The Braamfontein Cemetery has seen bouts of vandalism to its Ash Wall and graves, and whilst volunteers work day and night to rebuild these people’s memories, there is no end in sight.
Saying goodbye to a loved one is already the hardest thing a person can do. But, laying a person to rest in peace and then seeing their tombstone smashed into pieces must feel like losing them twice. Or, placing a loved one’s urn behind an engraved plaque only to find their name in pieces with their ashes missing, surely cracks the heart wide open once again.
This is the reality for many families with loved ones buried at the Braamfontein Cemetery, as vandalism to its Ash Wall and graveyard began in March 2023. Since then, small groups of vandals continue to trash the cemetery to this day, almost a year and a half later.
Empty bottles, rubbish, and cigarette butts are amongst the rubbish left in-between the Ash Wall. Photo: Victoria Hill
Grave tombstones are vandalised beyond repair, with one such statue having its head brutally chopped off. Photo: Victoria Hill
Graves of reverends were smashed to pieces, vandalised, or disturbed in some other way. Photo: Victoria Hill
Plaques have been removed or smashed so that the writing is illegible on the Ash Wall. Photo: Victoria Hill
The lack of upkeep at the cemetery shows when dead flowers are not removed from gravesides. Photo: Victoria Hill
Rubble piled up against the Ash Wall creates a big eye-sore. Photo: Victoria Hill
A man can be seen entering the cemetery from the road due to lack of perimeter fencing. Photo: Victoria Hill
An ominous hut peaks out from the back of the graveyard, directly opposite the abandoned Braamfontein Station building. Photo: Victoria Hill
It is not clear why people who vandalise specifically target the Ash Wall, but Mike Nyathi, a security guard at Braamfontein Cemetery, speculates that the vandals most probably steal human ashes to mix with other drugs that they then smoke. Nyathi also mentioned how thieves smash into the Ash Wall, as family members will sometimes leave prize-possessions with their loved ones in their place of rest, which vandals then pawn for money.
Friends of Johannesburg Cemeteries (FOJC), a non-profit organisation and a group under the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, have been leading the restoration project of the vandalised Ash Wall at Braamfontein Cemetery. They depend entirely on donations to fund their projects.
Sarah Welham, convenor of FOJC, says the project is costly and time-consuming: “We spend R5000 a week on builders’ wages and at one point when we had [three] builders, we were paying out R7500 a week.”
Whilst the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo have “supplied us with much of the building material we needed, as well as 130 blank granite plaques,” Welham says, “we have had several appeals to the public for donations when required. Many people living overseas have donated very generously.”
To date, Welham estimates 6 000 niches and plaques have been repaired by FOJC, and the process isn’t a quick one. The longest and hardest part involves matching each name to the correct niche number and ensuring the correct ashes are placed behind the plaques. Only then can the plaque be engraved and reattached to the wall which is, in itself, another extensive process.
The reoccurring act of the vandalism to Braamfontein Cemetery is largely unexplained, yet Welham and Nyathi agree it is due to poor security. The security company preceding Cognizant Security Solutions were not “patrolling and spending time in the Ash Wall section of the cemetery to act as a deterrent to vandals”, says Welham.
Nyathi warned this Wits Vuvuzela journalistto not venture past a certain point due to a breach in the back boundary wall of the cemetery. Across the road is the old Braamfontein Station building which has seemingly been hijacked and inhabited by people who enter the premises for various reasons. Repairing this fence would “cost millions and the City of Johannesburg does not have the budget for that”, says Welham.
Azola Manjati, Manager for the Braamfontein and Brixton Cemeteries, told Wits Vuvuzela “this financial year, there is a budget allocated to repair the fence”, so things are looking up.
Nyathi said that when a funeral or cremation is in session, all security personnel remain in that vicinity to watch over the procession and vehicles, leaving the cemetery largely unguarded.
Nevertheless, after a great deal of work, FOJC organised a tour of the repaired Ash Wall in hopes of raising awareness to the issue of vandalism at Braamfontein Cemetery and showcase their hard work to family and friends. However, just days before the tour was meant to take place, the wall was once again struck down. Welham reports only 14 plaques were destroyed — this time.
The FOJC got back to work repairing the wall yet again, because they have undertaken the task to “restore the area to one of peace and dignity”. Welham further says “many of the families have moved away from Johannesburg and have been distraught that they were unable to deal with this problem themselves”.
However, after many cycles of repairing the Ash Wall just to have it vandalised again, the FOJC is staring into a dim future. They cannot continue to raise “thousands and thousands of rands to do the repairs” as “there is only so much the public is prepared to donate”. The next large-scale vandalism to the Ash Wall will have to go unrepaired, which is a harsh but necessary truth.
Besides the vandalism, Braamfontein Cemetery is quite rundown and unkept, with grass overgrown in much of the old area. With graves dating back to the 1800s, the cemetery is a historical place of rest for many souls.
However, rubbish from trespassers and vandals scatter the once serene grounds, causing the graves of many individuals to be covered in empty alcohol bottles, plastic bags, rubble, cigarette butts, and much more.
Manjati says Johannesburg City Parks are currently “supporting the Friends group and are working towards formalising [their] partnership” for the future, as they have the common goal to respect those that have passed and their families.
The desecration of graves and ashes is a sensitive social issue but is one that needs to be addressed before the saying “rest in peace” loses its meaning altogether.
FEATURED IMAGE: Plaques from the Ash Wall section of the cemetery have been ripped off their niches and smashed to pieces, with the ashes removed from the place-keeper altogether. Photo: Victoria Hill
In Gaza, a press vest is no longer a protective piece of clothing, but a moving target on a journalist’s back.
The ongoing offence in Gaza has become the most reported genocide in history, and when rockets blow-up buildings and civilians are brutalised, journalists are not protected from Israel’s wrath.
Journalists have been purposefully targeted and assassinated in Gaza during Israel’s siege in Palestine. Their voices were torn from their throats, their offices bombed, equipment destroyed, and their families threatened and killed.
The answer to why this is the case is simple: journalists are silenced because they speak the truth to power. The Committee to Project Journalists’ (CPJ) chief executive officer, Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement: “Every journalist killed is another blow to our understanding of the world.”
Approximately 168 journalists have been martyred to date in Gaza with the most recent assassination on Sunday, August 18. Over 100 reporters have been detained or injured, and more than 50 remain incarcerated. But it is important to remember “behind each number, there is a life,” said Inayet Wadee, presenter at Salaamedia.
One journalist who has been able to make it out alive is Youmna El-Sayed, Al Jazeera’s English correspondent in Gaza. El-Sayed has been reporting on the conflict for a decade, her daughter was born into an open-air prison and still lives in one.
Arriving in South Africa on Tuesday, August 20, El-Sayed barely stopped to breathe a sigh of relief before she shared her story, and the stories of those still abandoned in Gaza, with a room full of journalists hosted by Salaamedia in Sandton.
Youmna El-Sayed was taking a moment to breathe before the press conference began about her time as a frontline reporter in Gaza, with mediator, Zanele Mji. Photo: Victoria Hill
United Nation experts describe the Gaza genocide as the “most dangerous conflict for journalists in recent history”. More recently, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and amounts to apartheid.
Waking up to rockets sailing through the sky and bullets raining down on the road, El-Sayed knew that fateful day in October last year was the start of something bigger than the decades of oppression and repression seen before.
Kissing her children on their sleeping heads, she left her house, never to return. In the past, civilians were given a five-minute grace period to flee their homes and run before they were blown apart, but this time around, no such privilege existed.
This week, El-Sayed finally “left this hell, [she] was able to come out, and was given another chance to live, and the only thing to help [her] survive this survivor’s guilt was continuing to speak about Gaza from the outside.”
The first time El-Sayed cried was not when she had to flee her home, or watch her colleagues be killed around her, but only when she realised in succeeding as a journalist, she failed as a mother.
Her daughter had screamed at her: “They’re going to kill us because of you!” This came after she had received a phone call from an Israel Defence Force officer warning her to leave Gaza or be killed.
However, when asked why she keeps reporting in such terrifying conditions, El-Sayed said: “the feeling of bitterness…that taste of abandonment by the world, for me as Youmna, was enough motivation to keep going. And I know for so many other colleagues it is that motivation [too].”
Where she lost her professional sense of duty, she found her humanitarian one because of the “hundreds of thousand of innocent who depend on [her]. But, no matter what, she still mourns the loss of her soul that will forever be buried in Gaza.
El-Sayed reminded journalists that they are the voice for the voiceless, and silencing them means silencing millions of civilians, thereby denying a basic human right to massive portions of the world.
FEATURED IMAGE: Youmna El-Sayed is the face of journalists in Gaza, and she tells their stories in partnership with Salaamedia who held a press conference on Wednesday, August 21, at Hyatt House in Sandton. Photo: Victoria Hill
Grassfires have lit up our city and black plumes of smoke have ascended over it too, but whether controlled or wild, these fires spark the debate of whether they are beneficial or not.
Imagine driving down the N1 highway when a white haze takes over the sky and obscures your line of vision. The car, truck or whatever in front of you an unrecognisable haze no matter how hard you squint. Hazards blink at double speed, a desperate safety warning that you are on the road too.
You can smell the scent of burnt grass, smoke filtering through your air vents. You try to close them, but it is too late, the car has already filled with dust and ash. A cough escapes as you wipe your watery eyes and then you see the flames engulfing the nature reserve you drive by every day. Bunnies hope, birds fly, and snakes slither away from the flames. You watch as the firemen throw water on the flames, get in their truck, and drive away.
Johannesburg’s Winter months have seen many grass fires blazing alongside highways and homes, but no one really understands if these fires are readying the ground for new life in Spring, or if they are random and just killing many species in their wake.
Sporadic fires and controlled fires look identical, with the only difference being the havoc they wreak.
The veld section part of EnviroServ’s property was reduced to ashes when an out-of-control fire swept up everything in its path. Photo: Victoria Hill
Veld next to The Meridian complex in Solheim was doused in smoke, creating a very ominous picture as residents looked on. Photo: Victoria Hill
AG De Witt Drive between Bedfordview, Solheim, and Dawnview had decreased visibility due to a roadside fire that was not under supervision. Photo: Victoria Hill
A fire on the corner of AG De Witt Drive and Kloof Road boarded on a private residence, causing harmful fumes to envelop the property. Photo: Victoria Hill
The small piece of veld next to Smit Street on-ramp in Braamfontein was smoking one afternoon whilst civilians laid amongst the flames and fumes. Photo: Victoria Hill
After a controlled veld fire, new blades of grass could be seen rising from the ashes, indicating the usefulness of grass fires in Winter months. Photo: Victoria HIll
Controlled burning of grasslands or velds are actually a common occurrence in Johannesburg and other parts of South Africa. Joburg City Parks says this acts as a firebreak so that if accidental fires do occur, they do not spread very far. However, they also act as an ecological resetter — fire removes dead matter from the ecosystem which could potentially house harmful insects, pests, weeds, or diseases.
Research says dead matter also holds onto nutrients that would otherwise be absorbed into the soil for other plants to use as food. The ash produced from grass fires can also act as a natural fertiliser for plant growth in the Spring as it contains vitamins and minerals like phosphorous, calcium, and potassium.
Examples of these sorts of fires can be seen in the black grass dressing Johannesburg’s velds. Many of us do not even realise a grass fire occurred because it was quick and controlled, but impactful.
Accidental fires, or uncontrolled fires, are not ecologically friendly as they just burn and burn until they are stopped — hopefully. They occur mostly near very dry grasslands, usually due to a lit cigarette being discarded or just bad luck. They sweep close to residential areas, cars, people, and anything else in its path.
Let us not forget the little creatures that never make it out alive like earthworms, spiders, ants, and other insects vital for aerating soil or biologically controlling pests. Bird nests also die in the blaze, including their chicks or eggs that were nestled inside.
An example of this would be the huge black cloud of smoke that covered Brickfield Road in Germiston on Saturday, August 10. What was meant to be a controlled burning of a large veld turned nasty when the wind swept the flames to a neighbouring plastic recycling plant. The smoke let off from these types of fires also contribute to air pollution as it contains harmful greenhouse gases. Bethany Augliere, a writer for Earth Magazine, says burning grass releases nitrogen pollution that harms air quality.
Another instance was on Sunday, August 11, when veld next to a busy main road between Bedfordview and Germiston was under a controlled burn but soon got carried away and closer towards boundary walls of residential homes. Because of the close proximity, this thick and polluted air was inhaled by humans and their pets which can have disastrous health implications. Firemen were told to keep the area on their radar to ensure the flames fizzled themselves out relatively soon, which they did.
Fire is a scary element, one that can burn anything in its path to the ground. As children, we were always told not to play with fire, lest our fingers get burnt. But then we watched phoenixes combust into a blaze on television screens, and saw a new creature emerge from the fire’s centre. So, is fire really just a killer or also a mother giving birth to new life?
FEATURED IMAGE: A huge black plume of smoke adorned the sky in parts of the East Rand on Saturday, August 10, after a veld fire spiralled out of control. Photo: Victoria Hill
Miss South Africa is known as the country’s ambassador but basing that title on beauty alone does not seem all that revolutionary.
I did not clock the Miss South Africa competition was upon us until the social media storm surrounding one contestant, and oh boy, was it a lot. I got dragged in, and then I went on an Olympic-style deep dive myself.
Chidimma Adetshina, born in South Africa to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, a divorcee, and a mother herself, was social media’s victim in recent weeks. Users stated her beauty was a product of her mixed heritage, and she didn’t physically and culturally resemble a ‘Miss South Africa prototype’, whatever that means.
This got me thinking about beauty pageants; about young girls or women dolled up in sparkling dresses and bikinis, strutting down a runway hoping their faces and bodies will dazzle judges. They are scrutinised for being too skinny or too chubby, too blonde or too brunette, too fake or not fake enough. Too Nigerian.
The panel adding a question about how they would want to change the world or how they would achieve world peace does not suddenly make the ordeal self-enlightening or inspiring, so why does Miss Anything still exist?
It surprised me, then, to learn Miss South Africa is in its 66th revolution around the sun. Debuting in 1958, the beauty pageant is still wholly dependent on the principles of its time. It was unironic to read their four core pillars are “duty, championship, empowerment, and beauty”, but the fact this remains unchanged in 2024 is unnerving.
The four pillars of the Miss South Africa organisation, some broken, some solid. Graphic: Victoria Hill
Duty I can get behind, because as the supposed ambassador for South Africa, the crowned queen is expected to engage with her local communities and charities. For example, former Miss South Africa 2023, Natasha Joubert, advocated for education and entrepreneurship and the current queen, Mia Le Roux, promised to work towards a more inclusive society regarding “differentally-abled” individuals.
However, championship is where I start to teeter. This word is associated with winners which contradicts the “spirit of Ubuntu-Botho” the Miss South Africa organisation says it upholds. Sitting at Miss South Africa’s centre is the principle of the winner takes it all, yet they want to be seen as something believing in “I am what I am because of who we all are”. The woman who wears the crown is given a R1 million cash prize, a fully furnished and serviced apartment, and a shiny Mercedes Benz GLC Coupé to drive around; yet she is supposedly the voice of a less-fortunate community who is not bedazzled with jewels — H is for hectic.
Empowerment is an obvious one, and an important pillar in any social organisation. Miss South Africa says they are a “leading voice on women empowerment and a launchpad for much-needed social change”. This is all perfect on paper, but does Miss South Africa really touch that many lives, and if yes, for how long? Do her campaigns reign on for longer than she does, and does South Africa feel empowered when they see the crown settled on her head? I know my answer.
But beauty is where I really stopped in my tracks and did a double-take. Miss South Africa’s reputation is being a beauty pageant where a winner is crowned based on her physical appeal. But, the brand they promote is mountains away from this — they want Miss South Africa to be a leader in social change, yet do this through her objective beauty? It does not gel in my head because choosing a winner based on an icon-sized picture of her face on social media is misogynistic to a tee and I would be wholly disrespected by the process.
Nevertheless, Miss South Africa seems here to stay, and we have no choice but to buckle in for the ride, not that I am a fan of rollercoasters.
FEATURED IMAGE: A graphic created by Victoria Hill
International Assistance Dog Week celebrates furry heroes known as ‘man’s best friend’.
When Annay, Danny, and Felix from Paws For People Therapy Dogs trotted into the frail care unit at Golden Harvest II, the residents’ faces immediately lit up. They sat up straighter in their chairs, hurriedly put their tea and biscuits to one side, and all vied for the attention of the newcomers. Little Annay and Danny jumped onto the laps of the senior citizens, and Felix, a young German Shepard, settled for just laying his head in their open hands.
As they moved from room to room, each resident opened their arms and welcomed their furry friends into their space, and some even chased after the dogs because they had missed their turn. This is just a mere snippet of the day in the life of a therapy dog.
The work of these dogs and their handlers is unknown to many people in the world but contrastingly means everything to others, and Thursdays at Golden Harvest II have easily become the elderly residents’ favourite days.
Paws For People Therapy Dogs also visit hospitals, special need schools, and care facilities as well as work in Bite Prevention and Responsible Pet Ownership campaigns. Their dogs and handlers have come to embody real-life superheroes.
Annay getting and giving all the love at Golden Harvest Old Age Home. Photo: Victoria HillFelix was staring lovingly at a senior citizen who was enjoying her tea and rusk. Photo: Victoria Hill
In all areas of life, dogs have come to represent protectors, companions, or helpers. Their ability to be trained yet still have their own personalities has made them favourites among humans.
This International Assistance Dog Week, running from August 4 to August 10, sees appreciation for all types of service or therapy dogs, big and small, thanking them for their never-ending, unwavering, and unconditional love. This week of awareness was created to recognise the role service dogs play in an individual’s life, including allowing one the freedom and confidence to live a full life.
Assistance dogs come in different types, including guide dogs for the visually impaired, seizure or diabetes alert dogs, service dogs for those with physical disabilities, therapy dogs, and autism support dogs, to name just a few.
However, most public areas do not allow assistance dogs on their premises, besides the most well-known guide dog.
This is due to an element of lack of knowledge about the importance of the dog’s job and role in his or her handler’s life. Whether an assistance dog has one person to assist or aids many at one time, they are devoted to their job with all their heart.
Those needing assistance dogs often feel ostracised or not welcome in certain spaces, and sometimes are stopped from entering a place on its threshold. It is important to discern the difference between having a pet and an assistance dog that is highly trained.
Assistance dogs must undergo training and assessments to be classed as such, and they are chosen such that their temperaments are in line with their job description.
For many handlers, assistance dogs become an extension of themselves, and these dogs serve as faithful companions even after retirement.
FEATURED IMAGE:Annay and Danny sitting on the lap of an elderly lady whose face lit up when they walked into her room. Photo: Victoria Hill
Today is when our luck officially runs out because humanity has stripped earth of its ecological resources for the year.
The oceans are empty and the sun has hidden away. The crops are mangled messes and animals lay unmoving. The moon does not light up the road and the earth is matted in darkness. Lightbulbs are failing, oxygen is scarce, and the stench of carbon dioxide is smelt for miles. Cars are stranded without fuel and homes have disintegrated into dust. Humans remain alive, but the earth is a ghost town.
This is what life would look like without earth’s natural resources, yet this image is still not enough to generate widespread panic worldwide. Humanity is overextending the earth’s arm to the point where we are running out of yearly resources before we have revolved around the sun.
Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) falls on August 1 this year, which means in just seven months, humanity has used all the resources earth can regenerate in this given year. For the earth to satisfy the current rate of human demand and consumption of ecological resources, there would need to be 1,7 earths.
Humanity’s current rate of demand would need more than just our earth alone to keep up. Graphic: Victoria Hill
More concerning is if the entire world lived like South Africa, the EOD would have been on June 20, meaning we would need 2,1 earths to survive on earth’s resources this year. Whilst not the worst country, we are definitely nowhere near the best.
The Global Footprint Network, an international research organisation, calculates the EOD by dividing the earth’s biocapacity by humanity’s ecological footprint and multiplying it by the number of days in a year.
Simply put, they determine the rate at which earth can produce resources whilst still absorbing waste, and compares this to how dependent humans are on this service each year.
In numbers, the earth’s biocapacity sits at 1,5 global hectares per person whilst the ecological footprint is at 2,6 global hectares per person, where 1,6 of this is a person’s average carbon footprint.
There is currently a 1,1 global hectare per person deficit in the world, and the gap is not closing fast enough. Graphic: Victoria Hill
To digest this further, there is a resource deficit of 73% in the world in 2024. This explains the basis of what causes climate change and global warming — overexploitation. The aim of the Global Footprint Network is to illustrate ways in which the economy can operate within earth’s ecological limits. So, it is not all doom and gloom.
Research says cutting greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels by 50% would move the EOD back three months. This makes sense because fossil fuels are the main contributor to waste production and global warming worldwide. If major emitters such as China, the United States of America, Russia, and India were to all set emission targets lower than their current level, the earth’s biocapacity would increase and ecological resources would feel less strain.
Holistic solutions also lie within five major sectors, namely cities, food production, energy generation, population, and the planet.
There are many sectors in which solutions lie for the EOD to move later in the year. Graphic: Victoria Hill
So, whilst we may have officially run out of resources for this year, we can work towards living within earth’s boundaries so that a happy medium can be obtained in the future.
FEATURED IMAGE: The earth is beautiful and paints the sky in oranges and reds, but it is dying and we need to act quickly. Photo: Victoria Hill
Pangolins are armoured, scaled, small mammals that are living out their last years on earth, and most of humankind has never even heard of one.
Pangolins are 85 million years old and have become known as the “wise old man” of the African bush. They are totems of good luck, the bringers of rain, and are the guardians of the forest, grassland, and bush veld landscapes.
Their sole job in life is to maintain a balanced ecosystem by eating termites and ants, but they have found themselves in a sticky situation on South Africa’s red list of endangered species.
Their numbers are expected to decrease by 30% between 2005 and 2032 and have been named an endangered species by the South African National Biodiversity Institute. Also concerning is the World Wide Fund stating pangolins are officially the most poached mammal on our planet.
Besides having no vocal cords, teeth, or claws, thereby being virtually harmless except to certain insects, pangolins have become the prey for Asian, Indian, Chinese, Malaysian, Vietnamese and African markets. Wanted for traditional medicines, cultural ceremonies, or for ornaments and talismans, the pangolin life is one of trauma and pain from birth until death.
Audience members were given pangolin-shaped panels for the auction which were also keepsakes for the event. Photo: Victoria HillThe attendees of the auction and art exhibition at CIRCA Gallery were captivated by videos of pangolins playing on the screen to remind them of the great cause. Photo: Victoria Hill
Pippa Ehrlich, a wildlife filmmaker and journalist, explains how these armour-plated creatures have 30-centimetre tongues that catch their food and clean their scales. They have a highly tuned sensory system and use their noses to interact with the world.
They also have soft underbelly’s so they can exercise their abdominal muscles to be able to curl into small balls as a defence mechanism. As cute as they may be, pangolins are mysterious and nocturnal creatures who camouflage to their environment to disappear altogether.
Ehrlich calls all these features their superpowers. But their most important power of all, she says, is the pangolins’ ability to captivate the human mind.
She explains “when you find this little creature and it comes out of a box, and it’s been through the most horrible things you can imagine at the hands of human beings, and the first thing it does is uncurl and snuggle into your neck, you immediately fall in love.”
With all this in mind, the CIRCA Gallery in Rosebank held an art exhibition and subsequent auction on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in collaboration with the African Pangolin Working Group (APWG) to raise funds for their organisation.
The APWG rescues pangolins from the illegal trade network and rehabilitates them with the hope to release them back into the wild. Nicci Wright, the co-chairperson for the APWG, shared the first time she met a pangolin: “It was in 2007 that someone put a pangolin in my hands for the first time, and I didn’t know how to hold it. I’ve worked with all kinds of wildlife, and I knew how to hold all of those. But this pangolin was the most incredibly odd, hard, gentle, soft shape, and it was one that had been taken off the illegal trade. But when that pangolin looked at me, I felt my heart open.”
With 12 pieces of artwork auctioned on the night by Strauss & Co, a fine art auctioneering house, the APWG raised R355 000, excluding their seven online auction items available until Monday, August 5, 2024, which will all go towards saving the pangolins from their plight.
FEATURED IMAGE: Proclaimed artist Douw van Heerden was creating a spectacular piece throughout the evening to be sold via the online auction. Photo: Victoria Hill
Rand Water’s planned maintenance on the Zuikerbosch Water Treatment Plant has turned into a nightmare for some Johannesburg residents when the water just never came back.
It is no laughing matter that large parts of Johannesburg have been without water for over a week since Monday, July 15, 2024, whether that means dry taps or low water pressure for over 60 000 residents.
This comes after Rand Water commenced the second phase of its maintenance plan, which saw the Palmiet Booster System reduced to a 68% pumping capacity for 50 hours. These long hours came and went, but the water never returned to residents’ homes.
Councillor Jill Humphrey’s said: “Not knowing, not being informed, is not acceptable when our community is so severely impacted.”
Taps were fully open but completely dry during the week of water outages, and this is expected again starting Monday, July 29, for up to two weeks. Photo: Victoria Hill
Having prepared for only low water pressure on a scheduled timeline, many residents’ in over 16 areas were left scrambling to fulfil their basic needs. Research by the City of Johannesburg’s Environment and Infrastructure Services Department suggests that residents in South Africa approximately use 275 litres per capita per day.
Because JoJo tanks and rotating water tankers were in such high demand, many residents did not have access to this alternative water supply, albeit undrinkable.
A resident in Germiston, Tristyn Denempont, said: “The water tankers that were scheduled to be positioned closest to our area were not easily accessible, and not all of them actually arrived, meaning we had to travel further to use the tankers”.
Thus, they had to resort to buying water for everyday tasks, such as cooking, drinking, and washing dishes and clothes. Wits Vuvuzela ran the numbers — if the average cost of a five-litre bottle of water is R25, this equates to R1 375 per day, which accumulates to nearly R10 000 for the seven-day dry spell. This is an added cost for households above and beyond their monthly water and sanitation bills.
Denempont added, “both my parents are retirees with health problems, and carrying the water is very difficult for them. Fortunately, I am at home to help them most of the time, but if they want to fill up the kettle for tea from the 5L bottle when I’m out, it is physically difficult for them to do. This means I had to ensure I had water in manageable containers that weren’t too heavy for them to lift and move when they did need to use water in my absence”.
It was no surprise when councillors in affected areas received multiple complaints from residents, Jane Skipsey said: “I wish they would stick to their promises and follow the timeline they provided regarding the maintenance period”.
Rand Water has since issued a notice informing residents the third and final phase of the Zuickerbosch maintenance plan will be going ahead on Monday, July 29 with water supply affected for up to 40 hours. They have added in their statement that water supply may be interrupted for up to 15 days after the completion of maintenance.
Denempont said he is “feeling very apprehensive about the upcoming scheduled maintenance, as they have already shown themselves to be unreliable with restoring water flow to our area”.
No one can say what the coming week will bring, and residents can only hope for Rand Water and the City of Ekurhuleni to hear their prayers.
FEATURED IMAGE: Bottles of water lined up in the boot of a resident’s car to try and stock up for water outages. Photo: Victoria Hill
Every Wits University alumnus has the infamous edge, but this particular Computer Science professor has chosen to use his edge to give back to his blue and gold community.
Benjamin Rosman is the face of Wits University’s School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, mainly because he built it from the ground up. He always wanted to create a space at Wits that “opened doors for other people to do cool things” — and people have indeed done cool things under his guidance.
It all started with the establishment of the Robotics, Autonomous Intelligence and Learning (RAIL) Lab in 2014, which was Rosman’s first passion project at Wits. A visiting lecturer at the time, Rosman already wanted to give back to the institution that drove him into the world of academia.
The RAIL Lab was the first of its kind on the continent and enabled computer scientists to transcend the “imposter syndrome” of being researchers in Africa, where robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning fields seemed wholly inaccessible.
MSc and PhD candidates are working on projects such as “Husky”, a four-legged rover that is being programmed to do palaeontology work at the Sterkfontein Caves in areas where it is too dangerous for humans to venture.
Another is “Yumi”, a two-armed robot with fine motor skills that a human can operate to perform tasks. “Spot” is the Lab’s robotic dog that can walk and balance independently.
Benjamin Rosman tweaking some of the computer elements on one of their smaller robotic projects in the RAIL Lab at Wits University. Photo: Victoria Hill
Now with over 40 students and 12 research supervisors, the RAIL Lab is home to projects of advancing AI functionality and nuancing a robot on to solve its own problems.
This was the case just a decade or so earlier when Rosman had to abandon the Wits ship and set sail to Edinburgh University, as there was a scarcity of resources for him to obtain his Master’s Degree and Doctorate in Philosophy. However, the tables have turned as students from international countries are applying to do their postgraduate degrees at Wits.
In 2019, Rosman co-pioneered his second passion project, the Deep Learning Indaba, which started as a self-funded technical workshop hosted at Wits University for computer scientists all over Africa. The idea was to get Africa on the world’s radar where computer science research was concerned, and spoiler alert, it worked.
Having over 900 attendees last year, the Indaba has been dubbed one of “the biggest summer learning school worldwide”. “[The] global community says they solve African problems for us, but we are now on your level and not just consumers of already built things,” said Rosman.
Despite a rough start to life after experiencing a pre-birth stroke, Rosman always dreamt of creating the robotics of the future, no matter the challenges in his path. Having lost all fine motor functions in the right side of his body, Rosman had to become a pro at typing fast with just one hand
He went on to win many awards, pioneered start-ups, directed many boards, and published articles, but Rosman has only ever wanted to “tangibly touch people’s lives” and make other people see what he always did — that Wits University is “the place to be”.
He says he has “a job at the best university on the continent with the best students on the continent”.
FEATURED IMAGE: Benjamin Rosman demonstrating how Yumi, a robotic arms project part of the RAIL Lab, is operated. Photo: Victoria Hill
As a South African, I have a renowned sense of love and respect for all the wildlife we share our land with. However, when tourists arrive and make their own rules, it not only upsets the animals, but also disturbs me.
One morning a few Septembers ago in the Pilansberg Nature Reserve, a group of us went on an early morning bush walk. The crisp, fresh air whipped around our ears. The only audible sounds were leaves crunching beneath our feet and the game ranger’s quiet whispers. Then, suddenly, an elephant emerged, strolling leisurely through the dry savannah. Beside it, a baby, probably just a few weeks old, trudging along and almost stumbling beneath its mother’s big tummy — seemingly, without a care in the world. It was a sight to be savoured, in silence, with respect, for the wild is exhilaratingly awesome, but remains unpredictable.
In the international Wild for Wildlife month of July, I could not help but recall just how much I both love and admire wildlife, a proudly South African thing to do. These thoughts of pride are however interrupted by the stories of tourists performing traitorous acts in our nature reserves that have serious consequences for both humans and animals. It is a privilege to experience nature in its purest form and we must remember our place as a visitor in wildlife’s home.
A lone rhino hiding behind his trust bush whilst tourists walk past him. Photo: Victoria HillGaining confidence, the rhino ventures into the open grasslands to graze. Photo: Victoria Hill
But why are humans so drawn to nature in the first place?
Well, the term “biophilia” describes our humane tendency to seek connections with earth’s living forms. In the 21st century, we are more disconnected from nature than ever before due to the fast-walking and quick-typing world in which we now live. Being in the bush allows us to rekindle a lost relationship and slow life down to appreciate its intricate details.
However, these wild animals which we love are not cute, fuzzy, domestic creatures; they are incredible but wildly wild animals and should be treated as such. I have entered their home countless times and have left this natural habitat without a scratch. This is paradoxical to other tourists’ experiences who venture off and find themselves in harm’s way.
Whilst there have been cases of tourists getting out of their vehicles for a closer snapshot of primitive scenes, I have always heeded the instructions of game rangers and signposts dotted about nature parks. No matter how much I wish I could pick up a lion cub for a cuddle, I know it is not a smart thing to do if its mother is watching. If we put ourselves in the animal’s shoes, we would find their emotions and actions are not so different to ours. Unbeknown to many, wild animals do not view humans as prey and will only attack if provoked.
However, humans are the ones who have the ability to think about their actions instead of just acting on instinct. This comes with the responsibility of understanding that wildlife will never halt in their tracks, and we should not expect them to.
This is the moral behind Wild for Wildlife and for the many days left, I will be thanking my lucky stars that I get to live in the heart of nature.
Many traditions and cultures have subconsciously aided the wellbeing of one’s mind through music and sound.
A neurologist and music psychotherapist tackled the maze of the mind together on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at the Wits Origins Centre through a mental wellness and brain health seminar on International Museum Day.
Human brains have a potential that is unfathomable, and whilst people think we only use 10% of our brains at a time, they are mistaken.
Most of our brain is being used most of the time, even while sleeping, and over 85 billion neurons in our brains are always firing some sort of signal.
However, with all this brain power comes the largest emotional intelligence amongst all mammals. This EQ of humans is the area studied by neurologist and brain health specialist, Dr Kirti Ranchod, and music psychotherapist, Nsamu Moonga.
Music psychotherapist, Nsamu Moonga, leading the audience through a series of musical workshops to release their inner voice and learn to trust in a collective conscious. Photo: Victoria HillDr Kirti Ranchod during her seminar at the Origins Centre, speaking about all things brain health and wellness. Photo: Victoria Hill
Music is all around us — at birthdays, funerals, weddings, political rallies — and each scene sounds very different from the next, which is a subconscious understanding, Dr Ranchod explained.
Dr Ranchod said music is linked to both memory and emotion. When a person hears a specific song, they relive a specific experience, which leads to them feeling a specific emotion.
This is the basis from which Moonga bases his therapy techniques. He explained how humans forget things as a survival technique yet create rituals to ensure they do not forget what is important — the earth rotating completely around the sun, a human life ending, a life of two people beginning for instance.
Yet, Dr Ranchod said how music is exceptionally personal where one type of tune will relax someone whilst it will trigger another. .
To pay homage to International Museum Day, Dr Ranchod spoke about the San Trance Dance which is one of the earliest rituals known to date that used music to bind a group together.
The Trance Dance is a permanent feature at the Origins Centre — which traces human life back nearly two million years — because it sees the beginning of humans living in communities and activating their energies to connect with the spirit world.
With sound, rhythm, movement, and dance used to alter reality, shift consciousness, and change perception, this was the start of music therapy in practice.
Museums document the history we all share and allows for the interception of the past, present, and future. They allow us to understand who we are, where we come from and are the physical pallbearers of memory.
FEATURED IMAGE: Modern-day rock art as appearing in the Origins Centre to showcase how the past is still very much in the present. Photo: Victoria Hill
Students live in Joburg, yet they hardly experience the city; here’s budget-friendly guide to places to help let loose and fall in love with the city of gold.
The University of the Witwatersrand is situated in the heart of Joburg’s CBD, with students from all over the world who enter its door. However, students, especially the ones that are novices to the area, do not know what is beyond the perimeter of their place of study — missing out on exciting spots to visit in the city.
Other students miss out as they get caught up in the hustle and bustle of city life and forget what is around them.
As today is National Tourism Day, which serves to commemorate all the aspects that contribute to a country’s travel and tourism allure; Wits Vuvuzela compiled a list of tourist attractions that students can try in celebration of the day.
The tourism sector took a beating during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is currently picking up. According to Stats SA, the volume of tourist arrivals increased by 152,6% from 2,2 million in 2021 to 5,6 million in 2022. The statistics agency explained that the national gradual improvement was observed in the number of tourists arrivals from January to December 2022; however, it is still 44,3% below the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Looking closer at the numbers, of the 5,5 million tourists in South Africa in 2022, 0,7% are students in the country, 4,7% are from other African countries, and 0,1% are international.
Beyond this, the sector is amongst the biggest contributors to GDP in the country.
Thus, one can see how tourism is a necessary sector in South Africa with predominant hotspots in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. Luckily for Wits students, they have the best tourist places within their fingertips.
An eagle’s eye view of Johannesburg showing bustling traffic and the hidden gems the city has to offer. Photo: Victoria Hill
Tourist hubs are made up of historical, cultural, environmental, and social aspects, which students can choose from. They also vary on a scale of affordability, which is vital to consider as students are always looking for fun outings that do not break the bank.
Under R100:
1. Wits Art Museum
2. Wits Origins Centre
3. Johannesburg Botanical Gardens
4. Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens
5. The Wilds Nature Reserve
6. Constitution Hill
7. South African National Museum of Military History
8. Johannesburg Zoo
9. Lindfield Victorian House Museum
10. James Hall Museum of Transport
11. Adventure Golf [one game = R36,67]
12. Sci-Bono Discovery Centre
Between R100-R200:
13. Apartheid Museum
14. Montecasino Bird Gardens
15. Multiflora Flower Market
16. Ice-skating
Between R200-R300:
17. 44 Stanley
18. Gold Reef City Theme Park
19. Maboneng Precinct
20. Melville
21. Parktown 4th Avenue
22. Illovo Muse
23. Rosebank Rooftop Market
24. Fourway’s Farmers Market
25. Neighbour Goods Market
26. Victoria Yards
27. Hashtag Escape
Independent ticket pricing:
28. Joburg Theatre
29. Wits Theatre Complex
30. Wits Chris Seabrooke Music Hall
No matter if you want to go from zero to one hundred, Johannesburg will always have something in store for you. These are just a few tourist attractions near or surrounding Wits University, but if you want an adventure beyond these borders, a road trip is always worth it.
Watch a Google Earth deep dive into each location:
FEATURED IMAGE: The skyline of Johannesburg as seen from the Wits Art Museum building’s 20th floor. Photo: Victoria Hill
Worried about not looking gay enough, or scared you’re serving fake bisexual? In the second episode of our limited-series focused on life and living as a twenty something, the Community Guidelines team analyzes the idea of community from a queer lens, and delving into what it means to have a “queer community” in a country […]
