RUTV 3

By Andisa Ndlovu and Shanel Pillay

A light-hearted how to emphasising the importance of what to do if your home has been broken into.

Quite simply,
* don’t touch anything (you don’t want to destroy any evidence they may have left behind)
*phone the police and wait for them to arrive
If you suspect the person is still in your home, wait at a neighbours house or somewhere safe until they arrive.
Once the police have arrived they will take over from there, detailing what has happened, what has gone missing and what the estimated value of these items are.
Remember to keep the local police number (046 603 9512) as well as the emergency 10111 number in your phone at all times.

These are two women of vastly different ages who give an insight into their thoughts on crime and how it affects their community. This respose came after virewing a document, titled “Taverns at Tantyi” which showed how they are a hot spot for crime in the area. The community came with many ideas about how crime could be solved in the community, with the young and the old getting involved. What was important was then feeling as though their opinions did matter, and that what they had to say was valuable. In that regard, civic journalism is important because it is journalism ultimatley made by the public., They are the news, they matter. With a sensitive issue like crime, a sensitive approach is needed. It is difficult because you are essentially opening up old wounds for people and asking them to revivist painful memories. But what was interesting to note was that the kind of neighbourhood meeting we had, allowed for a safe space where people did not need to feel intimidated or afraid to share their stories and opinions.
-A story by Grethe and Sbosh-

As part of our Critical Media Production course of 2009 we decided to, in our work, take on our Group’s name, Masisebenzisane (Let’s work together) in a literal manner. This translated into a collaborative approach to making a TV doccie in which the ‘subject’ become more than a ‘subject’ – rather a stakeholder in his own story. This was our interpretation of citizen journalism in the sense that we wanted Mzwakhe to be able to tell his story unmediated by us as journalists. In this way, he was able to shape his own story while drawing on our journalistic experience.

We didn’t want to simply sweep in as journalists hungry for a story. Instead, we spent a lot of time with him at the Egazini Centre, in his home and his community. We met his parents, his nephews and his friends. We asked him to take on the role of reporter – as you can see in the intro of the final doccie. At the showing of the doccie at the community meeting, at which Mzwakhe was present, he was proud of the piece and felt it truthfuly reflected his story. Other community members commented that it was a good representation of the youth in the Joza community and the role that Egazini plays in keeping the youth off the streets and away from crime.

 

Watch this short clip of Mzwakhe and his nephews helping us carry our equipment. This is a rite of passage to all journalists.

 

Watch this clip to see Mzwakhe and Jess, our reporter, taking some time out to get to know each other.

 

Listen to this sound clip to hear Jess and Mzwakhe discussing how Mzwakhe would like to word his standupper for the beginning of the doccie.

mzwakhe-intro

Mzwakhe Komsani, an ex-offender who now takes part in the Egazini diversion programme, shares his story.

Part 1 – Family Feud

Gideon Nikelo was recently murdered on the streets of Vukani by a couple of gangsters he knew. Gideon’s brother, Michael has since returned home from Port Elizebeth to look after his aging parents now that his brother is dead, and it is thought that he could be seeking revenge on his brothers killers. In this short documentay the Nikelo family explain how it feels to loose a son.

 

 

Part 2 – Family Feud

Having recently lost a family member to murder. A murder that is suspected to be part of Michael Nikelo’s revenge plan for his brothers death, The Klaas family are in fear that their lives are now also in danger. In this short film, they explain how the death occured and reveal their other fears.

 

 

 

Part 3 – Families Unite

After both families had expressed their pain and sadness, it became clear that although both families had hurt each other, no one was gaining anything from the family feud. The feud was simply dividing the community more and putting other lives in danger. Hence as public journalists we decided to bring the two families together and try to find a resolution.

 

 

 

 

1 minuet clip that we feel other public journalists will find interesting

 

In this short clip it becomes clear that these two families once shared a strong friendship, and also that the failed trust that shook their friendship has made forgiveness that much more difficult.

By this stage in our mediation we had managed to get the two grieving families to agree to meet each other. However we also realised that for a true gesture of forgiveness to be made, we would need to allow the two families the opportunity to convey the emotions that have shook them recently and explain why they have been so angry with one another.

We felt by showing Part 1 and Part 2 of our documentaries and then allowing each family the chance to explain why they have been acting the way they have, and why they have been feeling so betrayed, allowed for a good foundation to be laid for a sincere and honest apology and gesture of forgiveness from each family.  

This mediation necessary to help these families back to a similar state of being as before the murders is by no means over, but the first steps towards a resolution are definitely in place.

News Story: Families Unite

 

On the 22^nd of October, we arrived in Vukani ready to mediate a reunion between the Nikelo, Twala and Klaas families. We decided on a mutual venue for the meeting, and eventually chose a small church in the area. We waited for the police to arrive before we started, as we were concerned about any conflict that may occur between the families.

When the police arrived, we described the situation to them, and what we intended to do in this meeting. We asked them to sit in on the meeting, but were told that “it is not in [their] job description.”

We started the proceedings by asking everyone to introduce themselves. So-called “committee members” were asked to leave, leaving only key family members behind.  Proceedings began with a short song followed by a prayer. Matthew Mpahlwa, who chaired the meeting then explained to all present what the aim of the meeting was and clarified any queries. We then played both the Nikelo and Klaas documentaries. Everyone sat quietly while the videos were playing and all listened intently. Matthew translated any English sections into isiXhosa.

After watching the videos we had an interaction session between the two families, trying to find a way forward. Michael Nikelo said he ‘never knew there was tension between the two families’ and said the families should support each other through this situation. The Twala and Klaas families stated they didn’t have a problem with the Nikelo family either.  Both families felt the community was to blame for their gossip on the situation. The gossip escalated the situation, with the community trying to continue the family feud.

Michael’s father, Solomon Nikelo, expressed concern over the justice system, worried that it was not performing its job. He wanted to be ensured that perpetrators would be convicted. He was not against the Twala and Klaas families; he only wanted an explanation for why his child was killed. Michael’s mother, Miriam said she would never have peace, Michael added or corrected her by saying she would never have peace with the perpetrators not the family. The Twala and Klaas family expressed that they were living in fear wanted desperately for this feud to come to an end. They said they felt very unsecure in the area, and didn’t understand why everyone is against them personally when they never send their kids out to do bad things.

As the meeting drew to a close both families agreed to be friends and it was decided that the Twala/Klaas families would be incorporated back into the community.  Micahel would lead this initiative and there would be a follow-up community meeting to which Nikelo would invite the families as well as explain the situation to the community. Unfortunately, when he left the meeting Micahel went against his word, saying we had miscommunicated the nature and aim of the meeting to him. He said he had never known it was going to be purely a family meeting and had thought it was one which would include the entire community. We had phoned him earlier that day reminding him of the meeting and describing his nature, so his comment came as quite a surprise.

 Matthew addressed the angry mob outside explaining to them what had happened in the meeting. The 6 policemen were on stand-by throughout our interaction with the community outside the church. They warned us however that they did not have enough manpower to push the crowds back. The community were to be informed about the decisions taken, and told there would be an arranged community meeting where the family to be integrated back into the Vukani community.

As we left the church community members began insulting us and calling us liars. They shouted at group member, Robyn McCormick who had arranged the meeting saying she was a liar and was to blame for the all the problems. There was a great deal of miscommunications which lead to confusion and anger over what we as a group were trying to achieve.

Luckily before we left, the community understood what we had been doing and apologised to our group for their mistakes and we apologised for any miscommunication they may have occurred on our part. It was said that the community would be responsible for organising the meeting for the families to be integrated back into the community. We left reluctant over the outcome of the community meeting which is still to be held. We were happy with our achievements, and hope that discussions between the families will continue once we leave.

 

During our attempt at Public journalism we learnt the importance of civic mapping and the vital importance of allowing the people of the community to set the agenda. The point of public journalism is to give people a voice in order to defy the spiral of silence that conventional journalism tends to perpetuate. Public journalism through a grass roots approach aims to create awareness and thus bring about change. To do this we held a focus group meeting where we asked members of the community what crimes they feared most. It was discovered that rape was the most feared and even the men agreed. 

After two weeks of civic mapping within extension six to nine in Grahamstown we found two brave women who were willing to tell their stories and speak out against rape. This was particularly relevant considering that one of the issues in the community was one where people were too afraid to report crime as well as to blow the whistle against crime in the community.

The difficulties we faced regards desire for her anonymity, as to protect her from any re-victimisation as well as from any further emotional suffering our intervention and representation of her may cause. Another importance of public journalism is bridging the gaps between different spheres of the community. Thus we invited a social worker and psychologist to our community meeting, not only to bridge these gaps but also to act as a mediator between community members who attended and the women on which our documentaries are based. This clip is from a documentary in which a brave woman tells her story.