8
INNER-CITY GAZETTE
NEWS / FEATURES
15 - 22 SEPTEMBER 2011
MZALA’S THOUGHTS Jabu Nxumalo
Dangers of Judge Lamont judgement To attempt to rewrite our history in the courts is naïve or plain short-sighted
SAGDA marketing manager Semopo Mokgabudi (left) and NYDA programme support officer Duduzile Mathonsi address the gathering. PICS : INNER-CITY PRESS AGENCY
Graduate empowerment seminar Lack of experience, industrial training, communication skills and self-confidence identified as supreme contributing factors to graduate unemployment Sizwe Mathe sizwem@inner-city-gazette.co.za
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n August, overall employment declined by 2.1 percent, according to ADCORP employment services company. The index showed a plunge which translated into an annual job loss rate of 49 306 workers. In an attempt to address this plight, the South African Graduates Development Association (SADGA) hosted a graduates and students empowerment seminar on Tuesday to find solutions on the unemployment of graduates. The seminar, attended by various students and graduates, identified lack of experience, industrial train-
ing, communication skills as well as lack of so-called ‘soft skills’ like problem solving, and self-confidence as supreme contributing factors to this problem. SAGDA’s executive director Thamsanqa Maqubela urged graduates to accept social and civic responsibilities. “Initiate and implement constructive change in your communities, including professions and workplaces. Have excellent interpersonal and decision-making skills, including an awareness of personal strengths and limitations, and mentor future generations of learners,” Maqubela said. He added that for the country to achieve a double digit economic
INNER CITY COFFE SHOP
growth there is a need for graduates who are mobilised, informed and inventive. “Through such seminars we can begin to steer graduates and students in the developmental trajectory conducive to nurture responsible and productive graduates,” explained Maqubela. The programme support officer at the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Duduzile Mathonsi urged graduates to send their CVs to the agency’s jobs and opportunities support services database. “Moreover, through job preparedness workshops, graduates will receive assistance to become more employable; more likely to find
work and will help them in preparing their CVs.Understand what employers are looking for, how to find job opportunities, how to prepare for an interview and many more practical skills relating to job seeking,” added Mathonsi. The seminar was sponsored by Nedbank banking group. For more information about NYDA programmes contact Mathonsi on 011 651-7130 or visit their offices at 17 Diagonal Street, Old JSE Building, Newtown. To secure an internship contact Constance Sathekge on 011 3330761, email: info@sagda.org.za, or visit their offices at 208-209 Corner of Jeppe and Von Wielligh streets, 13th Floor, Marble Towers.
WINS AWARD FOR THE PERFECT
CUPPA
By Jo Buitendach Pino’s Italian Coffee Shoppe in Fox Street, Marshalltown has done the Joburg Inner City Proud and won the Huletts Coffee Quest-Search for the Perfect Cuppa. Pino’s beat out applicants from all over Gauteng to take first place in the province. A Prize Giving was held at the Coffee Shop on Monday the 12th of September. Huletts representatives from Joburg and Durban attended the event and presented Pino’s owner Justin Dickenson and his staff with a certificate and cash prize. Pino’s is located in the heart of the Financial District and is a great spot to grab a delicious cappuccino, latte or light snack. The majority of Pino’s clientele are business people from the surrounding areas but the occasional student or tourist do come in looking for a great cup of coffee. Dickenson has owned the Coffee Shop for 6 years and is supported by a fabulous team of chefs, a waitress and Barista who are always on hand to ensure you have a great experience. If you have not been to Pino’s yet, get their now and try their “perfect cuppa” Pino’s Italian Coffee Shoppe Fox Street; Tel : 011 834 3993
Pino’s owner Justin Dickenson receives the Huletts Perfect Cuppa award with his staff Maria Mthimkhulu, Nadia Albany, Thandi Zondo, Betty Zondo, Frieda Sibanyoni and Eugenia Sithole. PIC : JO BUITENDACH
I am not sure whether I am allowed at all to write about one of my favourite struggle songs Ayesab’amagwala, lest I be charged for contempt of court, or even worse for inciting violence. You see, I have known this song for as long as I can remember, for it is part of me and I’m an active part of it. Even my two year old son sings the song with gusto, raising his right hand as if he’s carrying a gun, every time he sees his favourite character (who shall remain nameless) on TV. This is a song that characterizes who I am - the poverty, the sadness, the scars, the anger and everything associated with heartbreaking upbringing under apartheid. During winter nights, we will chill in the street corner around ithezi ‘fire’ singing all struggle songs, including Ayesab’amagwala. The part ‘mama ngiyeke…’ energized most of us and we couldn’t wait to be old enough to join our local heroes we knew of in Angola and across the Limpopo river, and return with is’bhamu ‘machine gun’. During apartheid you would be thrown into jail, maimed or even killed for singing this song. It seems we have come full circle. In his judgment Judge Collin Lamont clearly succumbed to the tomfoolery played by an Afrikaaner fringe group - Afriforum, to the detriment of our young democracy. Made on September 12, on the anniversary of the death of Steve Biko in the hand of apartheid security forces, this judgment will do more damage than meets the eye. Whether appealed successfully or not, Judge Lamont has ensured that September 12 remains a sad day for many Africans in this country. In the month when Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng ascends to the highest position in the judiciary, amid loud noise mainly from the liberal quarters and, once more, questions have been raised about transformation in the judiciary, this judgment does further damage to many ordinary people’s view on the transformation of this system. To attempt to rewrite our history in courts is rather naïve or plainly shortsighted by someone as learned as Judge Lamont. In an attempt to accept our past and preserve our heritage, many Africans have been wearing with pride their Springbok jerseys, even when the sight of that symbol makes some of us nauseous. When clear signs of oppression such as the Springbok, Die Stem and Pretoria have been accepted because we know the importance of unity in diversity, this judge and his friends, Afriforum, are hell-bent to take us backwards. The South African Communist Party (SACP) is therefore spot-on when it talks about key sights of power, with the state being one of them. For if we leave these key sites of power such as the economy untransformed, we are likely to get such primitive people like the good Judge presiding over them and that has all the hallmark of taking this country back where it was in 1990. Judge Lamont has been grossly negligent in his duties by handing over such a judgment, and should therefore do the honorable thing and resign.