by Bate Felix
Students residing at Esselen residence in Hillbrow fear for their lives following a spate of muggings around the residence this past week.
House committee chairperson Sipho Mbuyisa is calling on the University authorities to act. “This is terrifying and traumatising, somebody must do something,” he pleaded.
This comes a few days after a female student was mugged and her cell phone stolen while she was about to get on a Luxliner shuttle bus at the Esselen bus stop.
Tshegofatso mamabolo, (18) a star school student at Wits said she was about get into the bus to campus. “These guys one in front and one behind grabbed me by my neck, pinned me on the door of the bus and took my cell phone from my pocket”.
After stealing the phone, they fled leaving the students paralysed with fear.
The alleged thieves were on a circuit bus from campus. “This brazen act took place around midday in front many witnesses, including the driver, and some students who were waiting to get into the bus,” said Mbuyisa, a third year quantity surveying student.
“Nobody could do anything because we were deeply traumatised. Even the driver did nothing” said Mbuyisa. “The victim was distraught, crying all the way to campus as we tried to comfort her,” he said
The security situation at Esselen is becoming quite unbearable, Mbuyisa added. The residence is situated in Hillbrow an area with the seedy reputation of a criminal hot spot in Johannesburg.
Floyd Mkhabela, Esselen house committee treasurer, also witnessed the mugging. He said “It is disturbing to know that EOH and other Parktown residences have security, patrolling the place, whereas here (Hillbrow) where we know it is dangerous, there is no security, students are not safe”.
This was the second time in a week that we are having such attacks said Mbuyisa. Last Friday another student and her friend were attacked.
Thandi Dladla an Industrial Psychology honours student said they were waiting for the bus when the two men accosted them, brandishing knives and demanding their cell phones.
“The cameras can see everything going on here but the security said they cannot do anything because they don’t have guns, they said they are scared,” she said.
“The Situation is worrying because the buses transport people in and out of campus without any control; nobody checks to see if only card holders get on the bus, so we cannot tell if they are students or not, anybody can get in and out,” said Sipho Mbuyisa
Vionne de villiers of the transport office said she cannot comment since the incident was never reported, she only heard of it when Vuvuzela made enquiries and campus control is investigating.
Rob Sharman, dean in charge of residence life also said he cannot comment because he only just heard of the incidents, but that he’ll look into it.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Hazard on the dance floor
By Bate Felix
George Bernard Shaw believed dancing to be “a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire, legalised by music”.
I certainly don’t need lessons on perpendicular ways of expressing my desires. It’s just that these don’t usually take the form of dancing. If you prefer a meaningful tête-à-tête on a stool near the bar, to showing off on the dance floor, then you get my point.
So why was I trudging to the Bozz to enter the world of rhythmic movements? This is where the campus society, Dance@Wits, holds its classes every week.
Being 90kg on a 172cm frame, a tad too healthy around the love handles, does not help matters, especially when you have plodded all your life, instead of learning the art of graceful locomotion.
But there comes a point in life when it becomes imperative to face your demons. Besides, when you see an offer that could introduce you to a whole new world (and new opportunities for meaningful tête-à-têtes) - and all for R1,80 an hour - you’d be a fool not to check it out. That’s what I thought anyway.
My curiosity was stirred. Who would offer dance lessons for such a ridiculously low sum? What kind of lessons would they offer?
Dance @ Wits, for those who don’t know, used to be known as the ballroom dancing society. They have been around for over half a century. A great deal has happened since then, and some vibrant Witses have decided to give the society a new life.
The first thing I noticed was the smile on people’s faces. It eased the knot in my stomach and gave me the courage to approach. I was welcomed with open arms and invited to join the group.
“They are all beginners,” vice chairperson, Helen Robertson, said, allaying my fears of being the only clumsy clodhopper on the dance floor. “Everything will be fine. Just do as they do.”
Dance @ Wits offer 12 hours of various dance lessons each week, for R500 per year. This works out at R1, 80 an hour. There are a range of choices, from social ballet, to pantsula and Latin.
Such lessons in a professional studio would cost R50 per half hour for beginners and between R200 and R300 a month for couples.
From Monday through Thursday, from 5.30 to 8.30pm, they offer one-hour lessons of various dances to the more than 200 members of the club. Sessions are taught by professional instructors.
Before my first lesson, I knew nothing about tap dancing except that people tapped their feet and made funny rhythmic noises.
“Learning tap is like learning how to read,” said Trish McKenna, the instructor. “There are 22 single sounds that you can make with your feet. Like the alphabet, the sounds don’t go together.”
As a beginner, I learnt the basic movements and the sounds I could make. The first six taps involved making a slight noise with the ball of my feet. Then I learnt the forward and backward taps.
It didn’t take me long to realise that dancing involves a definite form of physical exercise. I was out of breath by the fourth movement, and my knees could no longer support me. My feet kept thumping the floor, instead of creating the gentle tap demonstrated by the graceful Ms McKeena.
But I persevered. Ballroom dancing is a different ballgame. It involves partners and complicated synchronised movements. This is where debutantes have problems. Tempers have been known to flare as toes are stepped on.
Ballroom competition is not advisable for beginners since they have first to master the basic technicalities. Every movement revolves around the man. It would have been perilous for a novice like me to venture into it.
Watching the dancers from the side, I thought again of Bernard Shaw. Wits BCom alumnus, Bongani Nkosi, confirmed my evil thoughts when he jokingly confided that he came “for the chicks”.
“I mean look at them n’fethu, and tell me what you think?” he said.
For Itumeleng Manaka, a BCom student, it was “meeting people, going places, outings and parties” that attracted him. “And you do meet decent people,” added his friend, Siphiwe Hlongwane, also a BCom student.
Others are drawn by the challenge that dancing poses. “It is difficult. That is why I want to know how to do it,” said Llewellyn Moorkey, an aeronautic engineering first year.
“I need exercise and I hate the gym. It’s counter-productive for me. I dance for social reasons and, besides, it’s a lot of fun,” said Gila Berman a fourth year medical student.
Leaving the Bozz after my third lesson, this time Cha Cha and Samba, I could not help taking the sensual strides that come naturally after an hour spent on both dances. Hey Shakira, anytime you feel like meeting up on the dance floor, I’m up to the challenge.
George Bernard Shaw believed dancing to be “a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire, legalised by music”.
I certainly don’t need lessons on perpendicular ways of expressing my desires. It’s just that these don’t usually take the form of dancing. If you prefer a meaningful tête-à-tête on a stool near the bar, to showing off on the dance floor, then you get my point.
So why was I trudging to the Bozz to enter the world of rhythmic movements? This is where the campus society, Dance@Wits, holds its classes every week.
Being 90kg on a 172cm frame, a tad too healthy around the love handles, does not help matters, especially when you have plodded all your life, instead of learning the art of graceful locomotion.
But there comes a point in life when it becomes imperative to face your demons. Besides, when you see an offer that could introduce you to a whole new world (and new opportunities for meaningful tête-à-têtes) - and all for R1,80 an hour - you’d be a fool not to check it out. That’s what I thought anyway.
My curiosity was stirred. Who would offer dance lessons for such a ridiculously low sum? What kind of lessons would they offer?
Dance @ Wits, for those who don’t know, used to be known as the ballroom dancing society. They have been around for over half a century. A great deal has happened since then, and some vibrant Witses have decided to give the society a new life.
The first thing I noticed was the smile on people’s faces. It eased the knot in my stomach and gave me the courage to approach. I was welcomed with open arms and invited to join the group.
“They are all beginners,” vice chairperson, Helen Robertson, said, allaying my fears of being the only clumsy clodhopper on the dance floor. “Everything will be fine. Just do as they do.”
Dance @ Wits offer 12 hours of various dance lessons each week, for R500 per year. This works out at R1, 80 an hour. There are a range of choices, from social ballet, to pantsula and Latin.
Such lessons in a professional studio would cost R50 per half hour for beginners and between R200 and R300 a month for couples.
From Monday through Thursday, from 5.30 to 8.30pm, they offer one-hour lessons of various dances to the more than 200 members of the club. Sessions are taught by professional instructors.
Before my first lesson, I knew nothing about tap dancing except that people tapped their feet and made funny rhythmic noises.
“Learning tap is like learning how to read,” said Trish McKenna, the instructor. “There are 22 single sounds that you can make with your feet. Like the alphabet, the sounds don’t go together.”
As a beginner, I learnt the basic movements and the sounds I could make. The first six taps involved making a slight noise with the ball of my feet. Then I learnt the forward and backward taps.
It didn’t take me long to realise that dancing involves a definite form of physical exercise. I was out of breath by the fourth movement, and my knees could no longer support me. My feet kept thumping the floor, instead of creating the gentle tap demonstrated by the graceful Ms McKeena.
But I persevered. Ballroom dancing is a different ballgame. It involves partners and complicated synchronised movements. This is where debutantes have problems. Tempers have been known to flare as toes are stepped on.
Ballroom competition is not advisable for beginners since they have first to master the basic technicalities. Every movement revolves around the man. It would have been perilous for a novice like me to venture into it.
Watching the dancers from the side, I thought again of Bernard Shaw. Wits BCom alumnus, Bongani Nkosi, confirmed my evil thoughts when he jokingly confided that he came “for the chicks”.
“I mean look at them n’fethu, and tell me what you think?” he said.
For Itumeleng Manaka, a BCom student, it was “meeting people, going places, outings and parties” that attracted him. “And you do meet decent people,” added his friend, Siphiwe Hlongwane, also a BCom student.
Others are drawn by the challenge that dancing poses. “It is difficult. That is why I want to know how to do it,” said Llewellyn Moorkey, an aeronautic engineering first year.
“I need exercise and I hate the gym. It’s counter-productive for me. I dance for social reasons and, besides, it’s a lot of fun,” said Gila Berman a fourth year medical student.
Leaving the Bozz after my third lesson, this time Cha Cha and Samba, I could not help taking the sensual strides that come naturally after an hour spent on both dances. Hey Shakira, anytime you feel like meeting up on the dance floor, I’m up to the challenge.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Who will save my Soul?
by Saaleha Bamjee and Bate Felix
Wits students can’t complain if their souls wander off into unexpected dimensions in the life hereafter – what with the more than 20 religious organisations catering for their spiritual life.
It was the free food on offer that first got Shanti Prakash interested in signing up for the Bhakti Yoga society.
But it was during a society meeting, when asked to say a mantra, that he experienced a deep sensation of fulfillment and ecstacy.
After going on a retreat with the society, he witnessed firsthand a different type of lifestyle and this impressed him. Bhakti Yoga’s principles of increasing devotion to God and not harming any living thing, were philosophies that Prakash found most valuable.
One of the greatest attractions of O-week this year was the number of religious and spiritual groups vying for the souls of Witsies, particularly the new students. Finding themselves in this strange environment, they could easily be tempted into things unpleasant to the soul, if not caught early.
The South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) provides a platform for Jewish life on campus, according to Emma Berkowitz, Wits SAUJS chairperson. SAUJS aims to provide for its members’ social and religious needs. This is done by ensuring that Jewish students are exempt from writing tests and exams on holy days and on the Sabbath. Talks and seminars by rabbis are also hosted.
On the social side, braais, parties and other activities are planned throughout the year. On April 20, a night at the Blues Room was organised to showcase Jewish bands. Charity work is also undertaken, the most recent being a collaboration with FeedSA.
The Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) serves as a collective body to which Muslims at Wits can relate. The MSA also believes that a religious society should provide for its members’ social needs. Braais and get-togethers are regularly planned to get members to network and become closer as a group. Often, separate events are organised for male and female students as Islamic law discourages gender intermingling.
The MSA aims to provide its members with opportunities to grow spiritually and to become more aware of current events and how Islam remains relevant even in a modern context. The MSA hosted a religious scholar from Sri Lanka on Wednesday who gave students a report back on the Tsunami disaster.
Plans to build a new Muslim prayer facility on a site near the Planetarium are in the works. According to MSA chairperson, Muhammed Dadabhay, a further R500 000 has to be raised before building can commence. Muslim students currently use the prayer facility or Jamaat Khana on Yale Road as a venue for their daily prayers.
The Student Christian Organisation (SCO) is one of the many Christian organisations on campus. Their members meet every Thursday at the Richard Ward building for a praise and worship session during lunchtime.
These sessions serve to bring them closer to God and maintain that relationship. “To me it’s like a Sunday service. You need to be more round and not only a just Sunday Christian,” said Xolani Shongwe, a 3rd year BA student.
“Trying to live a life as a Christian at Wits can be difficult, especially with distractions from unsaved friends and other things,” said Corey Spengler, 3rd year BA student and SCO member. “So this time is important to us - you get a break from your hectic life and meet fellow Christians on campus.”
The group will be going on a spiritual retreat to Stony Ridge in the Magaliesberg between the April 4 and 6. “This will be an opportunity for the students to get away and build intimacy with God,” said Jessica Krige, 3rd year psychology student and SCO member.
But these societies do not just concern themselves with providing souls with spiritual food.
Visits to homeless shelters in Braamfontein by the SCO, an orphanage in Newtown by the Zion Christian Church Student Fellowship and other charitable activities by the various organisations, expose members to the realities of the society and challenge them lead an exemplary life.
Wits students can’t complain if their souls wander off into unexpected dimensions in the life hereafter – what with the more than 20 religious organisations catering for their spiritual life.
It was the free food on offer that first got Shanti Prakash interested in signing up for the Bhakti Yoga society.
But it was during a society meeting, when asked to say a mantra, that he experienced a deep sensation of fulfillment and ecstacy.
After going on a retreat with the society, he witnessed firsthand a different type of lifestyle and this impressed him. Bhakti Yoga’s principles of increasing devotion to God and not harming any living thing, were philosophies that Prakash found most valuable.
One of the greatest attractions of O-week this year was the number of religious and spiritual groups vying for the souls of Witsies, particularly the new students. Finding themselves in this strange environment, they could easily be tempted into things unpleasant to the soul, if not caught early.
The South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) provides a platform for Jewish life on campus, according to Emma Berkowitz, Wits SAUJS chairperson. SAUJS aims to provide for its members’ social and religious needs. This is done by ensuring that Jewish students are exempt from writing tests and exams on holy days and on the Sabbath. Talks and seminars by rabbis are also hosted.
On the social side, braais, parties and other activities are planned throughout the year. On April 20, a night at the Blues Room was organised to showcase Jewish bands. Charity work is also undertaken, the most recent being a collaboration with FeedSA.
The Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) serves as a collective body to which Muslims at Wits can relate. The MSA also believes that a religious society should provide for its members’ social needs. Braais and get-togethers are regularly planned to get members to network and become closer as a group. Often, separate events are organised for male and female students as Islamic law discourages gender intermingling.
The MSA aims to provide its members with opportunities to grow spiritually and to become more aware of current events and how Islam remains relevant even in a modern context. The MSA hosted a religious scholar from Sri Lanka on Wednesday who gave students a report back on the Tsunami disaster.
Plans to build a new Muslim prayer facility on a site near the Planetarium are in the works. According to MSA chairperson, Muhammed Dadabhay, a further R500 000 has to be raised before building can commence. Muslim students currently use the prayer facility or Jamaat Khana on Yale Road as a venue for their daily prayers.
The Student Christian Organisation (SCO) is one of the many Christian organisations on campus. Their members meet every Thursday at the Richard Ward building for a praise and worship session during lunchtime.
These sessions serve to bring them closer to God and maintain that relationship. “To me it’s like a Sunday service. You need to be more round and not only a just Sunday Christian,” said Xolani Shongwe, a 3rd year BA student.
“Trying to live a life as a Christian at Wits can be difficult, especially with distractions from unsaved friends and other things,” said Corey Spengler, 3rd year BA student and SCO member. “So this time is important to us - you get a break from your hectic life and meet fellow Christians on campus.”
The group will be going on a spiritual retreat to Stony Ridge in the Magaliesberg between the April 4 and 6. “This will be an opportunity for the students to get away and build intimacy with God,” said Jessica Krige, 3rd year psychology student and SCO member.
But these societies do not just concern themselves with providing souls with spiritual food.
Visits to homeless shelters in Braamfontein by the SCO, an orphanage in Newtown by the Zion Christian Church Student Fellowship and other charitable activities by the various organisations, expose members to the realities of the society and challenge them lead an exemplary life.
Ernestmen Defend League title
by Bate Felix and Percy Zvomuya
Ernestmen slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Esselen Residence this week in a FNB Wits internal soccer league match at the Digs field behind Barnato hall.
Thabelo Thekiso opened the scoring for Ernestmen and Vusi Tjake replied with a brace for Esselen - grabbing the three points of the game.
Ernestmen, the defending champions of the league, suffered the old plague of peacock flourish and wasteful finishing which cost them dearly.
Having scored an early goal in the first minutes of second half, they allowed themselves to be lulled into complacency. Meanwhile Esselen boys showing passion came in wave after wave of attack which was superbly handled by the Ernestmen back four.
But their resistance did not last for long as the Esselen boys, clad in a blue and white kit, scored two quick goals which puffed out the smouldering Ernestmen spirit.
The game, which started at a fast elegant pace, degenerated into a physical combat bordering on violence in the second half. However referee Mokhulu Matshika stamped his authority and called the teams to order.
The FNB sponsored Wits Internal soccer league kicked off two weeks ago with 8 teams playing in the premier division, 8 in the first division, 14 in the second division and 4 in the ladies division.
The teams are made up of registered Wits students from the various campuses and residences. The matches are played every Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 9pm at the Digs field.
Last year Ernestmen won both the Championship and the Baxter Cup to crown the year. For their efforts, they are being sponsored with a full soccer kit by FNB. They hope to repeat last year’s performance.
Their Coach Sabelo Thabe was philosophical: “It’s a slow start to a good finish.”
Ernestmen slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Esselen Residence this week in a FNB Wits internal soccer league match at the Digs field behind Barnato hall.
Thabelo Thekiso opened the scoring for Ernestmen and Vusi Tjake replied with a brace for Esselen - grabbing the three points of the game.
Ernestmen, the defending champions of the league, suffered the old plague of peacock flourish and wasteful finishing which cost them dearly.
Having scored an early goal in the first minutes of second half, they allowed themselves to be lulled into complacency. Meanwhile Esselen boys showing passion came in wave after wave of attack which was superbly handled by the Ernestmen back four.
But their resistance did not last for long as the Esselen boys, clad in a blue and white kit, scored two quick goals which puffed out the smouldering Ernestmen spirit.
The game, which started at a fast elegant pace, degenerated into a physical combat bordering on violence in the second half. However referee Mokhulu Matshika stamped his authority and called the teams to order.
The FNB sponsored Wits Internal soccer league kicked off two weeks ago with 8 teams playing in the premier division, 8 in the first division, 14 in the second division and 4 in the ladies division.
The teams are made up of registered Wits students from the various campuses and residences. The matches are played every Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 9pm at the Digs field.
Last year Ernestmen won both the Championship and the Baxter Cup to crown the year. For their efforts, they are being sponsored with a full soccer kit by FNB. They hope to repeat last year’s performance.
Their Coach Sabelo Thabe was philosophical: “It’s a slow start to a good finish.”
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Begging Fields
by
Bate Felix
Lush, well-tended fields begging to be roughed up a bit. Bare courts, stadiums and sports halls.
A sad existence for Wits’ sporting facilities.
With more than enough sports grounds to hold the entire Wits population on a given day, it is heartbreaking to see these facilities empty most of the time.
Wits students don’t even seem to notice how fortunate they are to have Olympic-standard facilities that many a third world nation would go to war over.
Come evenings and weekends, the campus is deserted, the fields beg for a crowd, for cheering spectators to warm the benches, for studs to dig into the grass, for somebody to slide, to tumble . . .but alas.
A while back I used to long for such grounds - when my only playground was a dusty, rough patch of uneven earth, dug out of a side of a hill. But it nonetheless managed to become a place of great camaraderie. A place where characters were shaped, where life-long bonds were formed, and also some enemies.
When I first laid eyes on the immaculate lawns of the Digs field, of Sturrock Park, of Walter Milton oval and the Charles Skeen stadium, I thought this was surely a place where champions were moulded. Surely with such facilities, Wits should be producing top sportsmen and women, proportionate to the number of graduates…but alas.
No varsity Olympics, none of the intervarsity duels famous in other places, no inter-faculty games…The lack of such contests is unheard of in any other university worth the name. Not even the David Webster friendlies tournament, organised a few weeks ago, drew Witsies. Question is: are we just too busy or do we just not care? Or worse still, just lazy slobs put off by the abundance of sporting options we have?
Last I heard the varsity curriculum developers were considering introducing Sports (practice and theory) as a compulsory course with exams and compulsory hours, in all degree programmes.
This I believe is laudable. If it means taking these forceful measures to make students use sporting facilities, then so be it.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Wits launches loud paper
BY
Bate Felix and Jade Archer
Vuvuzela, a student newspaper project of the Wits Journalism and Media Studies programme, was officially launched by Wits University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Loyiso Nongxa.
The vice chancellor described Vuvuzela as “a good training ground for aspiring journalism students”.
At the launch on March 11, Nongxa said he looks forward to Fridays in anticipation of the latest Vuvuzela edition as it “taps into the core of the vibrant community of Wits”.
Already in its fourth edition this year, Vuvuzela began in September 2004 and is run entirely by career entry honours students of the journalism programme as an integral part of their training, with the guidance of staff.
Nongxa commended Professor Anton Harber, head of the Wits journalism programme, for his “Midas touch”. He also praised the staff and dedicated partners such as Media 24, Johnnic and Caxton for their contributions in making Vuvuzela a reality.
Nongxa said Vuvuzela showed the potent combination of skills development and rigorous intellectual training that Wits offers, and challenged students and staff at Vuvuzela to be fair, balanced and unbiased in their reporting.
Harber thanked all those involved for contributing to the success of Vuvuzela. He said he hoped the newspaper would help expand student experiences at Wits.
Saleeha Bamjee, a Wits journalism honours graduate who is now one of the four interns with Vuvuzela, said, “Working on the student publication has been an amazing experience, putting into practice the theories learnt in class”. She said Vuvuzela would hopefully become an integral part of Wits culture, and that it would continue to push boundaries.
The launch was attended by staff and students of the university, and also by representatives of the partners, Media24, Johnnic and Caxton.
Etienne Naude, representing Media24, praised the paper. “I am surprised at the quality of reporting. It is good, it's nice to see a publication like this," he said.
Wits registrar Dr Derek Swemmer said: “It has demonstrated the wish to provide genuine ethical journalism while reporting vibrant campus life. In that respect it’s a breath of fresh air on campus.”
Speaking after the launch, Harber said the ceremony was intended to say “thank you” to the partners of the programme, and partly also because the vice chancellor had shown his support for an independent Vuvuzela.
Zingisani Nkamana, Wits Student Representative Council vice president, said the project was a good idea. “I look forward to see how it progresses throughout the year,” he commented.
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