Chester Missing raises funds for two Witsies

by | May 10, 2015 | Featured 1, News

Two Wits students were the beneficiaries of funds raised at the Cabinet Comedy show in the Great Hall on Friday evening. 

CHUCKLES: Chetser Missing had the audience in stitches at the Cabinet Comedy held at The Great Hall on Friday evening. Photo: Boipelo Boikhutso

CHUCKLES: Chester Missing had the audience in stitches at the Cabinet Comedy Show at The Great Hall on Friday evening. Photo: Boipelo Boikhutso

Two first-year Witsies were the recipients of the funds raised through YouthLab’s Cabinet Comedy Show in the Great Hall on Friday night.

Rofhiwa Tshikovhi and Livhuwani Mukwevho were in the audience watching show headlined by South Africa’s most famous puppet, Chester Missing.

Missing, and his handler Conrad Koch, were joined by Mojak Lehoko, Lihle Msimang and Alfred Adriaan who held nothing back in the austere venue.

The comedians had the audience in stiches with comedy centred around ethnic jokes, the University of Johannesburg, President Jacob Zuma, Julius Malema and the controversial Mcebo Dlamini’s love for Hitler.

Lehoko compared Hitler to Voldemort from Harry Potter, referring to him as “he who must not be named”. “Hitler is a touchy subject, we do not go there,” he said.

According to one of the organizers of the show, Pearl Pillay, the show was a fundraising initiative to ensure that Tshikovhi and Mukwevho “do not become part of the high number of South Africans students to drop out of university due to financial pressure”.

The students hail from Soweto and went to Matseliso Secondary School where they both scored numerous distinctions in their matric results.

Mukwhevo is currently pursuing a degree in Mining Engineering and would like to work for an oil mine in Eastern Asia. She told Wits Vuvuzela that she is “humbled as this is a great honour to have someone like Chester Missing performing to raise funds for me.”

Tshikovhi described his upbringing as a normal one. “I might not have had everything I wanted, but I had everything I needed,” he said. He is currently studying a general Bsc degree with the hopes of specialising in his Honours.

He told Wits Vuvuzela that he will forever be grateful to YouthLab for continuously changing his life for the better.

According to the man behind the puppet, Koch, the biggest separation in our society is “the economic walls that we have and education is a huge aspect of that.”

Lehoko told Wits Vuvuzela that as a fellow Wits student himself, he feels that it is important to give people “opportunity to pursue education”

Pillay said the total figure of the funds raised has not been finalized yet.

Chester Missing comes to the Great Hall

by | May 8, 2015 | News

The country’s most famous puppet comes to the Great Hall this Friday night. Chester Missing will join a host of other comedians at 8pm in an event hosted by YouthLab.

Together with Mojak Lehoko, Alfred Adriaan and Lihle Msimang, Missing will perform in aid of two Wits students and some of YouthLab’s projects.

Pearl Pillay, a Wits Masters student in Politics, and one of the organisers of the event, told Wits Vuvuzela that the idea of a comedy show came after a discussion they had with Messing.

The students were scholars at Matseliso Secondary School in Soweto and passed matric with flying colours but were only partially funded. YouthLab launched a library project for the school in the past.

Adriaan told Wits Vuvuzela that students can look forward to a funny-to-the-point comedy. “I don’t hold back and my comedy is centred around life and the funny things people do”, he said.

He said he wanted to give back to the community because he was also given an opportunity to study in the form of a scholarship.

Msimang said that she decided to participate in the comedy show because “it is an honour to help a young mind get an education, to further grow this country”.

Pillay said that it only made sense for YouthLab to host the show as they deal with politics and political satire is big in the country.

“Comedy is also a great way to raise awareness and stimulates thought in a way that’s not tiring,” she said.

“Wits alone has given Chester a lot of material so expect customized comedy.”

According to Pillay, the comedy show is going to be “absolute madness and Wits alone has given Chester a lot of material so expect customized comedy”.

YouthLab is a three-year-old organization and recently launched a branch at Wits. According to their website, some of their objectives include: educating the youth on key issues of policy, society and economics in South Africa and also creating a platform for young people to have open discussions with political parties.