Not Much Changed in Soshanguve, But Residents Content

Sthembiso Sithole@sitholesthe STHEMBISO SITHOLE FACEBOOK

Earlier this year these people built shacks illegally,
they still don't have land a few months on.

Earlier this year we covered a story about Soshanguve residents who said they had been waiting for government housing for close to 20 years and had decided to occupy land illegally so they could build their own shacks. We visited those residents recently to find out if there had been an improvement in their aim to access adequate housing or at least get land allocation to build shacks. Many say they are happy for now as their pleas seem to have been heard.

“Finally we managed to get a stand given to us by the councilor, Marutula. Anytime soon we will be build houses,” said group chairperson, Matshona Matjeke.

This is a different scene from earlier this year when the group was demanding the councilor’s resignation just days after the May 18 local government elections. They were not happy with the promises that had been made by those they elected and it seemed they wanted overnight change – understandably as some say they had been waiting for houses since the mid-1990s.

The poverty and the lack of opportunities are clear as one enters Soshanguve and apart from the few food stalls and beer outlets found all over the township – the high unemployment rate is visible as many young people sit on street corners during weekdays.

Mduduzi Lukhele is an unemployed resident who depend on the family tuck shop for money. He says as a result of a few opportunities the crime rate then becomes high.

“Unemployment among the youth has led them to steal for our own parents and that is a bad reflection of how we have been raised.”

Despite this there are those who defend those they elect saying they are doing enough for them.

When one walks around Soshanguve it is easy to spot that many young people are smoking a drug rare in most parts. They call it Nyaope and it is a mixture of marijuana, anti-retroviral drugs and possibly other drugs as well.

These people seem to go to the polls each time there is an election, but very little change is seen here and many still live in poverty that existed under apartheid. People should also not celebrate free land to build shacks – adequate housing is a promise that is always made by the ANC government.

Part 2: Democracy and the Scramble for Libya's Oil & Economy

Sthembiso Sithole
@sitholesthe/ Sthembiso Sithole on Facebook

 Muammar Gaddafi's killing after his over 40-years of rule has been met by celebration in Libya and abroad, but this was just the first phase of change as the second phase with the west probably stepping in more is beginning today. It's still unclear how the anti-Gaddafi forces, who were descibed by the media as disorganised at first, received so many weapons to carry out such a large scale operation, but that's all in the past now - the ones that helped them can celebrate, but I'm certain they won't be resting as they'll be working hard to ensure their interests are well looked after.

The new rulers, the  National Transition Council (NTC), have gone public to express their gratitude to those who assisted. “It is a historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gaddafi has met his fate," an NTC spokesperson told AFP.



This shows that Libya has won the power to run their country politically, but perhaps the ordinary Libyan celebrating on the streets will not enjoy all the benefits they think will come with it. The west seems to be planning to take some control and they haven't kept the fact that they want to help a secret.

Libya is rich in oil and just like in many areas where there have been resources in Africa, rich nations often step in under the guise of assistance. Rich nations were also behind the removal of Gaddafi and many are not known for being good Samaritans.

US Senator John McCain told AFP that the death marked the end of the first phase of the Libyan revolution. "The United States, along with our European allies and Arab partners must now deepen our support for the Libyan people, as they work to make the next phase of their democratic revolution as successful as the fight to free their country," he said.

Now this is a senator from a country that never criticised Egypt's Muammar Gaddafi to the point that President Barack Obama delivered his first speech in the region in Cairo. They saw nothing wrong with his
30 year rule until his people peacefully removed him from power earlier this year.

Politics is a game of favours and those who helped the NTC will have to have some returned in the well needed commodity - oil!

It will also be interesting to observe the kind of democracy Libyawill have and who will be in the driver's seat as the new chapter of this country starts.

Rural Nquthu Struggles with Few Resources

Sthembiso Sithole@sitholesthe/Sthembiso Sithole on Facebook

Schools have been built in Nquthu, but this doesn not mean
the community has access to other resources and information.

Growing up in Soweto I have come to understand that community meetings are taken seriously. These would often be held in the evenings or on weekends when people are back from work. At times they turn ugly if
the authorities don't listen to community leaders like it happened in the township's Chiawelo section when it turned violent earlier this year. Community members burnt down a section of a former councillor's house as she was blamed for high electricity tariffs.

During the recent September school and university holidays I visited the village of Nquthu in deep rural KwaZulu-Natal and much to my surprise the community here doesn't participate in meetings that can build them. I attended one meeting to discuss electricity tariffs and less than half the community was there.



I had assumed that many would be there as meetings are their only way of communicating with one another. Many are illiterate and those who can read and write have a lack of community newspapers and forced to read provincial papers, often coming from Durban or Pietermaritzburg.

While one would think water is a human right that everyone should have access to by now, it was one major point of concern that Nquthu residents have. The availability of water, or the lack there of, was another major issue during the meeting.

After the meeting I spoke to a few young people and they feel the youth is still overlooked in this traditional, patriarchal society. They say they often struggle to get their points across as young
prople.

On close inspection it appeared that the lack of resources is probably the cause of such poor attendance as councillors don't have resources to pass information about these meetings to those they represent. Community members also say they they don't know what's expected of them as this information isn't shared. What ends up happening is that councillors end up making decision as consultative processes are
difficult in this rural setting.

Journ Student Gives Power Talk in Rural High Schools

Sthembiso Sithole
@sitholesthe/ Sithembiso Sithole on Facebook

Matric pupils had many questions for Mbatha when he visited their schools.

During the one week September holidays second year journalism student, Bhekinkosi Mbatha visited schools in his rural community of Nquthu in KwaZulu-Natal to educate high school pupils about the option of
university. Mbatha also informed the students about government loans that can enable them to study beyond high school.

“It is crucial that we continue with our studies. Universities are not meant for whites or for
those who come from advantaged families only,” Mbatha told the pupils.

His audience of 200 was predominatly made up of matric pupils from Muziwephahla and Khethukuthula High
Schools.


He shared his experience of how he managed to come from the community and ended up studying journalism at one of the top journalism departments in the Tshwane University of Technology, a school recognised by UNESCO as one of four centres of potential centres of journalism learning in the country.

He emphasised the need to utilise the National Financial Aid Scheme that helps approximately 70% or more students in all South African universities every year.

Despite this power speech there was still a bit of scepticism as some were worried about accommodation.

One of the pupils, Zakhele Ngwenya, believes that nothing is done to help them choose the right career paths as information is seldom provided in schools with no support to help them get ahead in life.

“Career expos are mainly held in other areas such as Johannesburg but in this area there is nothing done for us to know about careers and opportunities,” Ngwenya said.

Although in some high schools in the area the government is building new classrooms for students - there are still no computers, equipment for scientific experiments and libraries.

One of the biggest challenges that this community is facing, is a lack of a community newspaper. Nqutu does receive a variety of newspapers though such as the Sowetan, Isolezwe, Ilanga, the Daily Sun, Zulu Land
Observer and so on.

Members of the community ranging from school children to adults say those papers don’t produce local content which reflects their society and that those papers are mostly in town and it is often expensive to get
there to buy them.

40-year-old Elizabeth Sithole says it is not easy for them to tell their stories as reporters often arrive late.

One Grade 10 pupil says the availability of newspapers, especially a local one, would help her with her grammar.

Up Close and Personal With The Fabulous Baker Girls

Sthembiso Sithole

Shoe Cake

What is your business all about and when did you started it?

We are The Fabulous Baker Girls (FBG). We started our business in January 2011. In fact, crazily, we resigned our permanent positions on our belief in our product, and our passion for what we create. Our business is about creating custom cakes. It is our mission to turn our clients’ special occasions into a fabulous celebration through our unique, one-of-a-kind confectionary. We create custom cakes for weddings, anniversaries, engagements, christenings, confirmations, birthdays, or any other function.

Where is your business based and why that particular area or place?

We are based in Kenwyn (Lansdowne), Cape Town. We are a home cake design studio. The location of our house basically dictated where we would base our business.

How did you start your business and why did you start it?

We started the FBG knowing that rental space for a bakery is exorbitant, because of the amount of space needed. In addition, the specialist ovens and equipment meant that we would need to take out some kind of business loan. We decided against this because our planning process indicated to us that we could create our custom cakes quite comfortably in our home kitchen. We started the business because we saw a gap in the market for custom cakes. In addition, we wanted to be our own boss…or cake boss in this case J

Why did you decided to do cakes and please explain how did you get involved in the cake business?

Gucci Handbag Cake

Nazneen has always loved baking. The custom cakes began when she started making birthday cakes for family members. Other people saw the cakes and requested that she bake cakes for them, and that was how it started. Charles has always been entrepreneurial and he is also an artist, having had exhibitions of his abstract art in the past. When Nazneen started baking birthday cakes, she found that she could not keep up with the demand because her cakes were different to the usual cakes that people would buy at a bakery or at a supermarket. Towards the end of last year when we decided that we wanted to start our own business, it seemed a logical step to move into the creation of custom cakes. Although a number of people bake cakes and cupcakes, not many people are able to do what we do in terms of customisation.

Who are your associate partners and what are their roles in your business?

The Fabulous Baker Girls comprises Nazneen Lalla and Charles George (a husband-and-wife-team). Nazneen does all the baking and the fine decorative detail on the cakes, as well as the marketing and the cake designs. Charles, with his artistic background, does the sugar art and the construction of complicated cake toppers. He also does the carving of the cakes, as well as the covering of the cakes with fondant (plastic icing). We have no other partners other than our five year old daughter who is the third, and littlest, Fabulous Baker Girl J

Who finances your business and what kind of cakes you do? You may give the type of cakes you do and their names?

We finance the business ourselves. We have no financial backing; we have no business loans etc. We make any kind of cake and cupcake. We have created handbag cakes, shoe cakes, bustier cakes, kiddies birthday cakes, etc. Your cake dreams are our reality. So if you can dream it, we can make it. We make madeiras, sponges, chocolate mud cakes, carrot cakes etc. We only use chocolate mud cakes for our carved cakes because these cakes are so incredibly dense and therefore can hold up to being carved.  A sponge will just collapse if we tried to use it for some of our creations. Our sponge cakes are the lightest, airiest cakes that you will taste. All our cakes are freshly-baked. We use only real butter and fresh cream in our confectionary. We use absolutely no pre-mixes and we use no preservatives. Our cakes are exceptional in terms of taste as well as design.

Who is your target market and why?

Our target market is divided up into different segments. Primarily for private functions, our target market is women.  Women organise the family functions, and so they buy our cakes. In the time that we have been operating, we have had three men buy cakes. Then we are targeting event planners and wedding coordinators. Usually, every function requires a cake, and the event planners and wedding coordinators offer a bespoke service in which they source all aspects of the function, including the confectionary.

Kiddies birthday cake

What has your business done from the period you have started?

As our reputation has grown so our business has grown ten-fold. We literally started with one sale in January 2011. Our business is visual, and when people see what we are able to do with cake, they place orders. We have been very fortunate in that we have had a number of repeat customers. Also, we have tapped into social networking using FB and, to a lesser extent, twitter. We find that our clients love our cakes so much that they market for us. In this way, we get so many requests for quotations that translate into actual sales, and often the demand is so great that we work practically 24/7 to meet our turnaround time of 3 days to generate a quotation.

What are the challenges that you have come across and how did you manage to overcome them?

Our single biggest challenge has been marketing. We have a zero budget for marketing and had to structure our marketing strategy with this as our main consideration. Nazneen’s experience in the Social Capital Unit, in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, and Charles experience as a training facilitator of financial advisors have been invaluable in formulating the marketing strategy. We understood that social networking sites such as FB and twitter would be our greatest tool because these sites allow us to display our creations in the best light possible. Our business is visual, and these sites allow us to post pictures of our cakes. Once we post a set of pictures, our Blackberries die on us because of the response to our cakes.

A huge challenge is that people want our cakes at that quality, but they do not want to pay for it. We have had to resist the temptation to drop our prices. We are not a volumes business, and people cannot expect to pay volumes-business prices.  Another challenge is that people often don’t take seriously when we tell them that we need 14 days to one month for the sugar art to dry properly. They give us one week, sometimes even one day. Unfortunately, we have had to turn away customers who wanted the sugar art but within unrealistic time frames. This is a massive challenge because we try to do everything possible to accommodate the client. But sometimes even we are unable to produce a work of sugar art in the compressed time that we are given.

Who are your greatest competitors and what do you normally do to be on top of the game?

Our biggest competitors are other cake design businesses and anyone selling confectionary. It is very easy, and cheaper, to get cupcakes at a supermarket bakery. We stay on top of the game by making sure that we offer our clients a cake or cupcake that they will fall in love with. So our designs are critically important, because they must be visually pleasingMost times people refuse to cut our cakes. This has been the common theme running through nearly all our sales. We always do a follow up a few days after a sale to make sure that the customer was happy with our cakes/cupcakes. The most common comment, consistently, has been, “I refused to cut the cake” or “the birthday boy/girl refused to cut his/her cake”. We have had people with tears in their eyes when they see their cakes, and then again when they cut their cake. We also make sure that our confectionary tastes exceptional. Again, we often hear, I did not want to cut my cake, but when I did it was the best cake I have ever eaten. We stay on top of the game by providing our customers with exactly what they want. If they want the moon as a cake, we will give them the moon as a cake. Our personal touch and exceptional service has always been remarked upon. People love engaging with Nazneen because she takes such an interest in them. She also responds to every comment on FB and every email that is sent to us.

Lastly you may add any relevant information about your business and tell us why people should come and support your business.

We take pride in our ability to create a custom cake for any occasion. We sell an experience. So many people have said that they never had a special cake when growing up, and now we are there, and we provide them with that experience. There is no feeling in the world quite like it when someone realises that this exquisite creation is entirely theirs. People should come and support us if they want to have this experience, or if they want to give this experience to a loved one. When we create a cake for someone, we will make it FABULOUS! That is The Fabulous Baker Girls Promise!! The Fabulous Baker Girls: When ONLY a FABULOUS cake will do!!

For more info or order:  fabakergirls@gmail.com or call Naz at 084 027 2478

Up-close and personal with TUT FM Network producer and presenter Sibongiseni Gentsu aka Black guy with a Chinese surname

Sthembiso Sithole

SS:What is TUT NETWORK all about?

“It is about all about informing, entertaining and interacting with the community. The show runs from Monday to Thursday and we have different contents for each day. We discuss social development, education, business and politics, entertainment, motivation and social issues”

Sibongiseni Gentsu on the
TUT FM  Network.

SS: What makes your show different from other shows in TUT FM?

In my show there is a feature called Bua sechaba.  People call in to express what they like and what changes they want in their society. Another thing that stands best in this show is that we also bring solutions to the challenges that our society is facing.

SS: What is the best part of the show you enjoy the most and why?

I always enjoy Tuesdays show. I always go to the studio telling myself that I am there to learn. We discuss issues around education and I have passion for education.

Since you have brought the issue of education, what is your view about the education system in South Africa?

I think the education system in our country has a problem and that problem does not lie in the government but in the hands of all those involved, parents and learners. Teachers don’t want to adapt to changes. Technology has come with full force to dominate our horizon. Teachers must adapt to the technological advancement.

SS: Who do you normally invite in your show and why?

I invite different people from inside and outside our campuses. Mr. Maremo is our education analyst. I believe he has so much to offer and that he helps when it comes to finding students bursaries. On Wednesdays show different political structures, parliament and the SRC come to discuss and bring solutions to the matters that are affecting TUT students.

TUT STUDENTS MAKING MONEY

Sthembiso Sithole

TUT Journalism students wearing
Cape Town T-shirts.

“What happens in Cape Town stays in Cape Town.”

TUT second year Journalism students Afrika Mdolomba and Cyril Skosane have collaborated with their production companies called Afurah Productions and Gub’Tahz to design t-shirts to unite all second year journalism students who are going to Cape Town on September 9.

T-shirts range from various colours and art work and only cost R130.

Cyril Skosane believes that next year, winter hoodies will be available for next year’s second years.

“We are hoping that first years from our department will be inspired to work hard in their studies, so that they can wear these t-shirts when going to the Mother City.”

The Department of Journalism takes second year students to Cape Town every year.