Afternoon Drive with John Maytham

Guest: Legal Journalist, Karyn Maughan, joins John to elaborate on the justification that Arthur Fraser has given for the decision to release Jacob Zuma on medical parole. 

 Fraser claims that the decision was driven by fears of unrest if the former president's health was "recklessly" put at risk, and not by his "perceived relationship" to Zuma.

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Guest:  Treive Nicholas, to discuss his recent work, 'A Nun and the Pig: Tales from South Africa'.

In 1980, while Nelson Mandela languished in jail, an enthusiastic and hopelessly naïve British teenager arrived at a local school in Mandela’s home state of Transkei. Wide-eyed and faced with an unfamiliar world, Treive Nicholas was about to embark on an adventure he would never forget. Looking back on this year forty years later, A Nun and the Pig offers a remarkable insight into this politically charged but little-known part of Africa and a lived experience ranging from the surreal to the heart-warming; the wonderful to the tragic. One minute Nicholas could be entertaining local Thembu chiefs or coaching the Transkei paraplegic sports team for a rare non-racial sporting competition, the next he could be witnessing the terrible death of an infant in a neglected Umtata township. Scrapes with law enforcement agencies increased in frequency and risk as Nicholas railed against the injustices of the apartheid system, and at one point found himself smuggling Communist black liberation literature across South Africa’s borders. Armed only with a camera and bag of dried apricots, his hitchhiking adventures took him thousands of kilometres north to Zambian bush, where events took a dangerous turn near one of Robert Mugabe’s camps. Fear, shock, joy and self-discovery were a daily experience in this forgotten corner of South Africa, where humour and kindness flourished amid grinding poverty and brutal racism. The friendship of a wise and feisty nun kept Treive Nicholas on course, opening his eyes to a side of life unfamiliar to a former milkman from suburban England. Her car, ‘the Pig’, was a trusty but temperamental companion.

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Guest: Kristal Duncan-Williams, the Project Lead at Youth Capital, a youth-led advocacy campaign to reduce youth unemployment with a national Action Plan. She explains the considerations that have come out of the study on youth unemployment before and during COVID-10. 

Youth unemployment has been reported as one of the reasons why young people have decided not to vote.  Do they feel there is a actionable plan for them of moving forward from this current crisis?

Unlock Jobs: Clearing Roadblocks to Youth Unemployment. Is Youth Capital’s latest study that highlights solutions to start tackling youth unemployment.

The study sets the scene with concerning statistics: Only 6 in 100 young South Africans who start Grade 1 complete some kind of tertiary qualification, three out of 4 unemployed young people have been without a job for 1 year or longer, 9.1 million young people are not in education, employment, or training.

What are the main challenges that young people face when looking for work?

The Unlock Jobs study focuses on 3 urgent roadblocks and existing initiatives that could make an impact. 

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Guest: Alan Winde | Premier at Western Cape Government

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Guest: Prof Ruth Hall | Researcher at Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape.

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Guest:Linden Birns | Managing Director  at Plane Talking

The Managing Director of 'Plane Talking', Linden Birns, joins John to discuss the implications of the UK Government announcement that it will hike Air Passenger Duties on long-haul travel.  The increase in charges will affect flights to South Africa and many of the UK’s other long-haul destinations.

Linden Birns explains The International Air Transport Association (IATA) formal criticism of the UK Government decision. IATA represents some 290 airlines comprising 83% of global air traffic.

 

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Guest: Cameron Dugmore | ANC Leader at Western Cape Legislature

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Guest: Dr Susan  Cunningham | Senior Lecture at FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at UCT

The Hot Birds Project studies the behaviour & physiology of desert birds to understand and predict their responses to climate change.  John speaks to Dr Susan Cunningham, Senior Lecturer at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology about the thermal physiology and behaviour of desert birds. 

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Guest: Alan Storey | Pastor at The Calvary Church

John is joined by Reverand Alan Storey from The Central Methodist Mission Church in Greenmarket Square to discuss the flag that flies today from 2pm today. 

The flag reads: 

The blood of Jesus will not save you from COVID

The Church believes that the vaccine has been proven over and over that vaccination reduces infection, hospitalization, and death. 

The flag takes a stand against any claim that vaccination is at odds with religious faith and fights what they see as a false and dangerous binary: Faith in God or faith in vaccines.

The flag asks that vaccines are celebrated as a gift from God that saves lives and one of the greatest public health achievements in history. 

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