

wanted to be closer to a certain girl, I joined the typing class just for the

hell of it.

I remember Elvis teasing me saying he'd need a secretary in future. I did not

know then that I'd need to use a computer most of my working life. In fact he

(Elvis) became a policeman; and I suppose his karate comes in handy there.

I'm reminded of this as I currently work with schools. I motivate learners by

saying their true potential is sometimes not discovered in the curricula

classes but in the extra-mural activities they join. I tell them the story of

Mcebisi Ntleki who is now a professor at Oxford University.

He comes from Grahamstown, from the same disadvantaged schoos as the rest of

us. But because he cherished the challenges that came his way, some unselfish

white teachers pushed him to pastures that eventually cultivated his mind.

Opportunities come and go. But the youth don't always want to lose their

spare time, do they? We have to prod them along nevertheless. That is the

task that the VSA and awareNet have.

By: Thozamile Enock Ngeju on April 21st 2011 01:07 [0 comments]