The View Point

Access to reproductive healthcare is fundamental to women's autonomy over their bodies and lives. It is a means for women to control their reproductive destiny and maintain their health. A woman seeking reproductive healthcare is vulnerable in those moments, and her experiences have far-reaching effects on her health and the health of her child. And as such, any violence against women committed while accessing reproductive healthcare should be considered a severe violation of women's human rights.

Today we look at the rates of teenage pregnancies in South Africa and we talk about Obstetric Violence against teenage mothers. Should they be treated with less dignity because they are young?

Title:                          [• Ms]

Name:                        [• Julie Mentor]

Position AND org.:   [• Leader of the Embrace Women Movement]

We’re in conversation with Ari Katz -and we’re picking his brain on matric results, the pass mark of 30% and the future of education. He notes that Minister Motshekga has said that rotational learning will continue which means learners will continue to lose days of learning. 

This means, there’s definitely a gap for online and definitely for a credible system like Cambridge. So, how do we educate and bring across this message? Matric results are coming out this week?

Guest: Ari Katz - CEO of Boston

“Driving a fast car”; “getting the top three letters”; or “playing the lotto” – nearly 40 years from when HIV was first described, the virus is still a thing of euphemism and stigma. It’s also still infecting at least 4 000 people a day around the world, most of them young people, especially girls and young women. Ufrieda Ho, talks to us about an article that she wrote about how the world has missed certain opportunities when dealing with HIV among young people

Guest: Ufrieda Ho - Author and journalist for Spotlight NSP 

Thuso Segopolo recently joined SprintHive’s leadership team from Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he spent more than 3 years as Commercial Sector Leader for West, East and Central Africa. Now he leads SprintHive’s Johannesburg presence in his new role as a Growth Strategist and Equity Partner.

He is the inaugural National Chairperson of the Black Management Forum’s Young Professionals, former BMF Board Member, Co-founding Non-Executive Director of Tsogang Investment Holdings, Former Global Shaper of The World Economic Forum, and former council member of the Performing Art Centre of Free State.

Title:                          [• Mr.]

Name:                        [• Thuso Segopola]

Position AND org.:   [• Passionate Problem Solver, Digital Maven, Grow Strategist, Speaker  ] 

Title:                          [• Ms.]

Name:                        [• Rapelang Rabana]

Position AND org.:   [• Founder and Chair of Rekindle Learning] 

Founded in 2005, the Institute of Afrikology is an off shoot of The KARAITES INSTITUTE OF AFRIKOLOGY which was founded in 2001 under the prestigious leadership of Dr. Kga-lushi “Drake” Koka. It is an educational non-governmental institute committed to reconstruc-tion and practical implementation of Afrikan Renaissance initiatives.

They have Afrikan learning programmes dedicated to teaching the youth about history and also encouraging young people to look beyond the textbook when learning about Afrikan history

The institute is also a platform for research, studies, information, capacity building and education within a wide range of subjects related to Afrikan History, traditions, spirituality and experiences.  

Title:                          [• Ms]

Name:                        [• Wozana Moncho]

Position AND org.:   [• Youth Ambassador at the Institute of Afrikology]

Last year during the SONA, President Ramaphosa announced that his administration would be setting up a National Anti-Corruption Council before the end of 2021.  

It’s now a month before the next SONA and no movement has been made with regards to that. And in the State Capture commission report that was released last week, acting chief justice Zondo states that government cannot be trusted to set up its own anti-corruption body.

How should we go about setting up an anti-corruption body – considering that the country has ample bodies that exist to uphold the rule of law and to fight government maladministration? Should we leave it to civil society, should the private sector do it, should the judiciary set it up? 

Title:            [• Adv. Mr]   

Name:       [• Aubrey Sedupane]  

Position at organisation:  [•author of Reinforcing Constitutional Values in the 6th Term - We are running out of time!] 

Civic organisation One South Africa Movement (OSA) has called for the matric pass rate to be increased from 30% to 50% as a step towards equipping young people to compete and win in the global economy. OSA’s founder Mmusi Maimane says   given that South Africa has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, the current pass mark was hurting South Africa’s pupils, the education system and the economy in the long run. He further stated that the 30% matric pass mark undermines the intellect of South Africa’s youth and allows for: obfuscation of the basic education crisis, education leaders to escape accountability and the entrenchment of mediocrity and low expectations

Title:            [• Mr]   

Name:       [• Mmusi Maimane]  

Position at organisation:  [• Founding Leader of One South Africa Movement] 

The first 1000 days of a child’s life (i.e. from conception to age two) is an opportunity to establish a foundation for children’s academic success, health and general well-being. However, it is also a period of vulnerability to stunting. In efforts to end the prevalence of stunting in South Africa, Flourish was born. Flourish is a social franchises network that seeks to offer universal access to mom and baby classes that support, celebrate and empower mothers through the critical first 1000 days of a child’s life. The Flourish journey is made up of weekly Flourish visits over a period of 10 weeks with a group of 10 mom’s to be. These visits are run by the Flourish franchisee in local communities and cover a range of maternal and child health topics, as well as self-care & self-nurturing tips and techniques.

Title:            [• Ms]   

Name:       [• Sinikiwe Mqadi ]  

Position at organisation:  [• head of coaching at Flourish] 

Trialogue is one of only a few consultancies in South Africa that focuses exclusively on corporate responsibility issues. Over 20 years of research and experience puts us at the forefront of new developments in sustainability and corporate social investment.  They launched their 24th edition of the Business In Society Handbook, themed ‘How business can help build back better’. The handbook looks at how the private sector can help to rebuild in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and other crises. It includes Trialogue’s bespoke research on corporate social investment (CSI) in South Africa, case studies, insightful article on responsible business, an overview of development-sector spend for 2021, and viewpoints from a range of industry leaders.

Title:            [• Ms]   

Name:       [• Cathy Duff]  

Position at organisation:  [• Director at Trialogue] 

Advocate Dumisa Buhle Ntsebeza SC was born and bred in Cala, in the Eastern Cape. Like many young South Africans in the 70s, Advocate Ntsebeza was involved in the

struggle against apartheid.

Amongst many accolades, he’s a former Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigator; the founder and former President of the National Association of Democratic

Lawyers (NADEL); and the former President of the Black Lawyers Association (BLA).

In February this year, the 34th African Union (AU) heads of state and government ordinary summit, appointed Ntsebeza and Justice Sacko Modibo from the Republic of Mali as new judges of the African Court and Peoples’ Rights.

Title:                           [• Adv.]

Name:                        [• Dumisa Ntsebeza]