Voices From Sa

I met Frank Meintjies briefly a few times many years ago in Durban in the mid to late 1980’s as far as we can put it together. He was working, as a communications officer for Diakonia.  He joined trade union federation COSATU around the same time. Today Frank is a social activist and community organiser, a traveler and a poet. We spoke via Skype late last year when he was in Vietnam as part of a journey through SE Asia where he is looking for the radical Ubuntu that connects the marginalised around the world. We lost the feed a few times and the sound quality is a bit iffy but it worked out okay. I suggest you wear headphones or listen in the car. We spoke about his travels, his childhood in Pietermaritzburg and his work as an organiser and activist over the years including his brushes with the security services in those dark days. We spend some time chatting about the current state of the trade union movement in SA and Frank reflects on how the movement can become more relevant in the age of populism

This is the last in the end of year series of repeats from Voices from SA. I interviewed Nozipho a few months ago. She is a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. Nozipho's earliest memories are her wrapped on her mother's back as her family ran for its life as houses burnt all around them during the IFP/ANC conflict around Pietermaritzburg in the late 1980's. Our discussion traced her life from living in the family car in a forest to facilitating events for the World Bank. It is an inspiring and emotional journey.

This is the third episode in a series of holiday season repeats. I first interviewed Dipak shortly before the ANC conference of December 2017 that led to Cyril Ramaphosa being appointed as ANC Secretary-General and subsequently the President of South Africa, replacing Jacob Zuma. Since then the government has made various efforts to rehabilitate itself, and various state-owned enterprises blighted by corruption and mismanagement. Earlier this year Dipak was appointed as Special Advisor to Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan to assist in rolling-back the impact of state capture.

This is the second episode of four end of year reruns. Normal service will be resumed January 16 2019\. I chatted to Prof. Hall a few months ago. Since our discussion she was appointed to an advisory panel on land reform by President Ramaphosa. There have also been countywide public forums to discuss various aspects of land redistribution and restitution. In the light of the imminent publication of the new Expropriation Bill which was accepted by cabinet recently I thought it would be interesting to revisit our chat where Prof. Hall argues that there is no need to change the constitution in order to facilitate a land restitution programme in South Africa

I will be away for the next few weeks and will be playing some of my favorite episodes from 2018. My chat with Sisonke was the first episode of Voices from SA I published. I will always appreciate the fact that she took time from her hectic schedule to speak to me. Since that first episode she has published a new book called "The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela" In this episode we chatted about growing up in exile, her memoir "Always Another Country" and her perceptions of the state of the ANC, and the country in general.

Sisa Ntshona was appointed CEO of SA Tourism two years ago and he is a man with a mission. After a number of years in the banking sector Sisa was looking for a new challenge, and a way to contribute to the growth and success of South Africa. Sisa grew up in Alice in the Eastern Cape and then studied accounting at UCT in the early 1990,s. We chatted about his career in banking and his eventual disillusionment with the industry that led to his new path. Sisa and I chatted about the challenges and opportunities of tourism in South Africa, from overcoming historical legacies locally, to changing negative perceptions internationally.

I have been aware of Felix Laband for many years, and we may well have been in the same bar or club at one time or another over the years, but we only met and spoke for the first time a few months ago. We chatted about his musical journey from teenage punk to dance music pioneer, how technology has impacted his creative processes over the years and his return to art. He is more than four months sober now and we spoke about his struggles with addiction over the decades. Felix, together with his friend and mentor the writer and cultural flaneur Jay Savage are artists in residence at [NIROX](https://niroxarts.com/) outside Johannesburg from December 2-18\. The pair will be exhibiting the fruits of their labour at NIROX on [December 15](https://www.facebook.com/events/433145683883745/)

Melsusi Tshabala gained renown in South Africa for his recently published book "Melusi's Everyday Zulu" He is the founder of the advertising agency Studio 214. Melusi grew up in Soweto with his mum. He feels companies have an important part in supporting black entrepreneurs. We chatted about a number of things including patriarchy, the state of politics in South Africa and the ongoing socioeconomic disparity in the country. "Lets get along is papering over the cracks. Getting along serves the wealthy. We cannot get along then I go back to my shack, and you go to your mansion." Check out Melusi's Everyday Zulu on [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/everydayzulu/)

Keval Harie grew up in a conservative Hindu household outside Johannesburg. A lawyer by training, he has been the director of GALA for the last two years. We chatted about his childhood and the loneliness of struggling with his sexual identity, and his grappling with the consequences of coming out to his family and friends. We chatted about a number of issues relating to the LGBTQ community in South Africa including what Keval refers to as the "patriarchy of homosexuality" in South Africa and the racism associated with this. Forced removals came up a few times in our discussion, both in relation to his parents history, and the experiences of the gay community in District Six in Cape Town, so we touched in this as well in the context of the current debate on land reform. To contact GALA go [here](https://gala.co.za/). Click [here](https://gala.co.za/projects-and-programmes/a-daughter-of-district-six/) to find out more information about The Kewpie Project.

I met Letsika by accident at the Living Room in downtown Johannesburg one sunny Sunday afternoon a few years back. When I found out he was a pilot I badgered him for hours that day for stories and experiences of being a pilot.. He has been flying for SAA for fourteen years and in our discussion we track his path as a child watching crop-dusters flying over the township in Bethlehem in the Free State, to sitting in the right-hand set of an Airbus A340-600. While we he did share few tales from the cockpit, from the stress of his pilot training in Australia to dealing with the odd bird strike, we also discussed more serious issues around the lack of transformation at SAA, and the fact that the uncertain future of the airline might force him to seek greener and more stable pastures abroad.

Monde Nkasawe is the head of the secretariat to the Eastern Cape provincial government. He is also the author of eight books(7 self-published), including an anthology of poetry. His latest book, We Need A Country, is published by Sifiso Publishers. Monde and I chatted about his journey into writing from a rural childhood in the Eastern Cape, through to his time in provincial government via his studies at the University of Cape Town in the early 1990's. We also spent some time talking about some of the themes that come out of his writing-love, loss, corruption and violence. Monde also speaks about the need to restore the integrity of national and local bureaucracies and the ongoing fight against patriarchy.

Elias Ribeiro moved to South Africa from Brazil via various European countries eight years ago. Through Urucu Media, Elias and his business partner Cait Pansegrouw, have bought a number of award-winning films to the screen including Necktie Youth, The Train of Salt and Sugar and most recently Inxeba/The Wound which was shortlisted for the Foreign Film Oscar 2018\. He has also worked as a mentor for producers at the Realness project. In our discussion we chart his journey from Hotel and Hospitality graduate to film producer. Elias gives an insight into the role of the producer, and explains the time-consuming and complicated process of bringing a film to the screen. We also chatted about some of the activities of the the film market at the recent CTIFMF, the trials and tribulations of The Wound, where he and others were subjected to death threats, and his commitment to the future of film in South Africa and across the continent.

Sanele Sibanda is a senior lecturer at the School of Law at Wits University in Johannesburg. He was born in Zimbabwe to a Zimbabwean father and a South African mother. His father was involved in the negotiations that led to Zimbabwe gaining independence in 1980. Sanele's areas of teaching include critical constitutionalism and indigenous law reform. We chatted about his student days at the University of Cape Town in the early 1990's, the role of a constitution and the rule of law in building a national identity, and how indigenous/customary law can be better incorporated into our mainstream legal system. The role of the constitution in the ongoing land reform debate in South Afrcia also came up in our conversation.

Nicholas Wolpe grew up in exile in the United Kingdom. In the early 2000's he took the first steps that would eventually lead to the development of the site in Rivonia into the Liliesleaf Museum. Nicholas and I chatted about how the museum and its contents have evolved over time, and what a personal and cathartic journey it has been for him. Nicholas' father Harold was one of the 20 activists arrested on the site in July 11,1963. Nicholas is concerned that South Africans are losing their history and that knowledge about the liberation struggle is important in creating a national identity in South Africa. He says that the past is our link to the present and our future. Read more about the Lilliesleaf Museum at the link below. http://www.liliesleaf.co.za/

Sinenhlanhla Nzama is the Head Product Actuary for South African financial services giant Investec. As such he is responsible for product development, risk and underwriting for Investec's insurance arm. While we did discuss some aspects of his business, including the impact and influence of technology, particularly big data analytics, on the insurance industry as whole, we had a wide-ranging discussion on a number of topics. He told me about having to learn English when he moved to high school, and witnessing some of the awful political violence that plagued KwaZulu Natal province in the late 1980's and early 1990's. More importantly we chatted about his three pillars of transformation, the future of work, and how he sees the medium to long-term future of South Africa. ("There is nowhere on earth I would rather be")

I met Gontse Nxumalo at a street party in Orlando East a few years back. He was just formulating the idea that would become Orlando Sneaker Care Technicians. That idea is now a reality. We spoke about a lot of things including his love of selling, his love for his community,and the stress of the hustle. Gontse also spoke about how the youth feel abandoned by government, and the destruction that corruption has caused in Orlando East. You can find out more about OSCT at https://www.facebook.com/theOSCT/ I hope you enjoy this poignant and positive discussion.

My guest this week is Nyiko Shikwambane. Nyiko is currently busy with her master thesis in African Literature at Wits University. Nyiko was intimately involved in the Fees Must Fall movement at Wits and we do spend some time getting her perspective on where the movement stands today. She was also, along with three fellow activists, involved in one of the most dramatic political protests of recent times when the four young women stood in silence in front of former President Zuma as he spoke, evoking the memory of his rape accuser Fezekile Khuzwayo. She tells me how that moment came about. We had a wide-ranging discussion about, among other things, gender identity and the phenomenon of corrective rape, the changing nature of work and the potential of the fourth industrial revolution to create new leadership models, new industries and new ways of work. Nyiko and her fellow activist  Naledi Chirwa have launched a YouTube channel called #UnpolicedExpressions  where they talk about issues of feminism and gende

Pearl Pillay grew up in Chatsworth, an Indian township south of Durban on the South African East Coast. She is a director at Youth Lab, a Johannesburg think-tank that works “to provide various platforms for young people and decision-makers to exchange ideas, develop strategies and execute plans that will enhance the lives of young South Africans.” Pearl and I chatted about her meeting her hero Arundhati Roy at a recent book launch, growing up in a religious home blighted by a violent and alcoholic father, and her path into activism and politics. We also looked at the work of the Youth Lab and some of the issues confronting the youth of South Africa today in the face of low growth, high youth unemployment and government apathy.

Kolosa Madikizela was born in Bizana in the Eastern Cape. She has worked in the construction and engineering industry for fifteen years and is the head of the Built Environment Unit at Aurecon, a multinational engineering company. Kolosa is committed to transformation on a  number of levels. Not only racial and gender transformation, but the transformation of thoughts and ways of working as well. She also feels that construction companies, developers and the government need to work together on a more equatable and broader development agenda that looks to close the gap between townships and cities  across the country. Kolosa and I also spoke about the impact of technology on design, sustainable construction and the development of smart cities in the shadow of the fourth industrial revolution.

My guest this week is Rorisang Tshabalala. Rori is a business strategist with a focus on business model research and development, who looks for innovative solutions that help companies grow. He likes to bring ideas to life and develop ideas that impact the world in a fundamental way. He runs Chapter One Innovation. He feels that companies can play a significant and crucial role in social mobility. We also chatted about his desire to unlock the power of South African townships by turning them into proper cities with all the investment and infrastructure that this entails. Another topic we touched on is the evolving Fourth Industrial Revolution and how policies need to be developed for South Africa and the region to get as much benefit from this coming revolution as possible