My opinion piece about the use of alcohol in African Traditional Rituals

Ancestral rituals or a binge-drinking festival?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Trevor Hlungwani

I want to know from the preservers of African culture why “the strong stuff” is central to practicing one’s culture or appeasing the ancestors. I am sure I am not the first person to ask this critical but overlooked question.

Before I am labelled as a tribalist, as I was once called, my question relates specifically to the institutions of my culture. As a native of the Limpopo Province I have been exposed to these ways of living since childhood.

I will not generalize and say all South Africans indigenous cultures use the traditional home-brewed beer, “Umqomboti”, in their rituals but I can categorically state that Umqomboti has been adopted as the “Messiah” which connects the custodians of most cultures to the ancestors. I am not saying it’s a wrong thing but I basically seek to know how the concept of using alcohol started.

I mean what significance can alcohol play in advancing the plight of a poverty-stricken people: even if the beer is an offering to the ancestors, nothing positive can ever come from something as destructive as alcohol! I know people can agree with me on that.

What happens in these rituals is that the old man says a few words, calling the ancestors by their names and pleading with them to help the family with their needs, pours a little alcohol in the ground to respect them. Then he circulates the clay container among all men in the ritual. This continues all day until the crowd staggers home to return tomorrow to cure the “Babalaza”.

By extension they will slaughter an innocent goat, I don’t know if the SPCA know about this but I guess they would have a lot of animals to rescue.

My question is simple: are we supposed to get drunk in these ceremonies and, how will it improve our already miserable life?

It’s no surprise that we African people are most passionate about the bottle because alcohol was entrenched psychologically to us through our beloved ancestors.

Our already colonised mind is defenceless when culture is used to disarm us even more: we spend so much of our minimum wages on ancestral rituals when, in actual fact, they are nothing big but binge-drinking festivals.

Hence the plight of the black men remains the same, if not worse because we are not sober-minded enough to discuss “Programmes of Action”

My Opinion piece on the Gauteng's proposed liquor bill.

Gauteng’s proposed liquor bill a big blow for the residents and businesses.

                                                                                                Trevor           Hlungwani.

I will keep it short and to the point: if the government ban liquor sales on Sundays I swear the sales will double, if not triple on Saturdays. At least it will give the consumers enough time to freeze their drinks for the long Sunday afternoon.

The proposed draft liquor legislation aims to prevent the sale of liquor in taverns, shebeens, restaurants and any other liquor outlets in the Gauteng province on Sundays.

When I count my calendar well, freedom day next year will be celebrated on a Sunday, should the bill be passed, it will mean that the poor Gauteng civilians will not enjoy the day. Do we still call that a freedom day? I mean any South African can agree with me that the best way to celebrate a holiday is through drinking and having a braai. 

What’s so special about Sunday? The bill, if passed, is not going to solve anything, as Sunday is not even one of the biggest drinking days.

My question is will churches be prohibited from conducting the Holy Communion considering the fact that not all glasses have grape fruit in them?

I can already see police taking advantage by roaming around townships like lost tourists, checking if they are really selling at Bra Biza’s or Sis Joyce and intimidating them into paying bribes if they are not abiding, I don’t blame them, after all their silly pays allows that.

How is it going to help curb alcohol abuse? I believe a possible solution would be to educate people about responsible drinking or alcohol consumption. Rather than introducing stupid laws, the government should put more money into policing to combat drunk driving and charge these drunk drivers with attempts to cause accidents and deaths by extension, and suspend their driver’s licences for 3 years.

This is not the kind of legislation needed if we are to play a meaningful part in job creation. With ICASA granting licence to TOP TV to air pornographic channels, I guess the next thing the government is going to do is to ban of television,

Township people will be forced to get high on home-brewed which do not go through inspection and can easily turn out to be pure poison and can claim man lives. According to a friend experience should the police test a person who is drunk of this beer they will not get any sign of alcohol in his/her system. These speak volume of its fatal nature.

I guess Soshanguve residents are safe! Catching a taxi to Ga-Rankuwa to have some serious drinking on Sundays is not a time-consuming task, after all Ga-Rankuwa is in North-West province.

Freedom Day celebration.

Are we really free?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Trevor Hlungwani

April 27 is national celebrated as Freedom Day. This year marks 19 years of freedom from the apartheid-led government. I have always wanted to scratch the surface a bit regarding this day.

To me this most noted date recognizes the fact that the dignity and equality of individuals is both an objective which society must pursue.

But freedom to me is divided into two parts. The first “free” part is the liberation part. This means that we are free from the bondages of the past, be it psychological, physical or economical. It provides the opportunity to enable each one and all to state their views, promote their implementation in the process of governance without fear that a contrary view will be met will repression

The other “free” means that we are free to better ourselves. This includes creating a corrupt-free environment, creates employment and also advances strategies which seek to boast our communities. It also includes getting away from the habit of dependence from the government.

To measure the benefits of our freedom we should always look at the changes our freedom has brought unto our lives.

People argue that the new dispensation has not brought much to the lives of the civilians. I believe it will take two to three decades of majority elected government to redress the imbalances inherited from the apartheid-led government

Perhaps we should ask ourselves a couple of questions before we criticize the government. We should ask ourselves that how do we offer hope of civilization to the citizenry? This means that we all have the responsibility to make our communities a better place to live in.

Another question should be: how do we keep the ANC-led government relevant in these challenging times? I believe the government needs a vigorous participation of people from the grass roots level in order to avoid the misdirection of efforts in the quest to improve service delivery. As citizens we should get actively involved in governmental processes to make our country a good one.

Another question should be: how do we occupy the vacuum left by the apartheid-led government? Blaming the government for the racial imbalances and the economic setup shows that South Africans are failing to better the current political climate.

But truth be told, no political party in South Africa can compete with ANC on struggle credentials. Competing with pre and post-1994 ANC is a misguided strategy.

To all the people who never made newspaper headlines, all those who marched facing bullets, those whose graves were never found and couldn’t be relocated by Khumbule’ekhaya, whose lives were cut short. To all those who died terrible deaths alone. To all the kids who grew up without parents, all the domestic workers who endured swearing words from the sons and daughters of the ‘madam’.

To all who shunned privileges due to them for their colour, all who knew that freedom knows no colour, and all who died in exile and in prison. To all who never became government ministers and DGs, all those who never benefited through BEE.

To all who still don't know what happened to their parents, kids, brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. To all who put the safety of their families on risk. To all the mothers who kept the families going while the fathers were in the struggle.

To all who were disowned by churches because they could not reconcile a just God with an unjust system, all who hid the freedom fighters at the risk of losing their own lives, those not in the history books. And to a just God who gave all the strength in a very difficult time. THANK YOU FOR FREEDOM.

My story about hostel allocation in Attredgeville

Residents cry foul at hostel allocation.

Trevor Hlungwani.

Newly-built hostels in Saulsville, west of Pretoria, are getting dilapidated while residents do not have better housing. The residents of Block R Hostels accuses their ward councillor, Conference Ntuli and her predecessor Mrs Boya of allegedly trying to place their relatives and people who were said to be not the rightful beneficiaries of the hostels.

Charles Chokwe, a resident, said that the former ward councillor identified as Mrs Boya, held a public meeting with the residents of the hostels in 2007 and told them that their hostels had to be renovated. “She promised us that we would occupy the hostels upon the completion of the renovations,”Chokwe said. The renovations kick started in 2007. As part of the renovations process, the residents were removed from their houses that were said to be not safe for them.

By early 2011, the construction company had completed the renovations, but up to date the residents are still living in the old hostels nearby the old ones.

“Sometimes we are surprised to see strangers coming to view the houses, we could see that they might have bought them,” said a concerned resident.

However, Ward 63 Councillor, Conference Ntuli, said that what the residents are saying is not true. “It has always been important to me to contribute to the growth of a society in which the government fulfils its promises of service delivery”, said the councillor. She also said that government processes takes long to materialize as there were lot of stages to go through.

“It’s unfortunate that the residents were not willing to wait for the government to do things in a proper way,” Ntuli said. Meanwhile, the windows of the new hostels are broken and thieves are stealing electricity cables, geysers and bath tubs.

An angry resident said that the councillor is delaying the process of placing them in the houses in an attempt to place her people. She further said that they will make sure that the councillor gets their message across. “No lesson really seems to have been sent clearly to her of what will happen if she transgresses our wishes,” said the agitated councillor.

One of the residents, Nicodemous Masango said that they were an example of an excluded and poor community which cannot be recognized because of poor political affiliation. “The current political setup requires one to be related to a government official in order to benefit from government process,” Masango said. They do not have electricity and they rely on a water pump which is 300 meters from their houses. The residents also faced a problem of poor sanitation. The unhygienic conditions of their toilets are very bad and had created a breeding space for worms.

“In another level we cannot measure the pain and sense of dignity we have lost in ourselves, you will never respect yourself while you are living in an environment like this,” said Masango.

Maxwell Mhlanga from Tshwane Metro said that they will investigate the matter and make sure that the allocation of the houses is carried out fairly and adequately.

“Corruption, I suppose, continues because of lack of consequences, if government officials continues to think they have done it before and nothing had been done to them, I guess the temptation is to continue to do it because nothing is done about it anyway,” he said.

My story about Winnie Mandela vising Polonia Primary School in Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria

Madikizela Mandela visits local school.

 

Trevor Hlungwani

Winnie Madikizela Mandela paid a surprise visit to Polonia Primary School in Ga-Rankuwa on Thursday. The purpose of her visit was about the sanitary situation in the school. The unhygienic conditions of the blocked toilets which have been blocked for two years have left a breeding space for worms.

Madikizela-Mandela is currently the Chairperson of a task team chosen by Minister of Human Settlement, Tokyo Sexwale, to oversee sanitation in various local schools around the country.

Nomonde Botwana from The National Association of school governing bodies called Madikizela-Mandela’s office and alerted them about the unhygienic state of the school which does not have proper flushing toilets. Learners are still using the pit system toilet which is not safe for them. “I was very disappointed to see our children sitting on top of worms, which pose health hazards to them,” said Botwana.

Madikizela Mandela said she is disappointed on how the government, which people have voted for, has neglected their responsibilities.She further said that the government should prioritise the foundation phase because that is where we get to discover our future leaders. “It is a shame that 19 years after democracy, people are still suffering in a way like this” she said.

Madikizela further said that it’s surprising that Ga-Rankuwa is close to Pretoria where the Department of Human Settlement is located but still they are not given much attention. The Chairperson was joined by former Public Works Minister, Gwen Mahlangu-Nkambinde who is Madikizela-Mandela’s deputy in the portfolio. Mahlangu-Nkambinde expressed her disappointment in the government. “It’s a fact that the government budgeted money for infrastructural development but none is being used for its rightful purpose.” Said Mahlangu-Nkambinde.

Victor Molewa, the principal of Polonia said that they have struggled with the Department of Education for their help with the toilet problem but they have since dragged their legs.  The principal further said that flushing toilet were built in 1997 but couldn’t function properly  because fans that were supposed to be used for drying up faeces were stolen. He said the current toilets pose a health risk to learners.

“We just hope her visit will produce a good outcome because every time we asked the DOE for help they only brought mobile toilets which are not good enough for our learners,” said Molewa.The chairperson of the school governing body, Benjamin Kgatse, also singled out how the toilets are dilapidated which is not safe for human use.” We thought that the new dispensation and the transition to democracy will bring good lives for all but surely nothing has changed,” said the disappointed Kgatse.

Opinion piece about the rise of police brutality in South Africa Post-apartheid era.

South African Police Service: A history of violence.

Trevor Hlungwani

Daily, police and traffic officers can be seen forcing their way through traffic to smooth the way for privileged politicians travelling in blue light cars. I am sure our grandparents still remember the fear inspired by the yellow police vans and hippos that used to patrol South African townships. The duties of those officers were clear: to brutalize and oppress the black majority in order to enforce and maintain a white minority government.

Since the fall of apartheid, South African police officers have heard the word “brutality and force” replaced by “service”, but the grand question is: how many South Africans today can say they are confident our police are there to protect and serve us the public?

Recent acts of police brutality have put the South African Police Service in the international media spotlight and highlighted the need to reform the police service.

Who can forget the brutal killing of Andries Tatane in Fiksburg? The story went viral and also got international coverage. What could be the defense in killing a defenseless man protesting for service delivery? But the state is still dragging their legs in meeting out justice.

Citizens like Mido Macia are left to die in police cells and the 34 bodies lying in the dust of Marikana on August 16 last year is engraved in the minds of South Africans post-democracy. As if that was not enough, a Community Policing Forum chairperson in the North West was assaulted and dragged by police officers in their vans.

Thousands of trainees, desperate for jobs and with no ambition to serve and protect citizens, are entrusted with guns, badges and power over the public every year. Their poor pay makes them susceptible to bribery and corruption.

A police commissioner appointed from the ranks of a political organization will always have a particular idea of who he or she is meant to ‘protect and serve’. This creates an atmosphere for a police service that exists to protect the ruling elite, while abusing the general citizenry; I guess that’s what happened in the events that led to the Marikana massacre.

According to a Human Rights Commission official I once spoke to, SA’s constitution is one of the world’s shining lights of jurisprudence. It helped to create a just and equitable democracy but it remained an ideal that still have to be realized. He argued that creating just laws does not create a just society; the law must be put into practice.

Meet the Department's First Man. My profile of the new Department Of Journalism HOD,Dr MP Chaka.

Meet the Department’s First Man

                                                            Trevor Hlungwani

The smell of coffee permeates the air as shafts of Autumn-coloured sunlight filter through the window. I am sitting on a comfortable chair in a warm office decorated by wooden and stylish furniture.

A pile of books and a precious see-through stationery case lie on the table, if knowledge and power had a smell, this is it! To my side, in a pinkish formal shirt, sits former University of North West Communication lecturer, and now HOD of Tshwane University of Technology Journalism department, Dr MP Chaka.

Born Mpho Phillip Chaka, 35 Years ago in Mafikeng, in the North West province, Dr Chaka is an awe-inspiring giant of a man: a larger than life figure whose sweet voice commands respect, yet he oozes modesty. He knows how to make visitors feel welcomed, and when he called me by name, the rest was “Sir”.

He is an accomplished story-teller who paints pictures with words in a laidback manner. Interviewing him is like speaking to my favourite uncle.

I am at the office of the HOD of the Journalism Department, but I am not here to talk about academic stuff but to interview him.

Dr Chaka holds a BA (Hons) in Communications from the University of North West, specialising in broadcast journalism, print journalism and public relations, an MA in Development Communication (University of Pretoria), ), and a PhD in Communication (North-West University)

“I was motivated by radio and television personalities like Glen Lewis, and Bob Mabena at the then Bop Broadcasting Corporation,” he said. In the course of our interview, his phone kept ringing and I could tell that Dr Chaka is indeed a busy man.

With 15 years of experience, the 35-year-old Dr Mpho Phillip Chaka took over the reins at the Department of Journalism on 1 March. He said he is grateful for taking over from a prominent figure like his predecessor, Dr PD Diedricks whom he met before he assumed with his duties as the new HOD.

His previously worked for two British-owned newspapers in Botswana, The Guardian and Midweek Sun, in 1999 before moving to Government Communication and Information Systems in 2001 as a communication officer and later the University of Pretoria as a junior lecturer.

He has been to the United Kingdom, USA and Spain, and has presented more than 15 academic papers nationally and abroad.

Asked about the challenges he meets as a HOD he just smiled and said “I am still familiarising myself with my position and I believe when time goes by I will adjust to the work load before me.”

Affectively known as “MC” amongst his colleagues, Dr Chaka spoke about his love for sports, particularly soccer. “I support the best soccer club in the premier soccer league, Kaizer Chiefs and I know if you are an Orlando Pirates fan you are not happy with this,” he said to me teasingly.

When I asked him if he do play Soccer, he gently buried his face in his hands. “I can only play soccer in a reasonable level, nothing professional,” he said.

He went on and said he have bigger plans for the journalism department which includes meeting possible employers to help third year students with industrial exposure. “My sole intention is to take this department to bigger heights and make the department a centre of excellence through quality and innovation,” said the humble academic.