I Push a Wheelbarrow for 5km to Fetch Water as South Africa Celebrates Freedom Day

Zanele Ngwenyama

@zanelengwenyama

Image: www.colormagazine.com

I am from the rural areas of Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga and as South Africans in the cities I started living in when I left home for my studies celebrate the various freedoms that came with our democracy nearly two decades ago, I feel areas such as the one I come from have very little to celebrate. People from villages in the area get tricked every four to five years during national and municipal elections as representatives of various political parties would promise the poor a better life, a life where they also don’t have to live in fear because there would be better policing. They often believe these promises that are seldom or never met.

As South Africans from the rest of the country celebrate the milestone of 19 years since our parents voted for the first time, my province of Mpumalanga has announced that two municipalities have been placed under administration. This is the same province that has failed to produce favourable Matric results despite all the tweaking and changes that happen which are done so it is much easier for high school pupils to pass. 

African photographers for human rights

The People's Choice Award for human rights photography recognizes African photojournalists who inspire and change perceptions of life in Africa through the power of photographic storytelling.

Whether published in print or online, photography is a powerful medium and Africa has always been a magnet for the world's leading photographers. But it is African photographers who document life across the continent day in, day out - whether it is breaking news, business, development issues, human rights abuses, conflicts or simply portraying the lives of ordinary people.

For more information about this award, click on this link here.

Media, Educators & Government Discuss the African Story

Sthembiso Sithole

@sitholeexpress

Nqakula told panelists that positive government stories need to be published.

The media is most people’s only window to places outside South Africa and through television screens, radio and newspaper reports people can be transported to countries across the African continent. But this picture of Africa depends on how the journalist and the news organisation they work for cover the rest of the continent. From their angle, people sitting in their homes across South Africa would then formulate their own picture of other regions in Africa.

Many would remember how the North African countries of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia dominated the news in 2011 as people were revolting against their governments. Libya’s was the most difficult as that country’s president Muammar Ghaddafi was refusing to step down until the rebels started hunting him down and eventually killed him. Nato also declared the airspace over Libya a no-fly zone and then started shelling the country. That is the story of North Africa from 2011 many would remember. The dictators who led those countries are no longer in power and as there are fewer protests, no shelling of the region and a bit of calm, the stories from there have also stopped. There is also a huge possibility that many who watched those conflicts would not know a North Africa without conflict as they’ve never seen it through their window.