Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Company Leaves Durban Employees Jobless
Portia Mvubu
As we all prepare for a great festive season and as we fill shops to do our Christmas shopping, there are people who will not be so lucky.
Some of these people are workers of a company called bizWORKS. This weekt hey were told tha the Durban plant and call centre are being shut with much of the work being moved to England and Johannesburg. Employees of this company say they were not given notice or shown any signs that closure would be imminent.
Junior employee, Zwelethemba Ngcobo, says he feels they were unfairly dismissed.
“You should have seen the people crying on the streets, it was heartbreaking to come to work and be told you no longer have a job,” says Ngcobo.
Over a hundred people of his colleagues are in the same situation. Their main grievance is that they were only told on Wednesday when they showed up for work.
Staff is threatening to take the matter to the department of labour and company management has agreed to meet with them to discuss ways of solving the problem.
BizWorks is abusiness outsourcing company with an IT call centre in Durban. It also has a non-profit organisation that provides business training and loans to entrepreneurs in need of capital, but it is not clear whether that will still be happening.
As we all prepare for a great festive season and as we fill shops to do our Christmas shopping, there are people who will not be so lucky.
Some of these people are workers of a company called bizWORKS. This weekt hey were told tha the Durban plant and call centre are being shut with much of the work being moved to England and Johannesburg. Employees of this company say they were not given notice or shown any signs that closure would be imminent.
Junior employee, Zwelethemba Ngcobo, says he feels they were unfairly dismissed.
“You should have seen the people crying on the streets, it was heartbreaking to come to work and be told you no longer have a job,” says Ngcobo.
Over a hundred people of his colleagues are in the same situation. Their main grievance is that they were only told on Wednesday when they showed up for work.
Staff is threatening to take the matter to the department of labour and company management has agreed to meet with them to discuss ways of solving the problem.
BizWorks is abusiness outsourcing company with an IT call centre in Durban. It also has a non-profit organisation that provides business training and loans to entrepreneurs in need of capital, but it is not clear whether that will still be happening.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Seemingly Great Relationships Might Not Be So Perfect Under a Microscope
I have a friend who is loud, confident and is always the life of any party. She always appears self-assured with no sign of anything that distracts her from her goals. From time to time she would do stupid things like all young people, but she always appears to be a strong woman.
There was a time when she had this certain boyfriend who always seemed like he was in her shadow, but was always supportive of her in everything she did. He was the quiet type who would hold her hand whenever she needed comfort and would offer his shoulders whenever she cried. At parties they would often irritate everyone as they would be the lovey dovey couple that plays with each other and kiss from time to time. They would break up, but we always knew that a passionate make up session would follow.
When they would have their seemingly minor fights she would complain of how she found him a modelling agency and now he is acting like he did it himself. There was even a time she said she suspected him of cheating with her friend, but soon got over that and they made up again.
I recently learnt that the seemingly perfect relationship was worse than most relationships. I heard that she appeared on a magazine recently talking about an abusive relationship she was in. The way she described the man it became obvious that it was her ex-boyfriend who was the sweetest and nicest person you could ever meet.
She spoke of verbal fights that would often turn violent. I remember that there were times when she would walk around with a scarf around her even on hot days but I always thought it was a fashion statement. There was even a time when his car was involved in an accident but now it turns out that he crashed it on the wall of her apartment during one of those heated arguments.
When asked about her reasons for staying she responded by saying she always thought he would change and convinced herself that it wasn’t as bad as it appeared to be.
This makes me wonder how many of our friends go through similar experiences. Girls seem to endure bad, abusive relationships because of love, fear and the hope that one day he would change. Most girls want to be in relationships so much that they would endure even the toughest pain. A relationship seems to put a woman in a certain social standing.
Sometimes I think that as people we do not look hard enough for signs of abuse and we think it’s only couples who scream at each other in public that get involved in physical fights. What this experience has shown me is that even the closest and seemingly perfect couples go through such pain, anger and hurt. Maybe it’s the seemingly perfect relationships that we need to view with a microscope.
It’s great that my friend left the abuser in the past and is now talking about her story so she can finally heal.
There was a time when she had this certain boyfriend who always seemed like he was in her shadow, but was always supportive of her in everything she did. He was the quiet type who would hold her hand whenever she needed comfort and would offer his shoulders whenever she cried. At parties they would often irritate everyone as they would be the lovey dovey couple that plays with each other and kiss from time to time. They would break up, but we always knew that a passionate make up session would follow.
When they would have their seemingly minor fights she would complain of how she found him a modelling agency and now he is acting like he did it himself. There was even a time she said she suspected him of cheating with her friend, but soon got over that and they made up again.
I recently learnt that the seemingly perfect relationship was worse than most relationships. I heard that she appeared on a magazine recently talking about an abusive relationship she was in. The way she described the man it became obvious that it was her ex-boyfriend who was the sweetest and nicest person you could ever meet.
She spoke of verbal fights that would often turn violent. I remember that there were times when she would walk around with a scarf around her even on hot days but I always thought it was a fashion statement. There was even a time when his car was involved in an accident but now it turns out that he crashed it on the wall of her apartment during one of those heated arguments.
When asked about her reasons for staying she responded by saying she always thought he would change and convinced herself that it wasn’t as bad as it appeared to be.
This makes me wonder how many of our friends go through similar experiences. Girls seem to endure bad, abusive relationships because of love, fear and the hope that one day he would change. Most girls want to be in relationships so much that they would endure even the toughest pain. A relationship seems to put a woman in a certain social standing.
Sometimes I think that as people we do not look hard enough for signs of abuse and we think it’s only couples who scream at each other in public that get involved in physical fights. What this experience has shown me is that even the closest and seemingly perfect couples go through such pain, anger and hurt. Maybe it’s the seemingly perfect relationships that we need to view with a microscope.
It’s great that my friend left the abuser in the past and is now talking about her story so she can finally heal.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Don't Lose Sight Of Your Dreams During This Exam Period
Takalani Sioga
The most exciting thing about our future is that we can shape it. My advice to all who are sitting for exams is that they begin to assume responsibility for their future. This time of the year is tough for many as there are many temptations to party and put books aside but in order to succeed they must push as passing means a future that results in food on the table.
As we have started our final exams, we should always remember that success will not lower its standard to us, we should increase our standard to success. A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him. Many South Africans come from poor families and being at university is a struggle for some as people at home are worried about bread and butter issues but that should not deter anyone during these tough times of writing examinations.
It’s only the disciplined that will have a great future and get out of that poverty. A day one wastes is one they can never make up. He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand, walk, run, and climb. A part of standing and walking is for us to put our head down and study so we can eventually pass our exams and hopefully make a lot of money in future.
I believe that everyone who is at university today should remember how they eventually arrived there. They started by dreaming and the dream brought them to university, now at university there are many dreams that people are discovering ith various diplomas and degrees they are studying towards. That is why I say to people, “Don’t remain a dreamer, be an achiever, no matter how many goals were missed or dashed before. It is never too late to set another goal or to dream a new dream, for goals will give you a compass to direct your path in life.” A path to achieving those goals is the one we are currently on at university.
When our dreams are born out of purpose, we can soar above the limitation to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
It is so discouraging to waste your time and money at university and go home empty-handed – remember that our single actions can completely alter our future, for better or worse.
I studied the lives of great men and famous women and found that those who got to the top were those who did the work they had in hand, with everything they had, energy, enthusiasm and hard work. So study hard and maximise your potential in exams.
The most exciting thing about our future is that we can shape it. My advice to all who are sitting for exams is that they begin to assume responsibility for their future. This time of the year is tough for many as there are many temptations to party and put books aside but in order to succeed they must push as passing means a future that results in food on the table.
As we have started our final exams, we should always remember that success will not lower its standard to us, we should increase our standard to success. A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him. Many South Africans come from poor families and being at university is a struggle for some as people at home are worried about bread and butter issues but that should not deter anyone during these tough times of writing examinations.
It’s only the disciplined that will have a great future and get out of that poverty. A day one wastes is one they can never make up. He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand, walk, run, and climb. A part of standing and walking is for us to put our head down and study so we can eventually pass our exams and hopefully make a lot of money in future.
I believe that everyone who is at university today should remember how they eventually arrived there. They started by dreaming and the dream brought them to university, now at university there are many dreams that people are discovering ith various diplomas and degrees they are studying towards. That is why I say to people, “Don’t remain a dreamer, be an achiever, no matter how many goals were missed or dashed before. It is never too late to set another goal or to dream a new dream, for goals will give you a compass to direct your path in life.” A path to achieving those goals is the one we are currently on at university.
When our dreams are born out of purpose, we can soar above the limitation to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
It is so discouraging to waste your time and money at university and go home empty-handed – remember that our single actions can completely alter our future, for better or worse.
I studied the lives of great men and famous women and found that those who got to the top were those who did the work they had in hand, with everything they had, energy, enthusiasm and hard work. So study hard and maximise your potential in exams.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Thirteen Year Old Wrestles His Way To Germany
Tlaki Baloyi
Thirteen year old Thato Monyeki from Soshanguve is often told that he is a bit too big for his age, but his size is allowing the teenager to travel to Germany on a wrestling trip.
The whole community of Soshanguve and his primary school, Kgotlelelang Primary School, are proud of this young man who beat off many others in various school competitions until he remained victorious at national level before being selected for the competition in Germany.
The German trip will be the first international visit for Thato who says he just loves wrestling because he is better at it than most sporting codes. He also says the sporting code will help him uplift his community and he plans to further promote the unpopular sport in Soshanguve.
Thato also says he doesn’t like celebrity wrestling that is often shown on TV as the sport popularised by the likes of John Cena, The Rock, The Undertaker and many others is more violent than what heis familiar with. He says the wrestling he plays only involves a bit of pushing with no weapons whereas the entertainment he sees on TV is a bit too violent for his liking.
His mother, Andronica Monyeki, says she is happy about this as wrestling will keep his son out of crime and other societal ills in the crime-ridden township.
Despite this the family is still worried about Thato’s spending money in Germany and his primary school had asked all pupils to contribute R2 towards his spending money, but despite all this nothing had been received on Wednesday, 03 November 2010.
Thirteen year old Thato Monyeki from Soshanguve is often told that he is a bit too big for his age, but his size is allowing the teenager to travel to Germany on a wrestling trip.
The whole community of Soshanguve and his primary school, Kgotlelelang Primary School, are proud of this young man who beat off many others in various school competitions until he remained victorious at national level before being selected for the competition in Germany.
The German trip will be the first international visit for Thato who says he just loves wrestling because he is better at it than most sporting codes. He also says the sporting code will help him uplift his community and he plans to further promote the unpopular sport in Soshanguve.
Thato also says he doesn’t like celebrity wrestling that is often shown on TV as the sport popularised by the likes of John Cena, The Rock, The Undertaker and many others is more violent than what heis familiar with. He says the wrestling he plays only involves a bit of pushing with no weapons whereas the entertainment he sees on TV is a bit too violent for his liking.
His mother, Andronica Monyeki, says she is happy about this as wrestling will keep his son out of crime and other societal ills in the crime-ridden township.
Despite this the family is still worried about Thato’s spending money in Germany and his primary school had asked all pupils to contribute R2 towards his spending money, but despite all this nothing had been received on Wednesday, 03 November 2010.
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