The View Point

Local Heart Surgeon Honoured with Prestigious International Award Recognising Work Done to Save Lives of South African Children Born with Congenital Heart Disease

Guest: Dr. Wilhelm Lichtenberb, Founder of Young Hearts Africa

The work of Young Hearts Africa, established in 2021, has to date provided life-saving surgery for 30 children with congenital heart disease (CHD), in partnership with the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. Over 4 000 of the 13 000 children born in South Africa with CHD need surgery in order to survive, but less than 800 of these operations actually take place in the public sector, given the dire lack of facilities and specialists, combined with the enormous costs involved. The Foundation works tirelessly to highlight the plight of these children and to raise funds to enable more life-saving surgeries to take place. Dr Wilhelm Lichtenberg, recently won a Thoracic Surgery Foundation Every Heartbeat Matters (EHM) Award. This award recognises the work done by those who conduct humanitarian surgical outreach work in underserved regions with indigent populations around the world. Of the fourteen global awards given, Dr Lichtenberg is the only African recipient.

Guest: Thulani Madondo, Executive Director  - Kliptown Youth Program

He is the co-founder and current executive director of the Kliptown Youth Program, A South African youth development organisation created to help young people from the informal settlement of Kliptown and surrounding communities. Thulani himself was born in a one-room shack in Kliptown without electricity or running water, so he understands the challenges facing the youth of Kliptown. The youth program was born of a vision shared by Madondo and a small group of friends 14 years ago — to start an initiative that would help lift their community out of poverty through education — has seen KYP grow into an internationally recognised project with multiple uplifting arms. The programme provides meals for children, support with school fees, after-school care as well as educational help and tutoring to about 400 disadvantaged children from the Kliptown area.

Guest 1: Virginia Magwaza – Managing Director for Parents, Families and Friends of South African Queers

She is a South African social justice, black feminist activist and human rights activist who has been involved in different social justice struggles locally and internationally. Her involvement in socio-economic rights issues, environmental justice, workers’ rights, women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights, etc has been highly significant. She has vast experience working in donor organisations focusing on the Southern African region with organisations and groups working on women's issues, trade unions, human rights and LGBTIQ+ issues. She is currently formally employed in the Office of the Premier in Gauteng as the Deputy Director on the LGBTIQ+ Desk. She is a founder of an organisation known as Parents, Families & Friends of South African Queers- PFSAQ, which mobilises queer people's parents, families and allies into becoming public advocates for dignity, equality and social inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people within the society. She is the 2021 Queer Parenting Feather Awards winner, life, group and relationship coach, a well-known campaigner, public speaker and organiser.

Guest: Prof Hugh Corder, Professor Emeritus of Public Law at University of Cape Town

Guest: Daniel du Plessis,Marketing and Communications Director - Milkor

Guest: Mary De Haas, Violence monitor in KZN, an honorary Research Fellow at the University of KZN’s School of Law and a member of the Navi Pillay Research Group on justice and human rights]

The issue of the death penalty is a highly controversial one, with varying opinions on either reinstating it or upholding it across different societies and cultures. It involves various considerations, from legal frameworks and human rights perspectives to the effectiveness of the death penalty as a crime deterrent. The current argument is that the high incidences of crime in the Southern Africa region, coupled with cases of repeat offenders and a decline of trust in law enforcement justify the call for the death penalty.

The NEF and local business set to create 33 new jobs in East London village.

ZAD Hiring was established in 2014 by Mrs. Catherine Dunjwa, a Chartered Accountant by profession. The company currently hires out event furniture and décor items, provides floral arrangements for functions as well as décor set up and styling. “I identified the opportunity to start the business in 2011 when I struggled to find suitable service providers in the Eastern Cape for my own wedding.

Guest: Pie-Pacifique Kabalira Uwase, Director of PEM Afurika]

 Rwanda & University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006

Rwandan born Pie-Pacifique left his home during the genocide at 14years to safety in Canada, he later found refuge in a country he now calls his home, South Africa, where he settled in Kwa-Zulu- Natal. He is currently the Head of the Foundation for Professional Development Business School. This evening in reflection of the 30 years since the Rwandan genocide and 30 years of democracy in South Africa he’ll be zooming in on ‘how a country can rebuild and be part of the global community’

Guest 1: Prof Siphamandla Zondi - Professor of politics and international relations and the Director of the Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation University of Johannesburg.

• How did South Africa clean up its image and boost international relations after the apartheid era.

Guest 2: Daniel Oparison is a brand and business Growth Strategist with key focus areas in Strategic Leadership, Operations & Culture, Value Creation & Value Chain Innovation.

Daniel leverages over a decade of experience in Advertising, Digital Strategy, Brand management, and human-centered, Consumer Experience design to establish sustainable growth for businesses.

Daniel is currently the Head of Growth at Paga - covering Brand Strategy, Integrated Marketing, Consumer sales, Business Intelligence, and Consumer Experience.

(Paga is an emerging markets mobile money and payments company in Nigeria, Ethiopia and launching in Mexico soon.)

#FreedomMonth – a reflective roundtable on what this month means from a youth perspective

Guest 1: Tswelopele Makoe, Writer, Masters student at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, and a Gender Activist

Guest 2: Dr Khwezi Mabasa, Activist, Researcher and Economic and Social Policy Lead at the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in South Africa

Guest 3: Leeto Ntoba, Social and Political Analyst

Guest 4: Moeketsi Koahela, Education and Training Officer · Ahmed Kathrada Foundation

As April unfolds in South Africa, the youth perspective resonates with profound significance. This month marks #FreedomMonth with #FreedomDay observed on April 27th, the day black South Africans voted for the first time. As the country leads up to the 2024 elections, at the back of commemorating 30 years of democracy, now is the time for young South Africans to reflect on the sacrifices made by previous generations in the struggle against apartheid, to honour the courage of those who fought for freedom and equality. Moreover, it serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges and responsibilities faced by today's youth in advancing the ideals of democracy, social justice, and economic empowerment. Through dialogue, activism, and collective action, young people continue to shape the narrative of their country, striving for a future built on inclusivity, opportunity, and dignity for all and we have invited some of them to join the conversation as we reflect on the 30 years of democracy and mark FreedomMonth

Guest: Bulelwa Mabasa, Director and Head of the Land Reform Practice and author of

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of The Viewpoint, and as tradition on the show on a Tuesday we have a guest takeover the show until the top of the hour, in which they get to sit down with two of their guests doing remarkable work, and today is no different – we have Bulelwa Mabasa – Director and Head of the Land Reform Practice at Werkmans attorney and author of My Land Obsession.

Guest 1: Sewela Langeni is the owner of Book Circle Capital, an independent bookshop focusing on African Literature based at 27 Boxes in Melville, Johannesburg. She is passionate about literacy, especially in children. Sewela is a Marketing and Communications Manager at one of South Africa's leading insurance companies. Her academic background spans from Journalism, Communication Sciences to Marketing. She holds a master's degree in strategic marketing and consulting from the University of Birmingham, UK. 

Guest 2: Malilomo Nkhabu

A leadership and youth development enthusiast and is an experienced community development professional who is passionate about development and creating better livelihoods for communities. She is currently doing an MPhil in Development Practice with a focus on the implementation of the SDGs. She holds master’s degree in Environment and Society from the University of Pretoria and her Undergraduate and Honors degree at Monash South Africa. 

 Bulelwa is a leader in her field given her appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa to serve as the only attorney on the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform in 2018 and her authorship of the leading text on land reform, a publication titled Land in South Africa: Contested Meanings and Nation-Formation. Bulelwa has also contributed to major journals and publications on Land Reform and Women. Bulelwa was awarded Best in Land Rights and Best in Thought Leadership, Innovation and Academia, at the Women in Law (WOZA) awards ceremony, that was hosted in July 2022. She also published a memoir titled My Land Obsession which been shortlisted for Best Non-Fiction for 2022 by the Sunday Times Literary Awards.

Guest: Hilton Baartman, Executive Head of Rural & Mining Water at Hall Core Water

The private sector can play a vital role in ensuring the right to safe water and sanitation in Africa. Inadequate infrastructure is holding back the provision of water and sanitation services in African cities, but new funding models are needed to solve the problem. The answer lies in innovative methods of private-sector financing African cities are some of the world's most rapidly expanding urban areas, but in many cases are held back by outdated, or even non-existent, infrastructure. As a result, water and sanitation services are inefficient and costly. The funding challenge is intensified by high levels of public debt and poor credit ratings in some countries, hindering efforts to mobilise private finance.