by Zandi Shabalala | Apr 24, 2012 | Featured 1
A local soapie star and a number of students offered themselves for sale last Thursday night, amid the autumn leaves, golden apples and green vines of Eden.
The Sunnyside residence held their annual charity auction, themed “When Adam Met Eve”, to raise funds for the Christ Church Christian Care Centre (CCCCC) in Hillbrow. Ten guys and eight girls walked the runway, alongside Themba Nofemele, who plays Ranthomeng on Muvhango.
But it was a woman student, dressed in pink and black, who stole the show. ‘Sider Blaze drew the highest bid (R1000) and the loudest applause – bringing in more than double the amount paid for Nofemele.
The MCs were Smash Afrika and Koketso Morakile. The girls were dressed by a Sunnyside resident named Cleo. The men dressed themselves.
There was no music for the first half as organisers could not find a cable for the sound system. Even though the auction suffered a few technical difficulties, the night was a success, said chief organiser Memme Monyela.
Refreshments were provided afterwards in a nearby venue for the bidders and the auctioned models to get acquainted.
The CCCCC provides children with food, clothes and help with their homework. Monyela said the SRC also contributed financially to the charity.
Every year a different charity is picked to benefit from the auction.
GALLERY
The runway model up for auction.
Model up for auction
One of the models facing the crowd.
Blaze, who got highest bid.
Auctioned Models strut for a charitable cause.
by Zandi Shabalala | Apr 23, 2012 | News
STUDENTS risk losing access to tutorial rooms after hours because they leave the lights on and the desks and chairs in disarray.
Students have been using tut rooms to study in at night because the libraries are often full or because they find the rooms more convenient. However, they are expected to switch off the lights after studying and not displace furniture, according to Riaz Adam of the Property and Infrastructure Management Division (PIMD).
Adam said he intended to ask Campus Control to lock the venues because students moved furniture around and left the lights on all night.
“Why don’t they try other alternatives?” said Nigel Chikore, 3rd year engineering. “Because honestly the library won’t accommodate everyone. Someone should rather give us a warning.” Locking the tutorial rooms “is a bit harsh”.
He said the Wartenweiler library was often too full and the extension of library hours only helped during exams. During the rest of the year, students “also have to study”.
“Nobody hassles you here, not even the cleaners,” said Faith Mazibuko, 2nd year LLB. She studies in the large auditoriums at the new science stadium every night.
“All the libraries are too stuffy and too full… and there aren’t any plugs for my laptop.”
The auditoriums are usually locked after cleaners finish working late at night. Sphesihle Hlongwane, 1st year BSc, said she often had to search for another venue to study in after lock-up because “the library is not an option”.
Keorapetse Mohang, MB BCh, said “if the libraries are this full in April…imagine how full its going to be in June.”
by Zandi Shabalala | Apr 21, 2012 | Featured 1
Ahead of the Back to the City Festival on Freedom Day (27 April) Vuvuzela caught up with the hip-hop group 3rd Wave, who are set to perform at the festival.
We asked about hip-hop and learned more about moon walking androids, Dionysian fantasies and some of their achievements.
1) Is this your first time performing at the Back to the City Festival?
Solid: It’s our second time rocking at Back to the City. We’re honoured to be on that grand stage with SA’s top hip-hop monsters and to be selected again means we’re doing something right. After all we did receive a good review in Hype Magazine for last year’s performance at the show. We’ll be making sure we rock every year.
2) What is the need for a festival like this in South Africa today?
Crusade: It commemorates the first democratic national election. In relation to the festival, [it] breaks down divisions in many ways. The festival parallels acts from both the mainstream and indie, provides a platform for established and upcoming artistes to share their voices with the masses, abandons the notion of segregation among culture, religion, regional dialect and language. We’re all speaking the same language. The idea of this festival for this specific day has so many layers.
3) Describe the type of hip-hop you do.
Crusade: The style is very True School Hip Hop. Though each member has their own style, the synergy allows for the collaborative effort from each individual to form a sound that makes it unique as to how 3rd Wave does. It is a balance of nostalgic sound of sample based funk, winging in the balance with the future sound of synths and super charged, witty and well thought lyrics that embody the craft into something timeless.
4) Tell us about your latest single, Come On.
Gwaza Juse: Come On is a space travel song. A trip on a train that through the star systems conjuring colourful visions of bygone eras of South African music as a gravitational warping of colourful light. It’s a light speed Dionysian fantasy (quote me on that mtshana). It culminates in the celebration of the art form that brings together them all, namely, hip-hop. It returns the spirit of Kofifi transfigured into a gravity defying expansion that leaves orbit and frees itself from the pull of dark matter, generating endless space like the force of dark energy. It is Einstein’s cosmological constant if it was imagined in a dream featuring the spirit of the great Todd Matshikiza as a moon walking android with a nuclear accordion.
5) What is the biggest misconception about hip hop in South Africa?
Quiz: The biggest misconception about hip-hop in South Africa is that hip-hop is a musical genre, hip-hop is not a musical genre, it’s a culture. Hip-hop is not what at you see on MTV and hear on radio, hip-hop is what you see around you, if you pretend there is no such thing as rap music and absorb what is around you, the smells, energy the environment, that’s hip-hop. People have mistaken rap music and hip-hop that’s where the confusion started. But 3rd Wave is here though, to claim all that back, which is why festivals like Back to the City are important.
by Zandi Shabalala | Mar 26, 2012 | Sport
The Wits rugby team is now at the top of the Varsity Shield log following a 28-15 win over the University of Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town on Monday night.
“The game was very physical and was played at high pace,” said captain Devin Montgomery. “The boys showed a lot of determination and stuck to our planned structure and I am very proud of the way we played the game.”
The Wits team overtook Central University of Technology (CUT), who now slide down to second position.
Although UWC scored the first try of the game, Wits ended the first half with a convincing 23-5 lead. The Wits scorers were Blake Dismore, Charles Baggott and Brent Crossley.
“We played with the wind in the first half and, with a good kicking game, [we] were able to play most of the rugby down in UWC’s half,” said Montgomery.
The Wits side increased their lead in the second half with a try from Baggott just after halftime, earning them a bonus point.
Montgomery said it was difficult playing such an important game away from their home crowd. “We miss the incredible spirit and support we always receive from our home supporters but…we try and prepare as best we can for our away games,” said Montgomery.
Wits hopes to host the finals on April 2, which will depend on the outcome of the game between CUT and Fort Hare.
The live action was tweeted by @witsvarsitycup.
by Zandi Shabalala | Mar 23, 2012 | Featured 1
GENERATION Earth Wits put their contribution towards the In Our Hands project in front of the Great Hall yesterday. This is the first of many activities to create awareness for marine life and water conservation during Water Week (5-11 March). Students made handprints using water colour paint on a long sheet of white cloth and wrote messages.
“Our goal is to get 1000 handprints today to raise awareness,” said Michael Constantinides, Generation Earth chairman.
In Our Hands is an initiative founded by 20 year old Australian, Nicole McLachlan. She intends to get 100 000 handprints from youth around the world which will be sent to international conferences around the world. “One of the [other] main ideas for this [project] today is to boycott Namibia’s plan to club seals this July… this will be the biggest slaughter in history,” said Constantinides.
