At the africa Day lecture held at Rhodes University Thabo Mbeki said a lot still needs to be done in improving education and that the lack of efforts to fight poverty and under-development remains one of the continent’s major challenges. Women living on the Kwandwe Private Game Reserve have found a creative way to turn rags into riches through the uNnopopana craft centre.
Recently, water cuts have brought the army base, as well as the industrial areas of Grahamstown to a standstill. But what would happen if there was no water supply for over a year? One school in Fingo village has continued to stay open under such conditions. Jerremy Chingono reports….
Makana Municipality is in the process of restricting entry to the Grahamstown landfill site. Anyone who is not employed by the Masihlule recycling project will be seen as a trespasser. This leaves the other people who survive off the site, cut off.
Locating Hlalani and Sun City Informal Settlement:
The name Sun City is synonymous with luxury and leisure for most of us. However the sun rarely shines on the residents of Sun City settlement in Grahamstown. Although the name has connotations of hope and liveliness, the life of the residents at Sun City is anything but bright. Life here is characterized by rampant crime, daily police patrols and juvenile delinquency, but the problems do not end there. For Sun City a much graver problem looms on the horizon in the form of inadequate sanitation. There are only two taps (with many still using the bucket system) and two “public toilets” to provide for its 300 residents. This lack of sanitation is causing serious health hazards among its residents. Children are drinking tap water that is not safe, which is causing concern among residents over the health of the children. Sun City has grown as a shack settlement over the past 11 years but is yet to receive support from the municipality.
Poor sanitation:
There are only two public toilets for all the residents of Sun City. They cannot even afford the luxury of using toilet paper and instead make do with newspapers. Sanitation and hygiene throughout the area is bad and in need of improvement. People cannot live like this!!
A look around the typical house in Sun City:
Imagine a room with no windows as the Grahamstown winter approaches. Imagine a room where 7 people sleep on 2 beds. Imagine a house with no running water or electricity.Picture a room filled with rubbish and junk. This is what Sun City resident Freddy Pokbas calls home.
A resident complains about Sun City:
Sun City residents lack basic services such as water, electricty and adequate hosuing. However, according to one resident this is because…..
Click here to see Al Jazeera’s report on housing in Sun City http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/13.19
Hlalani settlement on the other hand appears to be slightly more prosperous than Sun City. As we climb Mount Zion to overlook the entire settlement, we see the various RDP houses which have been recently built. Automatically we are convinced that Hlalani is a settlement undergoing development as it has been earmarked for upgrading. However while interviewing one of its residents we learn that the Mount Zion is in fact used as a toilet site. People who have no RDP houses still lack appropriate toilet facilities and continue to use the bucket system, as a supply of running water is not readily available. If not attended to by the government, settlements such as these will continue to grow as more people come to the inner city seeking employment and accommodation. This could lead to greater sanitation problems.
Pictures of Hlalani Informal Settlement:
Unhappy about life:
This resident explains life in Hlalani Informal settlement, not only for her, but for the other people that live there as well.
Mvuyisile Nonyukhela:
He has been waiting for housing for 14 years, and lives in a small shack which often gets flooded during the rainy season. He makes a living doing pettty jobs and everyday is a challenge for him espeically at his old age. He has norunning water or access to a toilet. Here more about his life….
Do you want to get heads turning on campus? This easy how to video will show you how to be ‘that guy’ on campus in just a few easy steps. Heads will be turning in no time!!!
As aspiring student journalists we thought we should investigate the increased number of students at our University: Rhodes. We had only a week to find out where all the new students on campus were coming from. Queues had increased all over campus and some lecture venues even had students sitting on the floor. We decide that our story needed some official comment
We decided to speak to a warden who also lectures at the university. The warden explained how queues in dining halls have increased dramatically compared to the last year. She also told us that there was a Dining Hall braai on that same night. We then decided to hunt down crowds at the braai, we were successful. Older students at the braai all agreed that the campus had exploded with new students at the beginning of the year and was beginning to become a bit crowded. Check out the snail queue that we caputured at the braai. People had to wait up to half an hour just to get their food.
Over the next few days we struggled to get better official comment but got to speak to the Registrar (from the student admissions offices) at the last moment 24 hrs before deadline. He revealed to us that government has not being providing money for infrastructure until very recently and all the new residences built in the past four years have come out of the universities own funds. He made the story and told us that the university has implemented plans to ease the load for everyone. He mentioned the expansion to the library. Together Phumz and I decided that the construction site would be the ideal place to do our piece to camera. After capturing the perfect piece, construction site officials told us to put hard hats on and re-do everything. Phumz prefers her shot without the hard hat. What do you think?
Due to time constraints we couldn’t include the interesting piece from the registrar about subsidies. We also had to leave out student comment. Feel free to post your comments here about crowds on Rhodes campus and how they affect you.
Raphael HIV testing and support CentreThe Raphael Centre located in Grahamstown, South Africa is a HIV/AIDS testing and support centre. Lately, though, this haven for people infected or affected by the virus has been rought by troubles. The future of the centre is uncertain as it needs sponsors to ensure it’s survival. Meanwhile other issues, like an objecting neighbour are also posing problems for the centre which helps over 1 000 people every month.
