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The Virtual National Arts Festival is set to kick-off today into an 11 day curated programme of online creativity, pre-recorded and live events, short films, virtual art exhibitions, jam sessions, interactive events, webinars and more showcasing the South African and international art scene. We are joined by CEO of the VNAF, Ms Monica Newton

On the back of the unemployment stats released this week we ask - What needs to happen now in the context of a pandemic to expose young people to opportunities – realistically, can a large majority of our youth “Black Business” ourselves out of poverty? We are joined by Social Justice Activist, educator and organiser Zama Mthunzi

In light of #YouthMonth2020, we give attention to the movie Uprize! A Sifiso Khanyile documentary released in 2017 that provides a personal perspective of the 16 June 1976 Student uprising through interviews with former students, teachers, writers and artists affected. The documentary featured in a Virtual Youth Month Film Festival and he talks to us about the process of making the film and the importance of exploring this specific moment in history within the broader scope of South Africa’s struggle narrative.

This week we’re joined by Editor-in-Chief of Destiny Magazine & The Bar Magazine, Onke Dumeko. She talks to us about her career and the threat that Covid-19 has posed to the media & publishing industry – more importantly how the industry us adapting

Our problem solver today is 23 year-old Gift Mogeni who was recently made the Youth ICT network Geekulcha’s list of 2020 Top 15 Young Geeks to mark #YouthMonth. He talks to us about this and his tech solution, Simfind.

Have you been having dreams that bother you?

#TheConnection Have you been having dreams that bother you?
We have Traditional healer, Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi joining today to help us understand our dreams – everything from understanding & interpretation and the significance of dreams.

BIO: Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi is celebrated as a sangoma, spiritual teacher, life coach and and professional African storyteller, poet, writer, dancer and facilitator. The best way to summarise her life’s work is that she is a facilitator of change. She is passionate about enlightening people to view life from a different perspective through bringing about changes in outlook to allow for holistic healing. Gogo Dineo brings creativity to facilitate safe learning spaces and processes of social change. She is also a licensed Heal Your Life Teacher and certified Organisational Systems Coach.

While we have all heard how important it is for parents to read to young children, too often we assume that those "parents" are mostly mothers. And indeed, research shows that mothers do read to their children more often than fathers. But research also tells us found that when fathers read to their children at home, the child’s language development increased as they grew older.

We we’re joined by Nali Bali’s Head of Communications, Ben Rycroft on SAfm Sound Awake.

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world, robbing many of their family members, livelihoods and ways of life. In an effort to spread unity and courage during this time, choirs from across the world have come together to form a virtual choir under the name Sing Around The gloBe (SATB) to perform Frank Ticheli's ‘Earth Song’ on YouTube. The University of Pretoria’s (UP) Tuks Camerata choir, conducted by Dr Michael Barrett-Berg, and has also been involved in this project. Tuks Camerata celebrates its 52nd anniversary in 2020, and has received many national and international accolades over the years. The choir is made up of over 80 UP students from a variety of study fields including medicine, engineering, theology, law, education, economics, accounting, plant sciences and music.

Dr Barrett-Berg, also a senior lecturer in Classical Music Studies at UP spoke to our producer, Kgabo Maila.

- What has the #LockdownSA inspired you to do? On today’s #LockdownCommunity we caught up with 19-year old psychology student, Jason Ellish who is running a food parcel initiative which distributes more than 630 parcels a week. He has a group of 20 volunteers, most of whom are high school learners, has helped to sustain families in areas such as Mitchells Plain, Fisantekraal and Klipheuwel. Find out how he does it later!

On today’s #LetsTalkTech We talk #YouthInAnimation in South Africa with two experts in the field, Mr Lesego Vorster & Nick Wilson – While still a young industry compared to other parts of the world – South Africa's animation industry has been around for some years – with a handful of animation studios, institutions and massive events like the Cape Town International Animation Festival playing a key role in opportunity to scout and recruit talent as well as to share ideas with other industry stakeholders. Our experts talk about what doors it can open for SA’s youth!