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Photo of the Day: February 7, 2019

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The Mandela Capture site in Howick marks the location where former SA president Nelson Mandela was arrested by apartheid police 1952. Mandela had been travelling in disguise and had been on the run for 17 months. The memorial is made up of 50 steel columns that a form an image of the former president when viewed at the correct angle.

Mac Maharaj discusses diversity issues with American students

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By Desi LaPoole

Sathyandranath Ragunanan “Mac” Maharaj is a man who has been integral to the liberation of South Africa’s oppressed peoples from the apartheid system and instrumental in creating the country’s true democracy that exists today. For his efforts to abolish apartheid as a member of the African National Congress, Maharaj was arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison, which he served at the infamous Robben Island alongside other revolutionaries, most notably Nelson Mandela.

One might expect such a man to be hardened from his time in prison and years of fighting crippling oppression, however within minutes of sitting down with Maharaj, his casual, almost grandfatherly demeanor lifted any tensions and heavy expectations from the room. In his burgundy Nike athletic shirt paired interestingly enough with black slacks, the now elderly man swiftly cracked one joke after another, generating hearty laughter from the crowd.

He began today’s discussion by allowing the students in the crowd to connect their experiences at home to what they observe and experience in South Africa. His lens of choice to explain how the students might connect these differing experiences was by raising an issue both South African and American society are grappling with: the topic of diversity. Although both countries are commonly regarded as among the most diverse on the planet, they both struggle with unifying under a single national identity. By linking disconnections between different groups of South Africans that American students may observe during their stay in the country to their own experiences of negotiating personal and national identity, they might better understand these issues within the South African context.

Maharaj went on to explain the incredible difference between issues of race and diversity between the two nations. One of the most obvious of these differences is the fact that while a white majority enslaved and oppressed black and native minorities in the US, the people of colour of South Africa were subjected to a racist system perpetuated by a white minority. At the end of Apartheid, Maharaj, Mandela and other political leaders were tasked with building a bridge from that white minority rule to a system that represented everyone in the country. One way they were able to start reconciling with the past was by not only bringing the truth of the crimes and atrocities committed under apartheid to light, but also by including the victims of those crimes in the process of reconciliation. However, Maharaj made a point to say he believes this process in incomplete, and as a nation South Africa should continue to dig up the past in a way that builds up the esteem and unity of the country as a whole.

 

Photo of the Day: February 4, 2019

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The city of Durban has many faces. Here is a view from Montpelier Road in the heart of the formerly whites-only suburb of Musgrave. Looking at the magnificent outlook over the city and the ocean, it is hard to imagine the hardship of some parts of the city.

SA kids have to endure bullying way more than the rest of the world

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Boys from low-income areas are most at risk, a study has found
06 December 2018

Corey D Smith

One in six (17%) Grade 9 pupils report being exposed to some form of bullying almost weekly, says a study in the South African Journal of Education.

More than 12,000 boys and girls from about 300 fee-paying and non-fee-paying schools were surveyed by Trends in International Mathematics and Science, an annual global study that focuses on the changes in the education system over time.

Andrea Juan from Unisa

Researchers from the Human Sciences Research Council found that boys from low-income communities who attend low-income schools were at a greater risk of being bullies or victims of bullying.

Bullying took on many indirect and direct forms, but the two most common types reported were theft and being made fun of, which are considered direct bullying, the study said.

It found that pupils who felt they belonged, were accepted by peers and felt safe were less likely to be bullied.

The researchers saw this more commonly in schools with “healthy climates”. Criteria used to assess the health of a school’s climate were its emphasis on academic success, disciplinary problems, incidence of bullying and the challenges faced by teachers.

Researchers urged schools to create an environment that encourages positive interactions between peers and teachers.

But they acknowledged that the biggest challenge for low-income schools was managing scarce resources. “School leadership has to decide which interests to prioritise. As a result, intangible school factors often receive little to no attention,” the study said.

Academics led by Andrea Juan from the HSRC education and skills development research programme argued that the health of a school was a direct reflection of its community.

This story first appeared on TimesLive.co.za

If you’re a strict parent you might be raising a bully

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Authoritarian parenting is associated with traditional bullying and cyberbullying, researchers reveal

Natalie Elliott

A study by University of South Africa academics Catherine Govender and Kelly Young found that authoritarian parenting, which they defined as a “rigid, repressed, non-negotiable, power-oriented and hierarchical”, is associated with traditional bullying and cyberbullying.

CO-AUTHOR Catherine Govender of Unisa.

Reporting on their work in The South African Journal of Education, the authors said children subjected to the kind of power imbalance found in such families were more likely to act aggressively towards their peers.

Other studies had found that when children felt their parents were insensitive to their own pain, they showed no empathy to those they deemed weaker than them, Govender and Young noted.

“The elements of vertical individualism, especially the power imbalance, prompt individuals to perpetrate acts of peer aggression, such as bullying,” they said.

Bullying is most common between the ages of 11 and 13 (grades 6 and 7). Primary school pupils are more likely to be bullies than high school pupils are.

Nearly a third of the 272 children in the study, from four primary schools in Benoni, Gauteng, had bullied someone in a traditional sense at least once in the previous year, with just under 2% of these being regular bullies.

Cyberbullying was not as frequent, but the researchers said the nature of shared technology meant even a single instance of cyberbullying could snowball out of control.

While Grade 6 children are the more likely culprits of traditional forms of bullying, such as aggressiveness, cyberbullying is more of a Grade 7 phenomenon.

Cyberstalking and online harassment are both perpetrated by 13-year-olds who for the first time are allowed on Facebook and Twitter.

Older pupils are more likely to have “cellphones, access to the internet, knowledge of current apps and instant messaging services”, the study said.

Govender and Young said the long-term consequences of bullying also had negative effects on the economy, with a raised likelihood of landing up in jail or unemployed later in life.

‘Everything happens in school toilets’, and kids are terrified

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Toilets are out of sight of teachers, giving free rein to bullies in SA schools

Francine Barchett

Pupils in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have described the daily fear they experience when they have to use their school toilets.

“Everything happens in the toilets,” said a Grade 10 boy at the no-fee school. “Like when you walk in, they close you in and mug you and do whatever they want. It is worse when they have a gun.”

His and other pupils’ experiences at an unidentified school in the KwaMashu area were described in a South African Journal of Education study looking at the risk of bullying they faced.

Ndumiso Daluxolo Ngidi from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Image: UKZN

Researchers Ndumiso Daluxolo Ngidi and Relebohile Moletsane, from the University of KZN, found that pupils feared muggings, sexual violence and physical assault in the toilets.

The fact that the toilets were out of sight of teachers left the victims “at the mercy of the bullies and perpetrators of violence”, they said.

“Sometimes school is fun, but it is mostly dangerous,” a Grade 9 girl reported. “As I was washing my face in the toilet a boy came in and tried to bully me.”

She escaped after a cleaner came in and told the boy to leave, but others were not so lucky.

One boy said he had repeatedly been abused by bullies in the toilet. “They always outnumber you and they beat you up,” he said. “I have never even tried to fight back; I will never try.”

While bullies often worked in groups around the toilet, some respondents said individual bullies, who were either older or stronger than them, harassed them for sexual favours.

A Grade 8 girl said: “A girl came to me and harassed me and wanted to force me to love her, but I told her that I don’t do girls.”

Another girl in Grade 10 recounted when “guys came from behind me and choked me. One of them put a hand on my breast.” One of the boys, she said, was in her class.

Guys came from behind me and choked me. One of them put a hand on my breast.
Many of the study participants reported that alcohol, cannabis and other drugs were dealt at the toilets, and told of dire consequences for anyone who tried to tell teachers or the principal.

“It is not easy to scream or shout for help because they scare you with something [a weapon] and toilets are far, and nobody will hear you,” one respondent said.

Many victims said the torment did not stop at the toilet door. They also faced bullies as they walked to and from school, they said.

“I find school boring,” one of the girls said. “Not that I hate it, but because all these things hurt me. These people are feared even by teachers, so we are not safe.”

The study’s authors said school toilets needed to be made safer, which could involve moving them to a location where teachers could monitor them more effectively.

This story first appeared on TimesLive.co.za. 

SA needs more liver donors to save lives‚ say researchers

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06 November 2018

By Francine Barchett

First appeared in TimesLIVE

South Africa has two world-class liver transplant centres‚ a new study finds. But they are under-utilised because not enough donor livers can be sourced and those who need their services often can’t reach them.

The two centres serve the whole of the African continent. Researchers also flagged the low numbers of patients being referred to the centres from the public sector‚ although this number has been growing. In 2004‚ when the centre opened‚ only 6% of patients were from the public sector‚ while in 2016 this had grown to 11%. The biggest challenge‚ said the researchers‚ is the absence of liver donors. There simply aren’t enough.

A shortage of facilities and the increasing demand for life-saving kidney treatment in the public sector has led to a rise in kidney-related deaths. Image: 123RF/Chanawit Sitthisombat

“This highlights one of the greatest barriers to increasing solid-organ transplant volumes in SA and can only be addressed if a multifaceted approach is fully endorsed by national government‚” they wrote.

To improve the country’s liver transplant services‚ the team advised raising awareness about organ donation‚ starting organ collection programmes at all hospitals and increasing the number of living organ donors.

A shortage of facilities and the increasing demand for life-saving kidney treatment in the public sector has led to a rise in kidney-related deaths. From 1999 to 2006‚ deaths from chronic kidney disease in the public sector increased by 67%‚ reported Professor Brian Rayner‚ head of nephrology and hypertension at Groote Schuur‚ in 2017.

Nearly 10 times more people were getting renal replacement therapy in the private sector than in the public sector: 716.3 people per million of the population in private care compared to 72.6 in public care.

Investing in the kidney transplant programme at public hospitals would therefore free up dialysis slots for new patients needing life-saving kidney treatment‚ nephrologists noted.

 

Making the world a kinder place — one gesture at a time

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13 November 2018
By Francine Barchett, Natalie Elliott, and Corey D Smith
First Appeared on TimesLIVE
Knowledge Mudzamiri is planning to give food to someone on the street to mark World Kindness Day today.
Knowledge Mudzamiri is planning to give food to someone on the street to mark World Kindness Day today.  Image: Natalie Elliott

If someone smiles at you in the street today, or offers to carry your shopping bag, they may be trying to make the world a better place because it’s World Kindness Day.

It’s a day that anyone can participate in — and everyone who does is likely to feel better for it.

Started in 1998 as an effort to make the world a better place, the idea of random acts of kindness to strangers has spread around the world, and World Kindness Day is now celebrated in 28 countries.

No act of kindness is too big or too small — all acts are part of the bigger picture of connecting humankind.

Some people told TimesLIVE in Cape Town how they planned to mark the day.

Saleem Upto from Bloemfontein says he will take on some volunteer work.
Saleem Upto from Bloemfontein says he will take on some volunteer work.  Image: Natalie Elliott

“I like to give compliments to random people because I think it could make someone’s day,” said Tiffany Japtha from Blue Downs. For Nonzukiso Mpapama from Strand, the day will be better if “you just give everyone a smile”.

Mpriza Zitha from Khayelitsha says equality is important and Taurik Hendricks from Mitchells Plain says that people are too selfish.
Mpriza Zitha from Khayelitsha says equality is important and Taurik Hendricks from Mitchells Plain says that people are too selfish.  Image: Natalie Elliott

“If everyone was equal, it would make the world a better place,” said Mpriza Zitha from Khayelitsha.

“Stop being selfish. It’s as easy as that,” said Taurik Hendricks from Mitchells Plain.

“I’m going to be more accepting of people regardless of what or who they are,” said Sisonke Ndabambi from Dunoon.

Sisonke Ndabambi from Dunoon plans to be more accepting.
Sisonke Ndabambi from Dunoon plans to be more accepting.  Image: Natalie Elliott

And for Angie Kelly from Pinelands, kindness is simple: “The basis of being kind is that you’re seeing people. Acknowledging the person who’s serving you at the table. Or when you’re walking past somebody else and just acknowledging the fact that they’re walking in the opposite direction.”

For Angie Kelly from Pinelands kindness is about acknowledging people.
For Angie Kelly from Pinelands kindness is about acknowledging people.  Image: Natalie Elliott
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