My Mother, Common Story of Black Women under Apartheid – Cleaning People’s Homes; Democracy Grants me Freedom of Choice

Sibusiso Banda

@AwesomeSbu

I don’t remember much about days before 27 April 1994, when South Africans of all races voted for the first time. I remember that my parents were excited about going to vote, I just didn’t know why. I was four-years-old at the time.

My story is that of post-apartheid challenges as I was being raised by my mother’s wages from the domestic work she did. She was good at it to and always hard working. Despite her circumstances that were never easy, I don’t remember my mother requesting us to be anything more than ourselves. She never fantasised about lawyers, doctors or accountants in the house. She knew that ours would be a story of freedom of choice that black people didn’t have before and I have exercised this choice by going to Tshwane University of Technology to study journalism. 

Unemployment Means One Has a Lot of Time, What’s Yours Spent On?

Cyril Skosana

@McCyrus_Skosana

Three years ago, you were a different person, enthusiastic about your new venture. Call it a commencement of hope, not only for you, but also for those who look up to you, especially your siblings. You are their hope after all. 

It was a start of a new life with promises of a brighter tomorrow. However, a year if not few months ago, your dreams met with “the reality” of this world and you felt let down by your hopes, ambitions and passion. Really, this is when you began questioning your decisions. “Why did I choose this course?” You are not alone, and there’s still more who will feel like kicking themselves after a brief moment of self-introspection. My friends do not squirm in despair. 

I Stay in a South African Town Where I've Been Asked What an Internet Cafe is

Khuliso Nemarimela

@willeinstein

Recently I started working as an intern in small town of Kuruman in the Northern Cape. I am from Venda. Growing up I would eat all the fruit that people know that part of Limpopo for. On completion of my schooling I then moved to Pretoria, where I am currently in the final year of my National Diploma in Journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). I never thought my journalism studies would bring me to this part of the world, where I have experienced the biggest under-development area I have ever imagined in South Africa.

Growing up in rural Venda one would expect that we don’t have modern day technologies, but we do. One can still be connected to the internet, there is a university in the area and big cities such as Polokwane and Pretoria are not too far to reach if there is something we cannot find nearby. We even have a football team in the Premier Soccer League. The Northern Cape, where I am working, has no university, Kuruman seems to be a deserted town and in my new home, the village of Maruping, I asked around for an internet café once and one young lady responded by asking me what an internet café is. I realised then that if I didn't have my mobile phone, I would be disconnected from the rest of the world. I also wasn't sure whether there was a lack of education in the area about such things or whether the young lady in question was just ignorant.

TUT Students Not Returning to Lectures Until SRC Demands are Met

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) students are being blocked from entering Soshanguve campuses despite receiving text messages from university management informing them that classes would resume on Thursday. The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) has been leading a strike since last week.

TUT Students on Strike (Photo: Wilson Tladi)

Striking students at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) blocking entrances with fire at the Soshanguve campuses. Staff at the campuses has been told to resume duties on Wednesday. The students name reforms in the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), a lack of hot water in residences and the unavailability of free university transport as some of their grievances.