Long time journalist and public commentator Allister Sparks (82) found himself at the centre of a social media storm when he declared Apartheid architect Hendrick Verwoerd was a ‘smart politician’. Wits Vuvuzela spoke to Sparks at the Menell Media Exchange conference in Sandton about the state of journalism in South Africa and the shifts in the political landscape.
VETERAN JOURNALIST: Allister Sparks remains vocal about dying newspapers, the ‘gimmicks’ of the EFF, and the ‘unbalanced’ Baleka Mbete. Photo: Dinesh Balliah
What stood out for you at this year’s conference and is there anything you expect to hear?
I was particularly taken by yesterday’s session by Catherine Kennedy (of the South African History Archive). I didn’t go to the branding, maybe I missed something there, I guess I feel it’s a bit too late for me to brand myself at my age (laughs). For me Catherine was the highlight. Particularly John Perlman and Songezo Zibi, I thought there were wise thoughts that came out of them.
On parliament in South Africa today …
Parliament has been a very refined and remote place, now it’s in the public eye and I think that’s good. [However] it will have to take a grip on itself, and it needs a better speaker than we have at the moment, because it can easily become a laughing stock, it can really damage its reputation.
On the EFF and their disruption in Parliament, and Baleka Mbete …
I do think the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters), has brought something, but it’s got to be very carefully monitored by a much better speaker than we’ve got. I think Max Sisulu would have managed it, Max was a very good speaker and Frene Ginwala likewise, not a partisan speaker who’s the chairman of a party, and her lack of balance shows so glaringly, nobody takes her seriously.
I think the red garments [of the EFF] was a gimmick, I guess once you’ve got them it’s very hard to get rid of them, I don’t think it has any impact anymore, it had an impact in the beginning. The gimmicks need to be limited, but they can only be limited by the speaker, and that’s got to be by persuasion, not by bringing in the police. She (Mbete) needs to call in the whips and say ‘How do we deal with this?’
I think a lot of it [parliament] is archaic language and it’s a bit absurd; it’s meant to preserve a tradition, but at the same time its got to give way to the modern world and the modern South Africa where not everybody shares the British tradition. There has to be some kind of control in the transformation of parliament and only a really wise, strong, and influential speaker can do that.
On Business Day editor Songezo Zibi …
I think he’s a very thoughtful young man and I think he has some very important insights … he’s a real asset to the media. He’s a young man and he’s a very important addition to our galaxies of editors, he’s thoughtful and cares about the media. John Perlman has been around for a long time, but this is a newcomer really [Zibi] out of a different profession, and he has a great career ahead of him.
On newspapers in the new digital age …
I think two kinds of newspapers papers are going to survive in the new digital age: One is the local paper, the small town paper and the other is the serious paper. I think the popular press is going to die, and we have an awful lot of popular press here and its days are numbered.
There’s got to be one black newspaper that’s going to emerge as a serious one, [maybe] it is the Sowetan, City Press is getting there but it’s only a Sunday paper.
Reinventing Pan-Africanism in the Age of Xenophobia, a international symposium, was hosted by the WISER Institute last week.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura says he worries about the people of his province as “many of those [people] come from the rest of the continent”. Makhura was speaking at the discusson on pan-Africanism in the age of xenophobia, hosted at Wits University by Wiser, (the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research) and the Ahmad Kathrada Foundation.
Makhura said the the dangers of xenophobia lie not only in the “absence of opportunities” but also in narrow “national interests”. Makhura said that if we want to build a great Africa we can no longer make “catching up” with Western civilization our intention; we must offer something new and unique to the rest of the world.
“If there is something Western capitalism teaches us, is that in fact you can even become more less of a human being as your material needs are met,” said Makhura.
The two-day symposium aimed to fostering dialogue on a number of issues affecting the African continent including xenophobia, racism, tribalism, nationalism and colonial boundaries.
Other speakers on the day included academics Neocosmos and Associate Professor Suren Pillay.
Michael Neocosmos, an academic, stressed that it remains problematic to associate xenophobia with poverty and that research shows that some 65% of South Africans feel that the country’s borders should be secured through electric fencing which is a good indication that xenophobic attitudes are prevalent throughout society.
He also mentioned that people live in subhuman conditions and the assumption is that poor people can’t think, this means that we exclude them from what we think humanity is.
“If we want to expand pan-Africanism it means we must expand knowledge,” Neocosmos said.
The evening came alive with song and music when renowned South African storyteller Gcina Mhlophe took to the stage at the annual Jozi Book Fair, while Wits vice chancellor Professor Adam Habib called for more accessible book fairs.
LET’S READ: From left, Dr Maria van Driel, one of the organisers, Gcina Mhlope, Prof Adam Habib and a guest at the Jozi Book Fair in Braamfontein on Thursday evening. Photo: Katleho Sekhotho
Wits University’s vice chancellor has said that book fairs need to “break the class divide.” Speaking at the 7th annual Jozi Book Fair in Braamfontein on Thursday night, an event hosted in partnership with Wits University and Khanya College, Habib spoke of the need to make book fairs more accessible.
Reflecting on the launch of one of his books two years ago at the Franschhoek Literature Festival, Habib said he realised that there were only about six black people in the audience out of the thousands present.
Habib said book fairs are an opportunity for the upper middle class to hang around and share interesting ideas, but made the call for a change, and said that the university’s partnership with Khanya College is part of this.
“We are starting this particular relationship with Khanya [College]… because it’s about deepening access to education, and that is something we are particularly increasingly getting committed to.”
Celebrated writer and poet Gcina Mhlophe was also present and captivated the audience with her signature mix of music and poetry, (click to listen).
Focusing on young people and reading, Mhlope spoke of what led her to write children’s books, “I started writing for children because I got jealous, when I got to those countries where they sell children’s books only – they dress them up so well – I wanted to make a contribution!” (click to listen).
After an eight year stay in the United States, Professor Hlonipha Mokoena has finally decided to come back to South Africa and has chosen Wits University as her new academic home.
BACK HOME: After many years abroad educating and learning, Professor Hlonipha Mokoena will make a permanent move to South Africa in June. Photo: John R. Harris
In June, the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) will welcome South African Professor Hlonipha Mokoena back home.
Mokoena, 38, originally from Soweto but left for KwaZulu-Natal at the age of 12 to go to boarding school, took on her first job as an associate professor in anthropology at the Columbia University in New York a few years after graduating with her PhD from UCT (University of Cape Town), in 2005.
Her move to Wiser comes after three years of planning and describing this new challenge, Mokoena said, “I mustn’t disappoint.”
Mokoena hopes to have the intellectual space and time in which to complete a new book. No stranger to publishing, she wrote her first book titled Magema Fuze: The Making of a Kholwa Intellectual in 2011.
“Mokoena now feels that she can quite soundly critique American notions of “knowledge”
After 8 years of teaching at Columbia University, Mokoena now feels that she can quite soundly critique American notions of “knowledge”, and she describes some of the innovative ways in which students are taught in the US as viable options in South Africa.
“I think in South Africa we tend to argue about eurocentrism as if [it’s] sort of widespread, whereas really the world currently is dominated by the American approach to creating knowledge, including African studies. It’s really American-centric,” Mokoena said.
Mokoena spoke to Wits Vuvuzela about the differences between universities in the States and those here at home, “American private universities [such as] Columbia University are very different from South African universities at the basic level of competition.”
According to Mokoena, there is a high degree of competition for staff and students to get into institutions like Columbia.
THE REMOVAL of SRC president Mcebo Dlamini has sparked debate surrounding freedom of speech.
Last week, Dlamini posted the statement “I love Adolf Hitler” in a Facebook comment thread below a graphic comparing modern Israel to Nazi Germany. He added, that every white person has “an element of Adolf Hitler”. He later defended and repeated his comments in several media interviews.
Dlamini was this week dismissed from office by Vice Chancellor Adam Habib over a previous disciplinary action. Habib has denied the dismissal is the result of Dlamini’s comments on Hitler.
What he said was racist and deeply offensive to many of those whose families died at the hands of Hitler.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) National Spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi was critical about the dismissal, arguing that Habib was “silencing” Dlamini.
“In removing Mcebo Dlamini from office, who was elected by a popular student ballot, Adam Habib has acted like Hitler. He is the Hitler he seeks to silence by removing Mcebo from office!” Ndlozi said in a Facebook message.
But Prof Anton Harber, chair of the Freedom of Expression Institute, criticised Dlamini’s remarks.
“What he said was racist and deeply offensive to many of those whose families died at the hands of Hitler,” Harber said.
Many have argued that Dlamini’s comments, which first appeared on his Facebook profile and were therefore private. However, Harber rejects this.
He is a public figure, an elected official of a public institution and is therefore responsible for his conduct and should expect it to be scrutinised.
“If he felt what he said was private, then he should not have given interviews and repeated those opinions in interviews,” Harber said.
“He is a public figure, an elected official of a public institution and is therefore responsible for his conduct and should expect it to be scrutinised.”
So what constitutes freedom of speech and what makes a statement hate speech? Dr Dale McKinley, an independent researcher, said that while freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution it “does not extend to … Advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm”.
“This clause therefore explicitly outlaws such speech as ‘hate speech’,” McKinley said.
McKinley argued that Dlamini’s comments were “wholly irresponsible” particularly coming from a leader. Dlamini has expressed his intention of opening debate by his comments, but McKinley said it did the opposite.
“Instead of opening a debate … his comments closed down a meaningful debate about what are real and crucial issues for SA,” McKinley said.
Dlamini’s comments have also been defended as part of a discussion about transformation but Harber said this was not the case.
“Saying such things did not promote transformation, and might even have discredited many of those pushing for change,” Harber said.
Aspiring writer finally had his dreams come true when he won big at the Dinaane Debut Fiction Awards. His first novel Dub Steps has been published and is available at Exclusive Books.
WINNING NOVEL: Dub Steps in its published form. Photo: Katleho Sekhotho
ANDREW MILLER was named the winner of the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award for his debut novel Dub Steps along with a cash prize of R35 000 on Tuesday evening.
“I’ve never won anything,” said Miller, trembling in disbelief.
Dub Steps has been published by Jacana Media and is also available at Exclusive Books. The award ceremony was held at the Wits Writing Centre.
He told Wits Vuvuzela the reason he writes, “For many years I wrote in self-defence – as a way of processing and understanding my place in the world. I’ve got older and realised what an honour it is for someone to read anything I’ve written. I’ve started to care much more about the structure of stories and the idea of entertaining a reader.”
Miller was 15 years old when he began to fiddle with poetry, that ‘fiddling’ turned into ‘longer form stuff’ when he was 21.
Wits Vuvuzela also spoke to Neilwe Mashigo from Jacana Media, the publishers behind Miller’s novel.
The real challenge is doing a lot of hard work alone in a room all by yourself.
Mashigo addressed the concern of aspiring writers trying to get their work published, “Unfortunately not everyone can be published, and publishers are different in what they want published. “
“As an aspiring writer, you need to research the various publishing companies and the types of books they publish. Then you need to see where your manuscript can likely fit in,” he said.
Miller spoke about the challenges ambitious writers’ face including making sure there was enough time to write, “I think the big trap is focusing on self-promotion and selling your work.”
“The real challenge is doing a lot of hard work alone in a room all by yourself.”
On the other hand, Miller speaks about not isolating yourself to do your writing. He suggests that as a writer you might have to dabble in public speaking or journalism to be able to make a living while writing, “The days of sitting along in your room cranking out novels are long gone.”
Kopano Motlwa author of Coconut is a former recipient of the Dinaane Award and her novel has been translated into Swedish and Dutch with a French translation currently underway. Matlwa’s Coconut is a set work at schools across South Africa.
The Dinaane Awards was open to unpublished English language manuscripts by debut writers, it was judged by a panel of three judges: Maureen Isaacson, Fred Khumalo and head judge Pamela Nichols.
Globally acclaimed South African artist Penny Siopis opened her latest exhibition Time and Again at the Wits Art Museum on Monday. A retrospective view on Siopis’ 30 years of artwork, Siopis remains relevant and inspirational.
RETROSPECTIVE VIEW: Exhibition-goers take a closer look at one of Penny Siopis’ works at the Wits Arts Museum in Braamfontein. Photo: Katleho Sekhotho
“Oh there she is,” says Rankin-Smith. “It’s wonderful to welcome Penny Siopis back to her second home.”
“Penny” is globally-renowned artist Penny Siopsis who on Monday opened a celebration of three decades of her work at an exhibition at the Wits Art Museum (WAM).
The evening was buzzing with many trying to get Siopis’ attention.
I was able to speak to her for just a few moments before she had to dash off. Kind and sweet, it was the first time I was able to put a face to the woman who had been an essential part in my visual arts learning in high school.
I want to dedicate the exhibition to my partner, my husband Colin Richards, who died very tragically and suddenly in 2012
Indeed the exhibition was focused around her many years of artwork, but more importantly her artwork was a commemoration to her late husband Colin Richards.
“I want to dedicate the exhibition to my partner, my husband Colin Richards, who died very tragically and suddenly in 2012, said Siopis. “He’s a very strong presence in the exhibition as he would be, and he’s also a very strong presence in the book that’s been published to coincide with the exhibition.”
Fellow artist Clive van den Berg introduced Siopis with the words, “Penny it gives me such profound happiness to celebrate with you, in loved ones present and absent, the results of 30 years of work.”
I first encountered the mythical idea of pink pinky as a child and then seeing that depicted in Siopis’ Pinky Pinky series of hand printed lithograph’s felt familiar.
As Van den Berg says: “So when we look at Pinky Pinky paintings or the so-called cake paintings, Penny’s method has already created a bridge for our understanding even before we think of their imagery.
”Similarly if we look at the history paintings which were formed by cutting and pasting illustrations from history books , the method, the sharply cut edges, the disjuncture of scale of association and narrative, tells us viscerally what she is doing before we put into words their basic premise.”
During her opening speech Siopis gave a heartfelt recount of the years of artwork that had finally lead her here:
“I also want to say that Clive has a very special meaning in my life, we were best friends when I first started out in Durban, we taught together … That was the time I made Queen Cakes and some of the earlier cake paintings. So to start this exhibition effectively in 1980 with the Queen Cakes and have Clive open the exhibition, and have Fiona here at WAM, putting a whole show together, is very, very special to me.
“So it’s this whole personal angle which is quite different,” she said.
Sipois said the exhibition includes her work up to 2012, when her husband passed away.
“There have been no works on this exhibition since he died. So for me the physical objects in this space mark his presence as much as my memory of him, and those who knew him at Wits would recognize in the exhibition.”
It might not be long until rhinos are extinct. Kirsty Brebner from the Endangered Wildlife Trust gave an Eco talk at Wits on Thursday, highlighting the critical state in which rhinos are in.
ALL FOR A HORN: Kirsty Brebner compares what is made up of a horn equivalent to that of what’s made up of a finger nail. She estimates that one rhino costs R350 000. Photo: File Photo
According to Brebner the Western Black and Vietnamese rhinos are already extinct, “There should be a global horror,” she said.
“If you look at some of the costs, rhinos alone, assuming R350 000 per animal, which might be a little bit conservative, and considering the time since 2008 we’ve lost nearly 4 000 rhinos.
Poachers have moved south and now they have our population in their rifle sights
“That amounts to R1.35 billion in national assets. Can you imagine if somebody stole R1.35 billion diamonds, or gold? It would be an absolute national outcry,” Brebner said.
Brebner says that a project that was once called “Rhinos in Distress” is now called “Rhinos in Crisis”.
“Poachers have moved south and now they have our population in their rifle sights,” said Brebner.
Brebner gave specific numbers concerning rhino poaching, “Black rhino numbers were estimated to be about 100 000 in Africa in the early 1950’s, and we’ve probably got 4000 or 5000 left, 39% of those are in South Africa. The really major black rhino range states are Zimbabwe, Kenya and Namibia.
“The numbers [of rhinos poached] have escalated since then with a record of 1 215 animals killed and that’s a conservative estimate.”
When speaking about government involvement in this crisis, Brebner said: “The figures of this year are not available, the Department of Environmental Affairs, in their wisdom, have decided to stop issuing statements of statistics and are only going to do so every three or four months.”
The history of rhino poaching
In addressing the reasons behind the spike in rhino poaching Brebner said: “Well unfortunately rhinos have always been a subject of mythology and terrible persecution for their horns, for this strange atomical horn, that really is nothing more than what’s made up of your finger nails or hair.”
Brebner went on to describe the history of rhino poaching, rhino horns were used in traditional Chinese medicine for approximately 2000 years and it was used mainly to reduce fevers.
Contrary to popular belief she said there has been very little use of rhino horn as an aphrodisiac.
“But unfortunately because of the hype that the western media have had over rhino horn as an aphrodisiac, they’ve actually created a new market with that hype,” she said.
What we’ve done with communities is empowered their leaders to raise awareness and impart knowledge on the plight of the rhino
Action being taken to curb poaching
Brebner spoke about community involvement in the rhino poaching business, “Communities have generally been marginalized from conservation, for many years it really became a ‘them’ and ‘us’ situation, they were outside the fences and they considered what was inside the fences as something not to do with them.
“Communities are absolutely critical. Firstly they are the first to know when poachers come into the villages, they are the first to know when people suddenly have a lot of money, and people suddenly buy 4×4’s when they had a bicycle before.”
What we’ve done with communities is empowered their leaders to raise awareness and impart knowledge on the plight of the rhino, Brebner said.
As organised crime comes into communities, so does the moral and social decay that happens as people get large amounts of ill-gotten money.
A book written by Professor Brenda Schmahmann in 2013 explores statues, symbols and images at post-apartheid universities. It highlights the urgency felt now in 2015 in light of recent events at universities calling for transformation.
A BOOK ABOUT CHANGE: Professor Brenda Schmahmann’s Picturing Change discusses long existing symbols and imagery at universities. Photo: Katleho Sekhotho
IN THE wake of statues in South Africa being protested, vandalised and removed, University of Johannesburg Prof Brenda Schmahmann’s book Picturing Change, has been put back in the spotlight.
Wits University Press have re-posted on their website a link to the book in their catalogue.
Schmahmann, who taught history of art at Wits between 1989 and 2001, spoke to Wits Vuvuzela about her book, what symbols mean at universities and their influence.
The professor could not have imagined that statues would suddenly become headlines this year. “I viewed such questions as relevant already and not something that would suddenly become relevant in 2015,” she said.
Schmahmann said the book came about from an experience at Rhodes University in 2008 while she was a professor there.
“I was involved in initiating discussion about visual culture on campus that had its origins in imperialist traditions and how to negotiate it,” said Schmahmann.
“I was interested in finding out what other universities had done and were doing, and this developed into an extended research project which culminated ultimately in Picturing Change.”
The fall of the Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) sparked much debate and Schmahmann believes that the removal of the statue points to a much bigger problem.
“I think the sculpture of Rhodes at UCT became in a sense a scapegoat for people’s deep sense of frustration, and probably less with UCT specifically than with a larger society in which the impact of poverty, lack of opportunity and sense of inequity is deeply felt.
“But, as I reveal in my book, the removal of art objects from view does not automatically lead to transformative actions,” said Schmahmann.
That it is not simply a matter of who is represented but how they are represented.
“There have been instances in which placing objects associated with British imperialism or Afrikaner nationalism out of sight and in storage has actually been used to curtaildifficult discussions.”
Schmahmann said instead statues should be used as instruments to encourage questions around transformation.
“Why not ask artists for ideas about curating and responding to that object or image in ways that prompt new understandings about it?”
Schmahmann said the politics of the Rhodes statue at UCT was more complicated than at first glance, because it had been sculpted by one of the first female sculptors in South Africa, Marion Walgate.
“Imperialist this work undoubtedly is, but it is also bound up with gender politics,” said Schmahmann.
Because of the 2008 discussion, changes were implemented at Rhodes University with the removal of old portraits with community based work.
“I motivated successfully for Rhodes University to commission for the interior of its Council Chamber, and to replace the portraits, [with] a self-help community project of isiXhosa-speaking women,” said Schmahmann.
Schmahmann said the transformation of cultural symbols also happened at University of Free State University. The university received a grant from the National Lottery and with this they’ve been able to acquire a variety of artworks including those by Willem Boshoff, Noria Mabasa and Willie Bester.
“These have completely transformed the “feel” of that campus,” said Shmahmann.
Shmahman said she hoped the book would convince readers that the answer to statues was not to simply substitute colonial and apartheid era statues with those of struggle heroes.
“That it is not simply a matter of whois represented but how they are represented.”
Schmahmann’s book Picturing Change: Curating Visual Culture at Post-Apartheid Universities is available at the Wits University Press.
A former Wits deputy Vice-Chancellor has been officially appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley.
Former deputy Vice-Chancellor (academic) of Wits University, Professor Yunus Ballim, has been appointed the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the 2-year-old Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley.
Ballim who officially started as VC of Sol Plaatje University (SPU) yesterday, said the position is both “exciting and scary”.
As a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Wits, he was requested by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), in 2013, to set up the SPU. This decision was supported by Wits University.
Unencumbered by phrases like ‘previously advantaged’ or ‘historically Black’, SPU offers opportunity to do new and exciting things
During this time Ballim’s title was ‘Interim Head’ at SPU but he retained a teaching and research relationship with Wits.
Speaking to Wits Vuvuzela about SPU, Ballim said, “As the first truly South African university, unencumbered by phrases like ‘previously advantaged’ or ‘historically Black’, SPU offers opportunity to do new and exciting things in higher education, particularly around high quality and successful intellectual development of students from traditionally marginalised communities.”
Despite moving on to a new university, Ballim says he hasn’t fully left Wits: “Wits has kindly agreed to allow me to retain my professorship in civil engineering (with no salary) to continue my research, supervision of postgraduate students and occasional teaching at postgraduate and undergraduate levels.”
With the task of being a VC of a very young university, Ballim said that “…developing the institutional, academic and infrastructure capacity of a new SPU is a very big challenge for me. As I indicated, I am nervously excited about my new task.”
A University of Johannesburg professor addressed an audience outside the gates of a French university after he was banned from speaking at the institution yesterday.
Despite being banned from speaking at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in France yesterday, Professor Farid Esack still managed to deliver a lecture on “Israel as an Apartheid State” at the main gates of the institution.
Esack is a professor in the Study of Islam, and Head of the Department of Religion Studies at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and also chairs the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) South Africa board. He was due to speak at the public research university in Paris as part of the Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) but was not able to after complaints were received by the institution.
“A pretty sad sight for France which turned out in their hundreds of thousands to defend ‘freedom of speech’ only a few months ago,” said Esack.
“The major allegations was that I was violent and anti-Semitic. The basis for this?”
“The major allegations was that I was violent and anti-Semitic. The basis for this?” asks Esack
According to Esack, allegations of violence against BDS supporters during the Boycott Woolworths campaign were ascribed to him as the chair of the organisation. “This was the sum of the Israeli lobby’s petition to French universities,” Esack continues.
Esack also addressed allegations that he is anti-Semitic by saying, “believe it or not, it all started with Dubula-i-Juda story that was first printed in Vuvuzela!” he exclaims.
According to Esack, BDS South Africa’s (through coordinator Mohammed Desai), attempts to explain the Wits incident “in the context of larger liberation struggle songs was presented as proof that I am anti-Semitic.”
“The BDS Board, which I chair and of which Desai is a member as the organization’s director, concurred with, unambiguously condemned that incident and BDS reaffirms its commitment to non-violence as its way of responding to the crimes of occupation and dispossession committed against the Palestinian people.”
Two Johannesburg filmmakers walked away with a top prize at the annual South African Film and Television Awards.
HONOURED STUDENT: Gena Du Plessis poses with the ‘heavy horn’ at the SAFTA’s. Photo: Willie du Plessis
Ana Patrick and Nicolas, a film by Gena Du Plessis, won best Student Film at the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA), in Midrand on Friday night. The film was directed by Bongani Vincent and starred Lauren Jenae Vankeirsbilck
Du Plessis and Vankeirsbilck are students at AFDA – The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance and their film depicts an unconventional relationship between two men and a woman. When one of them is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, all three struggle with fear, anxiety and denial which turns their perfect worlds upside down.
Du Plessis describes the moment they won, “My sugar levels dropped … The event itself blew me away. So professional.”
Lead actress in the film, Lauren Jenae, told Wits Vuvuzela, “I didn’t even know we were nominated!” She said she discovered their nomination while rehearsing as one of the presenters for the awards show.
Jenae added that she believes in the value of student films. “I even think they are better quality than professional films,” she said.
The SAFTAs are an annual event celebrating “creatives” in the film industry who have managed to do exceptional work in their field. This year’s SAFTAs were held at the Gallagher Convention Centre.
From the Sidelines is a podcast that uncovers the realities of building a career in football journalism, focusing on the ups and downs of breaking into this competitive field. In second episode, we sit down with Mazola Molefe, a highly acclaimed South African sports journalist known for his impactful coverage and respected voice in the […]
