Untitled
If I was a sculptor
I would paint thee a porous heart
An ocean of feelings left unsaid
what I really mean is...
Adopt my beat into your heart,
My safe haven.
Pond of linguistix
Indulge your taste buds with the best in contemporary poems and other inspirational writings.
Tuesday, 20 November 2018
Friday, 18 May 2018
Open letter to
Africans
To: Africa
Africa Month, which culminates on
Africa Day (25 May), should be about more than just beating drums, moving to
soulful and melodic African rhythms, celebrating culture and tradition, wearing
beads and flamboyant attires and or marvel at our bewitching landscapes; but it
should be about more!
Africa has more to offer its
people and the global community than just the arts in particular. Hence it is
paramount to broaden our celebrations. There is more to life than performance
and fine arts. For reference take quality academia, health care services and
facilities, and liberation from economic bandage.
It is blatant hypocrisy to begin
the tale of the failure of African states and tortoise pace development without
a mention of colonialism and its effects. But again most continents and or
nations have a past of physical ruin or negative economic growth as a sequel of
conflict, occupation by other countries. I acknowledge that some nations
recommenced the rebuilding process a few kilometres ahead but the reality of
the situation is that they have and the past is a reference of today.
It is for that reason why I
pledge Africans, not excluding those who are noble to the African course: to
not just celebrate the Motherland in a narrow sense but our celebrations and
reflection should be that of broad scale. The big picture! More.
From: Child of the soil
Thursday, 10 August 2017
Ulterior
motive by the opposition?
Before and during the motion
of no confidence in the incumbent head of state (Jacob Zuma), the message communicated
by the opposition to the public was crystal: “We want Zuma out, not the ANC.”
Zuma; a local version of MacGyver,
he survived the vote. Despite the victory, numbers depict a divided ANC.
Knowing the depth of how
deep the political war fare can go, there are two conclusions that can be drawn
from the results. 1, it is transparent that the factions in the ANC are not a
myth but they exist. Lastly, the ANC might be selling propaganda. It is in the
public domain that ANC members support the president and the party
unreservedly. The number of members who voted against the president may
actually be manufactured to feed fuel to the perception that the party is
divided.
Speaking of ulterior
motives; the opposition had one. I feel like their ultimate plan was a regime
change. But in order to get their prize, they had to use the “Trojan horse” –
first take out Zuma but once you are in, effect regime change.
This is because after the
failed attempt to oust Zuma through the vote of no confidence, the main
opposition called for the dissolution of parliament. A clear indication that
Zuma was not the target but a scapegoat.
Going into the 2019 general
elections, the opposition is in a better place.
By keeping the president in
power the ANC becomes a political Santa that keep on giving points to the
opposition to use against them while they keep on conceding own goals.
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Did
we elect leaders who are inconsistent with the rule of law?
For a piece of land to qualify as a state it must satisfy a few aspects; a population, territory, sovereignty, and a government. All these areas are very crucial in the formation of a state but I will focus on two facets that I feel are of monumental value in a young democratic state like South Africa. These areas are: sovereignty and government. The two must coordinate efficiently for a smooth function of the other.
In a democratic state, the citizenry trust government with administrative duties of the country through their votes. Once the executive is elected, it is expected that it must respect and uphold the sovereignty of the country and always be available to account to its constituency, the people while carrying out its mandate.
In the past couple of years I have noticed a despicable trend where the public and different lobby groups had to rely on the court system to get government to account and take responsibility of their actions. When we elected these leaders we vested power in them to take difficult decisions on our behalf and be transparent at the same time.
This phenomenon of dragging our leaders to court to account can only suggest one thing; we elected individuals who have zero regard for the rule of law. It is undoubted that our justice system is still alive and independent but the courts cannot always be expected to settle claims between the public and government.
One of the disadvantages that comes with democracy is that the public risks electing incompetent leaders. After this process the elected leader can act within his/her prerogative to appoint and disappoint incompetent Ignorantia juris non excusat executive.
The executive may be failing to attract proper investment to create the requisite amount of jobs to curb the appreciating joblessness rate, but their incompetency with the law has made the profession blossom.
Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Department of basic education to decolonize curriculum
![]() |
(Shutterstock) |
The struggle
concerning higher education funding and transformation has exposed us to
phenomenon’s like decolonised education, but this time it’s the basic education
officials that have proposed the thought to decolonise the curriculum of basic
education to parliament.
What
exactly is decolonised education? Decolonized
education is the act of getting rid of foreign literature while freeing the country
from being dependent on other countries for literature, as defined by the fees
must fall movement.
If this is the case, then it will be a
bitter-sweet goodbye to the writings of the Great Shakespeare and other
literatures characterized with a Eurocentric feel. Eurocentric literature is
loved by many for its depth in linguistics and flair. They are not so popular
among the crowed that strongly advocates for the advancement of African
literature and the Africanism ideology.
Plans to decolonise the curriculum, which have
been earmarked for implementation between 2020 and 2030, include:
- Extending the policy of teaching pupils in their mother tongue from grades 1 to 3 to grades 4 to 6; and
- Making history compulsory at schools.
- The introduction of indigenous knowledge systems and practices;
This move was well received by the
opposition. The Democratic Alliance spokesperson on education Gavin
Davis, suggested that the curriculum should be distinctly South African,
reflecting the country’s rich experience and diversity.
![]() |
Wits university students holding a banner to show their stand in decolonising education during the fees must fall protests (Backpage Pix) |
The Mail and Guardian recently reported that
the department has not yet figured out how they are going to implement their
plan but have confidence that they will come up with strategies very soon.
https://soundcloud.com/davinci_sa/department-of-basic-education-to-decolonise-carriculam
https://soundcloud.com/davinci_sa/department-of-basic-education-to-decolonise-carriculam
Corporal punishment horror
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An image of a teacher administering corporal punishment to a pupil (Shutterstock) |
Schools are meant to be the
one of the safest places where pupils fulfil their educational practices.
However many studies show that corporal punishment is adopted worldwide in many
schools.
Corporal punishment was
abolished in 1997 in our basic education system but 20 years later schools
still rely on it as a form of a disciplinary measure against pupils who engage
in various misconducts. It is widely believed that discipline is required for
students in order for them to be successful in education, especially during the
compulsory education period. Rosen (1997)
The latest victim to this
phenomenon is Sphamandla Choma, the 14 year old boy from Middelburg Mpumalanga,
was left paralysed and a few months later died from his injuries after being
allegedly assaulted by his school principal.
Earlier this year Sowetan
Live reported that the boy was left paralysed after being assaulted by his
school principal for stealing R150, 00 from the teacher’s bag.
Speaking to Michelle Craig
of eNCA, spokesperson of the Mpumalanga department of education Jasper Zwane voiced
out his disapproval of the practice and encouraged pupils and parents to report
incidences to the department and the police.
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Pupils raising their hands in class to respond or get the teachers attention (Shutterstock) |
The principal has been
charged with misconduct for allegedly assaulting Sphamandla but the issue could
prove to be more intricate if indeed the boy died as a result of the injuries
that he sustained as a result of the assault. The worst scenario for the
principal would be a murder charge against him.
In line with the
Constitution, the National Education Policy Act of 1996 (Republic of South
Africa, 1996a: A-47) states that “no person shall administer corporal
punishment or subject a student to psychological or physical abuse at any
educational institution”. Schools have to come up with functional alternative
measures in order to deal with indiscipline.
The dilemma in this issue is
how do school teachers instil discipline without infringing on the rights of
pupils and avoid trampling on the constitution? Government introduced the
Alternatives to corporal punishment document as a way to deal with the
conundrum.
Alternatives to corporal
punishment as contained in the document are:
- Give praise – Reward pupils for positive behaviour.
- Lead by example – Project a type of conduct that you expect from the pupils.
- Be realistic – Don’t just want to instil discipline even on circumstances that require compassion and understanding.
- Restorative Justice – The use of disciplinary techniques that will discourage other pupils from misbehaving.
- Don’t threaten or shout at children.
- Be respectful – If you respect your pupils it is likely that they will do the same.
- Use ‘good’ words to describe children – Child naming cultivates bad behaviour.
- Use guidance and counselling methods – Explain to the pupils what kind of conduct is expected from them.
The growing number of
corporal punishment incidences depicts that the alternatives to corporal
punishment document is not working, perhaps new legislature should be introduced.
Forget about Istanbul miracle, there is Camp Nou miracle now
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Barcelona players and stuff embrace each other after beating PSG 6-1 on the night to complete the miracle comeback in sports in Barcelona (Le quip foot) |
Now you can safely forget
about the Istanbul miracle as five times champions league winners F.C Barcelona
produced one of the best comebacks in sports and entertainment at a rocking
Camp Nou, in Barcelona on Wednesday night. The odds were up against Louis
Enrique’s men in this tie as they had to overcome a four goal deficit that they
suffered on a faithful valentine’s day in Paris three weeks ago, a feat that
had never been achieved by any club in the history of the competition.
Going in to the match they
still believed that they can still achieve the impossible dream. After their
first leg drubbing, Enrique thought, if Paris Saint-Germain can score four
goals, what can stop them from scoring six goals?
The rocking Camp Nou was
sent to early raptures when Louis Suarez headed home with two minutes on the
clock. PSG were rattled, they even
failed to string a few passes together. Barcelona’s tactical discipline was
amazing, the pressing, desire and zest was all there for everyone to see as PSG
were just allowed to only take speculative efforts at goal. On the stroke of
half time calamites defending from PSG handed Barcelona their second to make it
4-2 on aggregate and 2-0 on the night.
It was disastrous for PSG as
they again succumbed to Barcelona’s sleek passing by conceding a penalty early
in the second half. Lionel Messi made it 3-0 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate
from the spot. Now the world believed it can be done, on the 61st
minute Edinson Cavani restored parity for PSG with a thumping finish to make it
5-3 on aggregate and further stretched the tie away from Barcelona.
![]() |
Sergio Roberto stabs the ball past Traap to complete the memorable comeback in what was the last kick of the match (Le quip foot) |
PSG grew stronger as the
match progressed. They initiated a few attacks of their own and they were able
to bridge the Barca defence on a few occasions but two things stood in their
way: poor finishing and shot stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen who was a spectator
for much of the match. Barcelona was going through their paces but nothing
happened until the 87th minute when Neymar produced something
magical; a curler that left Traap rooted in his goalpost. They again started to
believe and on the 89th minute Marquinhos fouled Louis Suarez on the
box. Neymar made it 5-1 on the night and 5-5 on aggregate to revitalise the
Camp Nou to a live arena once again.
Barcelona only had five
minutes to find a winner and complete the perfect fairy tale or watch PSG walk
into the quarter finals on their expense. On the stroke of optional time Neymar
found a lurking Sergio Roberto on the back post who finely flicked the ball
with the outside of his right boot in what was the last touch of the game to
deliver a classic in the night skies of Barcelona. The best come back in sports
history was written and the rest is history.
On other results, Borussia
Dortmunt F.C dismantled Benfica 4-0 to progress to the quarter finals on a 4-1
aggregate win.
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