Africa Day is for you
Africa Day – Giving a Voice to African Unity As a country, South Africa is probably best known for overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges, and forging reconciliatory links where conflict and strife seemed the only outlet for expression. The events of the past few weeks have reinforced the need for bridge-building initiatives such as the Africa Day celebrations, and organisers have resolved that this year’s events will take place as planned. The weekend of 23, 24 & 25 May, is devoted to Africa Day celebrations, culminating in two free concerts held in Newtown’s Mary Fitzgerald Square (24 May) and Soweto’s Mofolo Park (25 May). The concerts have always attracted a widely diverse audience. One the key reasons for its success is that the shows enjoyed the support of nationals from all parts of the African continent. The Concert Goes On “The easy thing would be to cancel or postpone the shows, but we believe that now, more than ever, it is critical that South Africans and our brothers and sisters from the rest of the continent gather together on this auspicious anniversary to celebrate and honour the ties that bind us, the commonalities that make us one people.” explains Steven Sack director for Arts Culture and Heritage within the Department of Community Development, City of Joburg “It’s important to remember that Africa Day was founded to connect us to one another as a people. We want the concerts to be an exemplar of this principle – let it be a place and time where we can be part of turning the tide against the xenophobia, and remind ourselves that fundamentally, we’re all in this together. ” Safety and Security The unrest has also prompted the organisers of the Africa Day celebrations to bolster the safety and security set up of the event to allay any potential worries around security at the shows. Comments Graeme Dickson, Arts Alive Disaster Management Consultant “We are confident about our security plan, and working in close conjunction with the Johannesburg Metro Police Department and the South African Police , have escalated the security and police presence to an appropriate level. “ As the preparations for the events continue, there is no doubt that, in keeping with our tradition of overcoming strife and challenges, the City of Johannesburg’s Africa Day 2008 celebrations will become part of a new story – one that tells of the triumph of compassion and Ubuntu over fear and...
TED conference ‘Suspended’
It’s been a tough week for South Africa’s people as we contemplate the wave of devastating violence rampaging across our glorious city of Johannesburg. Our hearts are heavy. To kick us while we’re down, we received the sad news that September’s much-vaunted TED conference Africa (that we told you about in November last year), has been ‘suspended’ apparently due to a ‘lack of available’ time. We have written to the organisers to request more information. We’ll get back to you as soon as we hear more. For now, read the reasons...
DJ Sdunkero’s magic hook
We’re so happy for Mpumalanga as we realise how much the ‘Song of the year’ title means to one of our favourite provinces. We’re going to keep listening to the mysterious “Maputo Song” to see if we can find the magic hook that got the province voting the song into first place for “Song of the Year”, give us time to find that kwasa rhythm ne! Congrats to Ligwalagwala FM and DJ Sdunkero – see some of their photo’s of the Ligwalagwala FM experience of the SAMA’s and the delight of some of the Maputo Song fans here and read our thoughts from a marketing perspective on our sister site JOVA . You can also find out more about DJ Sdunkero at MIO. Read Ligwalagwala’s announcement below: Mpumalanga’s finest house DJ Sdunkero caused a stir when he won the “MTN record of the year award at the SAMA event this past weekend 03 May. The whole of Mpumalanga was behind the KaBokweni born muso who was nominated for the record of the year, the famous “Maputo Song” from his album Edladleni Volume 1. Ligwalagwala FM is more than ecstatic after one of its very own DJ Sdunkero won the biggest award of the South African Music Award. DJ Sdunkero emerged head and shoulders above prolific artists in the category of Record of the year to win it. “The 3rd of May 2008 will forever be a memorable day to me because I was able attract the recognition that Mpumalanga province deserves”, I was more than confident about my work prior the awards but the win gave me more joy than I anticipated Messages of support were conveyed from the Mpumalanga Provincial government, Department of Arts and Culture and the Public prior to the event. He received a hero’s welcome when he landed at the Kruger Mpumalanga international airport where hundreds of fans where eagerly awaiting their hero. “Sdunkero has put Mpumalanga entertainment industry on the Map, the whole country will now give us the respect we deserve” said an excited fan. Amongst the crowd was ANC treasure Mathew Phosa and his wife Speaker of Mpumalanga legislature YM Phosa Indalo car hire sponsored the Ligwalagwala FM DJ’s with two branded Mercedes Benz, while Sdunkero’s was dressed by Mpumalanga born tycoon Robert Gumede executive chairman of Gijima ASP. DJ Sdunkero hosts the “The Zone Eskhaleni” with Giventake 18h00-21h00 on...
Bring your laughter back
When all else fails we recommend turning to laughter. If you feel like life has been tough on you lately, that its all about the world vs You, then maybe you need to bring your laughter back and dust your smile off so getting through the crap is a lot more pleasant. For if we do not have laughter, what’s the point? Check out some tips for fine-tuning your sense of humour below: Wise stuff from Ezine and here too… “The idea is that a sense of perspective when it comes to humor allows you to see yourself in the scope of things rather than always at the center of things. Most of us have a tendency as to believe that any problem we are confronting and facing at particular moment is the most important thing that is going on in the world. his way of looking at problems is a very heavy responsibility. It makes you feel as if the problem is everywhere and it becomes the focus of your being. This is why a developed sense of humor is so important, because it allows you to see yourself in the scope of things rather than always at the center of things. ” “Remember that a sense of humor is learned, not inherited. You can sharpen your sense of humor if you really want to. When you do, you will find that your relationships become richer and more rewarding and that people find you more attractive and fun to be with. This alone makes improving your sense of humor worth the effort.” Some more from Suite101 here and here: “Telling funny jokes and having a good laugh actually strengthens the bonds between people. Tapping into your sense of humor can break the ice, lower blood pressure, and improve your mood. Here’s how humor works — and how humor can hurt. Also, here’s how men and women perceive humor differently.” “Funny movies, funny jokes, and funny people depend on one thing: the sense of humor of the listener or viewer. A funny joke that makes one person burst into laughter can anger another person. One person’s best funny joke is another’s lawsuit for sexual harassment. Defining a sense of humor is no laughing matter. Humor is really difficult to pull off, even with similar senses of humor. It’s hard to make people laugh because our senses of humor are so different. Writing humor can be painful (not just painfully funny); and writing about humor can be like pulling teeth. But when you produce even a chuckle, the pain is worth it.” Laughing Budda photograph courtesy of Araswami on...
South Africans, Let’s find our way. Today.
We spend a lot of time thinking about how to make the world a better place. A good starting point is always with ourselves and the question today must be, South Africans, “have we lost our way”? It seems like these days we’re more self-serving, selfish and self-centered than ever, chasing the buck, looking after number one and forgetting all about those around us, never mind those in need. These thoughts may seem negative, particularly from a website that promotes positivity, but we have to be realistic about where we are at, in order to move forward we must stop tip-toeing around issues, face facts , expose and communicate our truth. (For various reasons it is necessary to spell out that our call to action is based largely on the world which we know, which is the pulsing, moving, exciting, edgy, hectic, crazy big African city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Most Represent readers will know that already. Ed) Since when did we stop being AWARE and responsible? When did we stop caring about our human and political rights, about our neighbours, about our future? When did we stop being optimistic, when did we decide that it wasn’t our issue, that we’re prepared to give away our power, give away our rights, give up on our potential, our promise and a bright future for everyone? Why are we so de-politicized, leaving it all up to someone else, choosing to rather be placid, uninvolved and disinterested, then complaining, blaming and pointing fingers at every chance? Why do we accept to live a mediocre life and allow the MAJORITY of our people to continue to live in a horrific trap of poverty, violence and hopelessness? How did we let that happen? We have EVERYTHING we need to make our country the place we want it to be, talent, passion, people, inventiveness, resources, natural beauty, diversity, potential and a great sense of humour – everything we need is here. But we have lost our way. When I look around me at so-called ‘intelligent, educated citizens’ and listen to some of the things that come out of their mouths, I feel like shouting “WAKE UP”! But freedom of expression is a basic tenet of democracy and so I either swallow my frustration or on the odd occasion, when I have the energy, waste some of it challenging them. For I do believe that most people are good, many have had no guidance or lost their way, some have no backbone, no integrity and little vision, but most people are good. The saddest thing for me is to see just how successful the brain-washing tactics...
Meet our sister website JOVA
Editorista has been hard at it the last few months, creating the brand new JOVA community aimed at the creative industry in SA – it’s all about spreading the love. As always. Check out the JOVA website at www.jova.co.za – sign up for the newsletter and don’t forget to visit every day for your creative injection. She’d love your feedback, so drop her a line on info@jova.co.za. If you have content you think should be on there or you want to get involved – send her a mail. In fact, even if you just feel like saying Hello – holler....
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