Voices From Sa

Rebone Masemola is an anthropologist, a digital marketer and strategist, an activist and the founder of Woke PROJECT.  Rebone established Woke PROJECT as  a space for people to share  intersectional narratives and share lived experiences. She grew up with her grandparents in Limpopo before starting boarding school at the age of 12. She stumbled into anthropology be accident and we discussed how this pushed her into her career as a digital marketeer and brand strategist. Rebone did a Ted Talk a few months ago entitled "Re-imagining radical protest" where she came out as an angry black woman using her anger as a weapon against toxic masculinity and the patriarchy.  We spent some time discussing gender violence, toxic masculinity and her activism. Like so many activists I have spoken to she is always questioning her path and the impact of her actions. But non-action is not a possibility for her.

Lebohang is the Managing Director of the Four Rivers Trading Consultancy and a research fellow at the progressive think tank, The Trade Collective. Her areas of interest include the regional political economy, globalization and the movement of people, among other things. She is a feminist and an Africanist and this perspective guides her research and analysis. We had a wide-ranging discussion that started with a look at the mid-term budget review that was presented last week and went on to look  at the structure of the South African economy, the future of state-owned power utility Eskom and the need to resolve the land question. Lebohang spoke about the right of all South Africans to relevant education and efficient medical care.  It was a fascinating discussion that gave me new perspectives on the challenges facing efforts to restructure our economy and our society as a whole.

Chippy was one of my early guests on the podcast. He had recently published his first book, How To Steal A City which looked at state capture and ANC corruption in Nelson Mandela Bay. His new book, A House Divided turns his attention to the City of Cape Town. What started out as a look at the mismanagement by the Democratic Alliance (DA) of the water crisis that rocked the city a few years ago became an investigation into party funding, property development and land policy as well as an insight into tensions between city officials and politicians, particularly Patricia de Lille who was mayor at the time. We chatted about some of these issues but also about the current state of the DA, some of the difficult choices facing the ANC, and why he supports President Ramaphosa. Editing software is provided by Hindenburg Systems. Editing software made for radio.

Motlatsi embarked on a career as an academic, teaching philosophy, by chance, after flirting briefly with both medicine and law.  Born and raised in Johannesburg she has been teaching at UNISA for five years. Her areas of academic interest include Ubuntu, social movements and ethics among other things. We chatted about a number of things including the challenges of teaching in a distance/open learning environment, the decolonisation of knowledge acquisition and teaching, as well as the philosophy of ubuntu and the dynamic nature of social movements.

Dr Joel Modiri is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Jurisprudence at the University of Pretoria. His PhD thesis was entitled “The Jurisprudence of Steve Biko: A Study in Race, Law and Power in the ‘Afterlife’ of Colonial-apartheid”. The central concern of his teaching and research relates to the development of a critical anti-racist post-conquest jurisprudence through which to contemplate possibilities for liberation, decolonisation and historical justice in South Africa and beyond.  We had a fascinating, and inspiring discussion that touched on critical race theory and the work of the American academic derrick bell and the concept of interest convergence, the legacy of the ANC in the failure of the post-apartheid project in South Africa and the relevance of Steve Biko today. Joel is controversial in some circles for his outspoken critique of the South African constitution which ha says failed to take into consideration race, and as a consequence the black south African experience, in its dra

Niren Tolsi is an award-winning South African journalist,a former Ruth First Fellow and an avid cricket fan. He covers issues around social justice, the constitution, politics, and violence. He is a co-founder of the now defunct The Con, and and associate editor/writer for New Frame. Our discussion focuses on a number of themes that emerge from some of his recent writing including a series  articles about South African cricketing great Hashim Amla, his 2018 Ruth First lecture  that focused on the state of the  South African media landscape, his ongoing work about the families of the miners massacred at Marikana in 2012, and a current project looking at politics and violence in kwaZulu-Natal. So during our chat we spoke about the lack of transformation in sport, the media and business as well as the structure and nature of the South African media, and the state of the ANC through the violence in kwaZulu-Natal. Read The Rainbow Beauty of Hashim Amla here. The Meaning of Hashim Amla Niren's Ruth First lecture

Prof Schutte is currently an associate professor of International Relations and Economics, and member of the post-graduate courses in World Political Economy and International Relations at the Federal University of Sao Paulo. He worked as an advisor to the Lula government(2004-2006), and has also been as a regional advisor to the World Bank among a host of diverse postings. He was in Johannesburg a few weeks ago as the guest of the Mapongubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA). He gave the MISTRA annual lecture on 4 September entitled "The age of unreason and ignominy – can we judge the people’s judgement?" We chatted about a range of things including Prof Schutte's view on the state of the global left, some of the challenges facing young democracies like ourselves, the changing nature of work, South Africa and the BRICS and the coming battle for the global economy. Read more about Prof Schutte here.

thought in the light of the current protests and public anger around the recurring issue of gender-based violence I would revisit an interview I published last year with Siya Jentile.  He is the founder and president of Not in My name, an NGO aimed at mobilising society, and men in particular, against gender-based violence. In looking for some information to share with you about the scale and scope of the problem we face regarding this national catastrophe I was shocked at the dearth of up to date national statistics on the rape assault and murder of women in South Africa. One I found is that a woman is killed every three hours in this country. According to The World Health Organization (WHO), 12.1 in every 100 000 women are victims of femicide in South Africa each year – a figure which is five times worse than the global average of 2.6. Another depressing figure I came across is that there were at least 55 rape complaints against police officers were investigated in the six months between April to Septem

I met Mohamed back in the mid-1980's when he was an organiser for the Chemical and Industrial Workers Union. Mohamed grew up in Umzinto on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast among desperately poor sugarcane workers. He has devoted his life to the struggle for social change and economic transformation in South Africa.  Over the years he has worked in provincial government and in NGO's. I visited him in Cape Town where he lives with his family. We had a wide-ranging chat about history and culture, the ongoing struggle for a more redistribute social and political model, and confronting race and racism in Cape Town.

Pooven Moodley grew up in Mandini, Northern KwaZulu-Natal in the shadows of a coal-powered paper mill. His lungs suffer from that childhood exposure to polluted air today. We chat about his early activism fighting apartheid, he was on a Zululand Police hit list at one point, to his current work at Natural Justice. Natural Justice ".. specialises in human rights and environmental law in Africa in pursuit of both social and environmental justice." He touched on some of the recent community based campaigns Natural Justice has worked on, as well as a broader chat on the magnitude of the climate change catastrophe we are facing as a species. And the need for a drastic change int the way we live. Read more about Natural Justice here. Read about the Greenpeace Air Quality Report here.

Leonie Joubert studied journalism at Rhodes University after giving up art school at the same campus. She got into science writing after sailing to Marion Island on the South African research vessel SA Agulhas in 2003. Her first book Scorched, which looked at climate change in South Africa, was published in 2006. Today she writes about science, climate change, urban development, food production and mental health. We touch on some of these issues during our conversation. The main focus of her writing however is on climate change, the psychological impact of climate change on individuals and society and the emergence of psylocibin, a psychedelic, as a means to alleviate the impact of certain mental health issues such as depression. And perhaps even the anxiety bought about by climate change. We chatted about her journey into science writing, her recent crisis of confidence and how she has rediscovered her strength of purpose, and the current global research into psylocibin. Find out more about Leonie here.

Dianne Willman has worked for the National Prosecuting Authority for twenty years. She is also a Catholic priest. Being neither religious nor particularity spiritual this episode was a bit of a departure for me. I have always been intrigued as to why somebody would believe in a God, and also interested in the role of the church as a source of comfort to an individual on the one hand, and an institution of conservatism and oppression on the other. Dianne and I talked about faith, her calling to the priesthood, her community and wanting to create a "better" church.  We also discussed her work at the Asset Forfeiture Unit including training of similar units in countries across the continent.

Edgar Kasenene was born in Uganda, lived in Kenya and Swaziland as a child and studied for an MA in engineering in the UK. He has lived in South Africa for the last seven years. He joined Retro Rabbit earlier this year after a number of years with Ericson, the Swedish telecommunications company. Retro Rabbit is a software development company that wants to put itself at the centre of the technology revolution sweeping the continent. We had a fascinating, and for me at times mind-blowing conversation about technology, data, connectivity, the future of work, 4IR, AI, curiosity and creativity. And some other stuff as well. Edgar says we all have to shift our minds to adjust to the new reality that technology brings. Read more about Retro Rabbit and the Rabbiteer program here.

Victor Stephanopoli is a citizen of the world having lived in a number of countries over the years. The son of French and German parents he has lived in Cape Town since 2014. He joined MzansiSat in 2016 and is currently COO of the company. He is fluent in several languages and has a degree in film and video production from Ravensbourne University in London. He has interested in issues around the delivery of public health, and education. MzansiSat is a satellite broadband company that is on a mission to provide stable and affordable satellite broadband to southern Africa. It is a bold vision and we talk about some of the technical aspects of this vision as well as the potential to impact people’s lives in a number of ways. Victor also chats about the ease of doing business in South Africa, the importance of investing in one’s colleagues and how satellite broadband can impact education across the region. Find out more about MzansiSat here.

Mavuso left South Africa in 1963 at the age of 21. He returned with his family in 1993.He helped build the ANC armed wing uMkhonto weSizwe from scratch. While in exile he underwent military training in the USSR, studied for a BSc , and worked for the United Nations World Food Program. He is the father of my first guest Sisonke Msimang Recently he has become an outspoken critic of former President Jacob Zuma, and what he sees as the moral and ethical decline of the ANC. We chatted about his decision to join the armed struggle and go for military training as well as some of the logistical and political constraints of operating in exile. We mainly though chatted about the current state of the ANC and the massive effort that is required by all citizens to save our fledgling democracy.

Lwazi worked in the emergency room at Somerset West Hospital in the Western Cape for twelve years before taking the leap into film producing. She joined Spier films as an Executive Producer in 2018.  Her first foray into the industry was as producer of the groundbreaking and controversial  film Of Good Report in 2013.  More recently Lwazi co-produced An Act of Defiance, a film about freedom fighter Braam Fischer.   She is also a founding member of Sisters Working in Film And Television (SWIFT) an organisation committed to empowering women working in the industry. Lwazi is also a co- chairperson of The South African Screen Federation(SASFED) We chatted about her journey from medicine into film, the role of a film producer, the challenges of making a movie and her desire to change the narrative and content of south African film. Find out more about Sisters Working in Film & Television(SWIFT) here. Watch ThatsNotOk

John has been an activist since his student days. A qualified social worker he has supported the Xolobeni community and the Amadiba Crisis Committee for nearly 20 years in the struggle against mining prospectors. We chatted about some of the theological and philosophical principles that guide him in his life and in his work. John spoke about his path from observer to activist in Xolobeni, and also some of the issues around land ownership, resources, traditional leadership and  even state capture that are raised by the Xolobeni dispute You can follow the Xolobeni story on John's YouTube channel. Read Sam Sole's article about Xolobeni here. John's book is entitled The Promise Of Justice

Mpho left a successful career in advertising to follow her dream of making a living out of food. She now runs the experiential catering company Food I Love You from the Victoria Yards complex in Johannesburg. She advocates food simple, tasty food that looks and tastes fantastic. We chatted about her early experiences in cooking, the inspiration she got from her mother and the importance of being a role-model and mentor to others. Mpho is also involved in catering for the Including Society project that brings together a range of different people to discuss sensitive issues around transformation over a good meal. While Food I Love You is primarily a catering company you can pop down to Victoria Yards on the first Sunday of every month and see what Mpho has on the menu. She assures me there are always plenty of vegan/veggie options available. For more information about Food I love You, go here. You can follow the Including Society project in Instagram.

Faith Pienaar left a promising career in wine-making to join Accountability Lab and work for, among other things, a better public service for all citizens of South Africa. Faith is the Senior Programme Manager for Accountability Lab. The aim of Accountability Lab is to encourage good governance by highlighting the good work of public servants. This is done through the Accountability Icon campaign were community members nominate for recognition members of the public service who have preformed excellent work. We chatted about Faith's journey into civil society and what she hoes to achieve through Accountability Lab. One of the aims is to build community-based accountability networks and support the leadership of these networks. Find out more about Accountability Lab here.

Kevin Bloom is an author and journalist. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Maverick online news site where he has recently written a series of articles around the environment and issues of climate change and extreme weather. In an article published a few days after we spoke Kevin wrote about a landmark case around air pollution in Mpumalanga province where President Ramaphosa is one of the respondents. We chatted about some of the themes of his recent writing including the Xolobeni community in the Eastern Cape and its fight against the intrusion of an Australian mining company, the contradictions of government environmental policy, and the threat to Africa and South Africa  of the environmental crisis we are facing. Kevin also spoke about the myth of "clean" coal and the forces that prevent the emergence of cheap, sustainable energy.