GALLERY: Wits Humanities grads cross the stage

Wits University’s Winter Graduations are taking place between July 10 and 14, 2023.

Hundreds of postgraduate students will be conferred with their PhDs, Master of Arts and Honours degrees during the ceremonies. Wits Vuvuzela’s Seth Thorne and Nonhlanhla Mathebula caught the Humanities ceremony on July 11, to document and congratulate the students from the Wits Centre for Journalism, as they had their fifteen seconds of fame with Wits chancellor, Judy Dlamini on stage.

FEATURED IMAGE: Malaika Ditabo, now a News24 journalist, takes a break from the politics desk to savour her achievement. Photo: Seth Thorne

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WITH GALLERY: Wits reses battle it out

The All Res Sports Day brings students living at Wits University residences together, in a day of sweaty but friendly play.  

The All Res Sun-Council (ARSC) hosted their annual sports day at Digs field, pitting residences against one other for a podium finish.

Barnato Hall, Noswal Hall, David Webster Hall, Wits Junction, Girton Hall, Sunnyside Hall, Jubilee Hall, Reith Hall, Amani, Braamfontein Centre Residence, Medhurst Hall, West Campus Village, Knockando Hall, Ernest Oppenheimer Hall (EOH) and Men’s Res took to the fields and courts to compete on May 13, 2023. 

Sports such as netball, soccer, basketball, touch rugby, chess and indigenous games were played throughout the day.  

ARSC media officer, Basetsane Sithole said “This year we are really excited to try make it as big as possible [by] involving sponsors such as Redbull; this is an event for us to get the reses back together again because we haven’t done anything like this since O-week [orientation week].” 

Khethani Makhithi, Junction men’s soccer coach said, “Junction is not a well-established football team with a strong heritage like Knockendo which is known for its football prowess.”  

Makhithi said even though the match against Knockando ended in a 1-1 draw, but won in penalties, he believes it was a tight game throughout.  

Asemahle Mazamela, netball referee during a clash off between Wits Junction and Noswal said that the match went well besides the fact that “the other team [Wits Junction] only had 5 players but they tried,” which unfortunately led them to an early knockout. 

Phenyo Leornard Moje, a player for Noswal netball team was injured in the first quarter of the final match against Barnato. He felt guilty for not being able to help his team in the first two quarters of the match. Despite not being fully healed, he decided to rejoin the game in third and fourth quarter of the match. 

At the end of the sports day, the reses who came third, second and first place each received trophies and medals.  

The first-place winners were:  

  • EOH in touch rugby, men’s basketball  
  • Barnato in netball, Barnato in women’s basketball and Barnato in women’s soccer 
  • Braam Centre in men’s soccer 
  • Men’s res in chess 
  • Reith Hall in all the indigenous games 
  • The spirit award was given to David Webster  

The games all ended in high spirits as the winners celebrated and danced on the courts, Neliswa Mpangeni, one of the spectators from Noswal Hall said that she has been at Digs filed since 8 in the morning and enjoyed supporting her team who were participating in the different sports. 

The sports day concluded with roaring cheers and jubilation. The reses showcased their skills and sportsmanship, plus made memories were made that would last a lifetime. 

FEATURED IMAGE: EOH playing touch rugby against Men’s res Photo: Ayanda Mgwenya

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WITH GALLERY: Kabelo Gwamanda elected as Joburg mayor 

After nearly two weeks without one, Joburg has its fifth mayor in just 18 months. 

Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda has been voted in as Johannesburg’s new executive mayor by councillors in a secret ballot at the City Council sitting on May 5, 2023. 

Out of the 266 ballots cast Gwamanda received 139 votes, while the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Johannesburg caucus leader Mpho Phalatse got 68 votes and ActionSA’s Gauteng chairperson Funzi Ngobeni, got 59 votes. 

This was the council’s fifth attempt at voting in a mayor since the resignation of Al Jama-ah’s Thapelo Amad on April 24. A sitting on Tuesday, May 3 was postponed due to squabbles amongst coalition partners.  

Messy horse trading  

Failed negotiations among those in the former ‘multi-party coalition,’ saw the DA unable to come to an agreement with ActionSA, IFP, VF+, ACDP, UIM and PA.  

In an interview with Wits Vuvuzela DA Johannesburg caucus leader Mpho Phalatse said that the reason negotiations failed is because the DA could not come to terms with the proposition by the Patriotic Alliance (PA) to nominate Kenny Kunene as mayor. “[We] could not fathom how such could be allowed,” she said. 

The PA, the swing vote in council, then put their weight behind Gwamanda, alongside the ANC, EFF, Al Jama-ah, AIC, AHC, ATM, Good, PAC, Cope and APC. In return, Kenny Kunene received an executive position and now has control over the city’s transport portfolio. 

Gwamanda labels this coalition as “one of national unity” which will continue to “prioritize service delivery,” arguing that regime change in the city will not negatively impact service delivery. 

Former mayor Thapelo Amad said that the election of his Al Jama-ah colleague is a good thing for the city, stating that “the city is in capable hands”.  

ActionSA mayoral candidate Funzi Ngobeni says that his party is happy with the working relationship with the ACDP, IFP, UIM and VF+, however it is “unfortunate that we could not get DA on board.” He says that the aims of the partners now are to be “a constructive opposition”.  

FEATURED: IEC officials alongside political party representatives counting the secret ballot votes at the Joburg City Council on May 5, 2023. Photo: Seth Thorne

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GALLERY: Wits Autumn graduation

Graduates are accompanied by family and friends to celebrate their academic achievements.

Wits University awarded hundreds of qualifications to students from various fields of study during its annual Autumn graduation, between April 17 and April 26, at the Wits Great Hall. Wits Vuvuzela journalists, Ayanda Mgwenya and Rethabile Mafisa were there to capture some of the special moments.

FEATURED IMAGE: Wits graduates leaving the Great Hall after the graduation ceremony Photo: Rethabile Mafisa

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GALLERY: Tensions rise on third day of protests

From the early hours of Friday morning, the ongoing #WitsShutdown protests became physical.

Things came to a head between protesting students and private security officers and Campus Protection Services (CPS) on March 3, 2023. What started out as security using their shields to bar students from entering buildings or using certain entrances, quickly escalated into water, bricks and other projectiles being hurled by some protestors.

Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) have now entered the fray, with multiple nyala’s standing at the ready in front of the Great Hall steps to provide reinforcements.

FEATURED IMAGE: A traffic cone about to be flung at security officers. Photo: Mpho Hlakudi

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GALLERY: Wits SRC sweep Jozi streets to clear debts

The Wits SRC organised a clean-up campaign around the streets of Johannesburg to clear students’ historic debt.

Members of Wits University’s student representative council (SRC) hung up their white blazers on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 in a symbolic effort to sweep away outstanding student debt. The clean-up drive is one of many activities planned to reach the R20-million target set by the SRC to assist returning students who have been unable to register for the academic year due to financial constraints.

GALLERY: DA Marches to ANC headquarters over loadshedding

Thousands of ANC and DA protesters took to the streets of Johannesburg on Wednesday, January 26, blocking roads around Chief Albert Luthuli House.

DA supporters swarmed Gandhi square near Luthuli House while the ANC Youth League marched around the ANC’s headquarters. The former to demand action on loadshedding and the latter to ‘protect’ their party in a counter-protest. Here’s how events unfolded and how the police managed to keep control.

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GALLERY: Homecoming Weekend in pictures

Wit’s University’s Homecoming Weekend saw non-stop celebrations from Friday, September 2 until Sunday, September 4, 2022. The Wits Vuvuzela team was out and about throughout and these are some of the moments they captured.

GALLERY: The hustle and bustle is back at Wits

The scrapping of the majority of covid-19 regulations on campus have seen Wits University looking like its pre-pandemic self. Libraries are full, the Matrix is a hive of activity and the library lawn is the enclave of activations, naps and conversation.

FEATURED IMAGE: Wits Campus is buzzing again Photo: Elishevah Bome

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GALLERY: Brrrrace yourselves for winter

This week saw the winter season for 2022 make its mark, with the coldest night of the year recorded in parts of Gauteng by the South African Weather Service on May 31, 2022. Wits Vuvuzela took to Main Campus to see how Witsies and the surrounds have taken to the freezing temperatures.

And here’s what Witsies say they like about the colder months of the year.