» South African History

FiftyTwo:30 Collector’s Treasury

liz — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:40:39 +0000

With thanks to Adi@fiftytwo.co.za yet again. Collector’s Treasury is one of my FAVOURITE places BUT be warned … take a ball of string with you because like Theseus in the minotaur’s cave, you might get lost in the maze of book-lined passages !!

Genre: Book store bizarre
What: Paperbacks, hard copies, leather bounds and titles from 1800s – this mystically rare book dealer has the edge. Doors swung open in 1974 and over its 36 years the collection has matured – there’s an accumulated mass of literary wealth and some 2 million books are shelved here. Astounding. The Collectors Treasury doesn’t just horde books, it carriers collectable vinyls (The Beatles, The Jackson Five), sheet music, mathematical journals, framed artworks, porcelain everything, medium format cameras and family photo albums probably from a different chapter. Spilling over four floors – there’s a rich world waiting for you.
FiftyTwo review: Books are stacked in piles everywhere (up staircases, blocking the entrance, above and below book shelves). Collectors Treasury is the most phenomenal maze to loose yourself in. Scan the shelves for titles, you’ll find volumes and volumes to read from cover to cover. Words can’t capture the wonder that this aged bookstore conjures up. Meet fascinating people while you browse, from the academic scholar wishing he were in Boston to muso hippie types, everyone speaks the same language in a space such as this – a great opportunity to not judge a book by its cover. This gallery isn’t cheap but the experience is worth the buck. Whoever thought atlases from the Ice Age would lose value, you’re wrong. FiftyTwo say, “Stay the day.”
Tip: First edition books make quite the gift so the next time you’re looking for something unique and feel mainstream bookstores offer the unadventurous, head to Collectors Treasury. Secondly, look intently as there are remarkable things on sale, very recently an original South African Parliamentary photograph from 1936 (with signatures of all parliament members) was found. Own your page of South African history.
Interesting fact: This legend store has claims of being the Southern Hemisphere’s largest bookstore of its kind.
Where: CTP House, 244 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg – call 011 334 6556 if you need help with directions.
Book: No booking necessary – it’s open from Mondays to Fridays 09:00-17:00 & Saturdays 10:00-13:00

SATURDAY VOICES AT BOEKEHUIS

liz — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:31:11 +0000

WHAT? SATURDAY VOICES AT BOEKEHUIS
WHEN? SATURDAY 21 August 2010, 12:00 for 12:30
TOPIC: William Gumede, author of the book, Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC in conversation with Sakhela Buhlungu, sociologist and expert in the field of labour studies, about his new book, A Paradox of Victory COSATU and the democratic transformation in South Africa
MORE: COSATU emerged from the anti-apartheid struggle as the largest and most powerful union federation in South Africa. It is now both a movement and a political actor in its own right. It has the ability to influence the agenda, shape policy and even help topple a president, but according to Sakhela Buhlungu, COSATU has been losing organisational power since ’94 as thousands of shop-floor activists were promoted out of the unions and its leaders left for politics and business. Additionally, labour market segmentation created fault lines between workers with skills and job security and those with little or no security or skills. COSATU happens to represent only those in formal sector employment, who have access to skills, benefits and rights.
Internal fault lines between gender, race, education and rural/urban divisions have emerged ever more sharply.
WHERE? BOEKEHUIS Bookshop, Cnr. Lothbury and Fawley streets, Auckland Park (Parking available)
RSVP: 011 482 3609 or Boekehuis@boekehuis.co.za
SOME QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
Does COSATU run the risk of losing its powerbase?
How is COSATU negotiating its relationship with new social movements?
What are the costs and benefits of COSATU’s relationship with the ANC and the SACP?
How will a public service workers’ strike affect relations between COSATU and President Jacob Zuma?
Should COSATU break from the ANC tripartite alliance and form a Workers’ Party?

Events in Newtown during the World Cup

liz — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:43:01 +0000

From JhbLIve Newsletter 27 May 2010: Johannesburg’s creative minds are gearing up for a six-week long extravaganza of arts, culture, entertainment and literature. The Newtown Festival is set to showcase to visitors, both local and international, the finest that South Africa has to offer. This cultural festival offers an array of goodies throughout June and into early July. The bulging entertainment menu includes music, dance, theatre, spoken-word poetry, literature, film, photography, and visual art held in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues. Some of the Newtown 2010 Festival’s highlights include music acts like Oliver Mtukudzi, 340ml, Pops Mohamed, Ray Phiri, Blk Sonshine, Babu, Strings & Skins, Tumi, Desmond and the Tutus, Heels over Head, Bheki Khoza, and Ladies of Song.

The Market Theatre will be presenting ‘House of the Holy Afro’, Brett Bailey’s eclectic mish-mash of shamanistic ritual and gospel set to a thumping beat. ‘People’s poet’ Mzwakhe Mbuli will be in action at Xarra Books, as will Phillippa de Villiers, Masoja Msiza, Myesha Jenkins, Boikanyo and many more. The Market Photo Workshop, Museum Africa, the Workers’ Museum and the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre will host a number of art and photography exhibitions, many of which deal with the theme of soccer. A selection of the continent’s best cinematic offerings will be screened during the 4th annual Africa on Screen Film Festival at Museum Africa.

Visit www.newtown.co.za for more details of performances and eve

New 2010 Fan Guide: link to download

liz — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:50:49 +0000

All you need to know in new

2010 Fan Guide

Tuesday, 04 May 2010 From SA GoodNews

With less than 40 days to go until kickoff, the 2010 Fifa World Cup Organising Committee has released a comprehensive, easy-to-read 92-page guide to the tournament, packed with practical information on stadiums, host cities, fan parks and much more. There’s useful information on everyday matters such as banking and food, as well as tips on safety and staying healthy. The guide also provides has advice on transport – road, rail and air – as well as accommodation and communication.

The section on stadiums is particularly useful, with maps showing how to get to each stadium, where to buy tickets, the nearest airport and transport nodes, as well as detailed layout plans of all of the stadiums indicating gates and seating. Also provided are rules on stadium conduct and items prohibited in the stadiums.

The handbook also explains the history of South Africa, and has a nifty guide to South African slang.

Download the Fan Guide here. Source:MediaClubSouthAfrica.com

Wits Scientists reveal new species of hominids

liz — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:59:35 +0000

A team led by Professor Lee Berger, a renowned palaeoanthropologist from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (aka Wits University) has described and named a new species of hominid, Australopithecus sediba, almost two million years old, which was discovered in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, 40 kilometres out of Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Sediba, which means natural spring, fountain or wellspring in Sotho, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, was deemed an appropriate name for a species that might be the point from which the genus Homo arises,” comments Berger. “I believe that this is a good candidate for being the transitional species between the southern African ape-man Australopithecus africanus (like the Taung Child and Mrs. Ples) and either Homo habilis or even a direct ancestor of Homo erectus (like Turkana Boy, Java man or Peking man).”

The specimens found are a juvenile male and an adult female. The species has long arms, like an ape, short powerful hands, a very advanced pelvis (hip bone) and long legs capable of striding and possibly running like a human. It is likely that they could have climbed. “It is estimated that they were both about 1.27 metres, although the child would certainly have grown taller. The female probably weighed about 33 kilograms and the child about 27 kilograms at the time of his death,” adds Prof. Berger. “The brain size of the juvenile was between 420 and 450 cubic centimetres, which is small (when compared to the human brain of about 1200 to 1600 cubic centimetres) but the shape of the brain seems to be more advanced than that of australopithecines.”

The fossils are owned by the people of South Africa, and curated by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. They will be on public display at Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind until the 18th of April 2010, will move to Cape Town for the launch of Palaeo-Sciences Week from the 19th of April and will again be on public display at the Wits Origins Centre during May, on dates to be announced shortly.

Tobias at 84 – still sharp, witty and engaging

liz — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:51:28 +0000

Chris Thurman enagaged in conversation with Prof Philip Tobias world-renowned paleo-anthroplogist at the Boekehuis this Saturday. In addition to his ground breaking work with hominids, Tobias has also been very influential as an anatomist, a geneticist, is an expert on medic-legal ethics and … is a keen lover of cricket! With a twinking eye and a razor sharp sense of humour and irony, Tobias spoke about the background to a book on his life published in 2008: Tobias in Converstion Genes Fossils and Anthropology . The first part of Tobias’ autobiography Into the Past A Memoir was published in 2005. Tobias is currently working on the 2nd part of his life .. from the age of 40 onwards. A remarkable record of a remarkable man.

Tours for the public to explore a newly discovered fossil site in the Cradle

liz — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:32:04 +0000

From Maropeng’s February 2010 newlsetter

On April 10, Maropeng and iHominin will give budding palaeontologists a rare opportunity to explore a 1.5-million-year-old fossil site. Cooper’s Cave, 1.2km from the famous Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg, is a relatively newly discovered fossil site, where several species of animals and a number of stone tools have been found. The day’s activities include an interactive fossil and site talk, exploring a cave, a chance to look for fossils, and learning how to make stone tools. This is a must-do for adults and children with an interest in palaeontology and archaeology. Remember to pack a hat, apply sunscreen and wear comfortable walking shoes – oh, and bring your camera! The price is R350 per person and it includes a light picinic lunch. The tour will start at 09h00. For more information, contact Maropeng on +27 (0) 14 577 9000 or e-mail: info@maropeng.co.za.

Upcoming Cooper’s Cave picnics: 01 May and 08 June

From http://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/what-went-right-in-2009/

liz — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:08:56 +0000

What went right in 2009Dec 30th, 2009

by Pierre De Vos.

(1) South Africa had another free and fair election (it’s fourth!) without any serious violence and the fourth democratic President was inaugurated soon afterwards.

(2) The government decisively changed direction on HIV/AIDS and President Jacob Zuma appointed a health minister who clearly understands that the problem of HIV needs to be dealt with in a comprehensive manner.

(3) Nkosazana Zuma has begun to change things around at the Department of Home Affairs. A friend of mine received her passport only 4 weeks after submitting her application!

(4) The South African banking system weathered the international financial crisis very well and the SA government did not need to pump billions of dollars into the system as was required by the USA, the UK and some European countries.

(5) A free press and independent electronic media continued to thrive and to present a variety of news, exposes and opinion, sometimes harshly critical of the foibles of the governing party and sometimes singing its praises.

(6) Some members of the tripartite alliance began exposing Julius Malema as the self-serving, headline-grabbing, tenderpreneur that he is.

(7) The selection of a new Chief Justice and four new judges to the Constitutional Court proceeded without unnecessary controversy and several good candidates were appointed to the positions while a certain Judge President were clearly not a serious contender for appointment.

(8) A vibrant civil society continued to thrive and to challenge seemingly unlawful decisions made by the President and y constitutional institutions such as the Judicial Services Commission in various courts across South Africa.

(9) South Africa successfully hosted the Confederations Cup and the various soccer stadiums for 2010 Fifa World Cup were completed on time.

(10) Many South Africans quietly continued to build bridges and build the nation by giving of their time and money to address the poverty and deprivation of fellow South Africans

Electricity price hikes: Eskom’s history

liz — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:06:54 +0000

The disastrous 2008 power outages in Gauteng and the recent announcements of shocking electricity price hikes, (45% for the next 3 years), bring into focus yet again the political nature of electrical power. There has long been a contest and tussle between municipal power supply and national power supply. The city of Johannesburg historically generated its power from various city power stations: 2 power stations in Newtown, President St 1907 and Jeppe St 1927 -1934; Orlando power station was completed in 1942 and 2 more stations in Kelvin followed in the 1950s. However, the city power stations were not the only providers of power to Johannesburg. The mines, from their earliest days in the late 19th century, had contracted out their own power supply, initially to a great number of companies. In 1910 all these companies had been bought by the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company (VFP). This company supplied not only the mines, but also areas outside of Johannesburg. Post WWI, increasing industrialization led to the need to electrify the railways. This in turn led to the Electrical Act of 1922 under which the Electricity Supply Commission (Eskom) was established. From this point on, all proposals for new power stations had to be submitted to Eskom and there was an increasing move towards state control of a national grid-based power supply. In 1948 (the year the Nationalist Government came to power) the VFP was bought by Eskom. By the early 1970s Eskom, through refusing permission for new power stations, began to force the City to buy its power and accept being part of the national grid. We are now in a situation where Eskom sells power to City Power, who in turn sell it on to the consumer. With a planned 45% hike from Eskom every year, ironically the light at the end of the tunnel has become extremely expensive.

Statue to namesake of Kippies Jazz Club unveiled

liz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:32:53 +0000

A bronze sculpture of a lone man seated on a chair and holding his precious saxophone, was unveiled on 25^th September.

Kippie Morolong Moeketsi by Guy du Toit and Egon Tania

Located outside the ‘original’ Kippies Jazz club in Newtown, and designed by Guy Du Toit and Egon Tania, a second empty chair encourages the spectator to sit next to the figure of Kippie Morolong Moeketsi after whom the famous Club was named when it was built in 1987. Modelled somewhat bizarrely on the still extant Edwardian toilet, about 200 metres to the north to the side of the parking lot, the jazz bar was funded by Anglo Vaal to seat about 80 people.

1987 Kippies Building

Edwardian toilet to north of the present Kippies

The building was closed down in 2005 after it was found to have major structural flaws. The club was moved down to the former Songwriters’ Club in Quinn Street in 2006, but was closed again in 2008. The refurbished 1987 Kippies building will become an events space and a jazz museum rather than a music venue. Kippie Moeketsi, who played with many of the jazz greats such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Jonas Gwangwa, Hugh Masakela, amongst others, died destitute in 1983 at the age of 58 after many years of alcohol abuse