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Natalie Elliott

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

November 30, 2018 By Admin

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

Francine Barchett Tagged With: Cape Town, kindness, World Kindness Day

Old hospital set to heal Cape Town’s apartheid wounds

November 2, 2018 By Admin

By Natalie Elliott

Sixteen years after a Cape Town hospital closed‚ the site is a step closer to becoming home for thousands of families.

The 22ha occupied by Conradie Hospital‚ between Thornton and Pinelands‚ is set to make way for 3‚602 houses‚ two schools and a commercial centre.

The Western Cape government wants to sell the site to Concor Construction for R202-million. Just under half the houses the company builds in a R3-billion development will be social‚ subsidised and rent-to-buy units. The remainder will be sold on the open market._____________________________________________

Read more at TimesLive

Natalie Elliott

Becoming a Muslim in Prison

October 25, 2018 By Admin

By Natalie Elliott

He used to carry R1000 at a time in a roll in his throat, and in his jacket pocket he would smuggle cell phones to the prisoners on the inside. He used to be on the outside.

Many of those around him at the prison eat the sugary strawberry-flavoured biscuits on the table, but not Bonginkosi* He doesn’t put “just anything” into his body any more.

Now, he drinks only water and milk.

He drinks it with purpose. “Allahu akbar” is followed by three intentional sips.

He weighs every choice.

At the beginning he got into fights. First, they landed him in prison and then in solitary confinement. The first time in solitary, it was for 9 months, for violence. He did nothing with his time. The second time, it was for 90 days, out of choice and for his own protection. He fasted and prayed.

These days Bonginkosi considers it a privilege to choose what to do with the R1 400 he receives every month from sponsors. It was when he began swimming that his determination to change his world got him noticed. That was at the last prison. Now there is no pool but he still dreams about it, and the sponsors have stuck with him.

“When I’m in the water, I feel free,” he says.

And the money he gets now is more than he used to make from his last gig – secretly growing marijuana in the grounds of a high security prison.

Homes in the area near the prison are simple, often surrounded by sugarcane.

At first he would spend this money on snacks and cigarettes. Last month, he used it to order 56 Qurans instead. Thirty people converted to Islam, just like he had.

He used to be in the highest security prison in the country, and now he is in the lowest. He used to have contact only with members of the 26s, and now his family comes to visit him every weekend.

Bonginkosi’s world has changed since the day one of his friends shot and killed a man during a robbery. Bonginkosi was there, and that’s why he is now here.

For several years the man’s son sought a gang that would help him avenge his father. Then he came to the prison and met Bonginkosi face to face. With their extended families present, the first meeting was tentative. But the young man has persevered.

Now, he is Bonginkosi’s Muslim brother, and visits him every week. They have made their peace.

Natalie Elliott

A Town Within A City

October 18, 2018 By Admin

By Natalie Elliott

At the edge of my vision is the start of the township. Small shacks made of aluminum dot the landscape. If you were to walk there, your feet would kick trash at every step. These are the informal settlements. Take the first right, and you will arrive on my street, Blinkbonnie.

Waves of people walk home from work in the 5 o’clock setting sun, and school children in plaid uniforms run in between them. Small bare feet kick soccer balls in a car park to the left. On the right, a hair salon operates out of a concrete block with no windows and a gap in the wall for a doorway. Up ahead, the street steadily climbs a hill. At the top is my host family’s home.

Turn left into the car park you find there, and walk back down the hill a bit. A dirt path takes you past the car full of boys playing house music. They are brothers and cousins of the people who live here. Go down past Keira’s house, my sweet twelve-year-old neighbour who loves to play with my hair and my phone. Walk past the house with Hindu statues, blasting out Indian music, and onto the house with the red car. This is where I’m standing.

Behind me, a humble home sits with its door open, but gate closed. Inside, my sister Zama watches soapies while my mama cooks dinner. The smell of carrots steaming with chilli powder and potatoes wafts through the gate, and out to where I am standing.

In front of me, tall grass with glimpses of wildflowers reveals only the roofs of houses perched on the hill below. Above these houses, a clothesline holds onto long pink nightshirts, blue polka-dot pyjama shorts and an orange beach towel.

The wind feels like a soft touch, gently wrapping my body in its arms. Winter has turned into Spring and if I look far enough, I can see the ocean. Perhaps, this is where the cool air comes from. The waves crash into sand, and from there, skyscrapers erupt from the earth. A freeway snakes in between these buildings, and cars look like ants making their way home.

Out there is the city of Durban, but right in front of me is the township of Cato Manor, my home for now.

Natalie Elliott

Photo of the Day- October 5, 2018

October 7, 2018 By Admin

SIT students learn about peacemaking, peacebuilding and peacekeeping during a visit to ACCORD, Africa’s largest NGO dealing with conflict resolution.

Photo of the Day

News of the Day: October 3, 2018

October 3, 2018 By Admin

ANC Women’s League calls for castration of rapists; the reality is complex and complicated

News of the Day

Photo of the Day: September 28, 2018

September 28, 2018 By Admin

SIT South Africa Students had the opportunity to Skype with freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court judge, Albie Sachs. Sachs, who had his arm blown off in a car bomb in Mozambique due to his opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa, authored the South African constitution, arguably the most progressive in the world.

 

Photo: Natalie Elliott

Photo of the Day

News of the Day: September 27, 2018

September 27, 2018 By Admin

Two thirds of reserved judgments in SA courts are late

News of the Day

Beating the Odds: Zama Kunene lives up to her given name

September 18, 2018 By Admin

By Natalie Elliott 

 

What can a name tell you about the person it belongs to? For Zama Kunene, it means she will never stop trying.

Zulu names reflect the parents’ expectations and hopes for their child, and are given before birth, according to the African Studies Center.

Emelda Kunene was married for eight years, but the marriage fell apart because they waited too long to have kids.

Then, she met Zama’s father.

“When I met Zama’s father, in just one visit, Zama was made. I was just trying life again. That’s why I called her Zama,” Emelda said.

In isiZulu, Zama means “try”, and she wanted her daughter to live up to her name.

Zama takes a break from studying at Mojo’s Car Wash, a popular place to get drinks and listen to music in Cato Manor.

Zama is 19 years old now, and is the first in her family to attend college. She is in her second year at the South Africa Maritime School and Transport College, studying logistics. She hopes to work as a logistics coordinator for a major company like Hamburg Sud.

The road to get to this point, however, was not always smooth. Zama faced many challenges to get into college. She first applied to the Durban University of Technology (DUT), but waited and waited…

“Waiting for my application to go through [at DUT] was just way too long…the decision should have been made” Zama said.

According to Zama, the delay in processing her application was due in part to the #FeesMustFall protests that had erupted on South African Campuses in 2015. These student-led protests were aimed at lowering university fees and increasing government funding.

Aside from logistics and shipping, one of Zama’s biggest passions is fashion, which can be seen through her sense of style.

Zama was faced with two choices: she could continue waiting for DUT to get back

to her and lose a year in her education, or she could apply to another university.

She chose to apply to a private university, something that had never been on her radar before, due to both financial and systemic odds against her. In the township high schools of South Africa, only 20% of pupils make it to university. But Zama tried, like she had every other time, even when others doubted her.

“Because of how I act, a lot of people thought I would be a certain person, or maybe have a kid by now…I am proud that I was able to finish high school and now I am on the track to graduate [from college],” Zama said.

She chose to try even though nobody else in her family had gone to college. She chose to try even though her high school did not prepare her. She chose to try, even when she faced financial challenges.

She chose to live up to her name and try. And Zama is not only trying, she is succeeding.

Natalie Elliott

Photo of the Day: September 18, 2018

September 18, 2018 By Admin

A street performer plays guitar in front of the booths at the Essenwood Street Market in the Durban neighbourhood of Musgrave. Essenwood market occurs every Saturday from 9am-12pm and includes food, clothing, books, and art vendors, among others.

 

 

 

Photo: Natalie Elliott

Photo of the Day

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Reporting South Africa is produced by US college and university students on an SIT Study Abroad program called “South Africa: Social and Political Transformation”. They are mentored by veteran journalists in a program applying technology and global consciousness to produce high-impact journalism on vital social issues.

Reporting South Africa strives to be a reliable resource for news and information about South Africa.

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