oscar pistorius

Cry Me a Reeva - What did Reeva See in Oscar?

To be quite honest with you I have always wanted to post on Oscar Pistorius but shuddering a lil' bit when I look at the four legal brains procured to get him off the hook. I have been afraid that I might post something wrong and end up having Adv Barry Roux putting it to me while comedians make a joke about me and rappers find inspiration in my bluff. But after Friday's postponement I think I can take a week to speculate.

RED CARPET: Is it all there was to Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp?

Truth is, I'm one of those who want justice to prevail against all odds in this trial. I truly have no interest in seeing Oscar going to prison or escaping responsibility; because his shrewd lawyer got him off by a technicality. If he's guilty he must go; if not he must walk, the same way it was the case President Jacob Zuma during his rape trial. So, I look at Roux (including Zuma's Kemp J Kemp) as that lawyer I will hire when I am facing 25 years in jail and I look at Nel as that prosecutor I would look forward to having prosecute a case inwhich I am on the good side.

So, it has been quite a good three weeks of a roller-coaster ride inwhich I, like international television would have lost interest if the State summoned all its 107 witnesses to testify. That the state called a few crucial ones and closed its case has renewed my interest in the debacle. Also, because while providing riveting viewing, the trial is a substitute for the International T20 World Cup taking place right now. Anytime Judge Thoko Masipa decides to shut us out of the gruesome evidence we can tune in to cricket and see another gruesome evidence of failure on the part of the Proteas selectors.

So, I have always wanted to write about paralympian Oscar. I love the chap; regardless of what he's accused of. He epitomises truimph of the human spirit. Everytime I go to shopping complexes in the sleepy towns of this country I am confronted by limbless folks at the entrances of grocery stores asking for pennies. I am confronted by blind folks begging for charity. One of them could have been Oscar; but no, Oscar has an Olympic Gold medal and was rumoured to make R20 million a year before the sponsorship plug was pulled. That's why I love the guy; his fighting spirit, his determination to win, his vigor and his passion for finer things in life.

On the same breath I love the Reeva Steenkamp story. I never had the opportunity to know the sassy model in her living years; only after her tragic death. Reeva is a picture puzzle I only know through pieces assembled by friends and family. Remember that there was a debate about whether the Tropica Island show that featured her should be screened or withdrawn. That decision brought us closer to Reeva; her disarming beauty, smile, her drive and passion. In a way we came close to seeing what is it that Oscar saw in her. She was probably his Gold medal, his 'Baba', something he could have that ordinary folks couldn't. It was twice as sweet for Oscar because here was a chap without feet who could scoop the prettiest wannabe model right at the nose of some of us with our two feet. So, it must have felt good to outrun us again.

Reeva was to Oscar what the Olympic Gold medal was to some of us. A medal we couldn't get because we are not even competing on that track. So, given Oscar's rage at losing a Gold medal in the London Olympic and complaining that the other chap's blades gave him an advantage; the potential for losing Reeva must have felt like that to young, rich and armed Oscar.

The chap might have had a fascination for firearms or might not but it's irrelevant today. His fascination is not his but it's white culture. The only thing real is that Reeva not only complemented but also completed the Oscar specimen.

Then we need to wonder what was in Oscar for Reeva. Money perhaps? For God's sake the chap did not even have feet and has been seen on SABC3' Top Billing canoodling with a sexy lass in Seychelles? There was evidence that the paralympian had a taste for finer things. It's natural, he's an athlete; think about all that adrenalin and wonder which one outlet can accommodate all of it? I tell you every cup would overflow and two to three would be needed.

So, as a layman who loved both Oscar and the character of Reeva I think it's inconceivable that a woman would still be dreaming of cracking it as a model at 29. Don't this girls crack it while still young and tender? 29 for someone trying to be  a model is the equivalent of a 39 years old woman trying to crack a first marriage. What I am actually saying here is that those are desperate times. Those are times that the desperate will do anything to crack it.

 So, here is Reeva noticing that Oscar stands on more red carpets than she does. She notices that half of what Oscar's revenue comes from is endorsements which in a way are as a result of the number of corporate and sporting events that he graces. Reeva notices that the media will always obsess with who Oscar is dating; and if she happens to be a pretty woman wanting to be a model that might open modeling doors for her. She thinks of a David-Victoria Beckham. Reeva notices that being closer to Oscar will get her attention and maybe; even at 29 she can still be a model after all, something she missed being at 21.

 That might explain why she stomached all the abuse which came to light in the state case. 90% passion and 10% abuse is the same as 90% abuse and 10% passion. Half of what Oscar allegedly did to her I doubt she would have stomached coming from me, someone who steps on two red carpets per year if I crack an invitation.

 For me, that was the making of that tragic relationship. There was never really a romantic relationship but a relationship of convenience for both of them. Oscar loved how Reeva made him feel while Reeva loved what Oscar's brand had the potential of doing for her own.

Oops, I finally wrote about Oscar; I still love him and don't understand the ANC Women's League's obsession with him. If only the ANCWL sat with every woman or girl in court over a rape, abuse and murder matter, we would have an improved dispensation of justice. The ANCWL would improve from being a burial society to a real advocacy organistion.

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zimbabwe calling

Zimbabwe Calling: Updating my Activism

Sometimes I get quite disturbed by issues outside of my jurisdiction but which continue to violate my peace of mind. Which reminds me of some time ago when I was still a learner and saw in the staff room a poster which encouraged us to stomach things that we can’t change.

 I know I can’t change the situation in Zimbabwe but I refuse to stomach the status quo. Truth is that Zimbabwe is spoken about in the past tense. People discuss its glory as if it was sixty years ago. Truth be told, it’s not long ago when it was termed ‘the bread basket of Africa’. As a literature fundi I was intrigued by tales of the Harare Book Fair which was said to be the biggest in Africa and attracted luminaries such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o and other respected African thinkers and scholars.

 Zimbabwe was everything we wished post’ apartheid South Africa to be. The colonialists such as Ian Smith continued to live and cause noise in parliament. Thousands of English continued to farm the fertile, which to a certain extent was the reason it was the bread basket.

 But as we all know Zimbabwe did experience an economic slump, half brought about by economic sanctions imposed by the West and half by economic mismanagement by the ruling party. The West’s sanctions worked because Zanu-PF did not device a plan over so many years to run own affairs in the absence of the English.

 What I mean by this is that President Robert Mugabe, in his hundreds of international visits did not tag along enough experienced indigenous entrepreneurs to help in diversifying the economy of his country. The import/export/distribution/retail connections and contracts remained with the same colonists.

 Thus, when Zanu-PF implemented its controversial land redistribution plan it had figured out how to take a farm but not where/how to sell the produce to the international market. As a result fresh produce rot in storage, resulting in low sales and a domino effect of retrenchment which led to unemployment, poverty and the economic meltdown that saw millions cross borders to neighbouring countries.

 It can still be argued that the land redistribution programme was a super nationalist project. I went to Zimbabwe last year and spoke to journalists, NGO people and ordinary people and what I found was that it was good programme mismanaged for party political benefits.

 Sources told me that scores and scores of untrained Zanu-PF senior members were the real beneficiaries of the land process. Some were given farms they didn’t even have an intention of staying in. they continued to live in cities while owning vast tracts of land they didn’t farm; or couldn’t since the overheads were not circumvented by government.

 I was told that when hunger crept in and the public raised their concern they were silenced through secret police and Zanu-PF loyalists scattered in rural areas. That’s when the exodus started; no wonder it coincided with the rise of the Movement for Democratic Change. The more the MDC accelerated the more the iron grip intensified. Zanu-PF could see its sell-by date.

 That’s what I was told last year as I travelled to Mashonaland Central and past vast tracts of farmland some rumoured to be owned by Vice President Joyce Mujuru. I went past a mine, an army school, an intelligence centre, rural communities and fertile land which lay fallow.

 I revisited the Zimbabwe of my dreams again last week through a Skype conversation with progressive Zimbabwean journalist Robert Tapfumaneyi. We discussed how things were, how they are and how they can be.

 He was adamant that the political leadership in Africa has had a tendency to create problems for expediency objectives and then argue that they should be left alone to solve Africa’s problems.

 Responding to my observation that the reason why Zimbabwe’s solution remains elusive is because of the tribal make-up of the country whereby the Shona have been at the top of the feeding order for ages. He explained that when one looks at the MDC as it was when founded and even when it went to the elections last year there were skills from both tribes and such faultlines never showed up during electioneering, even on the MDC-N’s side, the faction led by Ndebele Welsh Ncube.

 My experience of Zimbabwe has been very much like that of Kenya whereby the moment you mention a person’s name; depending on the tribal identity of the person spoken to, they are quick to mention the tribe. It reminded me of the time I was in Kenya and I mentioned someone’s name and someone suddenly said, ‘oh, Kikuyu’. When I enquired after arriving back home I was told it’s because the Kikuyu are accused of being thieves. “They stole the whole Kenya, from Jomo Kenyatta to Uhuru Kenyatta”. Now, that’s not Africa for you, that’s paranoia and relic of colonial thought right there.

 Tapfumaneyi argues that not even assumed pragmatists such as Simba Makoni and Jonathan Moyo are not the solution. Makoni left Zanu-PF but some people believes he remains a party person through and through. His DNA is Zanu-PF. Moyo left and later returned to Uncle Bob’s party. Maybe his was a strategy that worked such as that of the young Zanu-PF motormouth Psychology.

 It seems the solution to Zim’s problem lies in opposition parties uniting to confront Zanu-PF like a scourge. There can’t be talk of business as usual while Zimbabwe does not have its own currency but transacts on USDollars and ZARands. Tapfumaneyi sees the meltdown as having started when NGOs where suddenly closed to centralise civil service responsibilities to government. In that context such services could be used to recruit Zanu-PF members and the much feared Green Bombers.

 Mugabe sent young Zimbabweans into a war for diamonds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He then allowed the situation to degenerate into a situation whereby the security architecture was made up of the army, police, Green Bombers and the unofficial magumaguma at the border who raped and killed those fleeing.

 In this chaos diamonds around Marange were stolen and lined pockets of party leaders. Finances from the Central Bank were looted to benefit the first family and close officials. These were allegations that the government couldn’t refute with facts. Spokesperson Brian Matongo, good at spinning was failing at spin.

 Tapfumaneyi sees the current debacle inside MDC not as an internal problem capable of disorganising the opposition but as a process that will separate the boys from the men.

 According to my source things have not improved since the elections. We all know the economic sanction are still to be lifted by the West that imposed them. Mugabe is old and tiring fast. Mujuru could contest the presidency but she has to win the party ticket.

 During my last visit to Zimbabwe some activists said Zanu-PF’s trump card of discrediting other political opponents by questioning their struggle credentials is getting tired. Tapfumaneyi also concurs that that chimurenga argument is becoming obsolete. “Chimurenga played its part but now we have people with a political understanding to can take this country forward”, I paraphrase. It’s something said by one 30-years old activist last year; “I’m thirty years old this year, this republic is thirty years old, where does Mugabe expect me to have fought the colonists?”

 I will provide another update someday soon. For now there are millions of Zimbabweans outside its borders who cannot go back because as Tapfumaneyi says, the situation does not inspire confidence 

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gudani ramikosi

Through The Eyes of the Child - Gudani Ramikosi

Very few writers are willing to take a step back and see the world through the eyes of a child. They view childhood as that formative stage that deserves no glory.

.
Gudani Ramikosi (fifth from left) at the Polokwane Literary Festival

That’s until you meet Gudani Ramikosi (30), a passionate author of children’s literature who regularly steps into those small shoes and seems to enjoy the walk. 

“When I was growing up there were lots of Ghanaian authors whose children’s stories I enjoyed. I remember the one about the death of a guitarist husband which’s twist at the end was both amusing and educational. I have always found children’s literature to be an important step in understanding African orature”, Gudani discloses. 

Interesting enough, her early years as a writer were not spent searching for stories to tell. She came into literature through poetry. “It’s easier coming out as a poet since you can voice what you think. That’s how I came out. However I am still interested in poetry, both writing and reading”, she says. For this MuVenda woman the medium she is most comfortable articulating in is her own mother tongue. Advocating for language, Gudani believes it’s only through Tshivenda that she can fully express herself better.

Gudani’s writings are based on Tshivenda myth and mythology. She credits her fascination with cultural themes on having undergone all the initiation rituals a MuVenda woman should before being certified mature for marriage. “It was in 2000 that I finally took part in the domba dance. I also underwent training for womenhood. I didn’t like it at first but I ended up enjoying”, Gudani says. The author adds that one thing that stood out for her during her initiation was the use of metaphors and symbols to emphasize issues such as sex, husband, parenthood etc.

Such use of metaphors fitted well into the manifestation of her early love for children literature and Venda culture. “It is transforming to accommodate the modern working woman and accept the leadership role that VhaVenda women play in the world today”. Metaphors also sparked her creativity to finally put the pen down.

“In 2009 I attended a Room To Read workshop held in Polokwane which is where I learnt about writing for children. While I always had stories to tell the structure was finally given during the workshop”, she confesses. Freshly inspired Gudani wrote Thilli’s Journey, a children’s book illustrated by Limpopo artist Jonas Mailula. Thili’s Journey is a story about a little girl’s adventures with fantastical superstition, folk and mythical beliefs that she has to conquer during her visit to her grandmother.

This brilliant Tshivenda book was translated into seven South African languages and a few overseas ones. Gudani is worried that few Black authors see value in talking to children, let alone in mother tongue. “We depend a lot on English literature. There’s actually few written by Africans”, she gripes.

Being married to Limpopo-based artist Vonani Bila and mothering two young boys, Mhlahlandlela (5) and Samora (3) Gudani says parenthood helped her to understand children’s fascination with animal characters in their stories. Both her sons are still at crèche but she reads them bedside stories from books she borrows at Makhado Library.

In 2012 Gudani published her second book titled in the sacred valley of the rising sun which was illustrated by Melvin Naidoo. The main character is Piggy, a domesticated monkey. It explores identity crisis in a society trapped in materialism and consumptionism.

Inspired by award-winning Dr Gcina Mhlophe and two SALA Lifetime Achievement winners from her village Gudani has an unpublished Tshivenda novelette and a novel manuscripts with the latter funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa. She also headlined the inaugural Polokwane Literary Festival in 2011 and has read her women empowerment poem Zwa uno muta in an episode of the SABC2 Tshivenda soapie Muvhango.

Listening to Gudani speak passionately about Tshivenda literature, poetry and orature it dawns that she was uncomfortable with being limited to the confines of Shirley Village in Elim, but chose to go where angels tread. “Parents should enjoy reading books for their children. Kids will never enjoy if they are not taught by their parents”, Gudani says.

                                   


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polokwane literary festival

Through the Eyes of the Child -  Gudani Ramikosi

Very few writers are willing to take a step back and see the world through the eyes of a child. They view childhood as that formative stage that deserves no glory. That’s until you meet Gudani Ramikosi (30), a passionate author of children’s literature who regularly steps into those small shoes and seems to enjoy the walk.

“When I was growing up there were lots of Ghanaian authors whose children’s stories I enjoyed. I remember the one about the death of a guitarist husband which’s twist at the end was both amusing and educational. I have always found children’s literature to be an important step in understanding African orature”, Gudani discloses. 

Interesting enough, her early years as a writer were not spent searching for stories to tell. She came into literature through poetry. “It’s easier coming out as a poet since you can voice what you think. That’s how I came out. However I am still interested in poetry, both writing and reading”, she says. For this MuVenda woman the medium she is most comfortable articulating in is her own mother tongue. Advocating for language, Gudani believes it’s only through Tshivenda that she can fully express herself better.

Gudani’s writings are based on Tshivenda myth and mythology. She credits her fascination with cultural themes on having undergone all the initiation rituals a MuVenda woman should before being certified mature for marriage. “It was in 2000 that I finally took part in the domba dance. I also underwent training for womenhood. I didn’t like it at first but I ended up enjoying”, Gudani says. The author adds that one thing that stood out for her during her initiation was the use of metaphors and symbols to emphasize issues such as sex, husband, parenthood etc.

Such use of metaphors fitted well into the manifestation of her early love for children literature and Venda culture. “It is transforming to accommodate the modern working woman and accept the leadership role that VhaVenda women play in the world today”. Metaphors also sparked her creativity to finally put the pen down.

“In 2009 I attended a Room To Read workshop held in Polokwane which is where I learnt about writing for children. While I always had stories to tell the structure was finally given during the workshop”, she confesses. Freshly inspired Gudani wrote Thilli’s Journey, a children’s book illustrated by Limpopo artist Jonas Mailula. Thili’s Journey is a story about a little girl’s adventures with fantastical superstition, folk and mythical beliefs that she has to conquer during her visit to her grandmother.

This brilliant Tshivenda book was translated into seven South African languages and a few overseas ones. Gudani is worried that few Black authors see value in talking to children, let alone in mother tongue. “We depend a lot on English literature. There’s actually few written by Africans”, she gripes.

Being married to Limpopo-based artist Vonani Bila and mothering two young boys, Mhlahlandlela (5) and Samora (3) Gudani says parenthood helped her to understand children’s fascination with animal characters in their stories. Both her sons are still at crèche but she reads them bedside stories from books she borrows at Makhado Library.

In 2012 Gudani published her second book titled in the sacred valley of the rising sun which was illustrated by Melvin Naidoo. The main character is Piggy, a domesticated monkey. It explores identity crisis in a society trapped in materialism and consumptionism.

Inspired by award-winning Dr Gcina Mhlophe and two SALA Lifetime Achievement winners from her village Gudani has an unpublished Tshivenda novelette and a novel manuscripts with the latter funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa. She also headlined the inaugural Polokwane Literary Festival in 2011 and has read her women empowerment poem Zwa uno muta in an episode of the SABC2 Tshivenda soapie Muvhango.

Listening to Gudani speak passionately about Tshivenda literature, poetry and orature it dawns that she was uncomfortable with being limited to the confines of Shirley Village in Elim, but chose to go where angels tread. “Parents should enjoy reading books for their children. Kids will never enjoy if they are not taught by their parents”, Gudani says.

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