The Oppidan Press Edition 8 2013

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  • 7/30/2019 The Oppidan Press Edition 8 2013

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    Photo:JOSHUAOATES

    The Oppa PessEdiin 8, 27 Ags 2013

    THE

    Tr

    AvEl

    EdiTiOn

    see page 4 and 5 see page 12see page 2

    SRC trees left for dead Rating studentgovernance

    Rhodes places secondat Intervar

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    News FearesTe Oppidan Press 27 August 2013

    ordan du Toit

    ronment

    Planting a ew trees may seem like a good

    cause with worthy intention but prob-

    lems set in i the long-term upkeep o the

    s is neglected.

    all the earthy, do-good excitement, the carerees need is oen orgotten. With no ocushe long term care o the plants, such projectseduced to an empty gesture.

    Tis appears to be the case with most o theplanting endeavours o R hodes University. Ino Arbour Week (1-7 September), the ques-about what will happen to this years bunchplings remains unanswered.t present, trees are planted as part o Arbourk, as well as or the winners o the annual

    en Fund Run. Te SRC also planted severalduring Environmental Week this year. Tesewere planted on campus, where the Grounds

    Gardens division have been able to provideequent care.

    ety, Health and Environment Ocer Nikkily has played a large part in this movement,

    hing or the ollow-up on the tree-plantingects. I see a lot o healthy indigenous treesampus but this is o course thanks mainly too hard work and aercare by Grounds and

    dens, she said.owever, past attempts to green up areas suchza have been ar less successul. Te com-ity are largely disincentivised to maintain theand, ailing that, the goats normally make a

    decent meal out o them. Te ew surviving trees

    are alive either out o sheer luck or because they

    have been adopted by a local resident, explainedSRC Environmental Councillor, Luke Cadden.

    Te trees ailure to thrive is not based in theprojects themselves. Te intentions behind theproject are solid and the motivations are pure.An example o the many projects running inand around Rhodes, is the ree or Lie projectimplemented in September 2012, which stated anaim to promote awareness o the need to plantand maintain indigenous trees in and around theGrahamstown area. rees play a pivotal role inthe health and wellbeing o local communitiesas they are sources o ood, shade, medicines andscenic beauty among other benets.

    Along with this is a project called R3G, whichdoes restoration work with spekboom. AllanWebb Hall also prides itsel on its commitment to

    environmentally minded projects, earning themthe RU Environmental Award in 2012. Te hallteamed up with one local school, Ntsika Second-ary School, in a tree-planting project. Tis ormspart o their broader and ongoing environmentaland landscaping project.

    It is clear that the impetus is there. Te ollow-through by communities and those running theseendeavours, however, is not. Tere are normallyRhodes student societies that take initiative, orelse we have to entrust the local communities tolook aer their new trees. We cannot accompanyor assist them in everything unortunately, saidCadden o the ailure o many o the trees

    to grow.By care, Cadden means watering and

    ertilisation aer the act. With Grahamstownschronic water shortages and the levels o povertyin the areas targeted it is unclear how many com-munities could support these endeavours aertrees are planted.

    One o the biggest ailures was a projectcelebrating 101 years o the SRC in 2011, whichNikki Khly was there to see in all its glory.Iattended one o their tree planting events at theFingo Public Library grounds in 2011 - about 20trees were planted. oday, there is not even a dent

    in the ground where a tree went in, said Khly.

    At the time, I recall the organisers had notthought about bringing along a watering can, letalone liaising with the community about ongoingcare o the plants. Hence the value o collaborat-ing through RU Community Engagement,she emphasised.

    Until the issues regarding ollow-through as-sistance and the necessary community awarenessare addressed, however, these projects will simplykeep ailing.

    Sees sew, goo tetos soe

    Sme SRC iniaives, sc as paning rees, ave been abandned. P: JoShuA oAtES

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    isipho Skweyiya

    Almost weekly ailures o Grahamstowns

    municipal services have led MakanaMunicipality, in conjunction w ith

    des University, to introduce MobiSAM, a

    site and mobile application.

    Te creation o MobiSAM, due to begin on 2ember, is aimed at increasing citizen partici-on in local government by opening up the o communication between the municipal-own citizens and the Rhodes community.

    Te introduction o the dual communicationem requires that Grahamstown residentsster either on their computers or on their cellnes. Once they are registered, residents can

    ort any service delivery problems that theyencounter to the trained municipal sta that

    be monitoring and responding to reportsm the MobiSAM dual communication system.

    roessor Tinyane, a contributor to the im-mentation o MobiSAM as well as an associateessor at the Universitys Computer Scienceartment, was adamant that MobiSAM willthe community o Grahamstown the ability

    elp solve problems such as water outages, byrting them quickly and easily.

    Tinyane stated that the MobiSAM projectot a new endeavour: We have been goingwo years doing all the behind-the-scenes

    such as liaising with Makana Municipality,ing training material, developing the system,

    ning Grocotts Mailand Makana.Te university has been doing training with the

    nicipality since the beginning o June to makethey are ready to start monitoring reported

    ages when the service starts.

    Te service will be ree to users, but it will ob-viously need internet connection. We have beenortunate enough to have arranged a deal withMN or them to zero rate trac our server,

    Tinyane said.According to the municipalitys Director o

    Inrastructure and Engineering TembinkosiMyalato, most o Grahamstowns inrastructuralproblems are due to the act that the municipal-ity cannot cope with the growing population oGrahamstown. In addition to that, Myalato saidthe inrastructure in this town is very old andthat maintaining it is quite problematic.

    As a result o a unding problem, we have thendecided to propose a private/public partnershipto both the provincial and national government,so that we can have a continuous unding part-

    nership, Myalato added.However, the conditions in which Graham-

    stowns residents live due to the municipalitysineciency can at times appear to be beyond

    the help o an SMS system. According to MavisBheja, a housekeeper at Te Greens, a block ofats behind Peppergrove Mall, the fat she worksin had no water or an entire week. I they dohave water, the water is always dirty and evensour at times, Bheja said.

    We do not even complain anymore, becausethe municipality ignores us, she added.

    Co-owner o Courtlands Bed & Breakast onNew Street, Mike Dacombe has heard about Mo-biSAM and does not believe it will be benecialto the residents o Grahamstown because themunicipality will still ignore the queries.

    Myalato emphasised that MobiSAM will not bethe solution to the inrastructural discrepancies,but will denitely improve communication mech-anisms. For instance, when there is a damaged

    water pipe in an area, we will be able to send bulkSMSes to those residents notiying them o theproblem, he said. Te accessibility o this serviceseems not to be a concern or the municipality, asthey are certain that ordinary people in Graham-stown (township residents mainly) have access toa cell phone.

    Tinyane has been very mindul o accessibilityrom the start o the project. We have ensuredthat the website is designed or a broad spectrum

    o mobile phones, and registered users are ableto select their language o preerence - English,isiXhosa and Arikaans - or questions to bedelivered to them.

    As or maintaining MobiSAM, Myalatoconcluded that the municipality signed aMemorandum o Understanding with RhodesUniversity and the University will be managingthe programme with them.

    News Feares27 August 2013 Te Oppidan Press 3

    Makaas empt taps suge ew commucatos patom

    te waer pres as ed Makana Mnicipaiy inrdcing MbiSAM increase cmmnica-

    in regarding Graamswns aiing services. P: J oShuA o AtES

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    News FearesTe Oppidan Press 27 August 2013

    Mila Kakaza

    Aer a number o years plagued by scan-dals and rumours o unsustainability, the

    South Arican Broadcasting Corporation

    BC) surprisingly launched a 24-hour news

    nnel.

    Te news channels attempt to expand, however,not welcomed with open arms by all. Te cor-tion has made news or nancial mismanage-t and the new services lack o accessibility.

    Te 24-hour news channel can only be viewedDStvs channel 404, making it unavailable to aority o working-class South Aricans. How-

    Minister o Communications Yunus Carrimained that the channel will soon be availableee-to-air V once the move rom analogue toal terrestrial television takes place.

    Te benets o having the news channel exclu-

    y on DStv are, however, promising. It will at-advertisers in South Arica who are currently

    eting higher income-earning groups, said Paul, elevision lecturer at the School o Journal-

    and Media Studies (JMS). Hills said that this

    ement will also give the SABC an opportunityounter the perception that it is a mouthpiecehe government because it will now be compet-ide-by-side with other news channels on DStv.great deal o scepticism will prove a challengehe SABC as many anticipate that it will contin-o be used as the states platorm or government

    aganda. Hills explained that in South Aricaear o propaganda use is particularly worrying

    because the state owns the public broadcaster. Tepower that the SABC has cannot be disputed, Hills

    explained.

    Firstly, the public broadcaster has political pow-er, which it could use to promote or limit politicalallegiance and policy. Secondly, it has economicpower where it can advance particular sectors andpopulations in the country.

    Te rst guest on the channel, as expected, wasPresident Jacob Zuma, who asserted that journal-ists in South Arica will now have a platorm toshare stories o success rom the last 20 years aswell as ways to build the country so that it mayprosper.

    Opinions o the news channel are not all doomand gloom, however. Journalism students, as apart o their vacation work, have been among thereporters or the SABC. It is a positive step in theright direction and creating jobs or journalists,said third-year JMS student Kgalaletso shabalala.

    Director o the Centre or Economics Journalismin Arica, Reginald Rumney, who is also a regularcolumnist in Grocotts Mail, also sees the SABCsmove in a more positive light. It is a logical stepor the SABC to extend their reach, particularly astheir main competitor eV has a 24-hour channelon DStv, he said. It also helps prepare the SABCor the arrival o digital terrestrial V, where thecorporations news products have to compete withthe oerings o many other channels. Te successo the channel will be dependent on the viewershipgures. Te proo o the pudding is in the eating,said Rumney.

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    News Feares23 April 2013 Te Oppidan Press 7

    Mila Kakaza

    he Rhodes University matric

    programme, aimed at helping

    non-academic sta members

    ive their senior certicate, is to

    hut down, ollowing the intro-

    ion o the new national school

    iculum in South Arica.

    Te programme will be discontin-mid-way through next year due tochanges brought about by this newiculum. Matric classes will beinued until June 2014 albeit with

    erent service provision model,Sarah Fischer, Director o Humanurces at Rhodes University.previous years, the University

    d 8 to 12 teachers to assist in thees. Learners completing their mat-etween 2013 and mid-2014 will

    upported through classes run bycentre. Tereaer, sta membersout a matric will have to return to

    e 10 in order to obtain their mat-erticate. Tis is a requirement onational Department o Educationscurriculum.

    Te University will assist in undingducation o these sta members.re are sta development undssta can access. For example,

    e is a Continuing Education Fund

    (CEF), explained Fischer. However,

    these alternatives are limited. Sta

    members need to go through an appli-cation process beore they can accessunding.

    Member o the RU cleaning staand student o the matric programme,Zoleka Ndayi, explained that manyo the workers want to complete theirmatric and have pleaded with theUniversity to allow these classes tocontinue. We dont know why we can-not carry on with our studies. We arele in the middle o nowhere with oureducation, said Ndayi.

    Although the University has organ-ised dierent centres or registration,Ndayi explained that the majority othe workers want to continue with the

    classes here at the University. Ndayiadmitted that the matric classes didprove to be strenuous and that as peo-ple with ull time jobs they requestedor the number o assignments to bereduced.We have children and husbands andwe have to take care o our homesas well as work or the University,explained Ndayi.

    Te University will be providingoccupational training as an alternative,where a sta member may choose toreceive more training in their specic

    job. I a cook wants to be a caterer they

    may do training towards a cateringqualication.

    Te goal was to provide thosesta members who, due to apartheidcircumstances, were unable to acquiretheir matric with an opportunity todo so, said Fischer. Te optionalprogramme has been running orapproximately 15 years and aiding inthe Universitys goal in investing in thetraining and development o the sta.

    Te matric programme has ormedpart o this broader training and devel-opment programme, said Fischer.

    Fischer mentioned that, increas-ingly, the sta employed had alreadyobtained their matric.

    Unortunately, records o thenumber o sta members who havecompleted their matric successullydue to these matric classes were notavailable.

    A representative o the Depart-ment o Education, who did not wantto disclose her name, reerred to apartnership with the University over acommunity programme with the mat-ric classes run by the institution. TeDepartment ailed to elaborate moreon the matter and did not disclosewhether or not they had taken on anyresponsibility in the classes no longeroccurring.

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    News FearesTe Oppidan Press 27 August 2013

    y Dumile Sibindanausiness

    While many students may

    be saving towards their

    rst set o wheels, or

    eading with their parents or the

    o that dream car, the critical

    uestion is oen not whether you

    n aord to buy a car while at uni-

    rsity, but rather, i you can aord

    maintain it in the long term.

    Tere is no doubt that having a car

    a student is a privilege, oeringne mobility and reedom whichnnot otherwise be attained, but due

    the hey investment that comesth owning a vehicle many studentsst cannot aord to own one. Teeerences that students may have inrms o cars they would want to buye thus not the only thing to taketo account.Tere are a number o consid-ations that a student has to makehen they want to purchase a car.

    Tese include the size and type or, where to buy it, maintenance andnning costs and, most immediately,e cost o the vehicle.Due to the large investmentquired when buying a car, students

    ought to ensure that they can covertheir tuition and accommodationexpenses and other expenses such astextbooks and living expenses beorethey consider buying a car, assertedManagement lecturer Lindsay Bailey.Bailey maintains that buying a caris as much a matter o being ableto aord one as it is a matter o youwanting one.

    Student Chris White noted:Tere are a number o other littlethings that go into maintaining a carproperly such as tyres, oil and generalservicing. Te main cost to considerthough is petrol and trying to get asmuch distance out o each tank you

    buy. In act, the price o petrol wentup just the other day.

    Tashveen Lutchmun, eachingAssistant in Honours ManagementFinance, wstated that beore purchas-ing a vehicle it is important to deter-mine what you will be using the caror, so that you make the appropriateselection. Will you be using it todrive around Grahamstown? Or will

    you be embarking on regular longjourneys (and thereore requiring amore spacious car than, or example,a Chevrolet Spark)?

    One must also consider the costo an insurance premium to cover

    the vehicle. It is not mandatory tohave insurance, but it comes recom-mended in a country such as ourswhere car hijackings and thes are arequent occurrence. In addition tothis, the high rate o accidents on the

    nations roads also results in the needor insurance.

    Dean Kent, the owner o KenrichsMotors, which operates in both Gra-hamstown and Port Alred, explainedthat the market or car sales to stu-dents in Grahamstown is currentlyquite small. He speculated that thiscould be due to students purchasingvehicles in their home towns and cit-ies. Student car purchases thereore

    make up a very small percentage osales at his general motorsdealership.

    Kent did assert, however, thatwithout Rhodes University most, inot all, Grahamstown car dealershipswould be out o business. Most othe car sales we make are to RhodesUniversity sta and we are grateulor their continued support, he said.

    When buying a car there areclearly many actors to consider. Temost important thing is to nd abalance that works or you and yourpocket, whilst ensuring you get thebest possible deal at the same time.

    Puchasg a ew ca -The stuet pespecte

    sing a car prcase as a sden can eave y eeing dizzy, especiay wi e ig mainenance css.

    : JoShuA oAtES

    By Chad KeatesSciTech

    Te gaming market is booming with

    new games and evolving platorms

    that are constantly shiing to include

    new technologies beyond the normal

    controller or mouse-and-keyboard

    combo.

    Months rom release, the Playstation4 and the Xbox One are set to revolu-tionise the market and change the waywe see and play games. But do RhodesUniversity students even need next-gen consoles when they have smart-phones and tablets at their disposal or

    new-age gaming?Computer Science lecturer Yusu

    Motara said that handheld is the utureo gaming. ablet and smartphonecapabilities are on the rise and theirgaming potential is still untappedwhen compared to the heavily utilisedand linear design o consoles.

    In a university environment, theconsole has ew pros and many cons.Te only attribute, according to Rho-des University Computer User Society

    (RUCUS) member Usher Parshotam,is the ability o the user to play gameswith riends in a more social environ-ment. Consoles are big, heavy andrequire speakers and display outputs

    such as televisions and monitors, andgames or consoles also tend to beexpensive and hard to comeby in Grahamstown.

    Motara said desktop sales havedropped, with a majority o theirtarget audience opting or a notebookor ultra-book. Consoles are decliningwith a huge increase in sales o mobileand tablet devices. Games are easy toutilise on mobile devices with Androidand iOS sowares, and are muchcheaper with ar more ree games onoer. Consoles and computers requirediscs instead.

    Mobile games are aordable and inmost cases, ree. Tese games can be

    accessed rom anywhere on campusdue to the large quota o WIFI eachstudent is aorded each week.

    Te Nintendo DS is a good exampleo a mobile gaming device, according

    to Motara. It has a solid graphics pro-cessor and is unrestrained bylimitations such as a constant powersource and a separate visual input.Te gap between consoles and mobilephones is closing ast with newadvancements in processing power.Te new Galaxy S4 sports a 1.9 GHzquad-core processor that is capable oamazing graphics.

    Motara said orm actor can be

    overcome by game developers becausephones can now be linked up to largerdisplay outputs and utilise controllersor games. With an improvement inbattery quality over the past severalyears, phones can now be used or

    longer without the need or re-charg-ing. Tis could prove paramount to theemergence o mobile devices as rontrunners in the game market.

    Parshotam, on the other hand, stillbelieves mobile games have a long

    way to go. He sees mobile games asmindless, repetitive and ar too linearto take on the console and PC gamemarket. Developer support is the onlyproblem acing the uture o mobilegaming. With an increase in publishersand developers, mobile gaming wouldhave the platorm to compete withconsoles in the gaming community.

    Tere is much promise, however,with mainstream upcoming titles like

    the highly anticipated Watch Dogs andthe war epic Battlefeld 4, both oeringintegrated mobile platorm modes thatenrich the gameplays core strategies.Te Head o Wargaming at Gamesoc,William Walters, believes that mobilegaming is not going to replace consolegaming but will rather become part oa massive and accessible new way ogaming.

    Te only thing that is certain is thatmobile devices are a strong bet ormost companies.

    Mobile and tablet devices are sellingworldwide and new apps are comingout every day, with Xbox releasingSmartglass and Sony releasing tablet

    support or console.Nobody knows what the uture

    holds but mobile devices could possi-bly become the consoles o the uture.

    The uture o gaming inthe palm o your hand

    Mbie devices may be e re parms r e gaming marke.

    P: JoShuA oAtES

    Biscuits

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    News Feares27 August 2013 Te Oppidan Press 9

    -Beesda is a sma picresqe wn in e ear e Kar. P: JoShuA oAtES

    NG Kerk in Nie-Beesda. P: MIChEllE CuNlIFFE

    Aquaint, picturesque town nestled in the middle o the

    Karoo, Nieu-Bethesda is an intriguing little corner o the

    world.

    Famously known or its donkey-cart rides and the mysterious OwlHouse o Miss Helen Martins, this little diamond in the rough lies at

    the oot o the Sneeuberg Mountains along the banks o the SundaysRiver. Te town is approximately 50 kilometres rom Graa-Reinetand also orms part o the semi-arid Great Karoo. Tis means that itexperiences long, hot, dry summers and moderate winters. empera-

    tures in summer range rom about 17C to 30C; July is the coldestmonth with temperatures dropping to an average o 2.5C at night.

    Nieu-Bethesda oers a range o comortable and quirky accom-modation options. Outsiders B&B, Owlhouse Backpackers, Te Waterower and Te Nieu-Zebra sel-catering are some o the choicesavailable. Te two main coee shops, the Karoo Lamb and Te VillageInn, provide tranquil rest stops in the middle o this quiet town. Mostplaces are sel-catering, but meals are also available rom the variousplaces around town. Prices range between R220 and R470 per night,depending on the location and or how many people you are lookingto book.

    Although Nieu-Bethesda is a small town, devoid o any petrol, bankor credit card acilities, it is a town lled with mystery and wonder.

    Te town prides itsel on the historical sites in and around the area.Why not take one o the twenty-minute guided donkey-cart rides togive you a colourul perspective o the town? Or visit Miss Helen Mar-tins Owl House, oen cited as one o South Aricas nest examples

    o outsider art. Te Owl House is an extraordinary play o colour andlight and it conjures up an array o eelings, rom awe to weariness,curiosity and sadness.

    Tere are, however, other ascinating eatures unique to the town oNieu-Bethesda, such as the old water mill and the working network owater urrows. Te 1905 Dutch Reormed Church o Nieu-Bethesda isthe towns grandest piece o architecture. Te Kitching Fossil Explora-tion Centre takes you on a journey through the past, to a world lledwith unamiliar plants and animals.

    Many artists and crasmen have ound their muse in Nieu-Bethesdaand have established themselves there. Its no wonder because Nieu-Bethesda is unique in all its enigma. Te town oers everything acurious soul craves.

    Words By Madeleine Chaput

    neu-Bethesa:

    A amo the ough

    l

    Send an emai [email protected] yd ike e s ab yr rave experiences

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    raveTe Oppidan Press 27 August 2013

    traveTe Oppidan Press 1 February 2013

    FearesTe Oppidan Press 28 August 2012

    Walking down the road as the sunsteadily rises over the fat ocean, my

    nerves kick in. I dig my cold hands

    my pockets as I walk past boats with long,

    cages attached to the back o them. I hold

    breath asJaws music begins to play in thek o my mind.

    ansbaai is one o the best places in S outhca to shark dive, according to the websites oight dierent diving companies there. Ce-ties such as Brad Pitt, Blake Lively and both

    Princes o Wales have dived there. It was onlytly comorting that I was diving in the sameas Royalty. Only slightly.

    o get to our diving spot it took us about 15utes by boat. When we dropped anchor ther was only 10 metres deep. It was said that

    harks had changed their eeding patternswere now hunting in shallower waters. Ten

    waiting began. Te chum was made and thewas cast. We all sat on the boat, scanning

    water or any movement or sharp ns cuttingugh the waves.me playul seals came to see what was goingrolicking in the water and splashing around,oon they scattered. Te time had come.an tell you rom rst-hand experience that

    ng to get a wetsuit on while on a boat is notasiest thing. Te boat moves and rolls withswell o the ocean and you learn how

    nimble you are in small spaces.Te long cages t ve people at a time. Te div-

    ing experts specically tell everyone not to hangon the bars, or to stick our hands out o the cage.

    Te cages are thereore tted with handle barsto hang on to and a bar at the bottom to hookyour eet under. How long you stay under de-pends on how long you can hold your breath.

    Beore long I see a shape swim under the cage.Dive, dive, dive! the bait-thrower shouts and Ipush mysel under the chilling water, scanningaround me or any sign o the shark. Graciously,the mighty muscle-machine makes a turn past thecage, seemingly eyeing us as it swam away.

    Te shark that stayed with us was only a babyshark, or so we were told. It measured about twoand a hal metres and was quite riendly and

    outgoing according to the diving instructor. ac-companying us.

    Besides conquering one o my ears and divingwith Great White sharks, the experience taughtme so much more. Tere are a lot o misconcep-tions about these mighty creatures.

    Each shark, as we were told time and timeagain on the boat, has their own personality. Tey

    are not the man-eating monsters we are told tolook out or in Hollywood lms. Dont get mewrong, I was not planning on sticking my handout the cage and petting it, but I learnt to respectthem or the magnicent creatures they are.

    eig Brwn speaks er experience sark cage diving in Gansbaai. P: GEoFF BRoWN

    dg wth JawsWords by Ashleigh Brown

    Fo the oe o the kaoo

    Over the long weekend people rom

    near and ar made their way to the

    Karoo to join a estival that has been

    running or our years.

    Te Writers Festival has grown in popular-ity and has attracted some o South Aricasmost successul writers. Tis was a wonderulopportunity or anyone who loves reading andwriting, good ood and great company.

    Te estival took place on 9 August. Tetheme this year was Te love o Karoo. Withthe meeting point at Shreiner House and asmall entrance ee o R25, people were invitedto learn the basics o writing using the multi-media programme known as Upstart romnone other than our own Shireen Badat. Te

    Upstart programme was made available toa ew schools in Grahamstown beore theWriters Festival.

    Following Badat, Sigi Howes talked about theSouth Arican War. Howes demonstrated theway in which the diarist Iris Vaughan was ableto write in such a compelling way.

    Participants were then treated to OliveSchreiner unpacking her own writings. Teday wandered on with speakers such as MargieOrord adressing crime literature and writing itin a S outh Arican context and Barbara Mutchspeaking on the writing process o her bookTe Housemaids Daughter.

    Dont be ooled: this was not just a estivalwhere people listened to speech aer speech.With a walking tour o Cradock and all o itsinspirations or writers, participants were ableto interact and get a true eel or the Karoo andhow it has inspired literature over the years.

    Aer a antastic dinner, Chris and Julie

    Marais showed o their photo-journalisticwork entitled Te Beautiul Karoo. Tis splen-did day o learning and listening was concludedwith delightul music perormed by RobertPearce.

    Day two o the estival gave participantseven more o an opportunity to participateby starting with an open mic session. Peoplewere invited to take to the foor and read out

    their poetry. With poetry being the main ocuso the day, Etienne van Heerden and DoreenAtkinson each gave compelling speechesabout their writing processes. Te nal dinnercombined poetry readings and discussions byAlred Scheier and Clinton Du Plessis.

    Festival-goers were able to stay in Die uisHuis, a lovely B&B in Cradock. With residetalks, town walks and various book launches,anyone with a taste or reading and writingwould have been treated to a antastic weekendin the Karoo. For those who did attend thisyears estival, they deemed it a resoundingsuccess.

    Words byBianca Levin

    TravelTe Oppidan Press 1 February 2013

    FeaturesTe Oppidan Press 28 August 2012

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    Gill Wylie City, farm and township tours.Cell 082 832 5839.

    Email [email protected]

    Mbuleli Mpokela Local and regional guide.Cell 082 979 5906.

    Email [email protected]

    Otto Ntshebe Ottours for cityand township tours.Cell 082 214 4242.

    Email [email protected].

    For brochures, maps and information on

    Grahamstown Frontier Country

    Accredited tour guidesExperience traditional isiXhosa

    hospitality in Grahamstown.Book a township tour with

    Makana Tourism

    63 High Street, Grahamstown 6139Tel: 046 622 3241Fax: 046 622 3266

    Web: www.grahamstown.co.zaFace Book: http://www.facebook.com/

    MakanaTourismGrahamstown

    With all the beautiul places

    that the Wild Coast has

    to oer, Coee Bay is per-

    s one o the most charming and

    ic destinations to visit.gend has it that a ship carry-oee beans went under o thet o this picturesque village in the

    mer ranskei and that the beanshed ashore to sprout coee treesg the beach. Tere is no evidenceese trees ever having existed,he name Coee Bay has stuck,etheless.

    Te Hole in the Wall is a principalist attraction in the Coee BayIt gets its name rom a riversing through the middle o a mas-rock. Te river now runs through

    hole, allowing adrenaline junkieshance to take a wave-assisted

    p right into the channel o waterrushes to the shore. Conditions

    to be right in order to do this,ever, as ones saety must alwayse rst.

    Tose interested in a dierent sortck will be pleased to note a steadym o board-bearing studentcarrying surers to the widely-wned waves o little Coee Bay.

    umbi beach is a last stop or seriousers due to the large waves it has to. Tis quiet and sheltered beach

    is also a lovely place to take a stroll orhave a swim or the less courageouslyinclined. It is surrounded by Milkwoodtrees however, so those not enam-

    oured o their distinctive smell shouldperhaps head or one o the largerbeaches.

    I you are not a surer there are stillplenty o lovely swimming beaches aswell as a lagoon near the Hole in theWall. Hiking, visiting nature reservesand shing are urther outdoor attrac-tions with regular trips being led bysta o the various backpackers hostelsin the village. For those who wouldrather enjoy a tasty, home-cooked mealor rereshing drink, tiny, enchantinglyramshackled bars and caes are dottedaround, making Coee Bay an enjoy-able place or all visitors.

    Keep in mind that the roads are

    mostly not tarred so cars may struggleto get to the destination.

    Unortunately, due to its outdoorsyappeal, Coee Bay is a primarily sum-mer travel destination and winter tripsare generally or those die-hards whodont mind the cold. All hope or themonths till spring is not lost, however,as once a year on 13 June the Bomvu

    Cultural Festival takes place. Tis2-day estival is a hippie paradise. Withre dancing, ace painting and drumcircles, anyone is able to perorm and

    get in or ree. Tere is a bar oeringood and alcohol, however, there areno AMs nearby so come prepared.

    Te Bomvu Cultural Festival en-

    courages people to li their spirits andbe in harmony.

    Donations are made to the CoeeBay recycling centre, educationcentre and drum centre as a resulto this estival. Coee Bay also hosts

    an annual New Years party, whichbroadly repeats the cultural estival,though with the addition o variousDJs and tattoo artists.

    Cheap accommodation is availableat a range o backpackers hostels. TeCoee Shack is one well-known back-packing/camping site which also oerssurng lessons and hikes at aordablerates. In season it is R70 per personto camp and R120 per person or one

    bed in a shared dormitory.I you love to spend your days

    and nights at the beach or bar, thislaid-back little town is a wonderulplace to unwind and get in touchwith nature. Coee Bay oers a widerange o outdoor activities and givespeople the chance to get away romcity lie. Tough 413km away romGrahamstown along some less thanideal roads, this Wild Coast gem istruly worth a visit.

    A w e Coee Bake a rip e rmer transkei and rea yrse a weekend

    axain, sr and nare.Words by Bianca Levin

    P: StEPhEN CuNlIFFE

    Travel1 February 2013 Te Oppidan Press 7

    Features28 August 2012 Te Oppidan Press 3

    Send an emai [email protected] yd ike e s ab yr rave experiences

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    Ars & Enerainmen27 August 2013 Te Oppidan Press 9

    enna Lillie

    August is upon us once more, and

    brings with it the 2013 Young

    Directors Season. Tis showcase

    lented directorship will host the work

    ur Honours directors: Daniel White-

    n, Jade Manicom, Maude Sandham andona Mazza. Teir work was presented

    m 21 to 24 August in conjunction

    Teatre Week. Tis year, there were

    king themes ocusing on l oss, tragedy,

    ndonment and relationship dynamics

    e simultaneously commenting on the

    uty in lie.

    bt Hoeabbit Hole is a Pulitzer Prize and onyrd winning play written by David Lind-

    Abaire and adapted by Maude Sandham.story centres around a middle-aged cou-Becca and Howie, whose son Danny wasy a car 8 months prior. It was originally

    n contemporary America, but Sandham

    e to localise it by transporting it into ah Arican context. It is a universal storycan thereore transcend these barri-explained Sandham. Te piece exploreshaos o trauma, grie and rebuilding

    s lie aer such a tragedy. Rabbit Holeores the dierent ways each characters with the loss o Danny. Tere is a lot

    urging in this play: purging o guilt, omories and trying to nd a way to move

    explained Sandham. What is specialut this piece is that the characters arentodramatic and shouting at each otherather there is a hyper-realistic style in

    way people talk to each other: they arely unctional and humorous, which isaving grace o this piece. Rabbit Hole

    ments on the nature and inevitability oh despite ones circumstances. However,are le with a sense o hope that evene darkest o times things will get better.

    was a challenge to explore realism. Tet is beautiul; its a contemporary pieceshows contemporary issues. I elt a connection with the sense o vulner-ty and that eeling o being lost like theacters experience, said Sandham. Teincludes ristan Jacobs, Georey Smuts,an Knowles, Ester Van Der Walt andca Harrison.

    debsDebris, a British play written by Dennis

    Kelly, has been adapted by Daniel White-horn. Debris is a poetic piece, it is edgyand jarring as well as dark and beautiullywritten, Whitehorn explained. Te storyis about two siblings who are neglected by

    their physically present ather and absenteemother. o survive their reality, they allowtheir imaginations to grow wild and turntheir lives into a dreamscape, complete withits own rules and physics. Tey have gotquite dark, twisted imaginations, explainedWhitehorn. It is sharp, aggressive andurgent. Debris was inspired by the In-yer-ace theatre movement, which sought toprovoke audiences and comment on con-troversial topics in Britain during the 1990s.Te story is scathing, brave and vicious,Whitehorn added. Te piece comments onthe loss o innocence, the need or sel-pres-ervation and the darker realities o a brokenamily. Oen what moves you isnt logic butrather what you eel and in this piece it is a

    world projected rom characters imagina-tions, continued Whitehorn. You need towatch and experience it, let it wash over youand once you have seen everything thenyou can gure it out. Actors included RyanNapier and Kelsey Stewart, as the brotherand sister duo.

    reRedis a ony Award winning play written

    by John Logan and adapted by Jade Mani-com. Predominantly, Redis a story aboutan established artist Mark Rothko and hisyoung apprentice, Ken. It explores the battlebetween old and new as well as the chang-ing ace o the arts in 1958. Te relationshipbetween the Rothko and Ken is mirrored

    in the tension between abstract expression-ism and pop art, which begins to encroachon Rothkos work. Te two conficting ideasdisplay the ability o one art-orm to dissolve

    another and through Rothkos eyes you seea mans ear o becoming irrelevant and hislies work overshadowed. I based it on thetext as it works within the realm o realismand thereore it was important that I workwithin the genre o realism, said Manicom.Te tragic beauty o the story is that everyartist desires immortality through their workand Rothko tries at all costs to achieve this

    dream so he will never be orgotten. I re-

    lated to this and I eel that we all experiencethis kind o ear; a ear that we may never ac-tualise our dreams. However this story endswith a glimmer o hope in the orm o Ken- a hope that will lead to Rothkos dreams oimmortality, explained Manicom. Actors

    included Keegan van Zyl and Philip Sulter.

    The Cuous icet o the dog the nght-Tme

    Te Curious Incident o the Dog in theNight-ime is a mystery novel written byMark Haddon and adapted by SimonaMazza. Te story ollows Christopher, a -teen-year-old boy with Aspergers Syndrome.Te catalyst o the story is the neighboursdog which Christopher nds dead on theirront lawn. Te boy takes it upon himsel tosolve the mystery o the dogs death and, indoing so, begins a journey that will uncover

    secrets about his parents that lead him tomake decisions he wouldnt normally make.Trough his investigation he gains his

    independence but also begins to lie, which issomething he never did. Slowly he begins tolose his innocence, stated Mazza. Becausethe story is written in the rst person, it alltakes place in Christophers mind, whichis an interesting place to be. Christopherbegins to untangle a web o lies created byhis parents and neighbours and throughthese revelations he learns more abouthimsel. Te audience should expect to usetheir imaginations and not to make literalinterpretations. I want them to get into themind o someone who has Aspergers andtry to understand Christopher, said Mazza.I want to show the story o a amily whohas gone through a tremendous loss andwho are dealing with loss in all its dierent

    orms. I eel that this is something peoplecan relate to. Actors included Rachael Clark,Kate Pinchuck, Daniel Whitehorn, AnandaPaver, Sisesakhe Ntlabezo, Darren Mooreand George Berry.

    For more inormation about Teatre Weekvisit the Young Directors Season page

    on Facebook https://www.acebook.com/events/1392234127664719/ or ollow them o

    witter @2013YDS.

    youg ectos take to the stage

    By Dirk Steynberg

    Te Flapper era is making a comeback. Classic swing

    tunes inused with modern electronic and synthesised

    sounds are all the rage as Electro Swing, a new genre

    comprising the best o old and new, soars around the

    globe and lands in sleepy Grahamstown.

    Contemporary artists o the genre take the renownedsounds o Jazz and Big-Band musicians such as BennyGoodman or Cab Calloway and dely mix in loops, melo-dies and styles rom the swing era, to create what is now aclub-riendly sound.

    Te popularity o Electro Swing began its upward curveve years ago, explained Jack Kaminski, a Rhodes Univer-sity student and up-and-coming DJ in the new genre. Te

    Electro Swing hype is popular in Europe, but Kaminskistumbled across the bold new sound in a bar in Capeown and added the style to his list o great music.

    You can hear infuences o it in local artists such as TeKiness and Goldsh, but I guess my rst encounter wasthrough Goldshs track Wet Welly said Kaminski. Overthe years, Kaminski became more and more enamouredwith the genre, addicted to its up-beat quality and thecontemporary-classic originality that it exudes.

    In the beginning o the year, Electro Swing hit it big inGrahamstown with gigs hosted by Kaminski, such as theone recently held at Champs. Its popularity surged incred-ibly quickly, leaving Kaminski pleasantly surprised.

    I think theres just a big crowd or it in Grahamstownand people wanted something new and resh, he said. SoI began organising these Swing events like Swing ownand Swing into Spring where people get dressed up GreatGatsby style with edoras and suspenders and dance tosome good electro swing.

    Although Kaminski is new to the scene, along withhis audience in Grahamstown, he has started doing hisown mixes, injecting infuences rom artists like CaravanPalace - a chart-topping gypsy jazz band and Parov Stelar- the supposed ounder o electro jazz. Kaminskis eventsand gigs have been a success so ar. With another ElectroSwing event coming at the end o the month, it seems the

    era o extravagance is making a comeback - and this timethere are no prohibitions.

    de Sandman, Danie Wiern, Jade Manicm and Simna Mazza are a aking par in e 2013 Yng Direcrs Seasn.

    : JASoN CooPER

    Move your

    electrothing

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    he Oppidan Press pbises eer a are bna de expressins pinin as ng as ey are n ceary ibes, deamary, racis

    sexis. We pbis annyms eers, b as an ac gdi in yr par, we reqire yr name. We reserve e rigsren eers de space cnsrains and edi em rammaica inaccracies. leers a d n make i in r prin

    diin wi be pbised n r websie.

    Dr Ashley Westaway

    Arguably one o the greatest

    successes o the apartheid

    state in the late 80s and

    early 90s was to co-opt the elite

    leadership o the ANC to agree to

    a process o transition that le the

    economic and social structure o

    South Arica largely intact. Te 1994

    transition held massive advantages

    or a minority o black people, but

    unsurprisingly le the vast majority

    as poor, exploited and excluded as

    beore.

    I agree with Mahmood Mamdanis

    assertion that what happened in S outhArica in 1994 should rather be de-scribed as deracialisation than democ-ratisation. My central argument is thatthe ANC opted or a modern-day ormo segregationism, which can alterna-tively be called paternal welarism. Inthe words o Agamben, all who live inSouth Arica can be regarded as mem-bers but ew are generally included.

    Although a unitary South Arica wasinstalled constitutionally on 27 April

    1994, the new government has main-tained dualism through its own lawsand policies. Specically, the ANC hasworked deliberately and consistentlyto ensure the continuing existence o

    the Bantustan. On the ace o it, thismay seem like a preposterous claim,yet there is signicant evidence thatunderpins it and very little that contra-dicts it. Tree sets o evidence are:1. Diferen gvernance arrange-

    mens:

    Te decade aer 1994 was character-ized by a contestation between a pro-gressive and a conservative bloc withinthe ANC. Te ormer preached civilsociety and democratization; the latterclung onto so-called tradition andcustom. Only in 2004 was it clear thatthe conservative orces had deeatedthe more progressive interests.

    Te 2004 raditional Leadership

    and Governance Framework Act(LGFA) stipulates that traditionalcouncils must be established in ormerBantustan areas to operate alongsideelected municipalities. Signicantly,the LGFA endorsed ribalAuthorities and drew on the 1951Bantu Authorities Act as a oundationor establishing raditional Councils.Beall et al are correct in their assertionthat legislation introduced in the 21st

    century will give perpetual lie to asystem o indirect rule dating backto the colonial era and ossied underapartheid.

    Increasingly powerul traditionalleadership leads to weaker and

    ineective municipalities. SuccessiveMunicipal IQ surveys point tothe widening disparities betweenmunicipalities in ormer whiteSouth Arica and those in the ormerBantustans. For example, the weakestDistrict Municipality in the countryis the largest, in the ormer ranskei,namely OR ambo. welve o the localmunicipalities alling within this areaappear on the list o the worst 15% omunicipalities in the country.2. Mdes ecnmic grw:

    Economic planning in the post-1994period has been dominated by thezones and nodes on a map and,as Helliker points out, this type odiscriminatory spatial perspective isrefective o contemporary capitalism,which thrives on uneven developmentand social marginalisation.Consequently, it is hardly surprisingthat the elected government has not

    ormulated or implemented a ruraldevelopment strategy since 1994.

    While government may claim thatthe new Community Works andExpended Public Works Programmes(CWP and EPWP) are about work,they are not. When I worked inKeiskammahoek some years ago,I was personally in a meeting withgovernment ocials who said thatthe CWP and EPWP were about jobopportunities and that i someoneworked in either programme or oneday, that person would be deemed tobe a beneciary and counted amongstthe employed. Te CWP and EPWPare merely another orm o welare

    presented as work but having nothingto do with the real economy and verylittle to do with actual work.3. te weare sae:

    Te core o the welare state in S outhArica is not pensioners and disabledpeople, but rather the increasinglyde-proessionalised civil service. In theage o cadre deployment, allegiancetrumps skill and actional loyalty out-weighs competence.

    We live in an era when the role othe state teacher is not to educate butto pretend to teach and then draw asizable welare cheque at the end oeach month, when the role o the nurseis not to treat or to heal, but rather to

    pretend to care and then draw a siz-able welare cheque at the end o eachmonth and so on. Little wonder thenthat Jonathan Jansen recently reerredto public schools as those buildingscalled schools.

    In act, the very same Fort Beauortthat in bygone times was the cradle oblack education throughout South-ern Arica and home to Lovedale,Healdtown and Fort Hare, is now theworst perorming education districtin South Arica. Te second and third

    worst districts in South Arica are

    Qumbu and Mount Frere in the ormerranskei.

    Te Bantustans are thereore entirelyeconomically dependent on welaretransers. Tis applies as much to thepeople who are barely surviving onpensions, child-support grants andthe like, as it does to the burgeoninggrouping o bureaucrats who draw

    their signicant welare cheques at theend o every month. I the transersceased tomorrow there would be massstarvation within weeks.

    Furthermore, because the unctiono the South Arican welare state isnot to develop its citizens but ratherto sustain them, there is no delivery omeaningul services in these areas. Inother words the welare state simulta-neously enables people to survive andkeeps them suppressed. Te welare

    state is thereore a technique o power:in the elections o 2014 the ANC willremain the majority party or oneprimary reason, namely the loyalty oits Bantustan subjects.

    Te labour aristocracy o todaydepends on the ANC governmentor its income and an increasingproportion o the card-carryingmembers o the ANC today arebureaucrats. Whereas the Alliancepreviously contained checks andbalances, it is now essentially one thing the organisation o those who deriveincome rom the state, in one way oranother.

    We live in shadow o the Land Actbecause its essence, segregationism,has been retained as a mechanismand technique o power by the ANCgovernment. Whilst the Constitutionasserts rights, democracy and develop-

    ment, the reality is that the govern-ment is implementing a heady mix ocustom, tradition and welare in theormer Bantustans.

    We have given up on democratic

    values such as accountability, re-sponsibility and empathy and insteaddescend into a world o arrogance,plunder and individualism. Perhaps itis time that we stopped asking whetherSouth Arica is becoming a bananarepublic and instead ponder whether itis in act a Bantustan Republic?

    Batusta repubc keepsSouth Acas suppesseTe rst article in the ales of a Divided Cityseries asks the question

    o what extent is our ability to imagine a better world thwarted by

    too much hardship or too much privilege? Tis serves as an intro-

    duction to a series o ten which will appear monthly in the GrocottsMailand which we have chosen to duplicate on Te Oppidan Press

    website. Te series seeks to have Grahamstown refect on itsel by

    making visible certain divisions that maniest in the city. Creating

    discomort in readers and generating conversation is the aim.

    Working in conjunction with students and members o theGrahamstown community, Proessor Pedro abensky o the PhilosophyDepartment plans to use the series space to discuss issues which aectthose who live here. He highlights in particular that the experience obeing resident in Grahamstown is one still largely divided along spatiallines that refect the racial boundaries o our segregated past.

    abensky is head o the recently established Allan Gray Centre orLeadership Ethics. Since its inception earlier this year, the Centre hashosted weekly conversations which act as a refective space or students.Tey are themed around a broad range o articles and ideas. Many othe students involved in these conversations will be working togetherwith abensky on articles within their areas o interest which will ap-

    pear in the series. Te series itsel is also part o the broader picture othese conversations as a way to translate their critical refection beyondthe armchairs o the Centre.

    abensky chose to publish with Grocotts Mailbecause he hoped toshare these ideas with as broad a base o Grahamstown citizens as pos-sible. We have chosen to duplicate the series online because we realisethat many students do not read Grocotts Mailand we denitely thinkthat, i a dialogue is happening refecting on the town, students shouldbe aware and involved. Institutions o higher education in particular areperhaps where inequalities are most evident in South Arica and ours isa bastion o privilege.

    As students living on campus or in digs in the wealthier parts oGrahamstown West, it is oen possible, and always easier to ignorethe act that our encounter with this space is limited by our position asprivileged and protected visitors. Or is it? o think this holds true or all

    Rhodes students smacks o over-simplicity. Tat is part o the point othe commentary: to have us questions assumptions such as the above.

    Perhaps in doing so that we will realise that lines we thought had beenerased in act remain and that divisions we assume are not as clear asimagined.

    We strongly encourage you to engage with these stories online. Wecannot guarantee that you will agree with what is said or that you willrespect the opinions expressed, but we are condent that at least a ewo the issues and ideas will have personal relevance or you as someoneliving in this town. Give us your eedback. We are interested in whatyou have to say.

    Asey Wesaway sggess a e ANC ped r segregainism and dera-

    ciaisain raer an demcraisain. P: AlEXA SEDGWICK

    The Oppidan Press

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    opinin27 August 2013 Te Oppidan Press 11

    ndrew Tudhope

    t is with a mixture o sadness and

    relie that I sit down to write my

    ast article or Te Oppidan Press.the last article I will write or a

    spaper or a long time. Report-

    the news in South Arica, even in

    small town hidden in the Eastern

    e, is not an easy, particularly

    py or encouraging job.

    rahamstowns unique mix oents and educational institutionsed the Opinion Section to ocusducation this year. Tis is because

    question o impact is always onmind o any writer: what is the

    vance o this story and willreadership nd it interestinginormative?

    Te Oppidan Press has reported onnumber o stories about school

    ures, teacher strikes and studentappiness, especially in the town-s. Opinion has twice engaged onee leading experts on education in

    hamstown, Dr Ashley Westawaye head o the Grahamstown Areaster Relie Association to wr itees or us on the state o educationoth a local and country-wide level.

    What has been the impact o alle stories? Students are unhap-than ever and teachers continue

    rike. Benjamin Mahlasela hasme the latest in a growing list o

    nt school closures and Rhodes has discontinued its initiative tocate all its employees to a matric. It is not clear whether this has to

    with unding, attendance or lack oort or sta and it is not the inten-o this article to speculate which

    ay be.Te point is that we seem to have

    very little impact. It is obvious that

    cannot expect to have too muchact when working or a ortnightlyent publication, but consider theht o South Arican journalists inral: every day there are reports

    sing cr ime, unemployment andtrophic corruption and yet it all

    goes on unabated. You could barely

    even hope to script a more tragicomicperormance or the stage.

    In keeping with the theatre analogy,the other ocus o Opinion has beenyouth involvement in politics. Anyonewho has read a ew o the previousarticles will know the stance taken onthe nature and extent o youth involve-ment in South Arican politics it is,once again, a topic on which much inkhas been expended. What has been theimpact o all this?

    Political corruption, greed andpower-grabbing go on unchecked,no matter what we and many moreeloquent, educated and in-the-know

    people have to say about it. Te rul-

    ing party and many o its opponentscontinue to sing sweet nothings while

    doing what they please, serving only

    to widen the cracks that are already sovisible in our political landscape.

    So what is the value o journalism?Must writers just report the news, nomatter how much they wish to changeit, no matter how much they wishthat their reporting it might infuenceevents dierently the next time oneo the spectres o corruption, racism,greed or privilege rears its ugly head?

    Tere is surely some solid journal-istic theory to which one could turn,but that is also not the intention here.Te act is that words have very littlepractical eect when measured againstthe many evils o this world. SouthArican journalists know that almost

    no matter what one says, anotherschool is likely close tomorrow because

    o mismanagement or corruption.

    Malema will garner votes; Zuma willcarry on building palaces and blissullybreaking military protocol; next week,at least one miner will almost certainlydie in more unrest.

    And yet, they still write just look,there are 607 words beore this one. Itmay well be that writing does not haveany impact. It may well be that a writersigns their name on a piece and thendiscards it into the black void o publicopinion, never to see it again.

    However, I believe in the valueo both reading and inormation.Consequently, I believe in journalismdone properly. I believe that, even ijust one person stops and thinks about

    these words then they will have made abig enough impact to justiy the hours

    spent researching the absurd theatre

    that is South Arican news and politics.Belie is the key. Belie that this

    country can be a better place. Beliethat we can be better people. Beliethat we can work together, beyondclass and race and culture and all theother excuses we nd so convenient.Belie that we can make a dierence bygetting involved, or then everythingelse ollows, rom activism to ubuntu.

    Tere is no apartheid to uniteagainst and we are reminded, again

    and again, that our generation has noGreat War and no Great Depression.Our depression is our lives. Our war isspiritual. Te only way to go orwardis to believe that we can. And I mean

    really, truly believe.

    te oppidan Press opinin secin as csed n edcain and piics is year. P: ARCh IVE

    refectos o a ea at Opp-Pess

    Matthew de Klerk

    ouve done it. Youve decided to

    or the prestigious Student Rep-

    ntative Council (SRC) o Rhodes

    versity. All those hours in your

    school Representative Council

    earners and volunteering at souphens are nally going to pay o.

    , there is one nal hurdle stand-

    between you and kind-o total

    er: those pesky elections. And

    be also re-elections. But dont

    ry. With Te Oppidan Press Guideudent Campaigns, youre sure

    e posting celebratory messages

    ver acebook beore you can say

    gnation.

    rstly, you need a man- Exaggerated promises and

    out-o-proportion goals are usu-ally the order o the day. I you haveleadership credentials that are shakierthan the Slipstream dancefoor, dontret. Promising the Holy rinity ocampaign promises (Better Res Food,A Full-Day Bus Service, And TeBanning O Intervisiting Restrictions)

    will vastly overshadow your lack o realleadership qualities. Dont worry aboutdelivering on these promises sincewhen did governance involve keeping

    your word?Now that you have a campaign, you

    need to get the word out there. Manyo you considering running or ocewont be Design students, but that isntnecessarily a problem. Just ollow oursimple guidelines or having an unor-gettable poster.

    Slogans. How can you expect anyone

    to vote or you i you dont have anincredibly witty play on words centredloosely around your name? You needa catchy slogan. Bonus points i ithas any empty Key Words (Account-ability, ransparency, ransormation,Change, For You, A New Age, etc) in it.

    A memorable campaign photo. A

    picture is worth a thousand words, butadd enough pink into your pic and thatpicture becomes worth a 264-commentstreak on the SRC acebook page. Youcant buy that kind o advertising.

    Bad spelling. And dont worry aboutAkountibility or your actions. Matterso ransparincy and Eectivity comelater. You can worry about that onceyoure a Counsalor.

    Design. No campaign poster is

    complete without its air share oheadache-inducing design faws. Ask

    any Journalism 4 Design student whatpeeves them the most and then putthat in the poster. Uneven kerning,horric typography, low-res stretchedimages, MS Word clipart, bad textplacement these are all tried-and-tested key design elements. ry a com-bination o these or maximum eect.

    Presence. Now that your immaculatecampaign poster is ready, you need toput it where everyone can easily see it.I youre worried people will absent-mindedly walk past your brilliance,try posting multiple posters one aeranother in row on the same notice-board. Or you can bend election rulesand print a collage o your poster andstick it up in the most obnoxious placeyou can think o.

    Printing credit. All elections area battle o money and the more

    endangered orestry that dies or the

    noble cause o plastering your aceall over Rhodes, the better. Go ontoROSS, buy printing credit, and buryyour opponents beore they can sayPrint > Jac Labs Major.

    Once campus has been Christmas-wrapped in your design genius, put

    an electoral nail in your opponentscons by learning one key lesson: aposter is not enough. Be sure to goaround to each Dining Hall to begor votes.

    And nally, Spam. Go onto Face-book and witter, and spam. Somemight say posting ve vote or meguyz messages on Facebook, witter,Wordpress, Youube and the internalRhodes student news might be toomuch, but then again, none o thosepeople ever won an election, did they?

    How to win ollowers and infuence people

  • 7/30/2019 The Oppidan Press Edition 8 2013

    16/16

    Spots

    Car ownership: a guide

    see page 8

    Young Directors showcase talent

    see page 9

    Mobile gaming take over

    see page 8

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    versiy (NMMu) n Sarday 17 Ags 2013. R des back taadzwa Cikwind scred w e ries. te game

    wed n rm Rdes u21 eam w s 13-8 uFh in e as mine. P: AShlE E WIlSoN

    Team Match resut

    u21 Ru vs uFh Ru s 13-8

    u21 NMMu vs WSu WSu s 34-5

    1ss Ru vs uFh Ru wn 28-14