Protesters threaten to empty toilets onto road

Msunduzi municipality doesn’t listen, say residents

Residents of Denmark location in Pietermaritzburg blocked roads on Tuesday complaining that the municipality had not emptied their toilets since last year. Photo: Nompendulo Ngubane

Pietermaritzburg protesters are angry that their pit toilets have not been emptied since last year. They have threatened to throw waste onto the road if their complaints are not heard by the Msunduzi municipality.

“We will take buckets full of waste and spill them onto the road so that they take us seriously,” said protester Jabulani Mazibuko as residents of Slangspruit, Denmark, in Pietermaritzburg blocked roads with trees and burning tyres on Tuesday afternoon.

The protesters are complaining that their toilets have not been emptied since last year. In nearby France location, in the same ward, residents are also complaining about blocked toilets. According to ward councillor Sibongile Mncwango there have been problems with payments to the drainage company contracted by the Msunduzi municipality.

Broken bottles thrown on the road on Tuesday stopped drivers from using the road leading to Imbali township. Police removed burning trees to allow the traffic to flow.

Residents of Denmark protested about the toilets in June 2017 and again early in 2018.
They are also complaining about electricity cuts which they say damage their appliances.

“Since November we have been requesting our ward councillor to assist us in emptying the toilets,” said Mazibuko. “Residents did not enjoy Christmas because of the smell and flies. We bought chemicals to lower the waste but the chemicals work for a short time.”

“We have had meetings with the municipality. They have promised to attend to the matter. Nothing has been done.”

Residents have protested several times about their toilets not being emptied by the municipality. Photo: Nompendulo Ngubane

Mazibuko said when electricity was restored after cuts, appliances were broken. “On Monday the guys from the municipality were fixing the transformer. They did not finish what they were doing. The transformer was left open on the road.”

Sandile Mseleku said his fridge was broken after electricity cuts last week. “Almost every resident here has appliances broken. We buy globes almost every week because globes burn. We are tired. Even when we visit the municipality offices we are labelled as a nuisance. They know we have problems but they don’t attend to them,” said Mseleku.

Ward councillor Mncwango said she had reported the electricity cuts to the municipality. She said trucks had been sent to Denmark to empty the toilets “but they broke”.

“I had explained that there has been a problem of funds from the municipality’s side because the trucks were outsourced,” said Mncwango. She said she had promised residents she would raise the matter at the full council.

We are awaiting comment from the municipality.

   By Nompendulo Ngubane

© 2019 GroundUp.

SGB shuts down school after dispute with principal

Learners want the school reopened

Parents protested outside Silver Leaf Primary in Dunoon against the school principal. Photo: Peter Luhanga

The School Governing Body of Silver Leaf Primary in Dunoon has shut down the school. Parents accuse the principal of being rude to them and want him removed. But some learners want the school reopened.

On Friday, about 80 parents protested outside the school. They disrupted lessons and ordered learners and teachers to go home. Their anger was mainly directed at the school principal, Mlungisi Fani.
Deputy chairperson of the School Governing Body Caroline Sikweyiya said parents were accusing Fani of failing to take their opinions seriously on the running of the school, and branding them “illiterates”.

The protest continued on Monday. The parents sang and danced to popular struggle songs and held placards saying, for example, “Fani must fall”.

Yandiswa Bika, who has two children at the school, claimed that the principal swore at parents and when they had issues to report to him he met them at the gate and slammed it against them.
“He calls us flies and says that children must be dropped at the entrance gate and that we are not allowed inside the school premises to see them off,” said Bika.

She said some parents with children who were short of items from the school stationery pack were turned back home on the first day of school. This apparently fuelled the anger for the Friday protest.
“He judges us,” she said.

The Western Cape Education Department has, however, said it has received complaints about financial misconduct by the SGB. It is unclear if this is what led to the conflict, and no details have yet been provided about the alleged misconduct.

Director of Communications at the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), Bronagh Hammond, on Friday described the actions of the protesting parents as “very unfortunate as it has affected the learners directly”.

“The principal has raised a number of concerns regarding the conduct of the SGB on certain matters … The SGB, unfortunately, reacted to the letter by shutting down the school. The Department has offered to meet the SGB on Monday,” said Hammond.

But on Monday Hammond said the parents had declined to come to the WCED offices. “This offer still stands.”

“The WCED has also received complaints regarding the financial misconduct of the SGB and will investigate. The refusal to allow for teaching and learning is not acceptable. Learners should not be the victims of the current dispute between the principal and the SGB,” said Hammond.

On Monday the school reopened for about half an hour. Learners, dressed in uniform and eager to learn, returned to school. They started pushing the gate demanding the security guards let them in. The gate was opened.

Teachers were let in at 9:30 am.

But the SGB and protesting parents vowed to not let the principal access the school.

Fani arrived at the school escorted by the Metro Police but was not allowed in.

The parents then cancelled lessons for the day and learners were seen coming out of the classrooms at 10:05 am.

Anele Pikelelo, 16, a Grade 7 learner at the school, said that his teacher told them to go home and did not explain further.

“We are not happy. We want to learn and get ready for high school,” said Pikelelo.

Some parents who got the news via social networks came to pick up their children. Children whose parents were at work were left in the care of the school caretaker.

The protesting parents also made sure that all the teachers had left the school premises.

The school, which has several hundred learners, was also in the news in 2016 when parents protested about the lack of space in Grade R.

© 2019 GroundUp.
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The ANC must offer more than promises to win over South Africans

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party, the ANC, faces a tough set of elections in May.
EPA-EFE/Kim Ludbrook

Launching the governing African National Congress’s (ANC) 2019 general election manifesto in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa lauded the successes of the last 25 years of democracy. He claimed that the governing party had “given substance to the promise of a better life for all”. He declared 2019 “the year of united action to grow South Africa”, with a focus on economic growth and job creation:

Today, we are issuing a call to all the people of South Africa, to join us as we strive to accelerate change in our country, as we strive to build an inclusive economy that creates jobs and as we work towards a better future for our children.

He also emphasised that the ANC’s aim was to create a developmental state which would put the people first, and that corruption and factional politics would not be tolerated.

He outlined the ANC’s political agenda. This included mobilising for a decisive victory in the 2019 general elections; intensifying the renewal of ANC branches; fighting corruption in government, in the ANC and across society; and organising against social ills such as gender-based violence, substance abuse and racism.

But the same golden promises have been made before. They may not have the same shine any more given that South Africa is at a precarious point in its 25th year of democracy. The country faces massive socio-economic and socio-political challenges. Unemployment remains stubbornly high, particularly among young people. Economic growth is tepid and protests over the government’s poor delivery of basic services are on the rise.

A survey by Afrobarometer –- a non-partisan African research network – shows that South Africans generally believe their current economic conditions are bad. Not surprisingly, most believe that the government is dealing with economic policy badly. More than 60% think the government’s performance isn’t satisfactory on this front.

More worrying is that South Africans are increasingly becoming disillusioned with democracy because of the government’s anorexic delivery on the promise of a better life for all. While the ANC continues to make this promise, its delivery remains elusive.

The next few months will be crucial. The ANC will need to take decisive action if it’s going to win over sceptical voters.

Echoes of past manifestos

A cursory glance at previous ANC election manifestos shows that very similar promises and plans have been made ahead of previous elections.

In 1999, at the launch of its manifesto, the party urged South Africans to vote for it in return for speedy change and the delivery of services, to ensure a better life for all.

The 2004 manifesto, under the banner of “a people’s contract to create work and fight poverty”, stressed growing the economy, creating sustainable livelihoods, accessing basic services, facilitating comprehensive social security as well as fighting crime and corruption.

Similar sentiments were expressed in the ANC’s 2009 general election manifesto. The overarching theme of this manifesto was “working together we can do more”. The party claimed that a

…. vote for the ANC is a vote for a better life.

Focus areas were the creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods, education, health, rural development, food security and land reform as well as the fight against corruption and crime.

By 2014 the promise of a “better life for all” remained an elusive dream. Corruption, allegations of state capture, and predatory political factionalism undermined trust in the ANC’s abilities to deliver on its 2014 promises. As in 2009, economic growth and job creation, rural development and land reform, addressing apartheid legacies, fighting crime and corruption, and delivering quality health and education were key priorities.

Will the electorate buy those golden promises? It’s not clear that they will, given the decline in electoral support as well trust in the ruling party.

A time series by Afrobarometer shows both these trends very clearly.

Decline in electoral support and trust

The party’s electoral support has shrunk. In 1999 the ANC held an overwhelming majority of 66%. By the 2014 general elections, this fell to 61%.

The change of voter support in certain provinces is very marked. Electoral support for the ANC declined between 1999 and 2014 in some provinces. Most notable was the decline of electoral support in the Eastern Cape, its traditional stronghold.

In the Free State, the ANC held 81% of electoral support in 1999 but, by 2014, the party only secured 70% of the vote. Similar trends were evident in the North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng provinces.

Trust in the ANC remains precarious. In 2002 a quarter of South Africans who took part in the Afrobarometer survey didn’t trust the governing party at all. By 2018, this sentiment increased to 36%.

Trust in the president also fell. In 1999 37% of South Africans indicated a measure of trust in the president. By 2018 only 30% said they trusted the president a little.

Crucial times ahead

There are similar themes of addressing economic growth for job creation, of increasing education and skills development, addressing unemployment, inequality and poverty, and working to create a better life for all in the ANC’s latest manifesto.

But the party will need to take decisive action on corruption as well as facilitate the necessary conditions for economic growth and job creation to restore some semblance of trust in its governing ability.

The next few months will be crucial. There are a few caveats that may undermine its electoral performance in 2019. These include addressing factionalism and corruption and ensuring accountability for those involved in state capture. The ANC also has to get public institutions functioning in a way that delivers basic services to the people.

If it fails to do any of this, the ANC may well suffer losses akin to the 2016 local government elections at a national level and reduce its electoral dominance of South Africa’s political landscape. Indeed, the key lesson from 2016 was that people are no longer buying promises with their vote.

Joleen Steyn Kotze, Senior Research Specialist in Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

2018: News that mattered

19 December 2018   By GroundUp Staff

Land occupations on the increase, Post Office takes over social grant payments, corruption exposed at PRASA and DAFF, but also good-news stories featuring ordinary South Africans

Fatima Isaacs protests against development in Bo-Kaap. There is fierce debate over the future of the famous suburb bordering Cape Town’s city centre. Many protests this year have opposed gentrification. But the community is far from united on the issue. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Andile Skuthalo and other residents of Siyahlala queue daily for water. Photo: Peter Luhanga

Dam levels were perilously low in Cape Town for much of the first half of 2018. Day Zero made headlines across the world. A huge water-saving effort and good winter rain have brought at least two years’ respite. But plans to increase the future supply of water to the city remain vital. Those plans need to cater for the thousands who have to stand in queues daily to collect a meagre amount of water, as they battle Day Zero-like conditions.

Children at the Path Out of Poverty centre in Riebeek Kasteel just after eating, before settling down for learning exercises. We told the story of Goedgedacht — which means “good thinking” — a South African success story that is helping rural children play sport, do homework, improve their social skills and eat nutritiously. Photo: Aidan Jones

GroundUp exposed a dodgy deal for guarding the Helen Bowden Nurses’ Home. Several hundred people have occupied the property since March 2017. The security company’s dogs, one of whom is pictured above, made playful pets but ineffectual guard-dogs. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Nombi Arosi sits in the ruins of her shack which was demolished by officials. Her building materials were confiscated. “I’m heart-broken. I don’t know where I will stay now,” she said. Photo: Vincent Lali

Riot police form a chain barring Dunoon residents from shacks they built on vacant land. Photo: Peter Luhanga

Land occupations increased dramatically in 2018. GroundUp covered occupations in Dunoon, Khayelitsha, Philippi, Cato Crest and Brakpan. Reclaim the City continued its audacious occupation of two large state-owned buildings near Cape Town’s city centre.

Zoleka Mapikana waits outside the Net1 Moneyline office at Philippi Plaza. She holds a green EasyPay Everywhere card given to social grant beneficiaries who take out a loan with a Net1 subsidiary. Photo: Barbara Maregele

The Post Office took over the payment of most social grants this year. This was after the Constitutional Court ordered the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to cut ties with Net1 subsidiary Cash Paymaster Services (CPS). For the past six years, CPS had been paying grants on behalf of SASSA. Will the Post Office do a good job? It remains to be seen. There have been some serious teething problems.
It was not a good year for former Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini. The Constitutional Court found her personally liable for 20% of grant payment litigation costs. The National Prosecuting Authority may also bring perjury charges.

Workers wait in Sea Point for a bus home to Khayelitsha. Photo: Barry Christianson

In Masakhane, Gansbaai, one wet Tuesday morning, an abalone poacher waits for a lift to the sea. Photo: Kimon de Greef

In May, Mortimer Booysen, a Hout Bay man who poached abalone for a living, was killed in unclear circumstances when police chased the boat he was on. This story raised troubling questions about the history of poaching in the Western Cape, and the state’s approach to poaching.
These questions were compounded by GroundUp’s exposé on the culture of corruption and in-fighting at the Department of Fisheries and Forestries, including the theft of millions worth of poached abalone that was supposed to be auctioned.

Natania Nitzky from Mitchells Plain with her sparring partner and instructor, Cobe Jephte. Nitzky is among seven students selected for a martial arts tournament in India in December. Photo: Barbara Maregele

At the end of the Border War, Angolan members of 32 Battalion were moved to Pomfret. Photo: Shaun Swingler

Implicated in human rights abuses during the last years of apartheid, 32 Battalion veterans and their families have been left in limbo in the military town of Pomfret. Living in abject circumstances, they have endured broken promises and face an uncertain future.

Vhafamadi High School in Limpopo was built with Lottery money, but the tenders went to dodgy contractors who did a poor job. Photo: Raymond Joseph

The Lottery was controversial for targeting poor people from the day it started. But the counter-argument was that it would be used for pro-poor projects. We ran a series of stories this year exposing projects gone bad and corruption.

Tristan Manh (14) from Mitchells Plain hoists a barbell during a weight lifting competition. Mitchells Plain Powerlifting Club hosted the competition for the township’s Open Streets celebration. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Robot 5 was built entirely from scrap, says Hoosain Dixon. Dixon is an Athlone artist who specialises in building robots. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Residents of Redhill near Simon’s Town in Cape Town have been waiting for years for government housing. Photo: Thembela Ntongana

“When Mandela was released from prison in 1994 I was staying in this place and had been here for years.” Sixty-six-year-old shack dweller Nowethu Ngxangana is one of hundreds of Redhill residents hoping for a house in the new Dido Valley housing project.

The 2017 trend of train arson (when this photo was taken) continued this year, with dozens of carriages burnt beyond repair. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

New forensic reports, by Werksmans, on corruption at PRASA were leaked to commuter activist group #UniteBehind and handed to GroundUp. The reports have been sitting with Parliament for most of the year; it’s unclear why they have not been officially released. The reports continue to paint a picture of grand-scale corruption at the state-owned enterprise. In particular, they show why security on Metrorail has collapsed. They implicate one of Jacob Zuma’s key backers, Roy Moodley.

© 2018 GroundUp.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Of the trillion photos taken in 2018, which were the most memorable?

What makes some images memorable and others easily forgotten? It’s a question I’ve been studying for nearly 20 years.

Estimates suggest that more than 1 trillion photos were taken in 2018.

With so many in circulation, it’s difficult for any single photo to capture our attention and become a famed iconic image.

In the golden age of photojournalism, news photographs became iconic largely because they appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world – think Iwo Jima and the Hindenburg.

But that age has come to an end: Digital journalism and social media have changed the way we consume images. Each day, audiences are bombarded with photos. Many are shocking, inspiring and heartbreaking. But in their overwhelming volume, they’re easily forgotten.

Nonetheless, some do rise to the top.

Two colleagues and I developed a model to help predict when and how certain images may become widely known.

The model shows that certain characteristics of an image – such as its timeliness, its cultural resonance, its political potency or its likelihood of being turned into a meme – can influence its rise and reach.

Images that exhibit these qualities can quickly go viral, turning them into what communication scholars call “instant news icons.” While these images don’t typically endure to become truly historic, they nonetheless help citizens navigate and understand complex events.

So which images did this in 2018?

Enough is enough

On Feb. 14, a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. Following such a mass shooting, there’s a predictable pattern of news media coverage – breaking news reports filled with speculation, details about the perpetrator, elected officials responding with “thoughts and prayers” and debates about mental health and gun control.

But after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, we saw something new: images of resistance. The students there spoke fervently, demanding action from elected officials.

These images of resistance spurred school walkouts and nationwide protests, culminating in the March For Our Lives.

A photo of firefighters goes viral

Forest fires continued to rage in 2018.

During the devastating Carr Fire that burned more than 200,000 acres and claimed the lives of three firefighters, Redding, California resident Richard Tuggle captured a photo of five firefighters resting in a backyard in his neighborhood on July 27. The firefighters were clearly reeling from the exhaustion of battling the deadly fire.

Richard Tuggle went to check on his home, saw three firefighters taking a break, snapped a photo and posted it online, where it quickly went viral.
Richard Tuggle/Facebook

What’s particularly interesting about this photo and its rise to prominence is that it was captured by a citizen rather than a journalist. The photo went viral on social media and was ultimately picked up by news outlets across the country, showing how instant news icons can come from citizens as well as journalists in this new age of photography.

Kavanaugh confronts #MeToo

Amid controversy and protests, the Senate narrowly confirmed Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Oct. 6.

The contentious confirmation hearings pitted the image of an incensed Kavanaugh against images of impassioned protesters standing in solidarity with a calm, composed Christine Blasey Ford.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool

Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool

Security cameras upend the Saudi narrative

In early October, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared. The Saudis initially denied that they had anything to do with his disappearance.

But security-camera footage emerged showing Khashoggi entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. It served as evidence to support the claim – later confirmed – that he was killed inside.

CCTV video obtained by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet shows Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018.
CCTV/Hurriyet via AP

In this case, the image was captured by a security camera, rather than a photographer. Nonetheless, it became an instant news icon. It’s just another example of the changing nature of the production and consumption of news imagery.

Time magazine named journalists as their 2018 Person of the Year, partly in response to the Khashoggi killing.

Devastation in Yemen

A devastating war in Yemen has led to economic instability and widespread food shortages.

On Oct. 26, The New York Times published photojournalist Tyler Hicks’ gut-wrenching images of starving Yemeni children.

A few days later we learned that Amal Hussain, the 7-year-old girl in Hicks’ haunting photo, had died.

Journalists have continued to document this humanitarian crisis. In mid-December the Senate voted to end U.S. military support to Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

But the crisis continues, and millions of people still face starvation.

The politics of immigration

Political, economic and ethical debates about immigration dominated the year, with two photos driving the conversation.

Getty photographer John Moore’s image of a 2-year-old Honduran girl in a pink shirt sobbing as U.S. Border Patrol agents searched her mother became the face of Trump’s “zero tolerance” family separation policy. The image was even modified for a Time magazine cover under the headline “Welcome to America.”

John Moore’s photograph of a young Honduran girl sobbing instantly came to symbolize the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policy.
John Moore/Getty Images

The image continued to spur discussion after it was made clear that the mother and daughter were not actually separated. However, hundreds of other children have been separated from their parents and recently a 7-year-old girl in Border Patrol custody died.

Then, on Nov. 25, Reuters photojournalist Kim Kyung-Hoon snapped a picture of a mother and her twin daughters fleeing tear gas at the border wall between the U.S. and Tijuana, Mexico. Appearing in news outlets and on social media feeds across the country, it spurred further public and political outrage.

Some said the photo effectively contradicted Trump’s narrative that refugees were dangerous. Others noted that the photo evoked the iconic image of a naked Vietnamese girl screaming in pain following a napalm attack.

Nicole Smith Dahmen, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.