Your Mama’s Kitchen is a music event that organizers hope will happen annually to keep band-culture alive in Braamfontein.
Making live magic: Moeketsi Tapisi and Thabiso Mphahlane of New Creation. Photo: Sibongile Machika
Watching a live concert is completely fulfilling .
It was a pleasant surprise then to hear about an event called Your Mama’s Kitchen which was held at The Bannister Hotel on Friday evening.
The main idea behind the event was to bring back live bands.
Tapisi, who is also a guitarist in the band New Creation and one of the organizers of the event said, “We saw a gap. There’s Pop Bottles which is only djs and there’s Joy of Jazz which doesn’t cater for the young people.
“So Mama’s Kitchen was an idea that came from a friend of mine Super, the rapper of New Creation, and the idea was basically that we have Impande Core’s Radio 1, 2, 3 who have established a name for themselves, therefore we can bring them together with other bands to create something fresh. An opportunity for people to experience live music and for the bands to get a following nyana”.
” something that was written by the Gods of music that someday there‘d be bands like these, that would play music they are not expected to play”.
The line-up attracted quite a crowd, with almost 100 people making their way to the rather small basement space where the event was hosted.
It featured four unsigned bands, namely Don’t Mind Don’t Care (DMDC), Radio1, 2, 3, The Undergrounds and New Creation, with the headline act being The Muffinz.
Thabang ‘Bassick’ Moletsane of DMDC expressed the band’s pleasure at being exposed to larger audiences. Bongani ‘Fingerzz’ Mathunjwa, his band mate, also said that the variety of sounds exhibited at your Mama’s Kitchen allowed people to transcend the borders of genres and enjoy the music without boundaries.
Drummer of DMDC, Xolani ‘Cush’ Mtshali agreed and further stated “we’re trying to get to more ears, we want to move this thing to a more commercial scene. To us events like this are important because then we get to more ears and we won’t get stuck in dungeons”.
Vocalist of Radio 1, 2, 3 Smanga, explained how the coming together in events such as Mama’s Kitchen was a powerful way of showing that live music and the culture around it is not dead. He further stated that it was their “cause, something that was written by the Gods of music that someday there‘d be bands like these, that would play music they are not expected to play”.
The event certainly attracted young people from all walks of life. It was symbolic of the lively and very different mixture of young people that live-in and walk through the streets of Braamfontein.
Finger Magic: Bongani ‘Fingerzz’ Mathunjwa of DMDC Photo: Sibongile Machika
John ‘Shoes’ Moshoeu former Bafana Bafana and Kazier Chiefs player passed away on Tuesday afternoon at the age 49. He died after a long battle with cancer. Moshoeu’s skill and passion for football made him a delight to watch. In memory of this football giant, here are some highlights of his illustrious career.
1.’ Shooooooozzzzzzzzzz’ As Moshoeu was affectionately known played 73 games in Bafana colours. In total he scored 8 goals for them.
2. Moshoeu, an attacking midfielder, was coach of Alexandra United FC, an amateur ABC Motsepe League side, up until May 2014
The club that Moshoeu coached of till May 2014.
The ABC Motsepe League, formerly known as the Vodacom League is the National Second Division league and it is the third tier of the South African Football structure.
3. He played internationally as well for Turkish clubs such as Fenerbahçe and Bursaspor between 1997-2003, appearing 123 times in total for both teams.
Fenerbahçe
Both teams form part of the Turkish Süper Lig, which is the professional soccer league in Turkey.
4. Moshoeu became one of the oldest players to have appeared in the African Cup of Nations in 2004. Shortly afterwards he ended his international career.
Legend: Former Bafana Bafana and Kazier Chiefs player, Shoes Moshoeu. Photo: Goal.com
5.Most important of all, it seems Shoes was a wonderful human being, and an equally wonderful sportsman. Here are some tweets from former team mates and people he’s worked with:
“We became team-mates & room-mates at Kaizer Chiefs & Bafana Bafana. I will miss him & may his (Shoes) soul rest in peace” – Doctor Khumalo
Bidvest Wits beat Orlando Pirates 2-0 in Tuesday night’s mid-week encounter of the Premier Soccer League.
by Masego Panyane and Sinikiwe Mqadi
CLEVER BOYS: The Bidvest Wits side that silenced the mighty Soweto giants Orlando Pirates on Tuesday evening. Photo: Sinikiwe Mqadi
The battle for third place in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) continued after Bidvest Wits walked away with a convincing victory against Orlando Pirates at home last night.
The Clever Boys were simply on fire, scoring both goals in the opening 16 minutes of the game courtesy of Calvin Kadi.
The goals were Kadi’s first in the season: “I am really happy that I managed to get two goals after a very long time without playing – it was a tough game,” he said.
In the second half The Buccaneers pushed forward but were kept at bay by Wits’ goalkeeper, Moneeb Josephs and the Wits defence.
Lennox Bacela tried to save his team by slotting in a goal in the 55th minute, but it was ruled an offside.
” Mistakes do happen and…You know I felt a bit sorry for the boy”.
The Clever Boys finished their match with 10 men, after Phumlani Ntshangase was shown the red card in the 84th minute after an unfair tackle on Lennox Bacela.
Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler acknowledged that a mistake made early on in the game by full back Patrick Phungwayo cost them the first goal. He said, “Mistakes do happen and … You know I felt a bit sorry for the boy”.
On the team’s performance in the match and how that affects their league race chances, Tinkler said: “The hype around the game and the importance of the game got to the players … so I think that’s why they possibly dropped their heads”.
This victory leaves Wits in fourth position on the league table. Wits and Pirates are now level on points, but The Clever Boys have one more game in hand.
The team is fighting to finish second on the PSL log but coach Gavin Hunt says there are challenges, “We are so thin of players, we are struggling with numbers … lots of injuries,” he said.
The Clever Boys will meet Chippa United on the 18th of April at Bidvest Stadium.
Correction: Wits Vuvuzela apologises for the errors which initially appeared in the article. We have corrected the movement name to #TransformationWits and the name of Wits student, Shaun Stanley.
The second phase of the #TransformWits movement took place Thursday afternoon where a number of pillars were discussed and opened to students and workers present at the meeting.
WITS TRANSFORMATION: The second phase meeting of the TransformWits movement was attended by a number students who showed solidarity with the proposed manifesto. Photo: Sinikiwe Mqadi
This was the second #TransformWits meeting after the initial introduction of the movement to the University. The first meeting was aimed at getting responses and ideas from the Wits community.
The second meeting was aimed at discussing feedback from UCT and Rhodes University meetings to show solidarity with students from these institutions and to announce the movement’s manifesto.
#TransformWits manifesto
The movement’s manifesto is divided into six pillars which the current working committee felt would best describe what the movement is set out to do. Speaking on how the movement would work from now on and the pillars of the movement, a member of the working committee, Panashe Chigumadzi said: “The movement centers black pain and those who are marginalized. There will come a point where people will be told to leave the room if they go against these notions.”
The six pillars of the #TransformWits movement are:
Africanisation of University Symbolism and Institutional Memory;
Radical Revision and Africanisation of all University Curricula;
Fast-track Africanisation of Academic staff contingency;
An end to Worker Discrimination and Outsourcing;
An End to Financial Exclusion of Students;
Revision of the Departmental Academic Structures that impede output of Black students.
Reactions to the manifesto
Wits community member, MA Philosophy student Shaun Stanley said that “there is, in the academy, some notion of what ‘African Philosophy’ is as it relates to issues within social sciences”. However what he believed to be vague, “is exactly what ‘African Mathematics’ or ‘African Science'” would look like. Stanley maintained that it was strange that a movement that is aimed to transform the university would seek to exclude some members of the university from joining the movement.
In response to Stanley’s second comment, a student who introduced herself just as Tshepiso (MA Politics student) said: “Black people’s issues must be heard first. All other issues will be dealt with later”.
WITS TRANSFORMATION: Politics postgraduate student and committee member Panashe Chigumadzi, addressing students and working members. Photo: Sinikiwe Mqadi
The manifesto can be found on the TransformWits Facebook page.
A memorandum will be handed over next week Wednesday to the Wits management. The Wits community is encouraged to give their feedback through email and Facebook before then.
The #TransformWits movement, which was started by Politics postgraduate students, was inspired by the University of Cape Town #RhodesMustFall movement, where members of the UCT community demanded the Cecil John Rhodes statue be removed from the university as the beginning of a transformation process at the university.
The statue of Rhodes was removed by UCT management Thursday, 9 April at 5:30pm.
#TransformWits will also host regular events next week at the Piazza outside the Great Hall at 1:20pm, and regular evening events at Central Block CB 38 from 5pm.
IN-FIGHTING at the SRC has spilled over into a formal complaint to the university management.
LEADER NOT SATISFIED: Jamie Mighti has laid a formal complaint against the SRC Executive. Photo: File
A formal complaint has been laid by Project W leader Jamie Mighti against executive members of the SRC for mismanagement of funds and an audit and internal investigation are underway.
In a letter given to the Wits Vuvuzela, Mighti has written a letter to the Vice Chancellor to lay a formal complaint about the irregularities that have been taking place with the running of the SRC.
It has also been brought to the attention of the Wits Vuvuzela, Project W is also requesting an audit of the SRC’s finances for the last three years.
It is alleged that “serious chunks of money” are missing. Along with this, Project W will also be pressing charges of “abuse of power and corruption”.
Shaeera Kalla, deputy president of the SRC and executive member, dismissed the claims made by Mighti as “entirely false” and stated that the first quarter report of the SRC will outline exactly what the situation with the SRC’s finances is.
“I cannot comment at this stage given that the process is in the hands of Prof Tawana and legal office.”
Project W, a group that makes up less than half of the SRC with six members out of the elected 15, has written a letter to the vice chancellor’s office in which the SRC’s executive is being accused of not following procedure, among other things. The executive is made of Progressive Youth Alliance members.
Mighti has requested that an internal investigation and audit into the financial management of SRC funds be launched.
Some of Mighti’s allegations include:
That the SRC has not had a formal meeting since November 2014
The SRC’s executive has been making important decisions outside of the rest of the SRC
Procurement processes have not been followed in the purchasing of certain items
That there has been unequal allocation of funds to certain portfolios in the SRC with some portfolios being allocated stipends of R5000 whilst others have been allocated nothing.
Mighti also alleged that a Frat house that was renovated as part of the fraternity/sorority programme for day students, that cost an estimated R500 000, has not been opened. The space, which is attached to the DJ du Plessis building on West Campus, was meant to be launched late last year but is yet to be opened due to what he believes is “in fighting” in the SRC.
The letter was sent to Vice Chancellor Adam Habib, Dean of Students Dr Pamela Dube and the legal office’s Dawn Taylor.
When contacted for comment, Dube said:
“I cannot comment at this stage given that the process is in the hands of Prof Tawana and legal office.”
Lungile Buhale, 22, Miss Soweto 2014 is a hardworking and very motivated individual. During her term, the 2nd year BA student hopes to improve how Soweto is perceived by the general public. She also wants to show other young women from one of South Africa’s largest townships that, as clichéd as this sounds, anything is possible if you work hard enough at it.
What inspired your decision to enter Miss Soweto?
It was mainly for two things. The first reason I entered Miss Soweto was because I needed a platform where I can communicate my initiatives and ideas that I want to do for the future, and as well as to put me in career mode for events. It’s something I want to do. So getting exposure as Miss Soweto will allow me to meet the right and relevant people in that industry.
So, are you a “pageant girl” in the traditional sense? Did you participate in pageants when you were younger, which led to you entering Miss Soweto?
This was my first pageant and luckily, I won! I don’t think I’m a pageant girl, I think I have qualities that make up a pageant girl.
Let’s talk for a bit about these qualities of a pageant girl, are you lady-like or a bit on the tomboyish side?
At the moment I am wearing a hoodie, takkies and jeans. That I believe does not make me a lady-lady. I am a lady when I have to be (laughs). I like being casual and calm because that represents who I am.
What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about sports and female empowerment. Sports allows you to make friends, keeps you healthy but most importantly it keeps you away from the bad stuff. It keeps you physically fit and mentally sharp.
Pageants are often linked to unattainable standards of beauty. With your experience as Miss Soweto, do you believe this is true?
The truth of the matter is that a certain type of beauty is pushed in these pageants but with Miss Soweto there were a lot of gorgeous women. What decided your fate was how well you can sell the brand. I believe that in that way, the pageant opened up to other women.
What township in Soweto are you from?
I am from the beautiful Dube Village. Not many people know about it, but it’s produced legends.
When the time comes for you to hand over your crown, what do you hope to have learnt from your experience as Miss Soweto?
I’m trying to create these initiatives and I’m hoping they work out. Sometimes you come across people who aren’t buying into an idea. That hurts. I’m learning about myself, by the end of this I want to have developed a thicker skin. I want to hand over my crown with pride knowing that I’ve done a lot for my community.I do not want to be remembered as someone that just won the crown, and left.
The Wits Football Women’s team showed a resurgence in form in their match against Tshwane University of Technology-1 on Wednesday night. Playing on home soil, the team managed to net 5 goals, producing their best performance this season.
Both teams came into this game on equal footing on the league log. TUT-1 had played to a two-all draw with Vaal University of Technology (Vanderbijlpark) two weeks ago while Wits played to a one-all draw with the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
The team played defensively against UJ but showed confidence in their match on Wednesday, pushing forward with every possession of the ball. Linah Maphanga and Siphesihle Zungu made a strong partnership by ensuring that with every touch of the ball they had, an opportunity to score.
“This result shows that we are getting better game-by game”.
When speaking to Wits Vuvuzela last week, Zungu shared how nervous she had been during the last match because she is one of the new players on the team. It seems she has warmed up to the task and this showed in her performance last night.
Wits coach Jabulile Baloyi explained the game had given the team a more positive outlook for the rest of the season. She said “Even though we were satisfied with the draw, this result shows that we are getting better game-by game”.
With Wednesday night’s win, the go into their next match again Midrand Graduate Institute (MGI), their first away game, looking to move to the top of the table. “We’re going back to the drawing board in terms of looking at where our weaknesses were because we didn’t play that perfectly we sure need to work on some departments,” Baloyi said.
The goals of the evening were scored by Maphanga who scored the first two goals, Hlengiwe Tshirunga who scored another two goals and Zungu who scored the final goal of the night against TUT-1 women.
My Body, my rules: Masego Panyane writes about body image. Photo: TJ Lemon
Body image plays a huge role in how we are perceived by the society we live in. This perception impacts our experiences in everyday life. We are nudged, not so gently, to make an effort to look a specific way. It’s everywhere. We see it in images on television, magazines and billboards. We are told about perfection on radio. We speak about it in everyday conversations.
I was bullied for about half of my early schooling days because my teeth were skew and I was the fat little girl. My tormentor, a girl much shorter and skinnier than I, used to refer to me as Sibeko from a comedy show called Emzini Wezintsizwa. The horror I had at being compared to the fat, untidy, always drunk-but quite smart- television character. Bathong!
As a result of that, I became an awkward and sad fat little girl. Until one night, I had a glorious dream of me bashing my tormentor into the ground. A classic case of mind over matter.
“I have struggled with weight and my body image for years. It took me storming out of the gym one afternoon to realize that I had been doing it wrong all this time. I wanted to lose weight because I wanted to fit in, not because I wanted to be healthy”.
I walked onto the playground the following day with the bravery of a Charlie’s Angel. The bully started her usual routine and made fun of one of the other girls. She made a stupid comment about how dumb the girl was because she couldn’t read properly. I didn’t laugh. She noticed, called me Sibeko again and I promised her a serious beating if she carried on. The rest, as they put it, is history.
For the next few years, I built my confidence up brick-by-brick. I focused on the things I was good at. Accepted all the things I was not. I made it work. But for some reason, the confidence I felt in my head didn’t mirror with how I felt, physically.
Now before you give me a lecture about fitness and weight loss, please do me a favor and have a seat. The likelihood that you are going to tell me something I have never heard before is slim. Yes, pun intended.
I have struggled with weight and my body image for years. It took me storming out of the gym one afternoon to realize that I had been doing it wrong all this time. I wanted to lose weight because I wanted to fit in, not because I wanted to be healthy.
Since that penny dropped, I joined a number of body positive movements which advocate for a healthy lifestyle and a positive look at your body, regardless of what size you are or however many defect your body has.
I realized how much pressure I had put on myself to transform my body into what it could possibly never be given my genetics.
I am aware of my body. I know that becoming more active would be great for me. That does not mean I must hate myself in order to achieve this. I will dress as I please and I certainly will not disappear from the face of the earth because I am not conventionally pretty. No can do.
My experience with the school bully stripped me of my voice for a while. After I got through that, I promised myself I would never allow that to happen to me again.
I will get healthier. But at my own pace. Not because I am trying to subscribe to some standard of beauty that I probably would never attain.
CHALLENGE: TUT player Nkosenhle Ntshangase on the attack. Photo: Samantha Camara
Wits Football Club Men suffered yet another defeat after they lost their second match 2-0 to fifth placed Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) at the Bidvest Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Wits coach, Karabo Mogudi explained how disappointed he was at the result of the game. He said “Football is an honest game, it really shows you your weaknesses and if you’re lacking in anything, it’ll really show up”.
The pitch was damp as the rain had fallen quite heavily earlier in the evening. The grass was quite slippery, making it difficult for players to keep steady and upright on the pitch.
ATTACK: Neo Makua dribbles past the TUT-1 defense. Photo: Samantha Camara
In the first few minutes neither team asserted themselves as ball possession was equally distributed.
A counter attack by TUT in the 15th minute led by Senzo Mtshali with the assistance of Shirinda Vogani almsost put them in the lead. Future Gumede eventually took the shot that went wide of the post.
Wits player Innocent Magasela found himself at the end of a hard tackle in the 18th minute of the game which left him in serious pain, giving Wonder Frank an opportunity to show his skills after Magasela had to be taken off.
In the 27th minute of the first half, the perseverance of the TUT side and an error by Wits gave the TUT combination of Mtshali, Vongani and Gumede an opportunity to move towards Wits goals from the left hand side of the Wits defence resulting in a surprising goal by Bongi Mkhabele. Placing TUT-1 in the lead with 13 minutes of the first half remaining.
The second goal of the match came in the 79th minute of the match after both teams had a series of back-and-forth attempts. Gumede, who had been a headache for the Wits defence throughout the game, led an attack from the middle. Vongani stole the ball from the Wits mid-fielders and went through the right hand side of Wits’ defence to score a goal that can only be described as beautiful, sealing the fate of the Wits side.
Coach of the winning side TUT Maude Khumalo said: “I am very happy with the way the boys played, they listened to my instructions, they played as a team and they worked hard.”
Both Wits teams will play away against Midrand Graduate Institute on the 24th March at the Makulong Stadium.
The Wits Football Club Men’s side suffered a blow after losing 1-0 to the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Tuesday evening.
The winning goal was struck by Lindani Mazibuko after a set piece that had been awarded to UJ due to an unfair tackle on one of their players in the first 35 minutes of the game.
The first match of the University Sport South Africa (USSA) Gauteng Football League saw UJ dominating in the first half of the game. UJ head coach Bradley Carnell explained it was a “calculated approach from the team” to ensure that they play well enough to win the first game of the season.
The combination of Treasure Dlamini, Tshepo Tolo, Sadro Claro and Tebogo Mandy made for entertaining viewing as they attacked the Wits defense coming from the left side of the park in the first half of the match.
With the beginning of the second half, the game seemed to even out with both teams attacking equally.
Wits pushed forward with a good offense but missed a few goal chances.
“They will improve as in the last 15 mins the boys were starting to cramp and stuff so not really lack of fitness but really lack real competitive match fitness.”
The Wits combination of Ayanda Makua and Gift Baloyi kept the pressure on the opposition’s defense, but UJ rose to the occasion by ensuring that Wits could not break them down completely.
In a counter attack at 50 minutes, Dlamini missed two perfect scoring opportunities in order to extend their lead by hitting the crossbar and side bar in less than a minute.
The last 20 minutes of the game saw Wits attacking UJ steadily but despite the team’s efforts and the fans’ singing, the match ended 1-0.
Wits coach Karabo Mogudi acknowledged that UJ had been playing in other competitive tournaments and that gave them an advantage in Tuesday’s game.
Mogudi added that Wits failed to achieve a competitive edge due to a lack of “real competitive match fitness”.
The Wits women’s and men’s teams are set to play against the Tshwane University of Technology on the 17th of March 2015 at Bidvest Stadium. Kickoff is at 6:30pm and 8:30pm.
Since her announcement as the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Helen Zille has dominated national headlines. In this bonus episode of We Should Be Writing podcast, hosts Lulah Mapiye and Bonolo Mokonoto dissect a media meet-and-greet with the mayoral hopeful. From her extensive political résumé to her controversial public utterance, we examine why the Democratic Alliance has chosen Hellen Zille as their candidate for the 2027 local mayoral elections. Additionally, […]
