Voices from SA

Monde Nkasawe is the head of the secretariat to the Eastern Cape provincial government. He is also the author of eight books(7 self-published), including an anthology of poetry. His latest book, We Need A Country, is published by Sifiso Publishers.

Monde and I chatted about his journey into writing from a rural childhood in the Eastern Cape, through to his time in provincial government via his studies at the University of Cape Town in the early 1990's.

We also spent some time talking about some of the themes that come out of his writing-love, loss, corruption and violence.

Monde also speaks about the need to restore the integrity of national and local bureaucracies and the ongoing fight against patriarchy.

Elias Ribeiro moved to South Africa from Brazil via various European countries eight years ago. Through Urucu Media, Elias and his business partner Cait Pansegrouw, have bought a number of award-winning films to the screen including Necktie Youth, The Train of Salt and Sugar and most recently Inxeba/The Wound which was shortlisted for the Foreign Film Oscar 2018. He has also worked as a mentor for producers at the Realness project.

In our discussion we chart his journey from Hotel and Hospitality graduate to film producer. Elias gives an insight into the role of the producer, and explains the time-consuming and complicated process of bringing a film to the screen.

We also chatted about some of the activities of the the film market at the recent CTIFMF, the trials and tribulations of The Wound, where he and others were subjected to death threats, and his commitment to the future of film in South Africa and across the continent.

Sanele Sibanda is a senior lecturer at the School of Law at Wits University in Johannesburg. He was born in Zimbabwe to a Zimbabwean father and a South African mother. His father was involved in the negotiations that led to Zimbabwe gaining independence in 1980.

Sanele's areas of teaching include critical constitutionalism and indigenous law reform.

We chatted about his student days at the University of Cape Town in the early 1990's, the role of a constitution and the rule of law in building a national identity, and how indigenous/customary law can be better incorporated into our mainstream legal system.

The role of the constitution in the ongoing land reform debate in South Afrcia also came up in our conversation.

Nicholas Wolpe grew up in exile in the United Kingdom. In the early 2000's he took the first steps that would eventually lead to the development of the site in Rivonia into the Liliesleaf Museum.

Nicholas and I chatted about how the museum and its contents have evolved over time, and what a personal and cathartic journey it has been for him. Nicholas' father Harold was one of the 20 activists arrested on the site in July 11,1963.

Nicholas is concerned that South Africans are losing their history and that knowledge about the liberation struggle is important in creating a national identity in South Africa. He says that the past is our link to the present and our future.

Read more about the Lilliesleaf Museum at the link below.

http://www.liliesleaf.co.za/

Sinenhlanhla Nzama is the Head Product Actuary for South African financial services giant Investec. As such he is responsible for product development, risk and underwriting for Investec's insurance arm.

While we did discuss some aspects of his business, including the impact and influence of technology, particularly big data analytics, on the insurance industry as whole, we had a wide-ranging discussion on a number of topics.

He told me about having to learn English when he moved to high school, and witnessing some of the awful political violence that plagued KwaZulu Natal province in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

More importantly we chatted about his three pillars of transformation, the future of work, and how he sees the medium to long-term future of South Africa. ("There is nowhere on earth I would rather be")

I met Gontse Nxumalo at a street party in Orlando East a few years back. He was just formulating the idea that would become Orlando Sneaker Care Technicians. That idea is now a reality.

We spoke about a lot of things including his love of selling, his love for his community,and the stress of the hustle. Gontse also spoke about how the youth feel abandoned by government, and the destruction that corruption has caused in Orlando East.

You can find out more about OSCT at https://www.facebook.com/theOSCT/

I hope you enjoy this poignant and positive discussion.

My guest this week is Nyiko Shikwambane. Nyiko is currently busy with her master thesis in African Literature at Wits University. Nyiko was intimately involved in the Fees Must Fall movement at Wits and we do spend some time getting her perspective on where the movement stands today.

She was also, along with three fellow activists, involved in one of the most dramatic political protests of recent times when the four young women stood in silence in front of former President Zuma as he spoke, evoking the memory of his rape accuser Fezekile Khuzwayo. She tells me how that moment came about.

We had a wide-ranging discussion about, among other things, gender identity and the phenomenon of corrective rape, the changing nature of work and the potential of the fourth industrial revolution to create new leadership models, new industries and new ways of work.

Nyiko and her fellow activist  Naledi Chirwa have launched a YouTube channel called #UnpolicedExpressions  where they talk about issues of feminism and gender politics. I have included a poem from a recent episode at the end of this podcast so please listen to that.

Pearl Pillay grew up in Chatsworth, an Indian township south of Durban on the South African East Coast. She is a director at Youth Lab, a Johannesburg think-tank that works “to provide various platforms for young people and decision-makers to exchange ideas, develop strategies and execute plans that will enhance the lives of young South Africans.”

Pearl and I chatted about her meeting her hero Arundhati Roy at a recent book launch, growing up in a religious home blighted by a violent and alcoholic father, and her path into activism and politics.

We also looked at the work of the Youth Lab and some of the issues confronting the youth of South Africa today in the face of low growth, high youth unemployment and government apathy.