W M R SA
Quart erly Magazine
Issue No. 3 / Oct ober 2018
Feat u r es Cap e Tow n L M C Car eer W or k sh op You t h Par t i ci p at i on i n Pol i t i cs Af r i ca M at t er s
CONNECT WITH US Wor ld M er it Sou t h Af r ica @Wor ldM er it RSA @WM RSA
IN THIS ISSUE Regulars President 's Address
4
Edit orial Not e
6
W MRSA Voices
Young People and Polit ics
10
Gender based violence in SA
12
Event s and Engagement Conferences
The Great African Caravan: Art meet s t he SDGs
7 & 14
8
Cape Town Career Workshop
16
Wet skills
20
Africa Mat t ers
22
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS: NATIONAL MERIT COUNCIL VP
WMRSA Vice Pr esident Tlalane Letlhaku
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PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS
Greetings Mer iter s, I hope this publication finds you well. World Mer it South Afr ica has grown substantially well over the past few months and the impact that our or ganization has made in South Afr ica has been phenomenal. More notable is the work of our local councils, par ticularly Cape Town council which has been at the forefront of helping realize SDG4: Quality Education by going into our communities and making an impact ? this you will read about in this issue.
the New Year so that our impact on the ground is magnified. The council will still be functional and we will continue to engage with our suppor ter s throughout this time. We hope that the reflection and prepar ation break will help us to be able to increase our impact throughout the countr y not just in number s but in the quality of change we br ing about.
The National Mer it Council has To making an impact in our seen an addition of new communities, enjoy reading! member s of which some have joined the editor ial team to make this publication a success. Tlalane Letlhaku World Mer it South Afr ica . member s will be going on a year- end break, to allow for reflection and prepar ation for 5
EDITORIAL NOTE
EDI TORI AL NOTE
Hello global sh aper s! It h as n ot been 3 m on t h s sin ce I becam e a Wor ld M er it er . I m et t h e pr esiden t , Odw a Nt sik a M t em bu , at a f u n ct ion t h at UNASA UP Ch apt er w as h ost in g ? w h er e h e spok e passion at ely abou t w h at t h e or gan izat ion does an d h ow it posit ively im pact s t h e lives of people all over t h e w or ld. I didn?t w ast e a secon d; I im m ediat ely expr essed an in t er est in bein g a par t of t h e m ovem en t .
Sin ce t ak in g m y posit ion an d bein g in of f ice, I h ave been pu sh ed an d pu lled bet w een m y day t o day, an d bein g a m em ber of t h e cou n cil. Bu t at t h e en d of t h e day, it boils dow n t o en su r in g t h at w e all st an d f ir m ly on ou r f ou n dat ion an d ou r m ission ? t o en su r e t h at t h e you t h of Sou t h Af r ica is w ell r epr esen t ed, in clu ded, an d gr an t ed access t o r esou r ces an d oppor t u n it ies.
M ay t h is qu ar t er ?s pu blicat ion give you in sigh t , m ay it in spir e an d m ot ivat e you , m ay you lear n an d be pr opelled t o be a t ool f or gr eat im pact an d self lessn ess. An d m ay w e as Wor ld M er it RSA con t in u e t o r each people lik e you , so t h at you can r each m u lt it u des ? f or u s all t o becom e t h e global sh aper s t h at w e r eally ar e. Un t il n ext t im e, Or egolele Gom olem o Secr et ar y an d Head of Com m u n icat ion s, Nat ion al M er it Cou n cil
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CONFERENCES
The Annual Young Scientist Conference BY TATENDA MUSINAHAMA, UNASA UP The Annual Young Scientist Conference, hosted by Academy of Sciences of South Afr ica (ASSAF) in par tner ship with the Depar tment of Science and Technology, Or ganization for Women in Science for the Developing Wor ld South Afr ica National Chapter (OWSD-SANC), and the South Afr ican Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) I can safely begin by saying that attending the AYSC is one of the best things I ?ve ever done! I attended the conference from the 13th to the 14th of September 2018 as a representative of UNASA UP and Wor ld M er it SA, together with six other young people from Wor ld M er it and other par tner s. The theme was ?Winning the fight against cor r uption: A tr ans- disciplinar y approach ? and it encompassed a lengthy schedule filled with lectures, panel discussions, presentations and master classes.
Above: World Merit Members , partners and supporters attending the Annual Young Scientist Conference
I t?s easy to be intimidated by such conferences where exper ts from var ious fields gather to tackle contempor ar y issues facing South Afr ica and the wor ld at lar ge. I must admit; my exper ience was anything but intimidating. The Wor ld M er it SA team was so welcoming and accommodating, that I felt like I had known them for a lifetime. I t made it easier to par ticipate and engage in discussions throughout the conference and it cer tainly boosted my confidence in many ways than one. I t was the per fect platfor m for young scientists such as myself to networ k with different people, to lear n and engage with exper ts in different fields. M y per sonal favour ite par t was the panel discussions because, as a young woman I felt incredibly inspired to see an all woman panel discussion on cor r uption, inequality and fair ness: the end point of responsibility. I realized at that point that as a South Afr ican woman, par ticular ly a young woman of colour, my voice in the fight against cor r uption is relevant and so are other women?s. What inspired me the most about the conference is that South Afr ican exper ts from an ar r ay of disciplines were present, coming together as one to ?find Afr ican solutions to Afr ican problems?. I look for war d to attending more conferences such as this one in the future and being a par t of discussions regar ding a solution instead of the problem.
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EVENTS
Th e Gr eat Af r ican Car avan : Ar t m eet s t h e SDGs
Angela Davis once said ?We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society? By Cape Town Local Merit Council (LMC) There are various channels and mediums through which a mind finds liberation. Fundamentally, it all starts with freedom of expression; being expressive with the purpose of liberating. Threading alongside this thought then is the question; what is art if not a means for liberative expression? Liberating minds and society? On the 31st of August 2018, World Merit RSA was invited to a collaborative event hosted by the Art Caravan. The Art Caravans? first cross-continental initiative, the Great African Caravan, began its journey in South Africa. In a 200 days journey, the team of 12 international artists will travel through 12 African countries. The team started their journey in Cape Town in partnership with Africa Unite and Makukhanye Art Room, in Khayelitsha. The event united artists, youth groups, grassroots initiatives, development organizations, civic society bodies to explore the struggles commonly faced by communities. In a country
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faced by rising ?femicide? statistics, and to conclude women?s month, the underlying theme of the event focused on women and gender-based violence. The event was framed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals considering the context of South Africa, the Caravan focused on SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reducing Inequality) The President of the Cape Town Merit Council, Thabo Gumede, and Cape Town Lead Advocate for SDG 5, Sino Xhonti, attended the event. Ms Xhonti was also invited to be part of a panel discussion. The focus of the discussion was around the role of art in social activism. During the discussion, Ms Xhonti emphasized freedom of expression and liberation through art. She focused on how art is a field of empowerment for women and girls, highlighting SDG 4 and 5. Art presents itself as a flexible and fluid space; where women can own and express their narratives freely. Speaking on safe spaces and how to create
them, Yonela, Coordinator of the Human Rights Peer Education Programme at Africa Unite, applauded Makukhanye as a safe space. The performances ranged from plays, poetry, and song and dance. Each performance told a story, each resembling what role art plays in our communities. Most of the performances spoke to issues of women and girls, and some were an expression of art by young women and girls
EVENTS
Above: Per f or m an ce by M ak u k h an ye En t er t ain m en t Ar t Gr ou p
Above, f r om t h e lef t : M an disi (M ak u k h an ye Ar t Room ), Yon ela (Af r ica Un it e), Yvet t e (Assit ej Sou t h Af r ica), Sin o (Wor ld M er it CPT)
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WM VOICES
YOUNG PEOPLE AND POLITICS BY GUDANI TSHIKOTA (LEAD ADVOCATE FOR SOCIAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT) AND TEBOGO MOLOI (LEAD ADVOCATE FOR ECONOMIC SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT)
Over the years, from Nkrumah's Ghana to Sankara's Burkina Faso and the rest of Africa, young people have been the ones on the forefront of the protests, engagements and fights for independence. Today all around Africa, young people are excluded from key spaces in political and social platforms. In this piece of writing weattempt toshow possiblereasonsfor the apparent lack of participation of young people in key social and political spaces. The first thing to note is the misconception our everyday life can be isolated from politics, somany young people say "we won?t participate in politics because politics are deemed as unfashionable, radical and boring (for theold).?Littledothey know that whether they participatein politicsor not, politicsformspart and parcel of their everyday life According to a report by Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) young people only constitute 6%of the Membersof Parliament?s, with the average age of the total acquired number being 54. Young people are being excluded from the discussion table and the few that are there are not listened to, policies and legislations that affect them are donewithout their consultation and political leadersoften use young people topropel their agenda forward. Furthermore, it isalsoimportant tonote that politics are not exclusively preserved to party politics, many young people say "no political party meetsmy needs". Thishasled young people to have voter apathy and not participate in voting because they donot trust their leadersand face frustration of exclusion, thison itsown isstill participation.
Young people not showing up to vote shows that they are not happy with their leaders. Being involved in politicsisnot only about voting or having an opinion. Young people are frequently engaged with forms of activism such as protest marching, awareness-raising events and internet-related activism. The fees must fall and Rhodesmust fall campaign in 2015/ 16 wasa big shift in politics showing participation of counter-memory by young people and also setting mainstreamnewsagendaswhileshapingthepublicdebate.
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WM VOICES
Campaign awarenesseventssuch asmovementsfor theLGBITQ+ and gender-based violence for women and children ? young people are mostly at the forefront of these movements. Young people are effectively involved in politics, just not in the traditional way that the previous generation is used to. Regardless, The question shouldn?t be; how do we ensure more participation of young people in social engagements (politics), but what dowedotoensurethat politicsareinclusiveof theyouth and that an environment of corporation as well as trust is cultivated?which bringstheyouth tothetable.
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WM VOICES
GEN DER BASED VI OLENCE I N SA BY TLALANE LETLHAKU, WM RSA VICE PRESIDENT
An Afr ican proverb said ?it takes a village to r aise a child? but what happens when the village rejects/hur ts the child? This has been a lived exper ience of many South Afr ican womxn and children who have been exposed to gender based violence. Recently, national cr ime statistics were released and they revealed that in 2017/18, a total of 3915 women were murdered in South Afr ica. THREE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN! This means that the femicide r ate was 15.2 murder s per 100,000 women. This tr anslates to 19.3% of the total murder count in the countr y (Afr ica Check, 2018). That is alar ming! Why is it that the safety of womxn and children in our countr y is not guar anteed? Why is it that the village no longer cares about the r aising of our children? It is dishear tening that these are the questions we need to ask when we have author ities in place that are simply not doing enough to protect us. Many r ape cases that are repor ted never see the day of prosecution and the per petr ator s make their way back into our society to hur t more people.
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WM VOICES
As advocates of SDGs I strongly encour age you to join us in the fight against gender based violence. Let?s help protect our children by repor ting per petr ator s that we know live in our communities; lets educate young boys about consent from an early age and let's build a community that protects. South Afr ica is said to be alive with possibilities and we can cer tainly remove monster s that hur t womxn and children off our streets.
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CONFERENCES
Ref lect ion on t h e Af r ican You t h Net w or k s Su m m it 20-21 Ju ly 2018 Awodwa Magingi, Director of Marketing and Membership, NMC
The African Youth Networks Summit (AYNS) was led by the Graรงa Machel Trust & Mandela Institute for Development Studies with the support from other partners such as Sanlam. According to my understanding the aim of the summit was to capacitate young leaders by reflecting on the great African leadership and identify what it is that we can do as young people to ensure transformation of the African continent from poverty to wealth - from focusing on stories of despair to those of success and joy.
It was a platform of experience sharing and learning more about the work that different youth-led Non Governmental Organizations and other organizations do on the continent to improve the African narrative. Moreover, it was also a platform of learning from experiences of great leaders especially Tata Madiba who would have turned 100 years in July this year; to identify lessons learnt from his extraordinary service to his people and keeping his candle burning by continuing with the work he sought to do which is serving the people ? being the voice for the voiceless.
A number of plenary sessions took place, different African stories were shared as well as ideas and work that has been done by some organizations to create jobs in Africa, create African narratives, and create opportunities for others. Some of the lessons learnt from this summit include (amongst other things), the fact that one needs to acknowledge and focus on possibilities of success more than possibilities of failure because when leading an organization especially in Africa, the mind-set can be easily influenced by the countless challenges that are faced by youth. Another lesson was the fact that if you?re committed to serve the people, it is of utmost importance to sacrifice, whether you sacrifice time, money or anything as long as it is for the betterment of the people.
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CONFERENCES
Above: NM C m em ber s at t en din g t h e AYNS
Above: Su m m it delegat es du r in g a f eedback session
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OUTREACH
W O RL D M ERI T C A PE T O W N ?S M A K I N G U SE O F A PO W ERFU L W EA PO N BY C A PE T O W N L M C
As
16
our
late
statesman,
that
this
year
was
uTata?s
system by hosting a Career
ex-president and father of the
centenary
we
Workshop for one of our
nation utata Nelson Rolihlahla
embarked on a journey to help
schools in our previously
Mandela said ?Education is the
change and assist the society
disadvantaged
most powerful weapon which you
we live in through the United
communities.
can use to change the world.? We,
Nations
as the World Merit Cape Town,
Development
understood, related and fully
number 4 [Quality Education]
concurred with this statement.
that requires the improvement
With that in mind and the fact
of the quality of our education
celebration,
(UN)
Sustainable Goals
(SDG)
OUTREACH
Having come from these previously
disadvantaged
communities, knowing the challenges,
struggles
and
issues that we faced, we as a team decided that hosting such
a
workshop
would
greatly benefit some of the school
learners,
especially
after
more
identifying
the benefits of bringing the resources to the high school learners in areas such as Khayelitsha,
Langa
and
Gugulethu just to mention few, a place where they are comfortable, small enough for them not to be shy but to ask pertinent questions and leave having a sense of idea as
to
what
they
could
possibly do after they have completed their matric.
Our first workshop took place on the 28 July 2018 at Isivivano Centre in Khayelitsha where we hosted close to 30 learners in grade 11 & 12 from Manyano High School, which is also situated in Khayelitsha. After having gone to the school and engaged with the learners, we realized that not all the learners got the opportunity to attend Open Days at the various institutions around the Western Cape. Therefore, we decided to collaborate with the various higher learning institutions such as the University of Cape Town (UCT), Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and the University of Western Cape (UWC) where we were able to have workshop style Career presentations for the learners on how to choose academic and career path, register and apply for studies and we allowed a Q&A session for clarity purposes. We further took the learners through the process on how to find funding such as NSFAS and also possible donors they can look into approaching when they have decided on the field of study.
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OUTREACH
Our
guest
World
sp eaker,
Merit
Presiden t
SA
Mr
Mt em b u,
Odw a
delivered
a
m out hf ul sp eech t o t he learn ers t he
em p hasizin g
im p ort an ce
sp readin g t heir an d
n ot
of
w in gs lim it in g
t hem selves. He f urt her en couraged t hem t hat t hey career
m ust
choose
p at h
of
a
t heir
choice an d n ot allow t heir p aren t s or f rien ds t o choose f or t hem . He m ade an how
he,
exam p le of af t er
his
colourf ul m at ric p ass,
p at h t hat w as t o his likin g in t he en d. The
even t
w as
a
success, t he learn ers lef t m ore em p ow ered an d havin g
kn ow ledge
on
w hat t o do on ce t hey p ass
m at ric
an d
n eedless t o say t hat t he t eam w as t hrilled w it h t he out com es. The World Merit Cap e Tow n t eam w orked
t irelessly
en surin g everyt hin g
in t hat
w as
w ell
p rep ared in cludin g t he set t in g of t he ven ue w as w elcom in g en ough f or t he learn ers.
his f am ily w an t ed him t o st udy Medicin e an d his
t eachers
w ere
exp ect in g t he sam e of him , b ut it w as n ot in his b est
in t erest
an d
how he chose a career
Ab ove: Cap e Tow n LMC Presiden t sp eakin g at t he career w orkshop
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OUTREACH
As leaders, chan ge m akers an d m ore esp ecially as a t eam , w e p ride ourselves f or t akin g t his f irst st ep in p avin g a p at h f or t he b et t erm en t of n ot on ly f or our lives b ut m ost ly f or t he yout h of t oday w ho are t he f ut ure leaders an d chan ge m akers of t he up com in g gen erat ion . We w ould like t o exp ress our grat it ude t o t he higher learn in g in st it ut ion s t hat p art n ered up w it h us an d availed t hem selves an d t heir resources f or t he w orkshop . A huge t han k you t o t he WMRSA p residen t f or his p resen ce an d availin g him self in cludin g t he w ords of en couragem en t an d em p ow erm en t im p art ed on t he learn ers. Last ly, b ut def in it ely n ot least , an un den iab le m agn it ude of grat it ude t o t he learn ers of Man yan o High School f or havin g t rust ed us en ough t o help em p ow er an d m ot ivat e t hem in cludin g guide t hem in a direct ion t hat w ill n ot on ly b e b en ef icial t o t hem b ut t o t heir careers an d all t his b y m ean s of ut ilizin g educat ion t o help chan ge t he w orld.
Ab ove: Cap e Tow n LMC m em b ers w it h t he NMC Presiden t an d learn ers t hat at t en ded t he career w orkshop
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ENGAGEM ENTS
Wor ld M er it South Afr ica at Wetskills Nether lands BY O DWA N tsika M tembu , WM RSA Pr esident
Wet sk ills u ses a n ew w ay of au t h en t ic lear n in g an d in t er n at ion al n et w or k in g f or st u den t s an d you n g pr of ession als w it h a passion f or w at er . Th e Ch allen ges t ak e place w or ldw ide, u su ally du r in g in t er n at ion al w at er r elat ed even t s. In m ixed t eam s, t h e in t er n at ion als par t icipan t s w or k on ar e r eal lif e an d t r an s disciplin ar y cases f r om com pan ies an d (gover n m en t al) or gan izat ion s. Th e m ain t ask is t o t h in k ou t -of -box an d develop r ealist ic con cept s. Below ar e t h e t eam s an d t h eir cases:
Team 1: Self -su ppor t ive t em por ar y sh elt er s f or m u lt i-pu r pose u se -
M ax (Net h er lan ds) Bian ca (Rom an ia) Sibgh at Ullah (Pak ist an ) Af r ah (Om an )
Team 2 : Self -su ppor t ive cit ies an d islan ds on w at er an d en er gy -
Nt sik a (Sou t h Af r ica) Pan n (M yan m ar ) Em ielio (Net h er lan ds) Ala?a (Om an
Team 3: Wast ew at er r eu se f or agr icu lt u r e -
Lau r a (Net h er lan ds) Dolev (Isr ael) Tah an i (Om an i) Fat m a (Om an )
Team 4: BioBizzHu b f or en er gisin g st ar t u ps t o scale u p t h eir bu sin ess -
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Du be (Sou t h Af r ica) Am ir (Isr ael) Kh at h iya (Om an ) Ju an it a (Colom bia)
ENGAGEM ENTS
Ri gh t : Team 2 m em b ers
Bel ow: WM RSA Presi d en t , Nt si k a, gi vi n g a p resen t at i on of t h ei r p roj ect at Wet sk i l l s
Ri gh t : Nt si k a wi t h f el l ow Sou t h Af ri can con t est an t Nh l an h l a Du b e
M or e in f or m at ion on t h e r esu lt s an d exper ien ce of Odw a's par t icipat ion w ill be f eat u r ed in t h e n ext issu e.
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A FRI CA M A TTERS EV ENT
dolo Left to right: Odwa Ntsika Mtembu - Founder & President of World Merit SA, Farai Mubaiwa
(Founder of Africa Matters) & Nhlahla Zimu (Co- Founder of Intriguetain Pty (Ltd) our sponsored delegate) at the Africa Matters JHB Networking Event
Wor ld M er it Sou t h Af r ica at t en ded t h e Af r ica M at t er s JHB n et w or k in g even t . Th e cou n cil w as r epr esen t ed by t h e Pr esiden t of t h e Nat ion al Cou n cil, Odw a Nt sik a M t em bu an d Nh lan h la Zim u (Wor ld M er it su ppor t er ) w h o w as spon sor ed by t h e Nat ion al M er it Cou n cil Pr esiden t ial Of f ice (Leader sh ip Team ) t o at t en d t h is even t . Th e spon sor sh ip is par t of an in it iat ive by t h e Pr esiden t ial Of f ice in it iat ive t o assist you n g people en gage m or e in act ivit ies t h at can em pow er t h em .
Th e Af r ica M at t er s In it iat ive (Af r ica M at t er s) f ou n ded by Far ai M u baiw a an d Rean n e Olivier is a plat f or m t o em pow er Af r ican you t h t o r eject n egat ive n ot ion s of Af r ica an d con t r ibu t e t o t an gible ch an ge in ou r com m u n it ies becau se 'w e ar e t h e on es w e've been w ait in g f or ?. We cer t ain ly h ope t h at ou r spon sor ed delegat e lef t t h e even t en r ich ed an d em pow er ed as a ch an ge m ak er .
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N ot j u st an or gan i zat i on bu t so m u ch m or e...
N ot j u st an or gan i zat i on bu t so m u ch m or e... Joi n Wor l d M er i t t oday !
Joi n Wor l d M er i t t oday !
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