By Brad de Klerk and Megan Ellis
The Pirate Bay, the world’s largest torrent website, recently announced plans to launch ‘Low Orbit Server Stations’ in an attempt to avoid shutdown and censorship. After numerous takedown attempts by authorities, the site’s owners hope this will be the answer to their run-ins with the law.
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By Makaziwe Sopazi
The death of Former Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, has been confirmed by ANC spokesperson Keith Koza. Shiceka died in the Eastern Cape after a long illness on Monday morning. Continue reading
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Pic: http://www.dala.org.za/citywalk.html
By Isabelle Anne Abraham
“We are free, but there’s an absence of our presence – what happened to that?” asked Doung Anwar Jahangeer in his talk, ‘CityWalk: Art, Architecture and Social Justice’.
Co-hosted by Visual and Performing Arts of Africa, the talk was held on Tuesday 24 April, where Jahangeer gave a presentation including video screenings in the Fine Art Department.
Jahangeer is an architect, an artist, and a performer, interested in issues of space and place. He was born in Mauritius and has been living in South Africa since 1992. After receiving his Bachelor of Architecture at UKZN in Durban, he went on a three-year journey across three continents.
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By Xand Venturas
Chelsea and Bayern Munich both produced sterling away results, knocking out Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, to progress to the 2012 Champions League Final to be played at Bayern Munich’s home stadium, the Allianz Arena, on May 24.
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By Ayanda Kota, publicity secretary of UPM
The Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) was formed in August 2009 to respond to the crisis of unemployment and the commodification of essential services in a society dominated by corruption and greed. As Steve Biko said: “The blacks are tired of standing at the touchlines to witness a game that they should be playing”. We want to do things for ourselves and all by ourselves. The UPM is born out of a realisation that we are protagonists of our lives and nobody will free us but ourselves, we – the unemployed – will have to be our own liberators.
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By Kyle Snow
Cape Town recently hosted the 13th Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) AFRICA Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) tournament, in which the country’s best fighters gathered to claim glory.
EFC Africa broadcast 13 fights on national television, and the main event was the Welterweight title bout between titleholder Dallas Jakobi of Durban and Brazilian-born Jadyson ‘Little Wanderlei’ Costa from Cape Town. Costa is a specialist in boxing, muay tai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu while Jakobi specialises in MMA. The fight was dominated by Costa, who beat a battered and swollen Jakobi by technical knockout to the delight of the Cape Town home-crowd. MMA is one of the the world’s fastest growing sports – in America, for example, it is increasing in popularity by an average of 106 percent per year.
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By Alexa Sedgwick and Kate Sedgwick
The cannabis sativa plant, otherwise known as marijuana, weed, pot, dagga or hemp, has had its fair share of media attention in the past few years. Discussions regarding its decriminalisation have grown across the world and whether or not you agree with it, there is no denying that it has sparked some interesting debates. Commonly associated with alternative groups or stereotyped as a ‘hippie’ drug, cannabis has been criminalised in many countries and is considered a ‘gateway drug’ to hard substance abuse. Even though the movement for its sanction was effectively spear-headed by alternative groups in the past, it has now become a mainstream discussion. Continue reading
By Nicolan Reddy
Korean-born health expert Jim Yong Kim was chosen by the board of the World Bank as its new leader. The 52-year-old won in a decision that, for the first time in World Bank history, was not unanimous. “The final nominees received support from different member countries, which reflected the high calibre of the candidates,” said the World Bank in a statement announcing the board’s decision. Kim will assume his post on 1 July when the resigned president Robert Zoellick’s term ends in June, and will serve for five years. There is speculation and debate as to whether or not the appointment of Kim will lead to the reforms that many global financial leaders are calling for. Continue reading
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By Marc Davies
Emphatically denouncing the Eastern Cape administration, DA leader Helen Zille described education in the province as a “holy mess” at the party’s recent elective conference in Grahamstown. The event, attended by approximately 500 party members, heard Zille’s commentary on local schools only two weeks after her inflammatory comments on “education refugees” fleeing to Western Cape schools from the Eastern Cape.
The Western Cape Premiere and DA leader said the average school pupil in the Eastern Cape is likely to receive “a worse education than she would in parts of war-ravaged Congo”. She subsequently claimed that “tough minister” of Basic Education Angie Motshekga has attempted to rectify the issue of severely overcrowded and failing schools, but has been deterred by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU). According to Zille, President Jacob Zuma has been subtly sacrificing Eastern Cape children to ensure support from COSATU and SADTU in the pivotal ANC Mangaung presidential election in December this year.
By Sibulele Mabusela
In response to the recent student uproar over the timetable change and the resulting miscommunication between the SRC and the student body, the SRC held a press conference last week Thursday to address these concerns.
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