SA musos combine to keep the less fortunate warm
Big ups to Nceba and friends for putting together this charity event for Zakhe Community Centre in Lenasia on Saturday the 28 June 2008 in Brixton – come on Jozi people, fill the place up with love, your old clothes, tinned food etc. Click on the flyer for more: Just a little can make a big difference. We constantly ask ourselves how we can make a difference? What we can do to make a change? You have to start somewhere. Start small. And You’ll have so much more ahead of you. South African musicians are coming together to help raise funds for Zakhe Community Centre. The home is situated in Lenasia, and is run by Nobesuthu Xaba. Nobesuthu single handedly launched the centre using her own limited resources. She has five children, but has set up the NGO caring for up to ten other abandoned and troubled children. She is raising the children on her own, out of her own home. She has helped children with drug problems, including teenage mothers. Nobesuthu is a selfless African woman trying to make sense of an otherwise nonsensical situation. Qommbola productions and hot toffee communications presents Ubuntu Bethu: Siyabulela featuring My Man, Dr Badela, Deep Soweto, Stylez, Nozuko, Maxhoba, Baphixile, MXO, Sliq Angel and Kwela Tebza. On the decks are DJ Sbuja and DJ 2DAXA. All this will be taking place at House of NsAkO, 101 High Street in Brixton. Nsako stands for Nuff SAid Kollektive – a creative/entrepreneurial collective whose intentions, among others, is to develop a cutting-edge “living museum of African popular culture”. This living museum is located in the inner city of Johannesburg. Its theme exudes cultural appreciation and authencity. Once inside this cosy joint with an outside feel you are elevated into another era. This is a place of sophistication without excluding those that aspire. It has seen performances such as Kwani Experience, Marcus Wyatt, Josie Field, etc. R50 cover charge at the door and 50% of all proceeds will be donated to charity. People attending the event are encouraged to bring along old clothes, blankets and tinned foods. Let’s think about the less fortunate this winter and play our part; no matter how small it may seem to be. Keep warm by moving and swaying on the dance floor. School yourself by reading up on something new. Feed your body with a delicious warm meal. Feed your soul with majestic proudly South African sounds. Exhilarate your spirit with youthful live performances Saturday 28 June from 7pm, come experience a night out on the town with a different feel. Order a bite to eat, sit back and enjoy...
Say ‘no’ to inner-city grime
Let’s face it: litter is not cool. And in a bid to reclaim Joburg’s inner-city streets, the city is hosting the Slam Da Trash Festival on Saturday, 28 June 2008, featuring a feast of basketball, hip-hop, dance and street theatre. This day-long bash takes place at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, from 10am to 6pm. Entrance is free to all, and spectators are welcome. The City of Johannesburg’s Region F recently launched an educational campaign titled It’s My Inner City – Let’s Keep It Clean, and the Slam Da Trash Festival forms part of this initiative. The concept is based on Newtown Battlegrounds, an ongoing project of the Newtown Management District. The event aims to bring the youth back into the inner city and provide a platform for them to showcase their talents, while promoting the message of a clean city they can be proud of. “Sport and culture are powerful ways of galvanising people into action, and we believe that creating a high-energy, positive environment around stimulating activities will help reinforce a can-do attitude among the city’s young people,” says Shaun O’Shea Manager: Communications, Marketing & Tourism Promotion City of Johannesburg: Region F (Greater Inner City). “It’s healthy and wholesome fun, and it’s showing our youth that looking after our environment and keeping our city’s streets clean is in everyone’s best interests.” The Slam Da Trash Festival, MC’d by YFM’s Lee Kasumba, promises a non-stop mix of open-air action and entertainment. In addition to basketball clinics for budding slam-dunkers, the day’s main event will be a thrill-packed basketball match between the two giants of basketball’s League of Pros (LOP): Egoli Magic and Wits Alumni. Hip-hop heads are well catered for, with ‘krump’ dance clinics, an electrifying hip-hop dance battle, and performances by ProKid and JR. And be sure not to miss the educational and imaginative street theatre performances in between all the day’s other festivities. The monthly Zasekhaya Market will also be taking place on Mary Fitzgerald Square on the day, so there will be plenty of refreshments and other arty and crafty wares available as well. Keep it green, keep it clean and head along to Slam Da Trash and root for your team! Pic courtesy of AirTomo 01 on Flickr...
BE at the Million Man March on Tuesday
Men, women and every citizen that can make it, 3 days to go to the Million Man March against in Tshwane on Tuesday the 10th of June 2008! Find out everything you need to know about the Million Man March by clickign here. REPRESENT! The objectives of the march are: The Million Man March is an anti-crime initiative formed as a direct response to the unacceptable levels of crime in South Africa. The March aims to: *Unite all South Africans against crime, crime can only be defeated if confronted with a collective will, a combined commitment and a united plan of action.The March endeavours to empower people who feel helpless, vulnerable and alone by giving them a specific time and place to join together with others, and provide them with a voice against that which they fear the most. *The March will call on the Government of the Republic of South Africa to act decisively on the crisis of crime in South Africa. Urgent attention needs to be given to combating crime, more resources need to be allocated to our police, with efficient mechanisms put in place to combat corruption. *Law abiding citizens have the constitutional right to have an efficient justice system to support them. We want to call on the people of South Africa to recognise that we are part of the solution. We call on each and every individual to take responsibility of his or her actions. *We aim to challenge the perceptions that our society has about crime and use this opportunity to engage government, business, religious groups and individuals that this is the platform to launch and extensive and aggressive MORAL REGENERATION PROGRAMME. *Remind one another that there is a lot to celebrate about our country and need to make sure that the negativity of crime does not take away from all the good that has been accomplished. *The integrity of the march is dependent on the peacefulness of its nature. It is scheduled and planned to take place within the boundaries of the law. *This march is for all citizens of South Africa who feel passionate about making a positive contribution towards the country, it will not be used as a platform to advance political or financial...
Good People of Africa, let us free ourselves
20 May 2008 Every person we have spoken to in the last few days about South Africa, is feeling strong emotions. Emotions that they want to put down and share. Emotions that have been building up for a long time. We would like to use this forum to invite you to have your say on the situation in our country, for many of us have kept quiet for too long. No hate speech will be tolerated – this is a place for people to express themselves freely but ALL comments will be monitored… This is not a space for you to criticise others’ thoughts, language or syntax or to try and be the ‘cleverer one’. This is a space to understand everyone’s point of view. Freedom of speech is of huge importance now, so South Africans and citizens of the world, share your thoughts, intelligently. You can go anonymously, but we invite you to tell us who you are, your age and where you are from. (click here to read full article and comment) Editorista will begin: My name is Sarah, I am 33 years old, I was born and bred in Johannesburg, Swaziland, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal , but I have been in Europe for 4 months. I have been privileged to live a rich, interesting life in South Africa and Swaziland. I am a young South African, not a politician and these are my thoughts: Good people of Africa, how can we free ourselves from these chains? So many of us are tarred with fear and hatred of each other, fueled by the evil teachings of our past that brainwashed us into categorising each other. How can we rid ourselves of these stains, these superficial concepts that claw so deeply within us? Once, Africa was a borderless place, and now, we withdraw into the labelling and naming that was imposed on us and today divides us. Excited by freedom and driven by a desire for new beginnings, so many citizens in our country have thrown themselves into the ‘growing business economy’ since ’94, striving for a piece of success, hungry for financial gain, often getting ourselves more and more into debt as we aim for bigger, better and more. In this money-hungry process, so many of us have forgotten about the poor (but not all of us, there are many people who do as much good as they can), with the rich getting richer and the middle class booming beyond belief (which has been a blessing for many people for which we are deeply grateful). But in our ambitious desires to achieve our economic, consumerist dreams(or nightmares), we...
Filmmaking Youth Take Action
The University of Jozi in conjunction with the Gauteng Film Commission will be hosting an international film festival to coincide with Youth Day this year. It’s a Mexico/SA collaboration and they’ll be flying about 7 of Mexico’s most inspiring filmmakers to SA and teaming them up with SA filmmakers. The awesome FYTA film festival is taking place at UJ on the 13 – 16 June, offering free workshops, showcase opportunities and a South Africa-Mexico exploratory and expressive film platform, young film makers, get amongst! FYTA FILMS: Through imagery and sensation language and ethnicity become blurred, making film an awe-inspiring transformer of society. Read more below.The first ever FYTA Film Festival (Filmmaking Youth Taking Action) launches in June 2008. Inspired by the need to fight against young minds being numbed by stereotypes, conventions and trashy entertainment, this festival aims to reignite the passion in young filmmakers. It aims to encourage them to speak their minds and join the movement realizing that while escapism is great, when it outweighs and white-washes all reason it becomes dangerous. FYTA Films also enables young filmmakers to tell their own stories. There are voices outside of Hollywood and FYTA is there to help uncover them amongst the true free spirits of society- the youth! This year we join forces with Mexican filmmakers to explore the common ground between our countries- in film, in history and in daily life. The Festival: Entrance to all screenings and workshops is free. FYTA Films in 2008 is presented by the University of Johannesburg in association with the Gauteng Film Commission, Embassy of Mexico in SA and Nedbank. It will be held from 13 – 16 June at the University of Johannesburg’s FADA Building on Bunting Rd Auckland Park. The Festival consists of three main categories: 1. Mexican-South African Film Showcase: FYTA Films will screen several African premières. In addition, filmmakers from both countries will be in attendance at screenings for discussions and workshops. Guests: Some of the well-known Mexican guests include Elena Fortes Acosta, director of the Ambulante documentary festival run by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, Flavio Florencio, creator of the Africala festival which highlights the ancient connection between Africa and Latin America and the African roots present in South America. Other guests include Alejandro Ripstein; son of veteran filmmaker Arturo Ripstein, Francisco Vargas whose magnificent film El Violin has won over 30 awards at film festivals around the world, Elisa Miller, winner of a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year and animator Ricardo Arnaiz winner of a Mexican Academy award for The Legend of Nahuala. Workshops and colloquia With so many interesting visitors...
Show your love @ AFROTONIC
There are many ways you can show your love of all people African, shaking your touche to Afro beats is a cheerful option – try it out at AFROTONIC that takes place this Friday at Carfax featuring two of our favourite bands, 340ml and Max Normal as well as the eclectic Zong, all the way from Reunion. Organised by the French Institute as part of their promotion of cultural diversity, urban culture, nd artistic exchanges between South Africa, France and Francophone Africa, you know it’s going to rock… ALLEZ-Y!!! AFROTRONIC #1 Friday 30.05.08 @ CARFAX Featuring Zong – a Réunion (France) Max Normal TV – Cape Town (RSA) 340ml – Maputo (Mozambique) Cooked in the great African Pot with three spoons of hi-voltage electricity, a dozen of the hottest chilies, the juiciest melodic passion fruits and liters of pure sweat: AFROTRONIC is the new vibrating musical feast proposed by the French Institute of South Africa, and for its premiere, we picked up nothing but the freshest ingredients: Hailing from La Réunion, Zong is not just another electro band “with spice”. Indeed, even without electricity, Drean, Costa and Fever remain three accomplished musicians whose “savoir-faire” cannot only be reduced to “Machine-Made Music” and whose three strong personalities locate them far from the anonymous and sometimes dehumanized electro producer profile. If Jane Fonda had had a punk daughter, she would have been something like Drean: sculptural, enigmatically magnetic, dangerously charming, as smooth and burning as a shot of Reunionese Rhum. Playing the Kayamb (a traditional reunionese percussion instrument) with rock’n’roll attitude, Drean is Zong’s singer and muse, and her unique voice can awaken all the senses as well as kick bottom. By her side: Costa, the melody maker, and Fever, the drum machine. From his classical piano background, Costa quickly went into the electronic music. From dub to drum’n’bass (his influences go from Lee Scratch Perry to Roni Size), with ecstatic virtuosity, he pushes the limits of his keyboards and machines to a level only his “comrade” Fever can follow. As soon as he sits behind his drum kit Fever’s cool and almost shy temper turns into a fury. Fascinated by the Punk energy, the unbeatable Drum’n’Bass skips and the accuracy of Jazz drummers, Fever delivers rhythms that make Zong’s sound unique on the global music map: a combo of Dub, Maloya (reunionese traditional sound) Techno and Drum’n’Bass, bridging the gap between “electronic” and “acoustic”, “roots” and “post-modernity”, as on their latest album “Fractures” (to be issued in SA). Max Normal TV is back!!! And he is also about to release a new album entitled “Good Morning South Africa”: What could...
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