28 September 2020 Issue 13 Year 82

454 Hilda Street, Hatfield

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Hatmed Medical and Dental Centre

Hatmed Medical and Dental Centre

Hatmed Medical and Dental Centre

454 Hilda Street, Hatfield

454 Hilda Street, Hatfield

Tel: 012 362 7180

Tel: 012 362 7180

454 Hilda Street, Hatfield

Tel: 012 362 7180

PDBY

28 September 2020

Year 82 | Issue 13

yourcampusnews.

Literature Edition P6

Human trafficking in South Africa

P9

African fantasy and sci-fi books to check out

P11

Recognising award-winning female authors

P16

Poetry Corner: student submissions

Illustration: Leah Rees

2 | From the Editor

28 September 2020

Take a second to breathe

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his was a stressful week at PDBY, and a lot of people struggled with the workload and balancing their work with university and their personal lives. This reminded me that this is an exceptionally difficult time of year for a lot of people, and that the stress seems to pile up a bit. Or a lot…

And it often feels difficult to cope.

But if we have seen anything from 2020,

it is that we can overcome extreme difficulties, even when we feel like it may be too much. After so many months we may forget how intense and overwhelming living in a pandemic has been. But if we think back to last year, or even February this year, life has changed a lot. It was a difficult change, and a lot of people felt like they weren’t coping – myself included. But here we are, beginning the final quarter of a gruelling year, having survived what has been some of the most trying times for many people.

Approaching exams is stressful, and the assignments feel impossible to navigate through at times. And on top of that, we all have families, personal lives, financial concerns and relationships to manage and maintain. It is a lot. But it is manageable, and we can cope.

Thousands of students have gone before us and survived these often overwhelming times in our degrees, and we will too.

But that doesn’t automatically mean it will be easy or smooth, and it is important that we acknowledge the need for self-

Mourning Percy Ndhlovu

PDBY is mourning the passing of Percy, on 13 September. Some words from peers and colleagues at PDBY:

care and recuperation. We need to take care of ourselves, and ensure we thrive psychologically, physically and emotionally, before we can thrive academically. It is also important that we each realise we do not need to try and overcome all of our stress and panic alone. We can ask for help, and there are structures and platforms in place to offer us professional assistance. But there are also friends, lecturers, peers and family that are there to support us. Every support structure is different, but find who forms yours, and be willing to ask for that support when you need it. You do not need to battle or suffer alone.

This final quarter is a difficult one, and it is the final push to get through the chaos of 2020.

Ask for help, look after your mind and body, and allow yourself the space to acknowledge feeling overwhelmed and anxious - I have found this is often an important first step in getting though these feelings. And if anything, think of how satisfying it will feel to officially finish this year, and use that to keep going.

Aside from that, take a second to enjoy the special Literature Edition this week. This edition reflects the love for literature many journalists at PDBY have, and I hope it appeals to all of our fellow book lovers and literary scholars.

Kayla Thomas

with Percy, it’s very sad to say that I have lost one of the most vibrant presenters and hands on staff members I have had to work with. There’s a lot I can say and share about Percy, but if there’s one thing that will forever stay in our minds and hearts, it is the memories we shared; you will be missed. - Tshepang

PDBY Media Copy: Ropafadzo Chidemo CJ Barnard Ume Dikio Takunda Marecha Nomzamo Xolly Maluleka Layout: Kelly Anne Kong Kam Wa Duane Kitching Kara Olivier Ngoako Ramokgopa Kirsten Minaar Multimedia: Mashudu Madzhiga Vice Mkansi Promise Zulu Cletus Mulaudi Madhuri Rambaran Sanele Zulu Cassandra Eardely Marchall Potgieter Adorn Ndlovu Kamogelo Mogapi Elma Akob Web: Jonathan Oladeji Zurika Raubenheimer Lucky Griffin Nyabicha Social Media: Jc Steyn Mbali Kunene

Percy was a friendly and warm soul, who was always happy to give a cheerful smile Rest in peace, Percy. and kind words. Percy worked at the newspaper at the same time as me for years, and it felt like an office staple to pop into the common room and say hi to them. It doesn’t feel true that Percy is gone, but they will be missed, and remembered. - Kayla I had the honour and privilege of working with Percy in the Multimedia section at PDBY until early March this year. Not only did they walk into the office everyday with a smile, but they had an incredible work ethic, as seen by working with UP library whilst working with PDBY too. Percy was part of the PDBY family and we were blessed to have such a wonderful and kind soul working with us. I would like to thank them for the time I got to work with and got to know them. My condolences are with Percy’s family and friends at this moment in time. They will be missed dearly. R.I.P Percy, thank you for being part of our world and for being part of the PDBY family.

- Giovanna Percy, R.I.P. I remember back in 2018, when I first met Percy. It was on my first day at the office and they were one of the funniest and vibrant people I met on that day, and throughout my years at the publication. After two years of working hand in hand

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Copyright PDBY is printed by Paarlmedia. All rights reserved. Contributions are welcome. All due care will be taken with materials submitted, but PDBY and printers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage. The editor reserves the right to edit, amend or alter in any way deemed necessary. PDBYcannot be responsible for unsolicited material. The opinions expressed in PDBY are not necessarily those of the editors and printers of PDBY.

News | 3

28 September 2020

COVID-19 vaccine trials and their progress

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s explained in a previous edition of PDBY, the University of Oxford’s Oxford Vaccine Group, in collaboration with The Jenner Group, have been working on running a vaccine trial to combat the novel coronavirus that led to the widespread outbreak of COVID-19.

This trial is being carried out across various sites across the United Kingdom. Many other countries are also involved with this trial, including the United States, India, Brazil, and South Africa.

The team had begun working on the vaccine in January and began testing it on humans in April.

Oxford’s Jenner Institute identified ChAdOx1, a chimpanzee Adenovirus vaccine vector, as the strongest and most suitable vaccine technology that can be utilised for a vaccine against the SARS-CoV2 virus, as this vector produces a powerful immune response in each dose, making it safer for use on children, senior citizens, and people with underlying conditions. Vaccine trials have opened in various testing countries to people aged 18-55 to begin testing out the ChAdOx1 nCoV vaccine. This subsequently led to the University of Oxford partnership with AstraZeneca, United Kingdom-based global biopharmaceutical corporation, to assist with the development, manufacture, and possibly, the distribution of the vaccine. The Oxford vaccine trials have so far proven to be among the most successful COVID-19 vaccines, with the clinical trials having already made their way to Phase II/ III of the trials - the first phase of the trial having cleared the vaccine of safety concerns.

However, the Oxford Vaccine trials were globally brought to a grinding halt after a participant in the United Kingdom developed what was suspected as an adverse and unexplained reactionary illness to the vaccine, casting some doubt over this vaccine. However, Oxford and AstraZeneca said this was a usual occurrence, describing this as ‘routine.’ A spokesperson for

the pharmaceutical establishment stated that it was “a routine action which had to happen” in events where an unexplained illness was detected in one of the trials and volunteers. “In large trials, illnesses will happen by chance but must be independently reviewed to check this carefully”.

This only seemed to be a bump in the road, as the vaccine trials are back on track. In the beginning of September, the review of safety data was carried out by independent safety review committees and national regulators, declaring the trials safe enough to resume. All across the world, more than 18 000 people have signed up to be participants in the vaccine trials in what is panning out to be one of the world’s biggest hopes of a vaccine against this invisible enemy that the world has waged war against.

South Africa’s involvement with the COVID-19 Vaccine trials.

South Africa is in the top 10 most infected countries in the world, having recorded well over 650 000 cases of COVID-19. This, together with the fact that South Africa sits amongst the 20 countries with the highest number of recorded deaths, gradually edging closer to 16 000, makes for very sobering statistics, easily placing South Africa’s statistics at the highest on the African continent. This gave reason for more attention to be placed on the African continent for its involvement in preventing and treating COVID-19. As such, South Africa has had an active role in the global involvement in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, through collaborations that the president and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, Prof.

Glenda Gray, termed as

UP’s Aerial Survey of Southern Right whales

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he 41st annual Aerial Survey of Southern Right whales by the Whale Unit of the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute (MRI) is set to begin on 28 September through to mid-October. The main objective of the survey is to monitor the recovery and population growth of these whales since their international protection in 1935 after being heavily whaled between 1780 and 1835, reducing the global population from 80 000-70 000 to about 60 reproductive females when Right whaling was terminated in 1935.

The survey is conducted by an airbus H120B helicopter between Nature’s Valley and Muizenberg, with all encountered whale species recorded. However, special attention is given to Southern Right whales with calves and individuals with distinctive brindle colouration or markings. Carrying out the survey requires pristine weather conditions, between 08:00-16:00, to evade potential glare that could hinder the survey photography undertaken.

Analysis of the data in the form of photos is used for comparison and identification of individuals that were sighted during the previous 40 annual surveys. The acquired data is used for further investigation and to compile population parameters and demographics of Southern Right whales, such as population growth rate, survival rate, calving intervals, and the age at which a female whale has her first calf.

A preliminary count survey conducted at the

Illustration: Marchall Potgieter

Manelisi Magoro

end of August revealed a decrease in sightings of these whales with a total of 153, consisting of 71 calving females and 11 unaccompanied adults. The sightings of calving females has not been frequent for the past decade and has had a drastic decline between 2015 to 2017, as well as in 2019. However, the total number of adult males and non-calving females is far less than females with calves. This suggests that only pregnant females complete their migration to South African coasts. The changes in whale migration can be attributed to the changes in the ecosystems of the feeding and breeding locations. Longer calving intervals may point to insufficient nutrition that does not allow adequate body conditions for reproduction and increasing survival rate.

The survey is administered under a permit from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, and from relevant conservation authorities. People can join in the project by symbolically adopting a whale. The funding generated through this is used to cover this field work. More information can be found on www. adoptawhale.co.za and on https://web.facebook. com/MRIWhaleUnit

being a “national imperative”.

The first COVID-19 vaccine trials South Africa participated in was the South African Ox1Cov-19 vaccine VIDA-Trial. The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, in partnership with Oxford University, launched their clinical trials for a vaccine against the COVID-19 disease in South Africa in June. Under the leadership of Prof. Shabir Madhi, professor of vaccinology at Wits, the vaccine trials have already had human trials take place, with around 2000 people volunteering to take part in this vaccine trial, which has so far been making strides in the fight against the coronavirus on the continent. The South African trial was also affected by the halt in testing globally due to the unexpected illness of a volunteer in the UK, but the efforts had already been back in full swing at the time of publication.

South Africa began a second COVID-19 vaccine trial in August. Once more, the South African effort was headed up by Wits University, under the leadership of Prof. Shabir Madhi. By late August, volunteer screenings had already been underway. The trial, known as the NVX-CoV2373 Illustration: Promise Zulu

trial, was produced by Maryland-based American biotech company, Novavax. This vaccine uses technology previously used in the fight against the flu virus, as well as experimental vaccines used in combating Ebola, and the Respiratory Syncytial Virus. So far, the trial has recruited nearly 3000 volunteers in South Africa, aged between 18 and 65, and is currently entering Phase II in South Africa, and Phase III globally. This has also seen institutes like the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University partake in these efforts.

The Novavax project is known for the fact that the NASDAQ-listed pharmaceutical company has received $1.6 billion in financial backing from the United States government, and a grant of up to $89 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – with a $15 million grant dedicated to the South African vaccine efforts.

Finally, South Africa has formed a part of the Johnson and Johnson experimental trials. The Johnson and Johnson Ad26.COV2-S trial is being spearheaded by Prof. Gray and Professor LindaGail Bekker, who is the COO of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation at the University of Cape Town’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, named as the principal investigators of this trial. The trial has already been undergoing the process of approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority and various ethics committees. The trial is a part of Operation Warp Speed, an initiative by the US government that seeks to deliver up to 300 million doses of a vaccine by January 2021.

Locally, Prof. Gray said that the South African Medical Research Council, together with the Department of Science and Innovation in South Africa, will be funding all the COVID-19 research and provide funds for the Ad26.COV2-S trial. The vaccine candidate in question for the Johnson and Johnson trial is made from the Adenovirus, which causes the common cold. These trials have already entered Phase I/II of human studies in the United States and Belgium.

Suicide Prevention Month Nokwanda Kubheka

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he month of September commemorates Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, with 10 September marking global Suicide Prevention Day. The purpose of this day, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is to raise awareness that suicide can be prevented across the globe. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing increased stress levels due to its adverse effect on finances, academics, and normality, the University of Pretoria is doing its part to raise awareness.

The UP website provides some behavioural indicators that someone may be thinking of committing suicide.

Some of these are: talking about suicide, a negative change in behaviour, trying to access objects that could be used in a suicide attempt, loss of hope for the future, destructive behaviours, giving away valuable items, and saying goodbye as if one will not be seeing loved ones again.

With the Student Counselling Unit (SCU) being physically inaccessible during the lockdown period, necessary amends have been made to make sure the SCU is available virtually to assist students who may be struggling with mental health difficulties.

Illustration: Marchall Potgieter

Tshepang Moji

According to the UP website, the SCU now offers a telehealth service in the form of e-therapy sessions through WhatsApp video calls or the Zoom app.

The services are free to all UP registered students and the services offered are in line with the regulations of the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

Apart from therapy, the SCU also offers referrals, career counselling, and career assessment.

Students who need the services of the SCU can email studentcounselling@up.ac. za to receive a call back or call 012 420 2333. Alternatively, students can dial 0800 747 747, the UP Careline which is active 24/7 for students who would like to speak to a counsellor,

4 | News

Statement of Commitment for Gender Equality in South Africa Kendall Behr

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diverse team from the Global UN South Africa, the GIZ – Partnerships for Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls programme (PfP), government spokespeople, and members of the media came together to discuss the role of the media industry in spreading the message against gender based violence (GBV) in South Africa. Many members of the South African Media attended the virtual statement which was hosted on Zoom. Members present were Nada Wotshela, representing South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio and channel Africa, as well as Kate Skinner, the Executive Director of The South African National Editor’s Forum (SANEF).

Anne Githuku-Shongwe, the representative for UN Women’s South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), explained that the media and creative industry in South Africa is “a key sector that is often overlooked. These industries hold the power to influence how we view ourselves and society at large” and challenged the media to both “scale up their focus on women’s rights and gender equality issues through high-quality coverage and editorial decisions” as well as look within their institutions and implement more “gender-sensitive corporate practices” within the media itself.

Shongwe also discussed that societal norms and stereotypes have not changed in South Africa, and that the media continues to broadcast these stereotypes. She also mentioned that the realities of lack of services, like water and sanitation, keeps many women from going to school. This sentiment was supported by Commissioner Tamara Mathebula, Chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality, who said that South Africa needs to overcome the challenges of a lack of safety and the prevalence of a patriarchal society. Commissioner Mathebula also said that the media plays a critical role in overcoming the challenges, as the type of reporting available influences people’s thoughts and reactions to GBV. She challenged the SA media to be a voice for the voiceless.

According to Shongwe, if South Africa continues to change at its current pace, it will take 250 years for women to be safe. She highlighted five key areas of change that need to move at a faster pace: • Gender based violence

Illustration: Marchall Potgieter

28 September 2020

• Economic justice • Climate justice • Generation equality • Bodily autonomy and reproductive rights One of the ways reporting can assist this change is to use gender sensitive reporting, through educating reporters. Instead of using patriarchal language like ‘protect our women’, reporters should see women as human beings outside of their relationship to men. The language used in news can bias readers against the victims of GBV. Shongwe also mentions how toxic masculinity and rape culture pervades how GBV is reported, to the point where GBV has been normalised as a daily occurrence in our society.

Carol Bouwer, CEO Carol Bouwer Productions, suggested that the burden of gender sensitive reporting should not only be covered by women, and that women are not victims, but “victors at the helm of solutions”. She further suggested that the media can fight GBV by “covering stories in their fullness” and providing accountability after the initial stories have disappeared from the public eye. Portia Kobue, a journalist involved in GBV reporting, reiterated this sentiment, saying that journalists need to rethink their routine of “chasing sensationalism” and should “look deeper” into the story. She said to be able to do this, journalists should be trained and equipped to use gender sensitive language and also to research and tell a story, while breaking the current norms of reporting.

Producer Layla Swart, whose ground-breaking filmmaking has created one of the largest series in South Africa (Blood Psalms), pointed out that the government has the money to implement changes for the coronavirus pandemic, but has been ignoring the shadow pandemic of GBV. She says she has seen how in theory, women are supported, but as a female producer she has not seen any kind of support on a practical level. She said that the media being able to support female actors and producers is important, but it will require systemic changes within the media landscape itself, before the media itself can create content that will empower South African women.

Component Manager for the PfP programme, Joan Moeketsi, said that this statement was a way of bringing South African media stakeholders together, so that they can “play a more conscious role in preventing the scourge of GBV and discrimination built upon unhealthy gender stereotypes”.

Book Launch: Management of Research Infrastructures A South African Funding Perspective Amukelani Makamu

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n 21 September, PDBY attended a virtual book launch via YouTube, hosted by the University of Pretoria in collaboration with the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Innovation.

The book launch was to celebrate the launch of a book titled; Management of Research Infrastructure: A South African Funding Perspective, authored by University of Pretoria’s Head of Capacity Development, Dr Rakeshine Ramoutar-Prieschl, and Dr Sepo Hachigonta, the Director for strategic planning and partnerships from the National Research Foundation. The book was published by Springer Nature early this year, with the support and funding from the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Innovation.

About the Author: Dr Rakeshnie Ramoutar-Prieschl: She obtained a Master’s in biotechnology and a Doctorate in business management. She has tutored and lectured both undergraduate and postgraduate students. She has also served under committees, namely, The National Science and Technology Forum Awards and the Nanotechnology Public Engagement Programme. In addition, she has served on various advisory boards and committees, including the Centre of High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy.

She also serves as a member of the Executive Committee for the organisation of women in science in developing countries, and the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Child Welfare South Africa.

For over 11 years, Dr Ramoutar-Prieschl has previously led the Research Infrastructure portfolio, as a Director of the National Research Foundation. In her journey, she has developed numerous strategies, policies, and frameworks that have provided the foundation for nurturing several research infrastructure platforms in the country. She has worked for vaccine development, and has held various management positions, including working at the Desmond Tutu TB and HIV center. Currently, Dr Ramoutar-Prieschl holds the position of Head of Department:

Research Capacity Development at the University of Pretoria.

She is accountable for the full portfolio of grants support and management as well as strategic interventions for early career academics (ECAs). She has been the recipient of numerous grants to develop and strengthen the track record of ECAs at the University.

Dr Sepo Hachigonta: He holds a Master’s and a Doctoral degree in Environmental Science from the University of Cape Town. Currently, he holds the position of Director and Strategic Partnerships at the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. Dr Hachigonta’s interests span several trans-disciplinary fields, from agricultural and environmental systems, to a research committee that impacts the continents science, technology, and innovation landscape. He has extensive networks with over 20 countries on the African continent, and has contributed in developing systems analysis expertise aimed at addressing current global challenges through various programmes, such as South African Systems Analysis Centre (SASAC) – a multi-year initiative that implements cognizance multi-level systems analysis capacity interventions and a comprehensive approach to policyrated activities in Southern Africa. In addition, Dr Hachigonta has been instrumental in spearheading South Africa’s participation in regional and international bodies, including the Science Granting Council Initiative (SGCI), the International Science Council (ISC) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). Prior to joining the NRF, he was a programme manager at FANRPAN, a regional policy analysis network on food security and agriculture based in Pretoria.

About the book: Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, Professor Tawana Kupe, explained that the objective of the book is to provide a blueprint for colleagues working in research management at funding agencies, universities, and government.

Research infrastructures which include research equipment, pilot plants, technology demonstrators, proof concepts, and specialised facilities for high tax sectors such as aerospace form the unique

preposition of the book. The unique preposition of the book is to provide a holistic approach to the management of research infrastructure, grants, and equipment. The book further provides critical elements of the research infrastructure. The role this book plays is shaping the management research infrastructure within the higher education landscape in Africa by sharing national examples.

Provided by the open access book is an overview of the building blocks necessary for managing, steering, and guiding the establishment of a research infrastructure. Valuable insights are offered, along with grants management, access and management at the academic, agency and policy level, and serves as a useful guide for the research community, students, and those in the private sector wishing to understand the approaches and opportunities involved in the maintenance, establishment, and management of research infrastructure platforms. This helps present a holistic view of research infrastructure investment and grants cycles from a South African Perspective. The target audience of the book include those working in Science Diplomacy, Science Grants (especially in Africa), policy making as well as donors and funders.

The book can be accessed via this link : https://link.springer. com to download the PDF.

Illustration: Promise Zulu

28 September 2020

South African Book Fair Kendall Behr

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he South African Book Fair sessions are available to watch until the end of September. The fair, which took place on the weekend of the 11th to the 13th of September, featured local and international authors and industry experts. You can access them with a once-off ticket at R50.

The programme for the fair was divided into three days.

The session that took place on 11 September, talked about integral issues that surround the book industry such as the the South African children’s book market, how authors contract and copyright their work, the value of university presses, the place that

e- books currently hold in the readers’ consciousness, and writing for a Pan-African audience.

The session also featured poetry hosted by Mutinta Bbenkele, African stars Bokgang Maragelo, Mongane Wally Serote, Yomi Ṣode, Zizipho Bam, Khadija Tracey Heeger, and Aja Monet.

The session on 12 September featured discussions by African women, who discussed their works, science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism genres, and the place of African stories in the future. Additionally, the session also addressed ways to create economic opportunities in South Africa, issues of white privilege, feminism, masculinity, misogyny and African psychology.

Additionally, the session unpacked the role of literary journals in

Mind altering books Kendall Behr

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he UP library hosted a webinar where four presenters discussed a book that had “a profound effect” on them, according to Lindiwe Soyizwapi, the Director of the Department of Library Services at the University of Pretoria, who introduced the speakers. It was moderated by Professor Molly Brown, Head of the English Department, and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tawana Kupe, was the first to present his mind-altering book recommendation. He was followed by Professor Elsabe Schoeman, the Dean of Law, Professor Fraser McNeill, a senior lecturer in Anthropology, and Doctor Nedine Moonsamy, a senior lecturer in English.

Soyizwapi launched the webinar by saying that she celebrates heritage month by “honouring all the authors, all the readers, and all those who buy books” in South Africa. She mentioned a statistic from a study of British children, which showed that children who read frequently and for pleasure have four times as much of a chance of being academically successful than if they have even one parent who has a degree, and said that “in a country with the inequalities that we are struggling with[… ]we should be doing whatever we can to share books[…]to allow other people to understand what we enjoy about them”. She also cited a recent Washington Post article that showed that Humanities graduates really change the world, and that while “Engineering graduates are good at the sprint” and may start out earning higher figures than Humanities graduates, “English graduates endure”, and by the age of 40 are often earning more than Engineering graduates.

Prof. Kupe’s recommended book was God’s Bits of Wood, by Ousane Sembène, the father of African cinema.

According to Prof. Kupe, the book is about the 1948 railway strike in colonial Senegal (Sembène himself was a dockworker and a railway worker). Sembène, unlike many early African authors who wrote around the same time as Chinua Achebe, did not have higher education, and in fact did not even finish high school. The reasons why Prof. Kupe presents God’s Bits of Wood as a mind-altering book are that it is “the most nuanced, complicated, and intersectional understanding of representation of the influences of Marxism and feminism on an African male writer who was not literate”.

“It is one of the eminent feminist works of African literature. At the heart, it is a representation of how women gain consciousness and participate in this strike”. Prof. Kupe also said that the influences of Islam and the patriarchy on the Senegalese women are subverted by them joining in the march and making the march successful. Colonial narratives are usually centered around men, but Sembène centered on women and their role in the liberation of the Senegalese people in this book.

It is prescient of many other African struggles for liberation.

By rebelling against the railway, this book is striking at the heart of the colonial imaginary of being able to take resources as quickly and efficiently as possible out of colonies like Senegal.

Prof. Schoeman’s mind-altering book recommendation was My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Ferrante is a pseudonym for a very mysterious author, and according to Prof. Schoeman “no one knows who she is (I believe it is a she)”, which adds to her enjoyment of the book, because of the mystery of knowing nothing about the author. The book is set in Naples after WW2, about a woman whose brilliance, according to Prof. Schoeman, “is almost destructive”. It’s an Italian generational drama about two women who negotiate their way through very different social classes and their friendship with each other. This book is mind-altering because it shows the importance of libraries as the character who doesn’t complete her schooling career is educated because she borrows books from the library, and educates herself. Prof.

Schoeman says this shows that “access to books is very important” for young people.

Ferrante was one of the first people to write authentically about the power of female friendship. Books that show female friendship are often seen as “chick lit” and unimportant, but the novel presents

female friendships are a powerful force for change.

It changed her impression of the city of Naples. She visited the city of Naples before reading the book and found it to be a very boring place, but now she would like to go there again and see the city through new eyes. Books often have a way of changing how we look at the physical world, especially through historical fiction.

Prof. McNeill’s mind-altering book recommendation was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson. This is a controversial book by a controversial figure who was “infamous for his indulgence”, said Prof. McNeill. Thompson had his ashes blown into orbit, by his friend, Jonny Depp (who also portrayed Hunter Thompson in the film by the same name), after he died, so he’s

Illustration: Promise Zulu

“currently circulating around the world” said Prof. McNeill. The book is about a journalist who travels to Las Vegas to report on the Mint 400 motorcycle race, but Prof.

McNeill said the book is less about the motorcycle race than the people, “which are described in phenomenal detail”. Prof.

McNeill said that he sees this book as a helpful research tool, as an anthropologist, because it helps him think about how to write about people, and how to observe them. He prescribes the book to his first-year students to teach them about how a researcher can become what they’re trying to research, and to think about whether or not that’s a good thing. This book is mind-altering because it blew McNeill away by the “extent to which [the author]… tells the story in different ways” and every time he reads it, he “gets things in different ways”.

It displays a writing style called ‘gonzo’, developed by Hunter S. Thompson, which is “fluid, really in your face[…] not trying to be[...] purest prose”.

“It shows us that the real story is often hidden, but at the same time, it’s staring you right in the face” and that “we’re all potentially anthropologists if we pay attention” said McNeill.

Dr Moonsamy’s mind-altering book recommendation is The

News | 5 offering multidimensional perspectives and analysis on a piece of work, as well as the successes and failures of the South African constitutional law in delivering justice.

The final session of the Book Fair, on 13 September, touched on the Black Lives Matter movement as well as African centric social issues that African authors face, such as that the need for the ownership of the continent’s narrative can be taken by African writers, encouragement of diversity from coloured perspectives, patriarchy, the role of women in liberation struggles in history and the journey of the queer community.

Through the platform provided by the South African Book Fair, authors and experts across diverse spectrums coalesced to discuss issues surrounding a written piece of work, and accompanying solutions that could be formulated going forward. Aside from reading a written piece of work, the Book Fair provided a dearth of knowledge in the form of literary discussions to inform readers of multidimensional perspectives that accompany a piece of work.

“

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr Seuss (quoted

by Professor Brown)

Palm-Wine Drinkard

by Amos Tutola. This book is the first African novel written in English and published internationally, and Dr Monsamy mentions that it “unleashed effects that Tutola himself couldn’t have expected” because it was popular internationally, but was “received in a contentious manner” locally. Tutola himself simply wanted an archive of local Yoruba folktales. The book is about “a laid-back guy”, the palm-wine drunkard, who enjoys hanging around his house drinking palm-wine all day, until one day his palmwine tapster dies. He decides to bring his tapster back from “deads town”, and we follow his quest through the spirit world until he finds his tapster.

It is ironic that the hero is successful in his quest, by finding his tapster, but the tapster cannot return, because he is dead. It is still a successful quest, because when the hero returns to his home village, he has become a produber of society who provides for his community with a magical egg that produces food. This book is mind-altering because it uses English in a very interesting way. Dr Moonsamy said that it’s use of English was “extremely polarising”, because it is written in a pidgin form of Nigerian English, with non-English words like ‘drinkard’. This made other Nigerians feel that Tutola was making it look like Africans cannot use proper English. Dr Moonsamy said that “the English adds to the strangeness of producing a [fantastical] world”.

“It’s a form of postcolonial horror”, said Dr Moonsamy. Horror is often seen as a Western genre, but The Palm-Wine Drinkard captures anxiety about Western modernity through “bizarre creatures” like The Complete Gentleman, a skull which rents body parts from local people to make a complete body, much like the colonisers built up their own nations by removing the resources of colonised nations.

It allows us to experience what it means to be human.

Because this novel uses time and space in a fantastical way, it builds on African epistemological systems of time and cosmology rather than Western ones. This looks at how humans can experience time outside of the Western and capitalistic models of time, which always pushes us to use our time in a linear way to be productive.

At the end of the Webinar, a question was posed to the panelists from the audience about how to cultivate a personal culture of reading.

Prof. Kupe cited that you should build a habit of reading together as a family, or if you live alone, share your appreciation of the book you’re currently reading with someone else. This will motivate you to continue reading. Prof. Schoeman suggested that individuals should visit the library regularly, as the pressure of needing to return a book will help you to read it. She also cited the importance of reading aloud to children. Prof. McNeill mentioned that reframing the reading process aids in cultivating a culture of reading, as text can be intimidating, asserting that “if you think of reading as travelling to a new land or city, then it becomes pleasure rather than work”. Dr Moonsamy articulated that we should allow ourselves to read books that we find interesting, rather than trying to read books that we think we “should” read. Prof. Brown echoed this sentiment by mentioning that one must not force themselves to read things one does not want to read, advising that individuals set up a specific time to read every day.

6 | Features

28 September 2020

Stephanie Cookson

R

ecently, human trafficking has experienced an increased amount of attention in South African media, but along with more awareness, misinformation has also increased. It is important to know exactly what human trafficking is, and above all, what the warning signs are and how one can stay safe.

With an estimated 25 million people living in “modern day slavery”, human trafficking generates US$150 billion every year, and, according to A21, an international anti-human trafficking organisation that operates in South Africa, it is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. A21’s Katie Modrou also states that 2.8 out of every 1000 people are estimated to be victims of trafficking, and 54% of South Africans are vulnerable to human trafficking. Only 1% of victims are ever rescued, and there are many cases where victims are trafficked by someone they know, like a family member or spouse.

Globally, the majority of victims are women and girls. The United States, an international frontrunner in fighting human trafficking, created the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, which sets out minimum standards that other governments need to meet in order to prevent and fight trafficking. The US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons moved South Africa to the Tier two watchlist in 2008, which means that SA does not comply with these minimum standards, but is working towards compliance.

Trafficking in persons (TIP) is defined by the United Nations (UN) as the “process through which individuals are placed or maintained in an exploitative situation for economic gain” for the purposes of “forced and exploitative labour […] sexual exploitation, and forced marriage”. This process involves recruitment, transportation, transfer, and harbouring or receipt of persons, and is done using threats of use of force, coercion, abduction or fraud. The forms of exploitation can include “sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs”.

TIP affects women, children, and men, and can happen by transferring people across borders, as well as domestically.

However, trafficking can still happen without transferring or moving victims at all. Rather, it is the violation of a person’s freedoms that marks a situation as trafficking. Human trafficking is recognised as a human rights violation by the UN and, though there are many factors contributing to it, certain groups of people are more vulnerable to trafficking.

Poverty, inequality, and other human rights violations are risk factors, because they contribute to “economic deprivation and social conditions that limit individual choice and make it easier for traffickers and exploiters to operate” according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Groups that lack power in a community are most vulnerable, such as children, refugees, migrants (especially illegal migrants), and women.

Another important area of vulnerability is online, since traffickers often recruit victims using social media, and it is commonly used to target children.

when allowed to leave their place of work or residence.

If these or other suspicious indicators are noticed, it is important not to intervene and instead call the South African National Human Trafficking Hotline at 0800 222 777.

This course of action is in line with the three P’s of counter-trafficking: Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution.

Notifying the correct parties instead of intervening will prevent the individual from being moved as a result of traffickers fearing that authorities are suspicious. It ensures that the correct actions can be taken to remove the trafficked individuals and that they will receive the necessary protection from their traffickers. It also enables authorities and civil bodies to build a prosecutable, evidence-driven case against direct traffickers and the criminal syndicate or organisation that they potentially work for.

Secondly, there are steps that students in particular can take to reduce their own risk of falling prey to human trafficking.

Henry-Dillon Peens, an intelligence analyst at the V3 Foundation, an anti-human trafficking initiative, says that, for students, there are multiple factors that can increase or decrease one’s risk levels.

He explains that factors that relate specifically to students can be placed into two categories: how the individual reaches campus and returns home, and what the individual’s extra-curricular activities are. He advises that “awareness is key”, which means that “regardless of how the student gets to campus or where they might go afterwards, it is imperative that they are scanning their environment and taking note of what is going on around them”. In line with this, “it is better to leave phones and earphones in your pockets to allow for a better level of situational awareness”.

Students who commute by foot or their own transport “must avoid following set routes with predetermined and predictable pick-up and drop-off points”, he explains. “Even if students are going to sport practice or a night on the strip, change up how you get there and places where you wait for friends or transport,” he adds. He also suggests intentionally using an incorrect name when approaching an Uber driver so that “if they do not correct you, then it is best not to climb into the car”.

A21 reports that 42.3% of victims were recruited by false job advertisements. The National Freedom Network, an SA based anti-human trafficking organisation, notes that job advertisements can be verified by the SA Human Trafficking Hotline mentioned earlier, to determine if the advertisement is a possible human trafficking operation. Another common recommendation is to never post one’s regular running route online, such as a screenshot from fitness apps like Strava.

“The best defense is a strong offense”, Peens maintains, adding that “maintaining a high level of situational awareness and assuming that you are already being watched, allows you to act proactively instead of reacting to uncontrollable situations”. Awareness and education are the most effective measures students can take to mitigate risks for themselves and those around them, and more information about human trafficking and how to prevent it is available at a21.org and polarisproject.org.

Human Trafficking in SA The Polaris Project, an anti-human trafficking NGO, also explains that victims of human trafficking represent every gender, age and ethnicity, even though some forms of trafficking might affect different groups more. Additional factors that make people more vulnerable include “recent migration or relocation, substance use, mental health concerns, involvement with the child welfare system and being a runaway or homeless youth”, says the Polaris Project, since traffickers leverage victims’ vulnerabilities “in order to create dependency”.

Christi Maherry, a security expert with over twenty years of experience, emphasises that, although children and individuals living in a state of poverty are at most risk, the threat of human trafficking is ubiquitous. A parallel to the widespread and misunderstood nature of the threat can be drawn to the media’s bias in reporting almost exclusively on sex trafficking. While this is not a deliberate oversight, sex trafficking is arguably more visible, which makes it easier to generate data and build cases, especially when compared to victims trafficked into forced labor, whose organs are harvested and sold on the black market if they become too weak to continue working.

As such, all individuals must understand the prevalence of the threat and how to implement practices into their lives that will mitigate risks and serve to counter potential traffickers. Firstly, according to the Polaris Project, signs that an individual might be a victim of trafficking include the following: the individual appears malnourished; signs of physical injuries or abuse; avoiding eye contact and are subject to limited social interactions; appearing to follow a script or rehearsed phrases in social interactions; the individual does not have an ID, drivers license or birth certificate; working excessively long hours under abject conditions; and always being accompanied by someone else

Illustration: Giovanna Janos and Leah Rees

28 September 2020

Features | 7

Understanding and managing suicide Feliciana Nezingu

W

orld Suicide Prevention Day is organised by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and was observed on 10 September as a day dedicated to raising global awareness around the issue of suicide and promoting suicide prevention. The day, which has been observed annually since 2003, is an initiative to raise awareness of suicide as a universal challenge and to encourage friends, family and communities to question the stigma associated with mental health, suicide and suicidal behaviour.

Why is suicide a universal concern?

Suicide is a complex problem that affects millions of people globally, with long-lasting effects on the families, friends, colleagues and communities involved. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 800 000 people die as the result of suicide each year. This translates to a suicide every 40 seconds. According to 2019 WHO statistics, suicide is the second leading cause of death in people between the ages of 15 and 29. This is higher than interpersonal violence, which is the third-highest cause of death in young people. There are some concerns, however, that suicide statistics may be inaccurate due to underreporting. A 2014 study on ‘Suicidal Behaviour Across the African Continent’, cites that, because suicide in Africa often carries a religious or cultural stigma, it is often hidden from the public or classified under a different cause of death.

Who is at risk?

Suicide, according to the WHO, is strongly linked to mental health problems, such as depression, and alcohol and drug problems. Individuals experiencing abuse, trauma, violence, loss, and a sense of isolation are often at risk for suicidal behaviour. Suicide is also linked to impulsive decisions caused by a difficulty in dealing with life stresses such as abuse, academic problems, financial problems, illness and relationship breakups. For example, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), a non-profit and non-governmental organisation dedicated to addressing the challenges of mental health issues among individuals, reported that calls on their mental health crisis helpline doubled during the COVID-19 lockdown. This includes those minorities and individuals who are part of vulnerable and discriminated groups, such as refugees or queer persons within hostile environments. It is also important to understand that suicides are often preceded by suicide attempts. According to the American Psychiatric Association, the strongest risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt, as those who have previously tried to take their own lives are more likely to attempt to do so again.

What is suicidal behaviour?

SADAG reports that in South Africa alone there are 23 suicides and 230 suicide attempts recorded a day. According to the organisation, people who commit suicide talk about it either indirectly or directly. A person contemplating suicide could, for example, make jokes about it. Some other, subtle

signs may include saying goodbye to friends and family, giving away one’s possessions, and suddenly writing a will. The WHO points out behaviour such as browsing the internet for means to take one’s own life and self-criticism or statements about one’s perceived worthlessness, for example, “no one will miss me when I am gone”. Other signs to look out for include changes in personality and a loss of interest in self-care, such as maintaining personal hygiene, which shows that the individual is not coping well with their personal problems.

Seeking assistance for people with suicidal thoughts SADAG encourages people to speak more openly and matter-of-factly about suicide without being judgemental. It is important to show interest in the problem and extend support by being willing to listen and allowing the suicidal person to express their feelings. SADAG cautions individuals to take their disclosure seriously, but also to avoid acting shocked or panicked when talking about suicide, as this may distance the suicidal person and discourage them from speaking about it further. It is also important to avoid long periods of selfisolation and avoid drugs and alcohol, as they may reinforce negative thoughts and feelings. Further advice includes not daring the suicidal person to take their own life, debating whether suicide is right or wrong, or lecturing the suicidal person on the value of life, as it may make them feel guilty.

A study published this year, titled Trends in Suicide Mortality in South Africa, 1997 to 2016, indicated that suicide mortality is generally higher among men than among women, with the suicide rate of South African men being roughly five times higher than that of women in 2016. The study attributed this disparity to women being more likely to report and talk about suicidal thoughts. The Canada-based emotional and crisis support organisation, Youth Space, also encourages people to be more open when talking about suicide as it can provide some sort of therapeutic relief for those contemplating suicide. They also encourage individuals to persuade suicidal persons to seek additional help. This includes consulting a professional, such as a general practitioner, to discuss anti-depressant medication options, visiting the on-campus counselling available for students, or visiting a psychologist for more in-depth intervention.

Persons battling with suicidal thoughts can also access advice, intervention, and support through mental health helplines that offer them free counselling, referrals, and support. Friends, family and colleagues can seek additional support for suicidal persons. For example, SADAG has a counselling call centre open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, which operates in all official languages. Some of the operational suicide helplines include: SADAG Suicide Crisis Line: 0800 567 567 Lifeline: 0861 322 322 Mental health line: 011 234 4837 Cipla 24hr Mental Health Helpline: 0800 456 789 South Africa Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0800 21 22 23 or 0800 12 13 14

Photo: Madhuri Rambaran

Law House Faculty Festival goes virtual Carli Botha

T

he Law House Faculty Festival (Fac Fest) is an annual event that forms part of the Law House social calendar.

This year, Fac Fest is scheduled for 29 September. Due to COVID-19 and the lockdown restrictions, the event will not take place on campus. The Law House executive committee therefore decided to move the event online. Lindo Shongwe, co-head of Law House social, told PDBY that the decision to continue with Fac Fest was made to give students a sense of consistency and stability. Shongwe continued by saying that “it just would not feel right to not have it”.

Students will be able to stream the event on various social media platforms. Shongwe said that these platforms include YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Zoom, and potentially Blackboard. Raisha Ramkhelawan, co-head of Law House social, told PDBY that “an online faculty festival is not going to be the same as a live faculty festival, however we are trying as hard as possible to make it seem as if there is no difference.”

Ramkhelawan added that the night will be ended off with a DJ, and it is considered “as it would have been under normal circumstances”.

Regarding the events of the day, Shongwe told PDBY that the events are still the same, but “with a twist”. These events include

Image: Madhuri Rambaran

the Mx Law House competition and a talent competition that will be judged online. There will also be other competitions on the day and Ramkhelawan emphasised that each event will have a cash prize and continued by saying, “we believe that these cash prizes, which are in the form of Takealot vouchers, Bookmark vouchers, and Pick ‘n Pay vouchers, would greatly assist families and students who are in need during this time”.

In the past, students paid an “entrance fee” in the form of sanitary pads or canned food. This year, however, there will be no such requirement. Law House recognises that this is a difficult time for students financially and, therefore, the event is open to all students. Elaborating on the topic of an entrance fee, Ramkhelawan mentioned that “there is also no way to ensure that this is actually enforced”. Another reason for this decision is that students will need to use their own data and “we don’t want to pose any more restrictions on [students]”.

Shongwe mentioned that “virtual events are not as popular as actual events”, and for this reason the marketing of the event “had to be twice as much”. Ramkhelawan agreed with this statement and added that it has been a challenge to get students to participate during this time, because “data is a real issue with students.” Both Shongwe and Ramkhelawan agreed that the biggest challenge with reinventing the Fac Fest was marketing, especially “marketing the event as similar to an actual live Fac Fest”.

Regarding the streaming of the Fac Fest, Shongwe that Law House already had all the platforms set up and that test sessions were done “to make sure everything runs efficiently and it’s the same on every platform”.

The links to the different streaming platforms will be shared across social media and all students are invited to join in the festivities.

8 | Advertisement

28 September 2020

PDBY x The Inklings STUDENT WRITING COLLABORATION Submit your writing or art for the following themes: Protest and Human Rights or Loss and Growth

Accepted formats: • Poetry • Articles • Opinion pieces • Short stories • Dramatic scripts • Letters • Photography • Drawings/paintings

Guidelines: Submissions: by 20 October Protest and Human Rights – submit to editor@pdby.co.za Loss and Growth – submit to thinklings.tuks@gmail.com Cite the theme in the subject line

Written submissions: • 1 500 words; dramatic script - no longer than 30 minutes • Title and full name • Preferred name for publishing • Submissions will be edited for grammar and language where appropriate • No hate speech or prejudice • Articles and opinion pieces must be supported by reasonable fact: no fake news or unsupported conspiracies Visual submissions: • Clear, high quality colour photo (specify if you would prefer greyscale) • PDF, Jpeg, Png or Tiff format • Low resolution submissions will not be considered • No hate speech or prejudice

28 September 2020

Entertainment | 9

African fantasy and sci-fi books to check out Emily Harrison

S

ci-fi and fantasy are two of the biggest genres in literature, yet, the most popular books to come from the genres are often Eurocentric. Africa has a rich history of amazing sci-fi and fantasy books that are worth giving a read, and this article suggests just a few out of the many stories that are out there.

Black Leopard Red Wolf- Marlon James This is the first novel in a planned fantasy trilogy by the author and was released in 2019. The book created so much buzz that actor Michael B. Jordan bought the film rights to adapt the book before it was released last year. The book centres around the protagonist, Tracker, who is known for his hunting skills.

Tracker is notoriously solitary in his work but when he has to find a child who has disappeared he bands together with a team of mercenaries, all equipped with their own skills. This book is perfect for anyone who loves sprawling adventure stories and an interesting ensemble of characters. The book takes inspiration from African mythology and creates a vivid ancient world. The book has been compared to Game of Thrones but is Afrocentric.

Zoo City- Lauren Beukes This sci-fi novel was met with excitement when it was released in 2010, and its popularity still holds true today. The story is based in an alternate version of a modern day Johannesburg, the only

Image: Cletus Mulaudi

twist being that anyone who has committed a crime gets attached to an animal familiar. The lead character, Zinzi, has a sloth as her animal familiar. The novel features many familiar places in Joburg and is a fun read for any South African. The novel is currently in the process of being adapted into a film.

Children of Blood and Bone- Tomi Adeyemi Children of Blood and Bone has garnered hype and popularity since its release in 2018. This is the first book in a series, and its sequel Children of Virtue and Vengeance was released in late 2019. The series is set in West Africa and uses the mythology of the region to create its magical world. The first book is currently being adapted for the screen by Fox and Disney. The series follows the protagonist, Zelie, as she journeys to return magic to her people after it was taken away by an evil monarch. The book features strong female characters and tackles some difficult topics as well.

Rosewater- Tade Thompson Rosewater is the first book in a trilogy of science fiction books

set in Nigeria, and was first published in 2016. Set in Africa in 2066, we follow protagonist and narrator Kaaro who is able to access people’s feelings, thoughts, and memories. When Kaaro realises that someone is murdering people who have special abilities like him, he investigates who is behind the murders.

Kaaro’s world is also in the middle of an alien invasion. The Rosewater trilogy was a critical success and a must-read for any sci-fi lovers.

The Rage of Dragons- Evan Winter This epic is the debut fantasy novel from author Evan Winter who was raised in Africa near the territory of his Xhosa ancestors.

This book was met with good reviews and comparisons to some of the greatest fantasy books in the genre’s history. The book follows protagonist Tau on his revenge journey in a carefully crafted and vivid fantasy world. This book is perfect for anyone who loves an action-driven story. The novel is inspired primarily by Xhosa culture but takes inspiration from many African cultures. Winter also recently announced that the book would be getting three sequels.

UP Library shares #InstaNovels Kayla Thomas

T

he UP Library has been sharing regular short stories on their Instagram account as #InstaNovels. The short stories can be read in one sitting, and offer a “moment to unwind” while scrolling on Instagram. The initiative was suggested by Library Director Ms Lindiwe Soyizwapi, and is run by Project Manager Kelly Liebenberg as a “first in Africa”. Liebenberg explains that the initiative was inspired by a similar project of the New York Public Library, and was started by UP Libraries as a way to encourage meaningful engagement and reading on Instagram, and “tap into a generation of digital readers”.

Liebenberg said that students cite their lack of regular reading on short time, and interest, and that #InstaNovels bridges “the gap between those two problems” by offering interesting and classic stories that can be read in 20-60 minutes. These “stories on stories” are posted on @uplibrary‘s Instagram stories and highlights, and

work to “bring classical stories to new audiences”, in a design that complements Instagram’s userface and is easy to engage with. All #InstaNovels are available to read at any time, in the highlights on UP Library’s page.

UP Library’s first #InstaNovel was The Night Before Christmas,

by Clement Clarke Moore, and they have since featured four more, including a Sherlock Holmes detective story, Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, and Uthlakanyana by Henry Callaway.

UP Library has also opened submissions to #InstaNovels, where aspiring writers can submit their short stories or poetry to be featured in the initiative. Submitted writing will be edited and published as an #InstaNovel, celebrating local authors and stories. Liebenberg, at the Mind Altering Books Webinar, invited submissions as an “opportunity to alter some minds”. Submissions and inquiries can be sent to kelly.liebenberg@up.ac.za.

Few frame summaries Illustration: Kendra Connock

Image: Kayla Thomas

Harry Potter

10 | Entertainment

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BOOKS Kendra Connock

S

tephen King described books as a “uniquely portable magic”, and Neil Gaiman said they are “a dream you can hold in your hands”. Part of what makes books special is the way they are able to transport us from where we are – be it the library or under a blanket reading by torchlight – to an entirely different place. Reading is a simple and cost-effective way to travel the world from the comfort of your own home; something which has become even more valuable in recent months. If you have a wandering soul, and you want to quench your wanderlust, or if you just need an escape from your own reality, here are 80 books that will take you on a journey from one side of the planet to the other.

28 September 2020

Image: Kayla Thomas

Afghanistan – And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini Albania – Broken April by Ismail Kadare Algeria – The Plague by Albert Camus Angola – A General Theory of Oblivion by Jose Eduardo Agualusa Argentina – The Lighthouse at the End of the World by Jules Verne Armenia – Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian Australia – Last Woman Hanged by Caroline Overington Botswana – When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head Brazil – Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils by Rob MacGregor Brunei – Devil of a State by Anthony Burgess Cambodia – First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung Canada – Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath Chile – The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende China – Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang Colombia – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Costa Rica – The Lonely Men’s Island by Jose Leon Sanchez Cote d’Ivoire – The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan Cuba – The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons Democratic Republic of the Congo – The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Denmark – The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking Ecuador – Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut Egypt – Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie El Salvador – Bitter Grounds by Sandra Benitez England – Atonement by Ian McEwan England – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Finland – The Most Dangerous Game by Gavin Lyall France – All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Germany – Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Ghana – The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah Greece – The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell Hong Kong – Fragrant Harbour by John Lanchester Hungary – The Angel Makers by Jessica Gregson Iceland – Absolution by Olaf Olafsson India – Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie Indonesia – Journey to the End of the Whale by John David Morley Iran – The House of the Mosque by Kader Abdolah Iraq – The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State by Nadia Murad and Jenna Krajeski Ireland – What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon Israel – The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy Italy – The Boy Who Was by Grace Taber

Hallock Japan – Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami Malawi – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Brian Mealer Mali- The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer Morocco – King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry New Zealand – The Quiet Earth by Craig Harrison Nigeria – Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Oman – The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye Pakistan – A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif Palestinian Territory – Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah Panama – The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carre Peru – The Heights of Macchu Picchu by Pablo Neruda Romania – Dracula by Bram Stoker Russia – War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Rwanda – A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche Saudi Arabia – Eight Months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel South Africa – Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful by Alan Paton South Africa – Fiela se Kind by Dalene Matthee South Korea – The Court Dancer by Kyung-Sook Shin Spain – Nada by Carmen Laforet Sri Lanka – Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera Sudan – Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor Sweden – After the Flood by P. C. Jersild Switzerland – Daisy Miller by Henry James Syria – The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri Tanzania – Twilight’s Last Gleaming by John Michael Greer Thailand – The Beach by Alex Garland The Netherlands – The Kaiser’s Last Kiss by Alan Judd Tunisia – The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith Turkey – Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres Turkmenistan – Unknown Sands: Journeys Around the World’s Most Isolated Country Uganda – The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden Ukraine – Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich United States of America – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald United States of America – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Uruguay – The New Troy by Alexandre Dumas Venezuela – Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest by William Henry Hudson Vietnam – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong Yemen – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday Zambia – Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller Zimbabwe – Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

*DISCLAIMER: This list is by no means comprehensive. If you have any opinions on books that did not make it onto the list, feel free to reach out to PDBY; we would love to hear your suggestions!

Illustration: Cassandra Eardley

y

28 September 2020

Entertainment | 11

Books that deal with mental health she tries to start her life in a big city. As we follow her journey we see her mental health worsening.

Although the book can be difficult to read at times, it is a resonating and uplifting experience. This book is a classic in terms of novels that deal with mental health and is a must for anyone’s reading list.

Emily Harrison

O

ctober is Mental Health Awareness Month in South Africa, yet, mental health and the issues that surround it are still considered taboo topics. Literature often discusses mental illness in an unflinching way that is also palatable and easy to understand. Here are a few books that discuss the topic in order to break the stigma:

All the Bright Places- Jennifer Niven Mental health issues dealt with: bipolar disorder, depression.

All the Bright Places was recently adapted into a Netflix film which once again created hype around the story. The novel, which was first published in 2015, was met with popularity amongst readers for its realistic depiction of mental health. The story follows Theodore and Violet, both teenagers suffering with mental health issues, and their developing relationship. The story deals with both mental illness that has been in someone’s life for a while and mental illness that is new and how someone can cope with that. The story has been celebrated for its depiction of bipolar disorder.

The Quiet Violence of Dreams- K. Sello Duiker Mental health issues dealt with: mental institutions, psychosis.

This novel was first published in 2001 but has become somewhat of a contemporary classic since.

The novel focuses on protagonist Tshepo, who is a student at Rhodes, who eventually ends up in a mental institution because of a drug-induced psychosis. The story also takes a critical look at urban life in Cape Town. The novel is celebrated by fans of the author as he wrote only a few before his untimely death.

The Catcher in the Rye- J. D. Salinger Mental health issues dealt with: anxiety, depression.

This classic is one that many of us have read at one point in our lives. The novel was first published in 1951 but is still a valuable read for many people today. The novel follows Holden Caulfield and his journey through New York City for a few days. This classic is loved by many, but recent rereads by people have discovered that, despite showing teen angst, the novel also deals with dwindling mental health in young people. Holden deals with many mental issues including anxiety.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay- Adib Khorram Mental health issues dealt with: clinical depression, self-esteem issues.

This young adult novel was released in 2018 and has garnered popularity since then. The novel follows protagonist Darius as he takes his first trip to Iran to meet his grandparents while dealing with clinical depression. The novel also deals with other issues such as being a biracial child and an immigrant in the United States.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky Mental health issues dealt with: PTSD. This young adult classic burst into popularity when it was adapted into a movie in 2012. The book was first released in 1999 to much critical acclaim for its honest look at mental health in teenagers and various other issues that young people deal with in their lives. The book tells the story of Charlie during his first year of high school and the troubles he finds in adapting. The book takes a look at the effects of PTSD on a person.

The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath Mental health issues dealt with: depression, mental health treatments, suicide.

This classic novel was the only one ever written by Sylvia Plath and it has resonated with readers since it was published in 1963. The novel follows a young protagonist, Esther, as

Recognising awardwinning female authors Vasalya Moodley

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n a particularly challenging year thus far, the power of the written word has not gone unrecognised. What is even more heart-warming are the winners and shortlistees of multiple literature prizes for 2020, as these are female writers that hail from the African continent. Their experiences and mastery of storytelling have earned them these prestigious honours and the respect of their readers, globally.

Earlier this month, the shortlist for the Booker Prize was released. Amongst these authors was renowned Zimbabwean author, Tsitsi Dangarembga. The third installment in her Nervous Conditions trilogy, This Mournable Body, has resulted in her achieving this shortlisting among 162 submissions. Dangarembga is no stranger to receiving accolades for her talent as a writer, as she has also won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for her revered work, Nervous Conditions.

Irenosen Okojie, a Nigerian-born writer, was awarded the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing 2020 for her short story entitled Grace Jones. Similar to Dangarembga, Okojie is also a decorated writer. She has been shortlisted and has won many literature prizes preceding her latest win this year.

She has won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award, the Edgehill Short Story Prize, and the Jhalak Prize amongst others. Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp, the Chair of the AKO Caine Prize judging panel, reviewed Grace Jones as being “world-class fiction from an African writer”.

The Ingrid Jonker Prize is one of South Africa’s most

The Weight of Our Sky- Hanna Alkaf Mental Health issues dealt with: OCD. This young adult novel hit our shelves last year and has gained good reviews since. The novel follows Melati Ahmad, who has OCD. The story also takes place during the 1969 race riots in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This novel is set apart from other books that deal with mental health because the main character believes she has a djinn inside her that makes her do her OCD rituals.

Image: Giovanna Janos

prestigious prizes for local literature in the English or Afrikaans language. 11 works were shortlisted in the bid to win the 2020 prize. This year’s winner for English poetry is Johannesburg native, Saaleha Idrees Bamjee. Her debut poetry collection Zikr has been praised for celebrating her heritage, the Arabic language, and

encapsulating her experience as a Muslim woman.

These three women are a few that epitomise sharing a unique experience with an audience in a set number of pages. The African experience is multifaceted and diverse, and the works of authors like Dangarembga, Okojie, and Bamjee enrich the literature community with engaging narratives from the perspectives only Africa-born writers can create. The female African experience, however, can be the voice that garners all to listen, which these three women have accomplished successfully. It just goes to show that when pen comes to paper to voice an experience that only you have, there are endless possibilities that can lead to success.

Image: Giovanna Janos

12 | Entertainment

Queer literature recommendations Emily Harrison

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epresentation for different identities will always be important. Queer representation was something that popular literature was lacking for many years - it was present but not as frequent as heterosexual representation. In modern times we may think that queer representation is standard based on the many queer books that have been published. This rise in representation is a positive change but readers should not forget why this representation is so important, and why increasing this representation still matters.

Queer representation is still incredibly important in literature.

Reading about people who are like you and have similar lives to you is an important experience, an experience that leaves people feeling seen and heard. Being able to identify with a character in a book is an experience that many straight people take for granted, but it is an experience that many queer people do not get to have.

When certain groups are not represented, this may lead to that group feeling like outsiders in their own world, and to feeling as though they do not belong. Books that represent queer lives and experiences are important reads for both the queer community, as well as those outside of it who want to learn. Here are some recommendations of books that feature queer characters or storylines: The Song Of Achillies- Madeline Miller (2011) This novel is a queer retelling of Homer’s The Illiad. The novel follows the characters of Patroclus and Achillies as they grow into young men trained for war. Their friendship deepens and soon turns into something more. This story is an original take on the trojan war and a queer retelling that feels both necessary and realistic. This book is rated 4.35/5 on Goodreads.

Let’s Talk About Love- Claire Kann (2018) Asexuality probably gets the least amount of representation out of all of the LGBTQ+ identities, making any book that features an asexual character very important. This novel is a new adult romance that follows Alice, the asexual biromantic protagonist, during her summer. This book is rated 3.8/5 on Goodreads.

Carry On- Rainbow Rowell (2017) This queer fantasy has received many comparisons to J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series. This Young Adult fantasy novel follows protagonist Simon Snow and his roommate Baz. The book is filled magic and is a fun read. The book is perfect for anyone who’s favorite trope is the enemies to lovers. Although the book is compared to Harry Potter, it adds the queer representation that the series was lacking. This book is rated 4.2 /5 on Goodreads.

The Year of Blue Water- Yanyi (2019) This poetry book deals with many themes and topics from mental health to racism from the perspective of the queer and trans poet Yanyi. This book is filled a lot of different types of poems as well. The collection is highly original and received critical acclaim when it was released. This poetry collection is rated 4.2/5 on Goodreads.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me- Mariko Tamaki (2019) This is a popular graphic novel that depicts the rocky relationship between two young girls, Laura Dean and Freddy.

The novel also deals with ideas around toxic relationships. The art style is very eye-catching and adds to the experience of the story. This graphic novel is rated 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

The Black Flamingo- Dean Atta (2019) The Black Flamingo is a coming of age story that follows a young mixedrace gay teenager. The book does wonderful representation for gay teens but it also represents

28 September 2020

the drag community. The protagonist finds himself and embraces his identity through his drag persona The Black Flamingo. This book is also told in verse, making it a very unique read. This book is rated 4.48/5 on Goodreads.

Trans: Transgender Life Stories from South AfricaEditors: Ruth Morgan, Charl Marais, Joy Rosemary Wellbeloved (2010) This collection of stories and discussions from more than 20 South African trans voices is an important look into the lives of transgender people in South Africa. There are true stories that deal with the darker experiences of being trans and the prejudices faced in South Africa. This book is rated 3.7/5 on Goodreads.

Illustration: Cassandra Eardley

Tell me about a book that changed your life Kendra Connock

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-Dr Charne Lavery, Lecturer, English Department

very bibliophile, like their literary heroes, has an origin story. Books are precious to us for many reasons; for some it is the escapism offered in the safe haven of a book’s pages, for others it’s the comfort brought by familiar characters.

Whatever the reason, books hold a special place in our hearts; some more special than others. Like any good origin story, there are phases in the life of every bookworm which are characterised by the books they read. PDBY explored the origin stories of some of UP’s very own bibliophiles and asked the same question of members of the English Department and our library staff: Tell me about a book that changed your life.

“I think books have a tendency to make tiny, incremental changes to a life -- nothing massive or revolutionary, but a shift in coordinates that can gradually change its course in lasting ways.

Many books have produced different kinds of shifts in my life. One of those, although I’m not even sure how much I like the book, is JM Coetzee’s Disgrace. I grew up in the Eastern Cape not far from where Lucy lives, and went to university in Cape Town where David Lurie teaches, and it was the first time I’d read something which mirrored the geography of my own life. The familiarity of space only added to the sense of strangeness of the plot, giving me a disorientating sense of many different histories layered on the same landscape. Later on reading books like Zakes Mda’s Ways of Dying expanded that sense of defamiliarisation of what I thought I knew about where I came from, both humbling and illuminating.”

-Professor Molly Brown, Head of Department: English

“I have always enjoyed science fiction and fantasy, which allow the reader to view their own world from different perspectives. A book that has had a lasting impact on me is Ursula Le Guin’s novella, The Word for World is Forest (1972). It is to some extent informed by the Vietnam war, but it tells the story of what happens when a military logging colony is established on the planet Athshe by people from Terra (which seems to correspond pretty much to a future Earth). The colonists enslave and brutalise the greenfurred Athsheans, who have no concept of aggression.

The consequences are tragic for all concerned.

With hindsight, I don’t think this is one of Le Guin’s best works; the characterisation and setting are nowhere near as complex or richly developed as they are in The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), which I also recommend, but I read about Athshe as a teenager and it made me think seriously for the first time about culture as a construct, language as a barrier, the fragility of ecosystems and the impact of war and imperialism on both colonisers and the colonised. It broke my heart and reshaped my understanding of the world.”

-Elsabé Olivier, Assistant Director: Marketing & Quality Assurance Image: Cletus Mulaudi

-Professor David Medalie, Lecturer, English Department

“I would like to say that a book which changed my life is A Passage to India (1924), E. M. Forster’s famous novel about the British Raj (Britain’s imperial control of India). It changed my life because it helped me to see how layered fictional texts can be, how they can demonstrate complexity and nuance in relation to political and historical situations. It also showed me how thrilling language can be when it is powerfully and evocatively used.

Although I’ve been studying the novel for many years, I have never ceased to find it fascinating and to discover new meanings within it, which shows what a rich text it is.”

“A book that changed my life is called The Story of My Life by Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan. I remember loaning it from the public library in Witpoortjie when I was in primary school. I was absolutely mesmerised by the story of Helen Keller who, due to severe illness, had not only lost her sight but her hearing as well. At the time I could identify with her frustration at trying to understand and communicate with everyone around her, and I still remember being in awe of the breakthrough moment in which Annie Sullivan spelled out the word “w-a-t-e-r” in Helen Keller’s hand under the running water of a pump. This book made me realise just how much I had to be thankful for, and how often we take our health, sight and hearing for granted. But more than that, it ignited in me a love for reading. Suddenly reading wasn’t something I had to do to please my parents or teachers, but it broadened my horizons, enriched my life, helped me to relax and took me to places I could have only dreamed of. I really enjoyed it; it marked the beginning of a life filled with books and reading!”

28 September 2020

TRY @Home

Entertainment | 13

Audiobooks

Vasalya Moodley

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s strange as it sounds, there are many ways to ‘read’. You do not always need to physically read words on a page to sink into a book. In the same way our daily life is connected to our devices, reading has become no different. Similar to e-books, audiobooks provide a different way to read (or in this case, listen) to your favorite books on any device at any time.

In a world where anything and everything is downloadable,

audiobooks are no exception. There are many ways to access and buy audiobooks of your choosing to enjoy, an example of such is the Amazon company, Audible. Interested buyers can subscribe to Audible’s variety of subscription packages and receive access to purchasing a collection of audiobooks and podcasts. The Audible app, amongst others, can also be downloaded on Google Play, which can supply audiobooks of your choosing. If you are interested in audiobooks, you can explore stores like Google Play on your devices to choose an app that best suits your interests.

While Audible is an American service, there are also local means to obtain audiobooks. If you have a library card for any public library in Gauteng, you can use the Libby app to borrow audiobooks from the Gauteng Virtual Library’s selection at this website: https:// gauteng.overdrive.com/collections/featured/2. If you do not have a library card, you can apply for a new card via this site to gain access to the library and subsequently its collection of audiobooks.

Book-lovers are not just limited to being glued to a chair to read their favorite books anymore. Audiobooks are an innovative way to celebrate your favorite stories in your own way. While reading requires the utmost attention, the multitasker has the option of reading on-the-go through audiobooks. Whether it is listening in your car or while you are completing tasks, audiobooks provide another possibility to read.

Image: Cletus Mulaudi

PDBY Featured Artist: Ivainashe Earnest Nyamutsamba Daluvuyo Mapuzi

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his edition’s Featured Artist is Ivainashe Earnest Nyamutsamba, a third-year law student at the University of Pretoria. He is a poet, blogger, SpeakOut UP counsellor, bailiff for the Moot Court Society, newsreader for TuksFM, and an author. His new book, I Was Never Ready and Many Other Stories, is set for hardcopy release on 1 October.

Tell us about your background, upbringing, development, and any challenges you faced along the way.

I am originally from Zimbabwe. I came to South Africa to pursue my university studies. My parents are in Zimbabwe, I come from a small town 72 kilometres east of Harare, called Marondera.

I grew up with both my parents, though like any other couple they had fights, but they always found common ground. I would say I went through every level of education. My primary and high school life was spent at boarding school.

I did not face any challenges while growing up. The only challenge came from the government in 2008, when I and a million other Zimbabwean children who attended semigovernment and government schools had to miss our academic year because teachers were on an industrial strike, and at the time, Zimbabwe was experiencing a political and economic crisis that had never been seen before in her history.

How did you get your start in storytelling/writing?

Storytelling is a cultural thing. It is something ingrained in our DNA, a gift from the ancestors, a gift that is innate, that lies dormant within, waiting, lurking for the moment when it will be evoked. Being African, that touch that you know and feel is within me. Africans have been storytellers since the beginning of time. I would note that narrating or storytelling has been in me. While growing I would narrate a whole movie to my friends. As for writing, back in primary right through to high school, I would write interesting compositions. In 2017, I started my university journey. That year the Centre for Human Rights held a competition. I entered the competition under the literary work category. Unfortunately, I did not win. The main story of my book I Was Never Ready competed. After I observed the story did not make it, I did not lose heart. That is when the idea of birthing a literary work was born. I then took the route of making the work a collection of short stories. Thus, I Was Never Ready and Many Other Stories was born. I am also a poet, which was a contributing factor that inspired me to pursue writing as a career while I am pursuing my law degree.

At what point did you realise that your book had made progress in terms of creation, and how did you feel?

Around the 11th story. That is when it dawned on me that the literary project is a living entity or being. Also, after each story, I would invite a friend or go to a friend’s room and we would read the story in front of the small audience, and their reaction and appreciation told me I am on the right track and I do have good literary work at hand. That would be an awesome way of introducing myself to the public; that I am an author.

I am grateful and humbled by the feat that my people, my friends and family and the rest of Africa have achieved. Another gem has been born and millions shall benefit from gaining the skill of literacy, so I am grateful and humbled.

Do you have any influences in literature?

I have many. My mom, MaHelen, influenced my creativity.

African literature icons, the likes of Dambudzo Marechera, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Charles Mungoshi, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Dr Sindiwe Magona, Okot P’Bitek, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie, Mariama Ba, Fela Kuti, Oliver Mtukudzi, Salif Keita, Hugh Masekela and contemporary writers such as Dr Nedine Moonsamy have also had a big influence.

What was your source of inspiration during the course of writing the book?

The beautiful continent of Africa and her children. Africa was my source of inspiration. Also, the field of women and children’s rights.

The titular story is about a woman dealing with domestic abuse, forcing her to have inner conflicts, wherein she

Few frame summaries

reminisces on her past while contemplating an escape to a good future with her unborn child. Talk us through the processes you went through to complete this piece.

When engaging with the text, read with the understanding that it is a microcosm of a macrocosm. This means that it is a smaller frame of the bigger picture for any situation that one gets to experience in their own lives. The process was like a pilgrimage, a baptism, a journey into the unknown, with the sole mission of unearthing what can be understood and can thus be broadcasted for all to consume critically when it comes to matters of the current situation that has engulfed our communities, which is gender based violence in the African continent. The process was a deliberate dive into the whole situation of human rights.

They should be enforced, respected, and appreciated by all those who are part and parcel of humanity, irrespective of their backgrounds. Women have been at the receiving end of uncurbed male aggression. As an author, the experience was life changing.

I base this statement on how I uniquely managed to engage with women’s struggle and how so far, from responses my readers have been communicating with me, their appreciation of being able to articulate the struggles of being African, in particular, being an African woman.

Your writing style incorporates modern language into the classical storytelling structure and has a very direct delivery.

Was this stylistic choice natural or intentional on your part?

It is a natural choice because I wanted to involve the reader within the story. I have been noticing that most of my peers in the literary sector tend to hold the reader outside the story. So, for me I took the writing approach of involving my reader in the journey, and thus developed my writing style to involve the reader in the journey. At the same time, it was an intentional approach because I wanted to be unique and introduce a unique dimension or flavour to the art of creative writing, all for the benefit of the readers and my peers in the industry. The sky is the limit and we must be daring in experimenting with our infinite talents.

Are there any causes you would like to give a platform to?

Access to education, improving literacy in Africa, and freedom to free thinkers.

Do you have any final words?

Over and above my heart is filled with gratitude and I am excited and humbled by the love and support and the opportunity that I have been afforded by PDBY. From my family to the media company, we say thank you so much. Being recognised by such a prestigious media institution is humbling.

The digital version of the book is currently available for purchase on Amazon.

Photo: Provided

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Illustration: Kendra Connock

yourcampusnews @PDBYMedia Romeo and Juliet

14 | Entertainment

28 September 2020

Graphic novels in the new age Cassidy Bessa

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raphic novels are a great pastime for many people, others are not so amused with them. However you may feel, how much do you actually know about them? When did they start?

How did they become popular?

These are all questions that will be answered in this article - as well as to encourage you to pick up a graphic novel.

Graphic novels are easy to read; a mix of text and visual content that is preferable for readers with limited attention spans. Due to the rise of the smartphone, people’s attention spans have decreased and people no longer want to read a long novel, but may rather spend their time on graphic novels or short stories.

Graphic novels are also often digital content, which is easily consumed.

Adults seem to find more depth in the graphic novels of today rather than the comics of their days. It is no longer just comic strips in newspapers, or Archie, Tin Tin, or Asterix. Adults find the content of

these graphic novels to be similar to the content and themes of literary non-fiction. It has the complexity and depth of traditional novels.

So when did graphic novels start? The first comic series was seen as being The First Kingdom by Jack Katz that was collected as trade paperbacks in 1974. This was seen as the “first graphic novel” as it was considered as graphic prose.

The graphic novel was alive in the 1950s but was considered to be poor literature. Graphic novels are no longer considered to be poor literature as they are amongst the most circulated categories in libraries around the world. The term “graphic novel” was first coined in 1964, by Richard Kyle.

How did this format of the novel become popular? The term “graphic novel” gained popularity after the publication of A Contract with God by Will Eisner in 1978, and Marvel’s graphic novel line in 1982. The graphic novel and the comic became familiar to the public in the late 1980s. This was solidified as a type of novel after the publication of Art Spiegelman’s Maus, which is a graphic novel about World War 2 in Poland. The audience of children, teens, and adults is growing. These graphic novels are now considered new modern classics. The real boom of the graphic novel began with the popularity of Japanese comics (manga) amongst young readers and continues with contemporary additions to the genre.

Graphic novels have evolved over the decades, and it is now no longer considered solely for children, but rather suitable for all age groups, and fans of any genre. The graphic novel is continuously used as an experimental form of exploring a genre, and offers an engaging read for literary fans.

Image: Cletus Mulaudi

Considering fantasy and sci-fi literature Cassidy Bessa

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he fantasy genre in modern literature is becoming more and more popular among readers. Speculative fiction has grown exponentially over the past few years.

Fantasy is one of the most interesting genres as the worlds within these novels are so diverse, and transports people to so many different places.

With more people reading this genre of literature, it is only appropriate to see where it started. The genre gained significant popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, where there was the so-called “Tolkien-mania”.

Jaime Williamson, however, argues in his book, The Evolution of Modern fantasy, that fantasy started in the 18th century with the Bronte sisters. Williamson sees fantasy as the creative extension of books such as Pride and Prejudice. Romances and contemporary novels became boring to the reader as they no longer wanted to read about real life, and would rather read something that takes them away from their everyday world and transports them to new and more interesting places. Classics such as Tolkien are just as popular these days, and high fantasy has become more notable with writers such as Robin Hobb and Brandon Sanderson. Anything before Tolkien was seen as ‘pregenre’ fantasy.

This is because prior authors such as

Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber ‘hovered’ between science fiction, horror and action adventure fiction. It wouldn’t quite be considered the modern fantasy we have today.

Authors such as Tolkien and E.R Eddison found ‘reputable’ publishers, but their work at the time was not distinguishable from D.H Lawrence or Ernest Hemingway’s works. This is because modern fantasy was still not seen as a fully developed genre.

Fantasy at the time was considered as children stories or bedtime stories, for example, C.S Lewis’s Narnia series.

After Tolkien’s great literary and paperback success, the modern fantasy genre was born. After that there was a complete boom of fantasy novels, which brings us to current days where the speculative fiction sections in bookstores are coveted.

Even though the genre has grown exponentially, it still does not get the coverage that paperback fiction gets. Many people think that fantasy is not for them because when they think of fantasy, they think of dragons, and although dragons do make an appearance in some fantasy books, there are also thrilling and adventurous fantasy such as the work of Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight series. Trying a genre new to you can be a great experience, and open a world of new literature. Next time you’re at your nearest bookstore or library, pick up a piece of modern fantasy or speculative fiction.

Image: Giovanna Janos

28 September 2020

Entertainment | 15

Welcome to Humanities Hell, Professor. This is Tony, he once watched a Youtube crash course on Karl Marx and is going to spend eternity lecturing you on the dangers of communism.

Inspired by: NewsScientist - Tom Gauld

* Approved by anthropology honours people Shaun and Stephanie and English honours person Kayla.

Screenshot and fill in your answers on your instagram story

Few frame summaries Illustration: Kendra Connock

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Few frame summaries Illustration: Kendra Connock

Huckleberry Finn

16 | Entertainment

28 September 2020

Poetry Corner

PDBY publishes poetry submitted by University of Pretoria students.

I can’t marry a poet When he falls asleep.

To the rhythms of his words.

Instead of my steady rhythmic breathing.

When he cries.

His tears are inked on paper.

Sharing an intimate part of him.

I only read to know.

SMM

Koketso Jan Ndlovu I’m part of the long Nile River, I’m endless but a quiver Whom nail rocks and soil upriver Then I lie on African land, mountains’ ancestor

I can’t marry a poet.

My beauty only exists if projected on paper.

When he looks into my eyes.

He does not see me.

Instead he is inspired to write.

Never to ask.

We sweat chalk that scratch our faces, Push rocks like beetle, Break barks like Elephant’s tusks, Ran for our lives like gazelle, A soulful bird that sings anthems

I can’t marry a poet.

His sole duty is to create the world in words.

I will be his art.

Until he proceeds to the next poem.

Like many on the shelves.

I will find solace in a strangers heart.

But never his…

My words lie on rims of calabash, Bottom tastes like African drought lands Corn and seeds melt like mass on quicksand Outside, Cultures paint customs and history Legends drank ripe vintage If they ask about Africa, burnt it I’m ember that flies on top of fire A coal they mined and make wishes from Mosaic of fire that looks like joint countries.

I can’t marry a poet.

Because everything he ever felt.

Is pasted on paper.

I want to be tattooed on his heart.

I can’t marry a poet.

Open Space An open space of land.

A bed.

To lie down.

Falling into sleep.

Placing you above the surface.

I am an African

SMM

Until the blinds lift.

Your eyes receiving light.

Before you is an open space of land.

Dry deserted.

Infertile ambitions.

Rest on the surface.

Scorching sun resembling a passion you once knew.

Sun is drawn to the horizon.

You realize you are bare.

Open.

With no real purpose.

Wasting away at every exhale of the wind.

Shrinking at every inhale.

On an open space of land.

You are fruitful.

Only when your remains penetrate the land.

Encouraging new life.

From your decomposing existence.

Curious foul thing

Marné Swanepoel You wanted it so badly: To see what I was made of.

So badly that you cut me open Just so you could admire a flood of Countless colours, A cocktail of blood and dirt and hurt.

Slowly, I feel, my roots, Wrap around my surroundings So, I have something to hold onto When I let go of foul things Foul things, like you.

28 September 2020

The Rejection LetterKutlwano Mokgoro The truth is, I want to believe you When you say you love me When you promise to never hurt me Never lay a hand on me When you say “Not all men” I do, I do want to believe you But the ugly truth is, every time I look at you I either see the best thing that could happen to me Or a one-way trip to meet my Maker Please forgive me for being skeptical of your love But it is a direct result of living in a country Where I’m constantly made to feel like the last piece of chicken On Christmas day.

I cannot get over the fact that one day You might become my absolute worst nightmare When I look into your eyes, I see the potential you have And I start to wonder, ‘how would you do it?’

Would it be easier for you to wrap my body, Blood still seeping like the red sea, and burn me Or would it be more entertaining for you To leave me on my mother’s door step And say “Good riddance.”

See I understand quite clearly That it’s “Not all men” But I also understand that love and death Is all one and the same, In this country There’s no difference in between And while I want the Love It seems I cannot have it, without having to Play Russian Roulette with you At least once in my life.

So please do forgive me I’m not a risk taker I cannot love you, Not when I see my funeral In your eyes.

Poetry Corner

Entertainment | 17

Nitty gritty galaxy Marné Swanepoel

Luminous buildings, cars and cigars The life of the city, Makes the sky seem empty, As if; all the stars have fallen.

I call them land stars, Or the nitty gritty galaxy.

Every skyline has plenty.

As if; all the stars have fallen.

Twinkling little stars, Living among the human race.

You’ll be captured and kept in jars And kept on a nightstand next to some stranger’s face.

You’ll grow attached to their dreams and nightmares, You’ll decide to stay even though you can go anywhere.

You’re a shooting star, lacking drive.

The city makes you seem less alive.

As if; all the stars have fallen.

Laying in nature Alexa Midnight I lay there, looking up, As the branches split the sky apart.

A gentle breeze on my skin, feeling like I belong to the wind.

I’m not really thinking, but also I am, I’m thinking about thought itself or not thinking at all.

The sun is shining on my face, it spreads a warmth through my soul.

The only feeling it gives, is nothing at all Is this how complete freedom feels?

Or is this just a vague concept of that emotion?

Alone am I. but never lonely.

Or I am feeling at one with nature itself.

But my perfect picture is broken, when a car passes by the air gets angry and black, the trees start to shake from sadness, the clouds shift themselves and the sun hides his face.

We are the biggest corruption of nature.

We are the ruined, and so we ruin our earth, Pollute the air.

Drain the water.

Non other, than us.

PDBY publishes poetry submitted by University of Pretoria students. Submissions can be sent to editor@pdby.co.za. All submissions can be read at pdby.co.za.

Sport Photo: Reg Caldecott. Provided.

Mpho Ramagoma

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hen the lockdown was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March, the entire country came to a standstill. A lot has changed. People are losing lives, losing their loved ones and losing their livelihoods. It is safe to say that everyone is in need of some good news.

Amidst worldwide protests on racial issues, TuksWrestling has taken a step in the right direction, as they hired their first black coach in the history of TuksWrestling during a global pandemic, a time when most organisations are letting people go. However, he could not start working due to the lockdown, and TuksWrestling has helped secure Tanki Tau exployment.

24 year old Tanki Tau came 3rd after competing in the African

Senior Championships in Tunisia earlier this year. However, when the national lockdown began and sporting activities came to a halt, the freestyle wrestler was effectively unemployed for the foreseeable future.

Chairman of TuksWrestling, Renier Boshoff, says it was a no brainer, indicating that the moment TuksWrestling heard about his problems, they were eager to hire him because they believe in his talent as one of the best wrestlers in the country. In his interview with TuksSport earlier this month, Boshoff said, “we identified Tau as one of South Africa’s most talented wrestlers. That is why we recruited him. We believe he is good enough to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. But there is more to Tanki. He is also a qualified coach. There is nothing he enjoys more than to get youngsters equally as excited about the sport he loves.”

Thanks to TuksWrestling, Tau is now working at Rosslyn Pallets and Crates and his accommodation is sponsored by his employer.

Tau, who was raised in the Rethabile Children’s Home, says as a child he aspired to become a boxer until Jannie Taljaard, who is the chairman of the Klerksdorp Wrestling Club, convinced him to take up wrestling after a friend invited him to wrestling practice.

Taljaard is more than just the chairman of a wrestling club - Tau describes him as a mentor. “‘Oom Jannie’ is a mentor on and off the mats. Through his guidance, I got to appreciate the concept of ‘wax on wax off’.

He made me realise that success does not just happen. You got to put in the long hard hours if you want your dreams to become a reality,” says Tau. Tau’s resilience is what Taljaard admires about him. He helped him attend international coaching courses, and unknowingly saved him from potentially going through a pandemic unemployed.

“Initially Tanki lost more bouts than he would win. However, he never allowed himself to become discouraged. Losing actually motivated him. It is that ability to persevere that in the end stood him to good stead. The more confident he got in his own skills, the more he started to hate the idea of losing.”

Tau will possibly compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and show off his ‘forever gentlemanliness’, as Taljaard describes Tau’s refusal to humiliate his opponents in a match.

Conradie, the backbone of Assupol Tuks Cricket team Chrizaan Pretorius

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he Assupol TuksCricket team was established in 1919 as a men’s club and expanded into a women and men’s club in 1996. Ever since, the club has won big tournaments on numerous occasions, international leagues, and the Red Bull Campus Cricket in 2019. Overall their success is not only owed to their hard work, but also to hard work behind the scenes.

Blanche Conradie, who has been the manager for years, is the reason that the club manages to keep everything together.

Conradie, who does the tasks such as repairs, keeping track of goals and managing profitability, says that a good balance sheet is a battle half won.

Additionally, she emphasises the point that players and coaches need to focus on only one aspect and that is to play the game to the best of their abilities. Conradie is there to ensure that everything else behind the scenes goes according to plan.

Conradie fell in love with the game at only eight years old when she had the opportunity to watch her first international game at the Super Sport Park Cricket Stadium - when the Proteas played against the West Indies. She was fascinated from the start,

Illustration: Sanele Zulu

Tanki Tau hired as first black TuksWrestling coach

Illustration: Sanele Zulu

especially when she saw Brian Lara score fifty runs. It seemed like fate when she began a managerial position within the Assupol TuksCricket team. For the most part, she was quite the woman in a man’s world back in 2012 when she joined the team as an administrator. She says that she was never disrespected as a woman, but rather due to being young and not trusted as she had never played the game of cricket. All in all, it was seen as a great achievement when she got selected first on the University Sports South Africa Cricket Committee as a secretary and subsequently as the vice-chair person. Conradie explained her passion for cricket to PDBY and said that “cricket will never only be about runs, wickets and catches. There is more to the game. You get to realise that when you are in the dressing room with the players and coaches. There is so much planning and strategy at play.

Still, there are never any guarantees. Any outcome can change with one ball. That is what makes cricket exciting.” Conradie, together with the team, ensures that the Assupol TuksCricket team continually plays excellent matches in the cricket arena.

Their good performance is strengthened by the effort behind the scenes, but most of all, the consistent focus on collective team effort.

TuksSport female athletes raising the bar

Boitumelo Makaepea

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omen in sports have always proven to be a force to be reckoned with. This dates to the first ever participation of female athletes in Olympic Games in 1900. This opened doors for generations that followed. We continue to witness women in sports making history, changing rules of the game, breaking records, and showing courage and talent. This is one of the reasons why we are focusing on TuksSport female athletes’ archive over the past years. As much as TuksSport is known to be a home of thrilling sports stars, its female athletes have proven to be more than that.

Caster Semenya is one of the greatest South African athletes.

Semenya is amongst the most recognised and famous athletes who began their sporting career at TuksAthletics. It is no surprise that she is a true definition of ‘you strike a woman; you strike a rock.’

She has won numerous medals, broken records and boundaries.

Throughout her journey in athletics, she has faced all kinds of obstacles and setbacks, but that has never stopped her from doing what she loves. Instead, it fueled her into doing more and more.

To top it off, she recently wrote on her Twitter page “Believe in yourself. Be Positive. Be the wonder. Be fearless. Be a dreamer. Be successful and mind your own business then see how oppressors become obsessed about it. Then you kill them with a smile.” As she continues to push boundaries, she is also paving a way for generations to follow. Her following words share this sentiment, as she Tweeted, “I will continue to fight for the human rights of female athletes, both on and off the track, until we can all run free the way we were born”.

Bridgette Hartley is a South African sprint canoer. She earned her bronze medal in K-1 1000m at the 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Dartmouth. She also won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the bronze medal at the K-1 (Kayak Singles – Women) 500m. Hartley became the first South African and African to win a medal at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.

Another heroine in TuksSport is swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker.

To name a few of her achievements; she won two gold medals for breaststroke in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and two gold medals in 100m as well as 200m for breaststroke at the World Student Games in Napoli, Italy. She is also the first woman in many decades to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She is also the first female to win the World Student Games, and is also the first South African woman to win a medal at the World Championships, in the 200m breaststroke. She is a true definition of a record breaker. Her coach Rocco Meiring said to PDBY in an interview in 2020 that “Tatjana can become one of the world’s greatest swimmers, I have no doubt.”

Another force to be reckoned with is South African competitive rower, Kirsten McCann. She and her teammate, Ursula Grobler, competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics (Rio de Janeiro) in the women’s lightweight double sculls - where they finished in 5th place. McCann earned her gold medal in the women’s lightweight single sculls at the 2017 World Rowing Championships.

Lastly,18 year old Prudence Sekgodiso, who is at TuksSport High School, won the 800m women’s race at the Junior Championships and she is claiming her presence in athletics. In her interview with Pretoria News earlier this year, she said that “watching Caster in Berlin at the World Championships winning gold medals, and her coming from Limpopo, I told myself I will follow her footsteps and achieve even more. From the onset I told myself I would have to surpass her achievements to be regarded as the best, and I’m happy with my progress so far.” She begins her sports career focused and determined.

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