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South Africa

News of the Day: March 8 2019

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Durban taxi crash driver fears for his life after deaths of three schoolgirls

Kamal Morgan

The driver of a taxi that killed three schoolgirls in Newlands East, Durban, on Wednesday fears that the community is baying for his blood.

Through his legal aid attorney, 32-year-old Siboniso Bethell Zwane informed the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court that he did not want his photograph published as he feared for his life.

“It is my instruction that he does not want his photograph published as he fears that his life will be in danger, taking into account the type of the offence that has happened and how people reacted. His life, the lives of his children and his family will be in jeopardy if his photo is published,” attorney Siphokuhle Thusi said.

Zwane’s address was also not read into the record for “safety reasons”.

He handed himself over to police on Wednesday after fleeing the bloodied scene where the bodies of the three girls lay on a main road in Newlands East. He abandoned the vehicle at the scene.

After the accident, angry community members blockaded Dumisani Makhaye Road, where the accident had occurred, demanding the identity of the driver from passing taxis. They later burnt tyres on the road.

Dressed in blue shorts, a blue-and-white striped golf-shirt and sandals, Zwane stood with folded arms in the dock during his first court appearance on Thursday.

Prosecutor Seema Reddy said it was alleged that on March 6, Zwane was driving a taxi that had “collided with several young children resulting in the deaths of three girls”.

“Another child is in a critical condition,” she said.

The charge sheet identified the victims as Ayanda Mtshali, Thima Ngiba, both 14, and 13-year-old Luyanda Ngubane.

Zwane is expected to apply for bail on March 13.

 

Warwick Markets

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By Kamal Morgan

The Warwick Market is an amazing area of vendors and sellers with items ranging from food, phones, clothes, ornaments, shoes, herbal remedies, and more. It has been around for decades and is still thriving. The city of Durban has tried its best to keep this important area alive by having the community help with protecting its vendors and its expansion. The Warwick Market has changed in the last two decades as more infrastructure has swept through the area and changed the makeup of its surroundings.

When walking through the markets there are people everywhere as they use their salesmen pitches to sell their items. The variety of sellers who could either be selling clothes like hats, sunglasses, watches, shoes, rings, earrings, backpacks, and more. When going past many of them, instantly their salesmen mode comes out as they give you a charming smile and a pitch talk to win you over. They love to show people the wonderful items they have and the wonders it will do for them.

Going deeper into the market, you will find traditional sellers who have herbs and many other items to sell. They have animal skins, potions, made at home sunscreen, and oils. The people are very friendly as hospitality runs deep in the area. The shops and vendors all have similar items but each with their own way of making it that makes it unique for the sellers. There are even places where traditional clothing is sold as lines of clothing of dresses and suits are displayed.

The entire market is very upbeat and enjoyable as people from all over come to buy from there. There is places to eat with plenty of restaurants and food markets to buy freshly made fruits, vegetables, and other home needs. The market is absolutely great place to go to see what it has to offer and see the amazing people of Durban.

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.

 

Cato Manor from the Outside-In

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Some of its houses are meager in size, tin-roofed dwellings that seem claustrophobic to the outside eye. Other homes look more sophisticated  – orange, yellow, and tan mud structures, accentuated by tall gates with barbed wire and sharp glass on top. Here you might at one moment catch the infectious scent of meat grilling, but soon after sniff a strange mixture of smoke and decomposing refuse. This is Cato Manor.

Cato Manor is located 7 kilometers from Durban’s city centre. Although Indian gardeners originally settled there, it has since been dominated the black working class. Photo: Aaliyah Wells-Samci

The homes of this Durban suburb may not be imposing, but its people present a striking contrast. In the early hours of morning, black African women bustle on the sidewalks on their way to work, their dresses well-ironed, their hair impeccably arranged, and thick handbags giving off a final stylish touch. “Sawubona!” they greet each other as they go their separate ways. Now and then uniform-clad children run to the sidewalk, their small backpacks hanging around their shoulders, as some carry a couple of rands for the mini-bus taxi. Men rise early too, some beginning their daily Taxify and Uber rounds, while others descend the streets to the city on foot, their meager clothing in sharp contrast to their female counterparts.   

Outsiders are wary of Cato Manor, with its reputation as a dangerous place, but with the sunrise, danger is not yet on the horizon. Come evening the suburb becomes a different place. The distant city lights, combined with glow from street and home lamps, prevent total darkness from engulfing the area, illuminating men and women who walk alone or isolated groups of young men venturing into the unknown. At the nightlife heart of Cato Manor, Mojo’s Car Wash hosts a DJ and serves cheap shisanyama, pap, and drinks through the wee hours of night. Young people sit, chat, and occasionally get up to dance to old-school western beats.

Although Cato Manor’s informal settlements have scared many upperclass South Africans from the area, the settlements’ residents go to the city everyday for work. Photo: Kate Irwin

Come Sunday morning, Cato Manor transforms again. Neighbours are to be found greeting each other, this time as they make their way to church. The work outfits of the week are replaced by lavish, colorful dresses and heels, ironed suits and polished dress shoes. Those from the poorest of homes mingle freely with those from the most sophisticated homes as they all praise the same God together. This is Cato Manor.

 

Cabinet reshuffle puts fizz in the sugary drinks tax fight

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By Sealy McMurrey

The Beverage Association of South Africa is hoping that the cabinet reshuffle will bolster its efforts to oppose government’s plans to tax sugary drinks.

Former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan proposed a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages‚ as part of government’s efforts to tackle obesity.

But during the budget meeting in February‚ the proposed implementation date of a sugar tax was shifted until later in 2017.

The beverage association‚ which represents the interests of the non-alcoholic beverage industry‚ is hoping to take advantage of Gordhan’s axing in favour of new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba. Legislation to introduce the tax is yet to be finalised.

Speaking on behalf of the association‚ general manager for corporate services Tshepo Marumule said‚ “We have recognized the change in ministry and see it as an opportunity to take action forward against the tax”.

The cabinet reshuffle has fueled speculation about whether the sugar tax will still be implemented.

“Parliament convened on the taxation because in its current form‚ the tax is too complex and complicated and it can’t be proven that the tax will actually help South Africans’ health. We appreciate the further consultation on the tax and would like to see the best solution for the country‚” said Marumule.

The World Health Organization supports the imposition of a sugar tax. WHO South African representative Dr Rufaro Chatora said‚ “By implementing a tax on sugary drinks to increase the prices of these beverages‚ South Africa will be taking a proactive step to reduce the intake of sugars‚ which contribute to unhealthy weight gain and other diet-related NCDs [non-communicable diseases]‚ including diabetes”.

What lies ahead for the war on sweet beverages is uncertain but there appears to be some fizz left in the fight against taxing them.

– TMG Digital/The Times

Visit the published story here.

Thobani Ndlovu on being black and gay in South Africa

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By Sealy McMurrey

Thobani Ndlovu is a 27-year-old black gay man. Originally from a small rural town called Ndwedwe, Thobani came to Durban for university at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal where he still studies Gender and Sexuality. Thobani came to talk to SIT South Africa: Social and Political Transformation, where I first met him. The way Thobani talked about the context of race and sexuality and how they overlap in South Africa made me want to know more. As noted later in the interview, Thobani’s inflection in his voice is a little more obvious to passersby that he MAY be gay, being less deep and overbearing as stereotypical male voices sound.

Have you found a community and place where you feel comfortable?

It’s taken a while in Durban to find that community, but I have. I found that I couldn’t quite fit in because I didn’t identify with any of those things [top or bottom] so it was really, really hard for me to find people who understood me because I was always being forced to be one thing or the other. I’ve found that I was comfortable with my race… but they were homophobic so I was comfortable in other areas like… when we were talking about race and stuff they get it. But when we’re talking about things like sexuality or even sexism they didn’t get it. So I sort of had to build my own community and then stay within those confines because I found that every time I decide to venture out I’d come back hurt because of something [they said].

How has being black impacted your experience being gay and how has it impacted your role in the LGBTQ community?

They [other black people] say that black people don’t behave like that. It’s not a black thing to be gay so I always found that my sexuality allowed people to deny me my race, like I’m not black enough because I’m into guys… But in terms of the LGBTQ community, my sexuality and my race have kind of come together to allow me to see like the intersectional issues. The fact that it’s not just the fact that I’m black, it’s not just the fact that I’m gay, but these things make it very complex because I’m black… Then I’ve found that dating is also [hard]. I always thought that because you’re gay you understand being discriminated against. But if you go online on a site and then you chat with someone and if you don’t have your picture there then they ask you your race and then you’re like “I’m black” and they’re like “Oh sorry I’m not looking for blacks, just whites only.” Yeah that and the gender performance as well as the “No fats, no fems, no blacks”… And we don’t really get much mixing of races… I haven’t had friends that were dating outside of their race.

How has being gay impacted your experience in racial discrimination and the black community in general?

I used to lead by my sexuality first but then I realized that when I came out of Ndwedwe that even before a person can notice my sexuality or before I can pronounce my sexuality, they see my race. I’m treated in accordance to my race. In black communities you don’t want to be seen as weak. So you’ll try to… buff up and change how you walk. But when I’m in white spaces in the white community, you don’t want to be seen as threatening, as a danger, so you try to be less macho so it’s always something that I need to catch myself [doing] because it’s not something that I do consciously. Because sexuality was a thing that was most prominent. It forced me to speak about it because that’s what I’ve always lived with. But when I got out of it, there were other issues I also deal with. So it’s made me want to be more active and speak out more against race issues and stuff.

Have you noticed a rural and urban divide in how people treat you?

There’s this assumption though that the people in the rural areas are more homophobic than people in the cities. [But] nobody has ever heckled me in Ndwedwe. Nobody has ever verbally abused me when I was walking on the street, but it’s happened here in Durban. Generally, the assumption is that people are more homophobic in rural areas, but where I come from they are… more tolerant of it. Perhaps it’s because when you come to Durban, because it’s a bigger town and it’s within the city, people are more comfortable to express themselves. So maybe that’s why there’s such a strong pushback.

By not being a “Born-Free” (black South Africans born after Apartheid ended in 1994), what is the difference between the experience you’ve had in the LGBTQ community versus the experience of “Born-Frees” in the LGBTQ community?

Younger black males are more likely to come out earlier now because it’s legal. And that was [passed] after 1994. So whereas we were bombarded with “you shouldn’t do that, boys don’t do this, don’t act that way” and stuff, they probably didn’t get that as much. Or even with like the media, it’s showing more representations. Over the years we’ve had shows showing gay relationships which have been taboo in the past, so I definitely think that there is a difference. When I was in school I was trying to find participants for my research and I would ask them “So how do you feel about that?” And they’d be like “well that’s who he is, so there really isn’t any issue.” I actually had a lot of experiences where I would have thought that my friends would stick up for me but they didn’t because they are now associated with this guy that everyone either suspects or they’re sure that he’s gay so if they stick up for me, then they also stand a chance of being bullied as well. Whereas now, the kids when I talk to them they say “No! I stick up for him if this happens or if someone says this to him.” So yeah, I definitely think that there’s a difference, but there’s still a long way to go.

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