12 May 2014 Issue 11 Year 76

Handling winter on a student budget

P6

Dan Patlansky interview

TuksAthletics comes out trumps

P12

P8

Perdeby Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks

12May2014

year76issue11

ANC wins national election LIESE-MARIÉ HEYNES AND MAXINE TWADDLE The ANC fell short of winning two-thirds majority in the national elections held last week Wednesday by about 4%. Although the ANC was still the overwhelming favourite, its majority hold has decreased from 65.9% of the vote in 2009. In this year’s election, the leading party won 62.15%, or 11 436 921, of the votes cast. Support for the ANC in Gauteng dropped to 53.99% this year from 64.04% in 2009.

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said that the ANC is not concerned about this decrease or the votes cast against the organisation. “The ANC can’t win a whopping 62% and then complain about the other 38%,” he said at ANC headquarters Luthuli House on Sunday.

Gigaba said that the ANC being voted into power again is “also an exciting moment because it says that we can now continue implementing the programmes that we have promised that we are going to implement”.

Gigaba highlighted four points that motivated South Africans to vote for the party. The first of these, he said, was that South Africans “are convinced about the plans of the ANC. In actual fact, the ANC was the only [party] that was talking about its plans and not criticising other people”. The second point was the ANC’s track record, and Gigaba said that, “The last 20 years speak for themselves.” The third reason why people voted for the ANC was the party’s experience. Lastly, Gigaba said that the ANC has a collective leadership that allows South Africans to trust the party and not a specific leader. “The attempt to try to personalise the elections around individuals has backfired,” he said, adding that people who do not like certain leaders of the ANC will still vote for the party because they will identify with and trust other leaders.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said that the victory shows that support for the ANC remains strong and is an indication that the ANC is succeeding in fulfilling its responsibility as the ruling party. “The results of our work are qualitatively and quantitatively felt and appreciated by our people,” he said.

President Jacob Zuma said that the results indicate how “deeply rooted the ANC is in the hearts and minds of the overwhelming majority of South Africans”. However, the official results released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) indicate that support for the ANC has subsided. In Limpopo and Mpumalanga, where the ANC recorded results of 85% in the 2009 elections, the party won 78% of the vote. In the Free State, 71% of voters voted for the ANC in 2009, as compared to 67% of voters in this year’s election. In the North West, the ANC won 73% of the vote in 2009 and 67% of the vote this year. The most dramatic decline in support for the ANC was in Gauteng, where the ANC dropped from 64% in 2009 to 53% this year.

Support for the ANC in South Africa’s other provinces did not increase significantly. In KwaZulu-Natal – where the DA won ten seats in the provincial legislature – support increased by one percentage point to 64%. Support in

ANC supporters at a rally in the Western Cape. Image: ewn.co.za

The ANC won 249 seats in parliament. Graphic: Maxine Twaddle

the Eastern Cape also increased by just one percentage point to 70%. In the Northern Cape, the only province in which there was any real increase in support, the ANC won 64% of the vote this year after winning 60% in 2009.

The DA, which won 22.23%, or 4 091 584, of the vote in this year’s election, remains the largest opposition party. Speaking before the official results were announced, Mmusi Maimane, who will now represent the DA in parliament, said that he hoped that the DA would win 25% of the vote.

New party EFF won the third biggest share of the vote with 6.35%, or 1 169 259, of the votes

cast. Cope, which won 7.42% of the vote in 2009, only won 0.67% of the vote.

Of the votes cast in this year’s elections, 251 960 votes were spoilt, and leaders of the “Sidikiwe! Vukani! Vote No!” campaign claimed in a statement that this was why the ANC did not win the election with a two-thirds majority.

Despite allegations that ballots had been replicated or thrown away, observers ruled that the elections were free and fair.

Speaking at the official release of the results last Saturday, IEC deputy chairperson Terry Tselane said that, “These elections weren’t

perfect. No election is. In the next coming weeks we will be reflecting and looking at what went wrong.”

Despite this, IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula declared the elections to be free and fair.

“Today as we celebrate two decades of democracy and conclude our fifth national and provincial elections, we can affirm to one another and to the world [that] democracy is alive and thriving in our land. On Wednesday, 18 million South Africans stood together as a nation as they did in 2009, 2004, 1999 and, most famously, in 1994,” she said at the same function.

2 Editorial

Perdeby

12 May ’14

Make every vote count

www.perdeby.co.za perdeby@up.ac.za m.perdeby.co.za @perdebynews Tel: (012) 420 6600

Editorial Editor-in-Chief Carel Willemse

carel.willemse@up.ac.za @Ed_in_Chief

Editor Maxine Twaddle

perdeby@up.ac.za @MissMax6

News Molebogeng Mangoale

news@perdeby.co.za @DisneyMdee

Features Maggie Roodt Entertainment Michal-Maré Linden Sport Michael Reinders

features@perdeby.co.za @Maggiejroodt entertainment@perdeby.co.za @MicsLinden sport@perdeby.co.za @Mike_Bongani

Web Marko Svicevic

webeditor@perdeby.co.za @perdebynews

Election time is a confusing time. Political parties speak about what they have achieved and what they will achieve if you vote them

into power. The media, and quite a few citizens, speak about how political parties have failed to achieve and what they will fail to achieve if they are voted into power. If you venture further from your favoured political party’s website, it’s difficult to find positive stories.

Coupled with the popular electioneering tactic of mud slinging, this makes it easy to get caught up in negativity. Allegations of fraudulent ballot sheets and pens containing ink that will rub off really makes it easy to decide that it’s not worth bothering to vote. This is such a pity. Election time should be a time where we celebrate.

I’m not proud of South Africa’s history, but I am proud of the struggle that instilled democracy in the country. I am proud of the people who fought, and who were willing to sacrifice their lives, to end apartheid. Most of all, I am proud to live in a country where voting is still such a big deal. I’m proud of the man who wore his best suit when he went to vote.

I’m proud of the woman who took her young children to the voting station and told them that they must remember how privileged they are to be growing up in a free society. I’m proud of the man wearing the EFF beret taking a selfie with the woman in the DA shirt. I’m proud of the

From the Editor #SouthAfricaVotes tweets, the Facebook posts, and the mark on my left thumb that ruined my manicure.

I’m proud of everyone who voted, but I’ll be even more proud if the political awareness that people used (I hope) when they voted extends beyond the election period. Active citizenship is more than marking an “X” on a piece of paper every four years. Casting a vote is only the start of exercising your democratic rights. To make full use of these rights, you need to stay politically aware. Remember all those promises that the party you voted for made? Hold that party accountable for them. As far as possible, engage with politicians and the media and make your voice heard.

Practice political tolerance while you do this.

It is inherent of democracy that political stances will vary. With all the different political parties in South Africa, it’s quite likely that political stances will vary radically. And that’s okay. You don’t have to accept someone else’s opinion – and, by all means, argue your own – but you do have to accept their right to have it. As Friedrich Nietzsche says, “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”

Max

@MarkoSvicevic1

Copy India Gonçalves

copy@perdeby.co.za @IndiaGoncalves

Layout Rebecca Paulsen

Comment

Cartoon: Vusimzi Njongwe

layout@perdeby.co.za @UtdRedAngel

Visuals Brad Donald

visuals@perdeby.co.za @Brad3rs

Teams Layout Stacey Cabeleira Lusanda Futshane Thabang Letageng Leandri Marx Copy Dylan Coleman Herman Hoogenboezem Moratuwa Masoabie Rorisang Moloi Shannon Nauschutz Keegan Schmidt Natalie Thompson John Wessels

Letter to the editor

Web Thabang Letageng Richan Schwellnus

As a postgraduate psychology student, the words “personal growth” came up a few times during my undergraduate years.

They were almost always accompanied with words like “counselling” and “development”. This is where the course that LifeLine Pretoria offers is a great opportunity: it is a personal growth course followed by a counselling skills course.

Advertising Sales Tel: 012 420 6600 Cell: 083 318 9738 carel.willemse@up.ac.za

Copyright Perdeby is printed by Paarlmedia. All rights reserved. Contributions are welcome. All due care will be taken with materials submitted, but Perdeby and printers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage. The editor reserves the right to edit, amend or alter in any way deemed necessary. Perdeby cannot be responsible for unsolicited material. The opinions expressed in Perdeby are not necessarily those of the editors and printers of Perdeby.

Tutor Benodig vir Gr 12 Leerder in Elarduspark area & by Doxa Deo/Marigon Pta-Oos Kampus Benodig iemand wat kan help met Eksamen voorbereiding en opsommings vir Gr12 leerder asook die voorlees en skryf van Eksamen vraestelle tydens die Junie, Rekord en Eind eksamen.

Die Gr12 leerder het ‘n toegewing dat hy vrae mondelings beantwoord wat vir hom voorgelees word.

Hy kry ook ekstra tyd per vraestel.

Sy vakke is AFR, ENG, MATH LIT, Life Orientation, Hospitality Studies, IT (Information Technology) en CAT (Computer Application Technology).

Skakel Lani Coetzee by 072 020 66 99 indien jy belangstel.

It has helped me to grow and given me the skills I know will benefit me as a psychology student. As psychology students, we need the learning experience and skills that LifeLine offers. So I urge you all to find out more about the course, it has helped me - as an honours student - a great deal.

Rochelle Kirstein

Letter policy All letters are published in accordance with our letter policy.

The policy can be read online.

Send your letters to perdeby@up.ac.za

12 May ’14

News 3

Gay student attacked at Urban Nest

Bathandwa Same was victim to an alleged homophobic assault by a resident. Photo: Anele Mkungela

RODNEY XABA A male student and resident of Urban Nest was left badly injured after an alleged homophobic attack by another male student. The alleged perpetrator accused victim Bathandwa Same of flirting with him countless times prior to the attack.

Same, a first-year regional and town planning student, said that he walked out into the corridor to go to his room after being on the

balcony with friends. Same said that he felt someone grab him from behind and slam his head against the door repeatedly. His friends rushed to help him. Security services were contacted and asked Same to write a statement.

The police were also contacted. Upon arrival the police asked Same to wait until the morning before opening a case.

Pride Thamaga, a second-year BCom Law student who witnessed the incident, says the alleged perpetrator became very defensive and

refused to cooperate with the police. Charles Malaila, the residence manager and house father at Urban Nest, asked the alleged perpetrator to apologise to the officers for his attitude towards them. He also asked that police not be involved and that they allow for the matter to be handled internally. A disciplinary hearing was called, which Same, the alleged perpetrator, Malaila, house mother Irene Malaila and house committee chairperson Tlhologelo Mogoatle all attended. Vice-chairperson of the house committee Diana Mawoko and SRC member Gabriel Nel were also at the disciplinary hearing.

Same told Perdeby that at the end of the hearing in April it was agreed that the alleged perpetrator was guilty and that appropriate steps would be followed. Same maintains that when residents move in, they sign a contract that states that should anyone be found guilty of assault, they will face immediate suspension from the residence. However, three weeks after the incident occurred the perpetrator was found guilty and received a written warning.

Ofence Nkale, a second-year BSc Applied Sciences student, says that he does not feel safe at Urban Nest anymore. “The guy has clear anger management problems. He almost fought with officers of the law. What will stop him from attacking one of us next?” Nkale went on to speak about how this is not the first time that management has failed to deliver. According to Nkale, the house father refused to get involved in the matter. “If he does not want to be part of

this issue then what is his job here? He is paid to take care of us like his own kids. You cannot let one of your own kids be beaten up and look the other way,” Nkale continued.

When Perdeby first contacted the house father, he was unable to comment as he was asked to follow protocol and to first confirm matters with TuksRes before speaking to the media. However, he later confirmed with Perdeby that the perpetrator had received a written warning after the disciplinary hearing.

The Urban Nest chairperson was also at first unable to explain why the matter had not been dealt with. He advised Perdeby to not publish the article as an investigation into the case was still underway.

“They [the house committee] made many promises to us during their manifestos but now that they are in luxury they have forgotten us.

I am very disappointed in the way they left their fellow peer and did not fully help him,” says Thamaga. Nthabiseng Phako, a secondyear BSc Biological Sciences student, was at the hearing but was only allowed to stay long enough to report what she witnessed during the incident. She says that during the hearing Urban Nest officials were mainly on the perpetrator’s side adding that they were defending him. They suggested that Same drop the case as it would cost the perpetrator a lot. Same told Perdeby that he intends to open a case with the police.

He expressed his disappointment regarding how the matter was handled and said he feels that it was pushed under the carpet.

Oscar Pistorius trial update MAXINE TWADDLE Day 26 Barry Roux called Oscar Pistorius’s former neighbour Johan Stander to the stand. Stander was the first person to arrive at the crime scene. Pistorius had telephoned Stander and his daughter, Clarice Viljoen.

Stander testified that Pistorius was shocked and shaken up when he arrived at the house.

Viljoen echoed this in her testimony.

Both Stander and Viljoen testified that when they arrived at Pistorius’s house, they saw him descending the stairs with Reeva Steenkamp’s body in his arms. Viljoen testified that Pistorius had asked her to take Steenkamp to the hospital. In his testimony, Stander repeated numerously that Pistorius had said that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder.

Gerrie Nel cast doubt on the objectivity of Stander and Viljoen’s testimony, given that Stander is Pistorius’s friend. He asked why if, as Stander had testified, there were security issues in the estate, Viljoen had testified to going to sleep with her balcony door open.

The court adjourned early because the defence had no more witnesses.

Day 27 Pistorius’s neighbours Michael and Eontle Nhlengethwa testified for the defence at the start of the day’s proceedings. They were originally due to be state witnesses.

Michael Nhlengethwa testified that he did not socialise with Pistorius, but found him friendly. He testified to being woken by his wife on the night of the shooting after she had heard a loud bang. He then heard a man crying. He went to Pistorius’s house after seeing a security vehicle arrive there, and saw Pistorius kneeling over Steenkamp’s body.

In his cross-examination, Nel got Nhlengethwa to admit that, because he had been following the case, he knew what other neighbours had testified. He confirmed that he did not hear the shots, nor did he hear the sounds of the cricket bat hitting the door.

Eontle Nhlengethwa largely echoed her husband’s testimony.

Day 28 The defence called Christina Lundgren, an anaesthetist from the University of the Witwatersrand, as the day’s first witness.

Lundgren testified about Steenkamp’s gastric contents. State witness Gert Saayman

had earlier testified that Steenkamp’s stomach had contained traces of vegetables and cheese, which he suggested she had eaten as late as 01:00.

Although Lundgren is not a forensic pathologist, as an anaesthetist she has a thorough understanding of stomach’s food content. She explained that gastric emptying is not an exact science and Steenkamp’s stomach may not have emptied even if she had eaten at around 19:00, as Pistorius had testified.

Lundgren told Nel that she is not willing to dispute the opinion of a qualified pathologist and admitted that it is less probable that Steenkamp’s body did not break down the food that she had eaten at 19:00 than that she had last eaten at 01:00.

When Roux re-examined Lundgren, he pointed out that most of the discussion on gastric emptying so far (including Saayman’s testimony) was speculation. Lundgren agreed.

The defence called social worker Yvette van Schalkwyk as its next witness. Van Schalkwyk is a social worker who assessed Pistorius after the shooting.

Van Schalkwyk apparently offered to testify because she was unhappy about claims in the media that Pistorius has been taking acting lessons for his testimonies and that his emotional displays are insincere. She testified that Pistorius was “heartbroken” when she assessed him. Nel questioned the validity of these comments, but Roux argued that they were intended to show that Pistorius was selfcentred and that he loved Steenkamp.

When Nel asked Van Schalkwyk what Pistorius had told her about the shooting, she said that he had said that he had accidentally shot Steenkamp. Nel picked up that she did not mention that Pistorius had thought Steenkamp was an intruder. She also conceded that Pistorius had never said he was sorry for killing Steenkamp. When Roux questioned Van Schalkwyk again, she said that Pistorius had mentioned to her that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder.

The next witness was Tom Wolmarans, who calls himself an “independent forensic ballistics expert”. Wolmarans testified that the shots were fired in quick succession and that game ranger ammunition was used. He disputed the testimony of the state’s forensic experts.

Read about day 29 online.

4 News

Rag reshuffle on the cards CAREL WILLEMSE “Not business as usual.” This is the clear sentiment on Rag echoed by Michelle Viljoen, senior executive assistant of the office of the vice-principal of Student Affairs. This follows a workshop held on Thursday 8 May where key role players discussed the way forward for the organisation. The meeting was attended by Rag HKs, executive members of the Rag committee, the acting director of Residence Affairs, the director and deputy director of Student Affairs, the head of Student Development and a representative of the vice-chancellor of Student Affairs.

According to a report the repositioning of Rag has been on the university’s agenda since 2011 stating “financial shortfalls,

suboptimal functioning of the central committee, extremely negative public perception and institutional reputational risks” as some of the problem areas within Rag. A focus on sustainable community engagement along with the alignment of Rag within the university’s 2025

“Not business as usual.” strategic vision has been identified as significant factors in the reevaluation of Rag’s function at Tuks. Although the residences has already moved toward more sustainable community engagement, it was suggested that there could be a better synergy with Enactus in identifying suitable projects and ways

12 May ’14

in approaching them.

Dr Rina Wilken, head of Student Development, said that she felt very positive with the progress made during the meeting saying, “I’m glad that everyone got a chance to speak.” Dr Wilken said it is good that the residences generally want to continue with both the long-term and short-term projects.

Residence HKs agreed that change was necessary and that a proper assessment on the relevance of certain Rag events and programs needed to be done before it would be decided to scrap them completely. Spring Day is one such an event that will no longer be facilitated by Rag as it now falls under the SRC. According to Dr Wilken, a proposal is being drafted that will be circulated to students for input and then be sent to the executive. Dr Wilken hopes to finalise the action plan before the end of exams.

Elections

BOIPELO BOIKHUTSO

The South African national elections took place on 7 May 2014. This was the first election in which the born free generation could vote. Perdeby asked Tuks students whether they voted, why they voted or refrained from voting, and their general feelings regarding the election.

“Yes, I voted. I believe in the party and what they can achieve in the future, democracy belongs to each and every one of us and it is only right that we give our vote to a party that wants to change our nation.”

Lindokuhle Malaza, a third-year BIS Publishing student.

“I did not vote because it’s so hard to be loyal to any party in SA when there is so much corruption.”

Neo Matsho, a third-year BCom Auditing student.

“I didn't vote because the main party is corrupt and there is no suitable alternative I find I can affiliate with.”

An anonymous final-year actuarial science student.

“Yesterday [7 May] was the first time I voted and [the] reason why I voted is because I want to see change in the current policies of the country and I want to see us strive for economic growth. And also, since I voted, I think I had a say in which party should govern the country and it is one of my rights that many sacrificed their lives for, hence [why] I voted yesterday. I have faith in my party and I’m satisfied, there’s only one thing I do not agree with when it comes to it, that being their presidential candidate.”

Mandla Ntimane, a third-year B Town and Regional Planning student.

“No, I didn’t vote and I would never vote. Why? Well, I will start by quoting, ‘Voting gives people an illusion of power that does not exist.’ In case you have not noticed, we are in Africa and in Africa no country ever made a positive change through ballot papers and voting polls.

The 1994 elections changed f***l, don’t give me that Rainbow c**p just because you have a right to start your own business. Political parties will not change anything.

Your votes don’t count.”

Onesimo Mtintsilana, a third-year BSc Physics student.

“I did not vote because I couldn’t decide on whom to vote for. Everyone has their own agendas.”

Mpelegeng Rammutloa, a third-year BCom Informatics student.

“I voted and I have a nasty brown mark on my finger to prove it. But I voted because it is important to me to become a responsible, participating member of society. I love my country and I want to help steer it into a brilliant future in every which way I can.

I do [it] for myself, my family and my children who will inherit this beautiful land.

Faith is all I have. I prayed about it and asked for peace when I placed my mark on the ballot, no matter who is president, whichever ruling party is holding the highest office in our nation. The work to build a great RSA lies with us. I'm not satisfied with my vote as there's no one, I feel right now, who has the country’s best interest at heart and recognises the people’s struggle. But I will be happy and grateful that at least we aren’t at war.”

Dlozi Mthethwa a third-year BIS Multimedia student.

“I voted and it was super exciting because it was my first time. I am a proud born free. I do not know if the party I voted for will deliver but I’m hoping it will.”

Kelebogile Lesolang, a psychology student

“Yes, I voted. My vote wasn’t a vote for that particular party, but it was a vote against the ANC. Trying to get [the] opposing party more sits in parliament so as to give ANC a challenge to serve its people well.”

Seihati Moretlwe, a BCom student.

“Yes, I voted because every vote counts and I feel like we need to be active citizens. I am satisfied [with the party the vote was casted for] as I have researched their track record and seen their policy implemented first hand.”

Thyler Cardinal Von Widdern, a second-year BSc Mathematical Statistics student.

ELECTIONS

12 May ‘14

News 5

South Africa votes 2014

Freedom Photo: Brendan Fraser

Freedom

Photo: Hendro van der Merwe

Democracy Photo: Kirsty Mackay

Democracy

Photo: Brendan Fraser

Africa SouthSouth Africa

6 Features

12 May ’14

Helpful hints for handling winter on a student budget Winter doesn’t always have to be terrible, with warm meals, crusty breads, cosy clothes and long naps that make it more comfortable. However, this is not an option for students who are strained by a restricted cash flow.

Juggling June exams, the cold and all that it brings will test our tenacity this season, but with a little thought and planning, students can still live comfortably without having to break the bank.

JARED DE CANHA The basics of a student’s budget revolve around the cornerstones of wellbeing, accommodating the cold, nourishment and transport forming the WANT acronym. Keeping this in mind, this winter will remind you not to stray from your budget.

W Wellbeing

The most important aspect of this cornerstone is your immune system and keeping it strong enough to do its job. Stress and germs can’t wait to hinder your health, so retaliate through exercise and good personal hygiene. Exercise does not have to be expensive, and students should consider joining the various social running and walking groups on campus.

Investing in a good, portable hand sanitiser will also reduce the risk of infections and prevent winter germs from ambushing your immune system.

Another helpful hint students tend to overlook is making use of the health services available on the various campuses, where no consultation fees are charged. Remember to take your student card along to these visits.

Prescribed medicines are suited to your budget, so do your homework and compare the prices between pharmacies before purchasing medicine. Do not wait until you are sick and bedridden to seek assistance, but visit the doctor as soon as symptoms appear.

A

Accommodating the cold Take advantage of the free heat from the sun this winter by opening your curtains and windows during the day to allow the sunlight to heat your room, as well as to ventilate your living space. Trap the day’s heat for use at night by closing the windows and curtains again before dusk.

Investing in a few warm pieces of clothing that can last more than one winter is far better than impulsively buying clothing, and this is why careful consideration is necessary when shopping for clothes. Keeping in mind that the majority of body heat lost is through the feet and head, closed shoes and beanies are essential. Keep quality in mind when purchasing a jacket. Even though an expensive jacket will put strain on your current budget, it will be an investment for future years.

Another tip to consider is the insulation properties newspaper has. So, when you have finished with this edition, keep it under your feet while studying instead of throwing it away.

This will create a barrier between your feet and the cold floor.

Lastly, remember that while a heater is cheap to buy, it is expensive to run and alternatives such as microwavable heating devices or even old-fashioned hot water bottles are better options.

N Nourishment

Successful nourishment involves hydration, healthy eating and clever shopping, as shopping without a plan can break anyone’s budget.

Hydration is essential in keeping healthy during winter. Taking a flask of coffee or tea to campus with you is also a wise way to save. This is also true for packing snackpacks, which will prevent wasteful spending when you are ravenous and irrational due to plummeting blood sugar. Replacing the sugar portfolio in your budget, which has a hand in weakening your immune system, with vitamin C, wholegrain breads and budget foods such as beans and lentils is a wise decision. Choose rice and oats over instant alternatives, as these are lower in sugar, sodium and calories and are generally cheaper.

Illustration: Monrique Henning

Communal eating is also excellent for a budget, and a dinner where everyone contributes an ingredient can be cost-effective and fun, where leftovers can be shared for freezing. This can also replace eating out, as eating out frequently is a big stress on a budget and acts as a big culprit to adding to your winter weight and a weakened immune system.

Clever shopping is done on a full stomach and is not attempted in a rush or without a list.

This is because hungry shoppers are more likely to be tempted and tend to break their budgets listening to their cravings over reason. Shopping with a list is an excellent way to stay within a budget and, combined with a smartphone’s calculator, will keep you focused while braving the seductive shopping aisles.

Loyalty cards are available at most retail outlets, and are extremely useful weapons for students to save, combined with ensuring that your bank account is student-friendly as student accounts have less bank charges. Careful inspection of the unit prices on the shelves will reveal the best deal between package sizes and brands, so allocate enough time to allow for this. Avoid pre-packed and prepared vegetables, as it is cheaper to buy whole vegetables and prepare them yourself. Do this as soon as you return from the shops in order to have readily

available snack-packs. Also remember that frozen vegetables have a similar nutritional value to fresh vegetables, and are usually cheaper. It is easier and more efficient to shop for less more often as your food stays fresher for longer, preventing wastage and making it easier for you to carry if you are restricted to two hands.

Find out which grocery stores have specials or accept vouchers. Some stores even offer student discounts when you shop on certain days.

T

Transport

For those who do not have the luxury of taking the bus to campus, carpooling is a must for budget savings. Walking is a wonder for warming up in winter, so arrange a group to avoid walking alone.

By keeping the WANT acronym in mind this winter, it is possible to stretch those rands. It goes without saying that you should not deprive yourself entirely of your favourite treats, as your budget will become a burden. Make one day a week your treat day where you can give in to luxury a little. However, spending more conscientiously and planning effectively is a real rand stretcher.

Does academic success

presuppose corporate success?

Inch by inch it’s a cinch: an expression that is the cornerstone of success. If you eagerly apply yourself and immerse yourself wholly in your work, it is almost certain that your painstaking efforts will be handsomely rewarded.

However, “almost” doesn’t quite put you at ease and sometimes what you put in isn’t always what you get out.

absolutely important to get experience now to increase the likelihood of getting hired in the future. So getting a job in line with your desired field now may be the greatest favour you can do for yourself.

Knowledge expires but innovation inspires

SIZWE KHUMALO

Academic success may not push you up in the corporate world as far as you hope it will. That is, academic prowess is not the single most determining factor in whether you make it in the corporate world.

The outside world does not mirror our intuition, and neither does the corporate world. As students who gain knowledge of our respective fields, we think that we will be able to flourish in the work environment with few obstacles. However, the transition from university to work is hardly a seamless one.

According to Senta A Raizen’s paper called “Reforming education for work: a cognitive science perspective” published by the National Centre for Research in Vocational Education, by the time we’re finished studying, a new way of thinking will have emerged which will sadly have rendered certain parts of our acquired knowledge virtually obsolete.

Raizen cites the changing needs of the economy, changes in manufacturing, and growth in the service industry as reasons to revolutionise thought in the work environment.

These cause a subsequent lag in “modernised” thinking in new entrants in the job market. Even though this might confuse you, it should rather awaken you to the fact that academic success alone is not an important key in the corporate world. There are other variables you need to consider.

The dreaded experience prerequisite We’ve all heard how critical experience is in determining whether you get absorbed into the jobs market or not. So why don’t we have a sense of urgency to get all the experience that we need? According to Amit Shah, in a Forbes article called “Does higher education actually prepare you for your career?”, most of the work that will earn you experience and give you a sense of responsibility pays very little, so most of your experience will be gained through voluntary work. We are inherently predisposed to want to match effort with reward, but it is

We live in a world that is constantly changing.

What is relevant today might be stale tomorrow.

In order to be successful you have to be innovative. According to an article written by Alan Hall called “Get noticed” in Entrepreneur, having the ability to turn what is seemingly complex in to something coherent and simple is the quickest way to earn the recognition of top executives. You should be able to make good, thought-out recommendations without being asked. Raise your hand at all times. It’ll show that you’re constantly thinking and it’ll make you stand out from everyone else.

Machiavellian logic: cunning your way up Opportunism, deception and manipulation are qualities that are frowned upon in most spheres of life. However, according to an article by Ben Fletcher called “How to climb the corporate ladder” in Forbes, sometimes it pays to possess these qualities because sometimes being morally upright may cost deals. Taking responsibility for your or your team’s mistakes gets you noticed for the wrong reasons, and doing your job quietly may make

your achievements go unnoticed. So it seems as though it pays to throw others under the bus and to shout out your achievements, but it makes you disliked by your co-workers and the more you point out the wrongs of others to your boss the more your own flaws are exaggerated in their eyes. Rather use these traits selectively when it is appropriate to ensure that you do not take the blame for another’s poor work or constantly get overlooked because someone is making their achievements more obvious than yours.

In the end, fulfilment matters There isn’t necessarily a linear relationship between success and fulfilment. You can be extraordinarily successful and maddeningly miserable at the same time.

According to the book Outliers, a bestseller written by Malcolm Gladwell, in order for work to be fulfilling it has to feel autonomous, you have to feel like you’re taking decisions and are not told what to do all the time. It has to have an element of complexity, which means that as you do your job you have to feel like you’re solving an intricate problem. The feeling that comes with solving a seemingly difficult problem is worthwhile.

Last, but not least, your efforts should be compensated accordingly, otherwise it will just feel like your efforts are not being appreciated and that can dampen your spirit. In order to achieve true success you have to feel like the best possible version of yourself while doing your best job, always.

12 May ’14

Features 7

Marijuana: to legalise or not to legalise?

GABRIELLA FERREIRA Marijuana, dagga, cannabis, weed, ganja, pot, Mary Jane, grass, bud. These are all common names of the most controversial drug in the world, and although not everyone may have the same name for the green leaf, there is no disputing its popularity, with an estimated 5% of the world’s population using the drug on a regular basis.

The drug once again made headlines earlier this year after two states in America (Washington and Colorado) legalised it, making it legal for registered vendors to sell the drug and for any adult over the age of 21 to use and possess it as of 1 January 2014. Although this is not the first time that marijuana has been legalised for all uses, it is the first time that the sale of marijuana has been formalised in such a manner. From production to retail, the process is regulated by the state government, ensuring that all expected procedures are followed.

The benefits of legalisation experienced by these two states have led to many people around the world reconsidering the idea of legalisation.

With similar potential possibilities, the question many South Africans have been asking is: should marijuana be legalised?

Many supporters of legalisation suggest that prohibiting people from using marijuana is a human rights violation. Werner Weber of Fields of Green for All, a South African nonprofit organisation focused on the legalisation of marijuana, says that the greatest reason for legalisation is that it is our own self-determined right, as tax-paying citizens, to decide whether or not we use marijuana. Weber says, “It should be my right to choose what I may and may not put into my body. It’s my body, it’s my choice, and I’ll live with the consequences. Therefore it is a human rights issue for us at Fields of Green for All.” Supporters of legalisation also suggest that there is much to be gained on an economic standpoint by legalising the drug, such as increases in employment opportunities and state revenue.

Weber says that the part of the marijuana plant known as hemp is a commodity that could be used to make a lot of money for the state and farmers if industrialised. “The hemp plant is a variety of marijuana that can be grown on industrial scale for industrial use. Many of the luxury European sedans like Mercedes, Volvo and others make use of door panels and glove compartments, all made from hemp resin. It is also a great food source as the hemp seed is one of the very few complete proteins, meaning it

Image: Eddie Mafa and Hendro van der Merwe

has all the amino acids the human body needs to rebuild itself. Currently in South Africa all our hemp is imported, making it expensive to use in any way or form,” Weber says. He further says that growing marijuana will allow us to not only save money, but to create many employment opportunities in the industries involved in production and sale of the product.

The second economic gain may be that of gaining revenue through taxes. The Central Drug Authority (CDA), South Africa’s drug advisory board, estimates that R3.5 billion is spent on the illicit purchase of marijuana each year. It is therefore true that if parliament legalised the drug and placed a tax on it, a new stream of revenue would be created.

Economic gain is not the only advantage of legalising marijuana. There have been many recorded instances in which marijuana has been used effectively for medicinal purposes.

The reason for this, as suggested by marijuana research expert Raphael Mechoulam, is the composition of the plant. A marijuana plant is made up of 480 components that all work together to create therapeutic effects that other medications may fail to replicate.

CNN medical correspondent and former anti-legalisation advocate Dr Sanjay Gupta in an article titled “Why I changed my mind on weed”, wrote that marijuana is not just a drug that can be used to get high, but that it also has legitimate medicinal uses and that it is sometimes the only substance that may have the ability to suppress symptoms and side effects of certain medical conditions.

Dr Gupta uses the example of Charlotte Figi, an eight-year-old girl who has suffered from

seizures since birth. Before receiving medicinal marijuana treatment, Figi reportedly suffered from an estimated 300 seizures a week and had tried seven different medications which had all failed to reduce attacks. After receiving medicinal marijuana treatment, the number of seizures she experienced reduced to two to three a week.

On the topic of medical marijuana, Weber says that marijuana has proved to be an appropriate treatment for over 5 000 ailments, many of them severe or life threatening such as cancer, and was used for medicinal purposes throughout history until it was banned in the 1930s.

If there are so many gains to be made by legalising marijuana, why has it not been legalised already? Most arguments against the legalisation of marijuana around the world focus on the idea that legalisation will lead to an increase in addiction to both marijuana and even harder drugs such as heroin or cocaine.

In studies performed by Australia’s Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research and the USA’s Drug Enforcement Administration, it was indicated that the prohibition of marijuana and other substances has worked in deterring an estimated 30% of potential users due to the threat of legal action.

Drug abuse is already a problem in South Africa, with the CDA reporting that an estimated 15% of South Africans have a drug problem.

The idea that legalisation could lead to greater drug abuse is something that many governments around the world fear.

Weber, however, disagrees with this argument and uses Portugal as an example, where hard drugs were decriminalised over a decade

ago. The decriminalisation of hard drugs has led to a significant decrease in the amount of people abusing drugs and the amount of people receiving treatment for drug abuse.

Another popular argument suggests that the legalisation of marijuana will lead to an increase in crime due to the fact that it may have an impact on mental health. British psychiatrist Dr Andrew Johns in an academic article titled “Psychiatric effects of cannabis”, suggests that the use of marijuana can lead to periods of psychosis in which feelings of depersonalisation and derealisation are experienced. This loss of reality may lead users to commit a crime they may not have under normal circumstances.

According to the SAPS, 60% of the crimes committed in South Africa can be attributed to substance abuse, in which criminal acts were performed either under the influence or in an effort to obtain some sort of narcotic.

According to the CDA, marijuana is the second most addictive substance in South Africa, and it is feared that allowing marijuana to be more freely available may increase the risk of crime and may deter parliament from legalising the substance. This argument has been challenged, however. Gareth Newham, head of the Crime and Justice Programme at the Institute of Security Studies, has suggested that legalising drugs may actually have the opposite effect and may help to prevent crime as it disempowers gangs by reducing their available funds.

The CDA admits that the current attempts to reduce substance abuse through prohibition are not working and that it may have to approach the problem in a different manner. As part of their National Drug Master Plan, they have promised to look at the feasibility of legalising marijuana in South Africa, but no legal action by the CDA has been taken as of yet.

The first major bill attempting to legalise the sale of marijuana was presented to parliament in February. MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini approached parliament earlier this year proposing a bill that allowed the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Oriani-Ambrosini, who suffers from stage four cancer, told media that it was an outrage that government could withhold a substance that could provide pain relief to those suffering from life-threatening diseases. He went on to state that marijuana is a market that can be developed to benefit South Africa economically.

Whether parliament decides to pass a bill legalising marijuana for medicinal purposes or for free use remains to be seen as debates rage on as to whether it will be good for the country or not. Until then, the question to legalise or not to legalise remains.

Jobs you would never have thought existed THLOLOGELO MATHEBE From the moment we are born, we are raised to believe that we should strive towards a certain purpose. This is the reason why we are put through school. As the world evolves and choices of careers expand, people may rather take the alternative and choose what would be perceived as an unorthodox way of life. These are the people who deviate from society’s norms and find themselves performing the jobs that are fundamental to the same society but that no one without the necessary guts will do, or are necessarily aware of. These jobs include dumpster-diving, working in porn retail, manufacturing of sex toys, chicken sexing (this involves sorting through chicks to determine if they are male or female and then sorting them accordingly) and being a human billboard.

While most of our dreams as children involved becoming lawyers, teachers, football players, doctors or even firemen, the world would be somewhat unbalanced if we all became successful in these prominent career choices. Who would then generate lots of customers for businesses by wearing a big board with an advertisement on it and who would contribute towards fulfilling the needs of those who find pleasure in toys? It might come as a surprise to many, but these aren’t even the most

peculiar jobs in the world.

A person might choose to be a vermiculturist, which involves collecting, cleaning and classifying worms. This job may seem to have no perks, but an impeccable knowledge of worm farming is a skill known to only a select few.

Other strange jobs include dog food testing which is done by humans for dogs, gum busting which involves the use of special steaming tools to remove gum that is stuck to sidewalks, street benches and other places, odour judges who work for various industries such as underarm deodorant manufacturers and are required to smell armpits, dice inspectors who inspect for lopsidedness, blemishes, seven-sidedness and any other imperfections, or golf ball marshals, who search ponds, lakes and other water bodies around golf courses for golf balls.

All these jobs seem quite unusual but their services are needed. A professional gum buster commented in the Washington Post, “You’d be surprised how much gum is everywhere.

Generally, amusement parks and parking garages are the worst. Since starting in the business I’ve been more aware of dropping gum - I try to find a trash can or at least something to wrap it in. And if I absolutely have to spit?

Well, I make sure no one is watching.”

Not all strange jobs are unpleasant or too

Illustration: Simon-Kai Garvie

uncomfortable to admit to friends. Being a lifeguard at a nude beach is one job with more advantages than disadvantages, as your day consists of looking at and saving naked people. The same goes for porn retail or the manufacturing of sex toys. It is a common belief that you would not be involved in something you did not believe in it, so at the end of a working day, together with remunerations, you get to take home some of the goods that you spent the day working with or even got an employee discount on.

Some of these jobs require you to have some sort of tertiary education and specialised training but others just require a really courageous and fearless person. An oil rig dive technician’s job involves laying oil pipes on the

ocean floor while facing possible shark attacks or jelly fish stings. An aeroplane repo’s job is to retrieve aeroplanes which are situated in the enemy’s territory, that are seized by the enemy during warfare with the risk of getting shot at and possibly being jailed in another country.

Being a bounty hunter in a country wracked with crime is probably the quickest way to generate guaranteed commission. Pearl diving in Australia’s shark-infested waters is one of the most dangerous, high-paying unusual jobs.

As society develops and things that were previously unacceptable become normal, people’s life choices are judged and analysed much less than they used to be. However the jobs that await you after graduation may not be as boring as you might imagine.

8 Entertainment

12 May ’14

Dan Patlansky releases seventh studio album them slightly so that they change into a live format.

Has there been one main inspiration for your new pieces?

Not really a main underlying thing. In the past I was more of a traditional blues guy – not on previous albums, I’m talking way back – and you write more clichéd blues lyrics, which are cool too. Whiskey, women. There is a bit of that on the album because that is where I come from, but I think, with modern blues rock, you take an almost songwriter approach. You’ll write about life experiences more than just the clichéd type of thing.

There are a couple videos released that document you recording the album. Can you describe the recording process?

Dan Patlansky. Photo: getitonline.co.za

MICHAL-MARÉ LINDEN

Local blues legend Dan Patlansky headed back to the studio at the beginning of this year to record his latest offering Dear Silence Thieves. With Patlansky embarking on his album launch tour, Perdeby spoke to him exclusively about his seventh album and his plans for the rest of the year.

Dear Silence Thieves is your seventh studio album and all your past albums have been very successful. Do you feel any pressure to produce something better than the rest?

I think definitely, every album we do. We don’t try to produce the albums for radio play. It’s not really the thing so it’s always just to produce the best possible album that we can produce that I, or someone, would enjoy listening to. It’s never really about trying to get more sales or anything like that. It’s also about trying to capture the vibe of where we are now musically.

Is there a story behind the name of your new album?

I don’t know if you remember, in the 90s there was a rapper called Everlast? He’s not a rapper anymore. He’s a country-type singer now. So I was on tour with him last year in Germany and he’s quite a scary guy – he doesn’t really talk to you. At the very first show in Münster, Germany I did my opening set and he was doing a kind of acoustic thing, and in the middle of the show two people were talking in the audience and he didn’t take a liking to that and he pretty much stopped the show and had a full-blown argument with the guy and was like “Shut up”. The guy was giving him grief back and what ended up happening was he ended up trying to kill this dude, jumped off the stage and then he cancelled the show.

The way he reacted was a bit maybe overboard but I liked the sense of “if you’re going to come to the show and you’re paying

good money, you’re coming to listen, everyone else is coming to listen” and I myself being someone who does a lot of acoustic performances and you get these turkeys talking in the crowd the whole show so I think it was cool that he didn’t put up with that.

Many fans have not yet heard the album or some of the new material, what can they expect?

We’ve done one or two shows with the new content just to get it ready for this weekend. I believe how the songs translate live is definitely the best live set we’ve ever had because I think the songs are very strong compared to previous albums. There’s a big focus on song writing on this album so I think the live set flows so well because the songs are so great. Obviously we’re doing pretty much the same thing – this loud, in your face type of stuff – but I just think the underlying songs we’re going to be playing are far stronger and I’m really excited to play the new stuff.

When writing the new material, was the focus been on the live performance?

Not at all. I wrote a bunch of songs, went to studio, pretty much ready to go. Obviously they morph and change when you preproducing them in the studio. Then, the trick is, once you start recording the album, to get those songs to translate live because you can’t play them exactly like you play them on the album. So the last month has really been taking those songs and changing

It was tough because this was the first album I didn’t produce. I got Theo Crous to produce it, who has mixed and I’ve worked with many times before but we thought that it’d be cool to change it up and get him to produce it. Obviously, Theo was with the New Girls in the 90s and runs possibly the most successful studio in South Africa and he’s produced a million and one things in all different genres that really happen and have done well. He’s a really musical producer.

The tough part was handing him the reigns because I’m a bit of a control freak, I like to control every element of the music.

I was cool, we fought occasionally, but we always came to a compromise. So that was a big challenge but otherwise, we pretty much went to the studio in January and we pre-produced for a week. We took the songs we had written and played them how we’d envisioned them happening and then we changed bits and pieces there, slowed tempos down. Some songs stayed exactly like they were and some morphed quite a bit. Then we started recording which was about a month’s worth of recording and then about two weeks’ worth of mixing and post-production, just trying to get everything cool.

It’s not my favourite thing in the world, studio, but obviously it’s essential. It’s a very tough thing to get a vibe in the studio.

There are only three or four people in there. If you’re used to playing live, you’re used to drawing off the audience, even if it’s a small audience, but there’s none of that.

You recently played at Splashy Fen’s 25th anniversary. How was the performance?

It was very cool. It is probably my 10th, 11th or 12th year that I’ve played Splashy and it’s always fantastic, a highlight of the year.

This year was cool because it was a test run for the new songs.

It was quite nerve-wracking at the same time because new songs take a long time to feel comfortable and natural because you’re thinking about them too much and remember lyrics and melodies and chords.

The cool thing was that the new songs went down really well and that was my big worry – doing Splashy and then having a miff set because we’re all still feeling out the new songs. But the songs translated so well live, especially in that festival atmosphere.

Last year you played at the Grahamstown Art Festival with Karen Zoid. Are there anymore collaborations on the horizon?

Me and Albert Frost are doing a collab there [Grahamstown Art Festival] this year at the Guy Butler Theatre. We’re doing pretty much the same thing Karen and I did last year. Obviously there’ll be quite a lot of Albert’s content too but it’ll be me playing with Albert on his stuff, Albert playing with me on my stuff and a lot of the new content slapped in there for good measure and also some old stuff that we’ve always played and been part of our show. But to be honest, we haven’t even talked but we’ll be doing the same thing at Oppikoppi.

Nakhane Toure

“My music is a focusing and distillation of who

LISA KAHIMBAARA You were nominated in multiple Sama categories. What does winning mean to you?

I could answer this with the typical: “Just being nominated was enough for me, winning would just be a bonus,” which as I think about it now is actually true. Clichés are cliché because they’re true. I didn’t expect to be nominated at all, and winning for “Best Alternative” was a blessing for me. That’s the one I really wanted. That’s the outsider’s award.

To answer your question simply: winning is nice, it makes you feel all warm inside. Once you’re nominated your mind goes straight to the possible win, which can be dangerous because there are more chances you’ll lose than win.

You were also pegged as favourite for many people. As someone who is clearly not commercial and with your

inherent humility, how do you deal with so much recognition?

I try to not think about it. I was reading an article on one of my favourite singers Billy MacKenzie from The Associates, and he and a journalist are speaking about an unnamed musician who walks into rooms expecting to be recognised and worshipped. Billy simply says, “Poor boy.”

I don’t want to be that person. It’s strange, it really makes me laugh. I don’t know how to react to it. I always ask Chris how to respond to tweets, “What should I say?” and then he advises me.

I always remind myself to not get used to it.

Your song “Christopher” was inspired by your real life partner. How did he react to being the subject of the song?

At first he was bashful, a little embarrassed, but secretly flattered.

Now he does not hide those emotions anymore. He’s actually directing my upcoming video for the song. I think that says it all.

I am”

Image provided

Do you feel that you are as complex and multi-faceted as your music?

My music is a focusing and distillation of who I am, a way to make things make more sense, in a way compartmentalisation. In person, in my mind it’s all just a mess. “Complex” is too polite a word. Maybe “complicated” would be more apt. But on the other hand we all think we’re more complicated than we actually are.

We live in an era where you read almost (and I’m exaggerating to make a point of course) every second Facebook post where kids are trying so very much to be “weird”. And that’s just willful.

I don’t want to be willful about who I am. That must come naturally, otherwise it just seems like a performance.

12 May ’14

Entertainment 9

Image: The Pixies’s Facebook page

Indie Cindy: long awaited, soon forgotten Indie Cindy The Pixies

Image: wikipedia.org

ELMARIE KRUGER After more than 20 years of producing no new material, the Pixies have released a new album, resulting in mixed reactions from fans and critics alike. One thing is certain, though: the Pixies are not what they used to be. Much has changed in the 23 years since they released their last album Trompe Le Monde in 1991. One of these changes is the departure of founding member, backing vocalist and bassist Kim Deal, and her presence on the

album is sorely missed.

In reality, Indie Cindy is an amalgamation of three earlier extended plays (unoriginally entitled EP1, EP2 and EP3), which means that the majority of the album’s material had already been heard by fans in September 2013, when the first of these extended plays was released.

Nonetheless, Pixie devotees were excited for the release of the album, but unfortunately, it does not differ much from the previously released extended plays, which were underwhelming.

The album does have some redeeming tracks, however. The title track “Indie Cindy” evokes the sounds of the Pixies that fans have come to know over the years, with their talky verses and melodic choruses.

Tracks like “Greens and blues” and “Magdalena 318” are also classic Pixies – especially when considering the disguised callousness in the lyrical content of “Magdalena 318”.

Regrettably, these shrewd lyrics do not carry over to tracks like “Another toe in the ocean”. Here, the previously clever lyrics are replaced by all too obvious rhymes in the song’s supposed hook,

I Never Learn Lykke Li

Image: pitchfork.com

JOHAN SAAYMAN With three extended plays and two studio albums behind Swedish singer/songwriter Lykke Li’s name, her third studio album should come as no effort. This time Li seems to have delved back into her underground poignant cultist to create an album filled with a soul-wrenching set of ballads.

I Never Learn is different from 2011’s Wounded Rhymes in that the pace has been kept consistently and strictly slow. While this tempo means that the album is unlikely to be a go-to choice for listeners, it makes it a perfect match to a sorrowful day.

Li’s previous focus on vocals accompanied by simple melodies is avoided in I Never Learn and there is a preference for a fuller sound. These conglomerate melodies contribute to a mysterious and ominous tone throughout the album but are made redundant by the slow pace at which they progress.

The lyrics have changed slightly as they are meticulously put together with big, indigestible words rather than easily heard and comprehensible phrases. This makes the lyrics hard to relate to.

What Li has stayed true to, though, is her layered vocals. The vocals carry an eerie feel, making the album almost hypnotic as it creeps along. In her previous music, Li’s voice was said to be very ranged, but in I Never Learn this range is suffocated by emotive low tones and slugging vocals.

With a lagging tempo, a collection of over-thought lyrics, repetitive melodies and colourless vocals, it seems like all Li has learned over her almost-decade of music making is how to entertain emotionally distraught fans that lost their Cindy Lauper CDs.

Image: hollywoodmoviewiki.com

The Other Woman Director: Nick Cassavetes YANGA TYIKWE With a rather unlikely ensemble of Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton and rapper Nicki Minaj, the audience may raise their eyebrows before the film begins, but they will be pleasantly surprised at this hilarious but sadly romantic film.

The Other Woman, in a nutshell, follows the story of a husband, a wife, and his mistresses as they get wind of his multiple shenanigans and plot their revenge against him.

The film starts with tough corporate lawyer, Carly (Cameron Diaz) uncharacteristically falling in love with her latest fling, the handsome Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Seeing that she is

an uninteresting bridge and a dull melody – making the song an overall disappointment.

A high point on the album is “Andro queen”. Hidden among the record’s final songs, it offers some surprising experimentation with synths and has the potential to be one of the best songs on Indie Cindy, were it not for its passé, science fiction-inspired lyrics.

Where the album’s opener “What goes boom” starts out as loudly and energetically as one would expect from the Pixies, the closing track “Jaime Bravo” is slightly more relaxed, albeit rather trite and bland, ending the album on an unsatisfactory note.

Even though Indie Cindy is not a disappointment altogether, it cannot compare to the quality of earlier Pixies albums and the majority of the tracks leave much to be desired, but Indie Cindy does contain some diamonds in the rough that should definitely not be overlooked or underestimated.

Fans are used to much better material from the Pixies, and perhaps only the hardiest of Pixies enthusiasts might be willing to give the record a second chance. smitten with him, her father Frank (Don Johnson) advises her to go visit Mark. It is when she surprises him late one night - sexy plumber ensemble on - that she is greeted by his wife at the door and learns the horrifying truth that he is, in fact, married.

In a strange turn of events, Mark’s wife Kate King (Leslie Mann) visits Carly at her office, apparently not filled with any rage (although the audience soon learns that she has underlying fury which she enacts quite comically). The unlikely pair of mistress and wife become friends after Kate’s undying persistence in befriending Carly and a drunken night out.

The Other Women’s character development is quite profound for a comedy. By the end, the characters have evolved from hilarious pawns in Mark’s cheatboard to real people facing a reallife hardship.

The film is pure comedy and is a fresh take on the cheating husband and disgruntled wife scenario. The film combines low and high comedy as some witty dialogue is exchanged, while not being shy of pratfalls. It does, however, reach an irritatingly slow pace about halfway through, but does eventually recover as the story reaches the climax.

It is thoroughly enjoyable but is lacking more imaginative revenge. There are moments that come across as unnecessary, some worthy of eye-rolls, and some that just leave you thinking “Really now?’’

Though an unlikely and seemingly disturbing combination, the characters have an unmistakeable harmony. Mann and Diaz are comedy gold: one is a cold and stern lawyer whose life is infiltrated by the other, who is a clumsy, babbling and irrational housewife. Their setbacks and funny back and forth of dialogue keeps the audience in stitches. It took seeing Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, not as the tough Jaime Lannister, but rather as a serial cheater some getting used to, but he owns the part right to the end. Nicki Minaj plays Lydia, Carly’s assistant.

She is a pleasure to watch as she adds flavour to the film, albeit for a short time. Her calm persona, smooth delivery and amusing advice to her boss add a memorable zing to the film.

Every guy will love this film, every woman will hate to love it and every feminist will outright hate it, but it is worth a watch if you have a bit of patience and the desire for something new.

12 May ’14

Fun & Games 9

Pssst...

Poem

Serrie prelims proved that Pssst… doesn’t need to name and shame reses as they are more than willing to do it themselves. Take Kiaat, for example. Pssst… sees the boys haven’t paid any visits to the gym recently and a lot of girls wanted to gouge their eyes out when Kiaat took their shirt off during Serrie. Pssst... reckons Inca should do Kiaat, and themselves, a favour and hit the gym together.

Pssst... really thinks that Inca and Kiaat should have performed in the dark like Vividus Men did. Vividus Men’s Serrie was so bad that they were forced to switch off the lights and perform in the dark. Pssst... is relieved that Vividus Men didn’t follow their sister day house Vividus Ladies’ example and recycle a boring, overdone theme. Grease again? Lilium mimicked Vividus Ladies and stuck with the movie theme, but in true Lilium style, the only movie elements in their Serrie were those from X-rated movies. Continuing with X-rated matters, a Magrietjie judge was more involved in Kollege’s performance than she should have been when she started undressing a Kollege guy in front of everyone. Pssst... thinks it’s sad that this is the only way Magrietjie know how to get attention from their Rag partners.

This year, the length of the girls’ skirts continued to be as short as their inhibitions. Pssst... wonders if Katjiepiering assume that they will be scored as high as their skirts were hitched? As for Erika, Pssst... thinks that it’s high time that the girls spent more time and money on improving their reputation than they do on their costumes, sound and lighting. Pssst... wants to tell Nerina that the only support they needed during Serrie were bras.

While some reses were scared by Nerina’s lack of support, Pssst... can’t decide if it was Maroela’s scary theme or their twerking skills that petrified girls. Olympus also tried really hard to be scary but Klaradyn perfected it just by being themselves. Pssst... hears that Klaradyn were so jealous of the gifts that Katjiepiering got the boys’ reses that they turned the psycho switch on and decided to smash them the gifts to pieces mid-performance.

Curlitzia were as unimaginative as Vividus Ladies were with their theme and unoriginally chose to be lifeguards as an excuse to give mouth to mouth to all the res guys. Pssst... thinks it’s a pity that Curlitzia couldn’t manage to revive Taaibos, though, because their Serrie the following night was as lifeless as DropZone on a Monday night. Pssst... thinks that even Kollege’s humming performance for Asterhof was more exciting.

Some Serrie performances were proof that teamwork isn’t always successful. Pssst... saw this when Olienhout dropped one of their residents mid-throw and when Boekenhout decided that Serrie was the perfect opportunity to practice their solo auditions for Idols.

MEMORIES Martin Molobi

What are these so vivid in my mind, So alive with tender so kind, In them legends, fairytales and stories I find, Telling of yesterday’s myths and realities, I have never seen flashbacks of such qualities.

They are products of my mind’s eye, A camera that captures perfection, Allowing us to indulge in sweet scents so is soundOf late times curtacy of reflection, Like a mirror they are.

As I take a walk down that lain, La primera calle se llama Main, Si a la derecha en mi mente, I see past, late and present suave gente, Beautiful are these flashbacks like footagePut on rewind.

Through them we relive lost times and moments, Travel safely so to the past, And come across stories we wrote in ancient yearsThat will never rust, Learn of love and teenage lust, These; flashbacks with no beginning nor end.

Memories one the oldest antiques, Yes antiques not tactics, Withstands and defies time and nature, Grows older than all of us, Yet they remain youthful!

Even this, Today will be a part of our memories.

Competition Win one of two signed copies of Carina Truyts’s cookbook.

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Sport 11

12 May ’14

Real Madrid vs Atlético Madrid BRIAN KIAUTHA The Uefa Champions League final on 24 May in Lisbon, Portugal, will be an all-Madrid affair. This is after Real Madrid beat defending champions Bayern Munich 5-0 on aggregate, while Atlético Madrid beat 2012/13 champions Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate.

The first leg of the semi-finals saw both Spanish teams playing at home. At Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the encounter began in a competitive manner with both teams testing each other’s defence and midfield possession of the ball. Striker Karim Benzema delivered the determining

goal when he managed a well-orchestrated pass by Angel di Maria as Real Madrid won the match 1-0. In the other first leg fixture, Atlético Madrid welcomed Chelsea at the Vicente Calderón.Diego Simeone’s side managed to hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw with José Mourinho’s side being accused of “parking the bus”, a move where the team goes into a defensive mode and rarely attacks.

The second leg started with Real Madrid making a trip to the Allianz Arena where they were aiming to upset defending champions Bayern Munich. The match started with Bayern Munich boasting more possession, but Real Madrid scored first through a header by Sergio Ramos after a left-wing corner by Luka Modric. Minutes later Ramos would grab his brace through another header from a Di Maria cross to put Real Madrid in a commanding lead.

The second half resumed with Bayern determined to reduce the goal deficit, but a counter attack at the half-hour mark saw Gareth Bale set up the ball for Cristiano Ronaldo, who made it 3-0 and went on to complete his brace in the 90th minute with a low free-kick. The brace from Ronaldo saw him become the highest goal scorer in Champions League in a season with 16 goals.

Atlético Madrid made the trip to London to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge riding on what has become a recent myth that the team that knocks out Barcelona ends up winning the title. However, this was dismissed when Fernando Torres scored against his former team. An equaliser came minutes later through Adrián López as the teams were drawn 1-1 at half time. Second half substitute Samuel Eto’o conceded a penalty after bringing down Diego Costa in the box. Costa went on to convert the penalty and put Atlético Madrid 2-1 up. Atlético Madrid would add another goal through Arda Turan, whose header hit the woodwork but rebounded onto his foot. He promptly slotted the rebound into the net. The match ended 3-1 with Simeone’s men booking a final berth with arch-rivals Real Madrid.

The last time Real and Atlético Madrid met in a cup final was in the 2012 Copa del Rey where Atlético Madrid were victorious. Real Madrid will be aiming for revenge and to come out tops on 24 May in Lisbon.

Fikile Mbalula proposes implementation of new sports quotas

M

SIMPHIWE NHLABATHI

inister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula has proposed a new quota system that would see national sporting codes requiring a 60:40 ratio. Failure to field a team consisting of 60% black players might lead to the country’s top sport teams, such as Bafana Bafana, the Proteas and the Springboks being banned from representing South Africa at international events.

Mbalula decided to increase the 50:50 quota system to a 60% representation after “lack of willingness in implementing transformation, especially the enforcement of quotas”.

“We will withdraw the national colours to

any federation who [is] hell-bent on the current set-up and status quo,” said Mbalula.

The Department of Sport and Recreation has also said that it would block sponsorship for any sport association that is unwilling to accept the new plans for transformation, while bidding for and hosting sports events would become illegal without government approval.

Mbalula said the department decided that the 60% requirements would be implemented immediately. “The Minmec (ministers and MECs) recommended that it must happen right away. We are going to engage and inform rugby and all the other sporting codes that this is something that has got to happen,” said Mbalula.

“We will demand development plans from the South African Rugby Union, South African Football Association, Cricket South Africa, Athletics South Africa and Netball South Africa as a matter of urgency and with immediate effect,” he added.

Mbalula has been heavily criticised for the statements he has made, with Freedom Front Plus spokesperson Anton Alberts leading the onslaught. “The arrogance and ignorance which appear from the proposals are astonishing,” said Alberts.

He added that, “Where sport was used, starting with the first Rugby World Cup in 1995 until the last Soccer World Cup in South Africa in 2010, to promote nation building, it is

now being used to cause division and racial alienation.”

Bizhub Highveld Lions cricket coach Geoffrey Toyana welcomes the new quota system. “We are going in the right direction at CSA, but if there is a quota it could help. We have been through the days of black batsmen coming in at No 8, 9 10 and 11, and black bowlers who bat at No 9 and don’t bowl,” Toyana said.

“This doesn’t make sense. Transformation is about giving players quality opportunities.

We’ve done that at the Lions and the players haven’t disgraced themselves. I’ll be happy if something like this happens. I would support it,” Toyana reaffirmed.

2014 Fifa World Cup player profiles

NICOLE BARON

Image: guardian.com

Image: football.co.uk

Image: midtownfc.com

Image: mkalty.org

Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)

Eden Hazard (Belgium)

Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

1. In 2012, Chelsea fans voted Drogba as the greatest Chelsea player ever.

2. Also in 2012, Drogba became the first African football player and the 12th player in history to score 100 English Premier League goals. He also became the first player ever to score in four different FA Cup finals.

3. Both of Drogba’s brothers play football.

Freddy Drogba plays for Dijon in the French youth league.

4. In 2007, Drogba was appointed as a UN goodwill ambassador due to his charity work and his efforts to bring peace to his homeland.

In 2006, his plea to bring an end to the civil war that was raging through Ivory Coast led to a ceasefire. This also led to him being named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.

5. Last year, while playing for Turkish team Galatasaray, Drogba won the Golden Foot award, an award presented to footballers for sporting achievements as well as for their popularity with fans. He was the first African to win this award.

1. Hazard has two children, Yannis and Leo, with wife Natasha.

2. French legend Zinedine Zidane sings the young football player’s praises and has said, “Eden is technically gifted and very fast ... He can become a great footballer; he is a star of the future.”

3. Hazard became the first non-French player to win the National Union of Professional Footballers Young Player of the Year award.

He also became the first player ever to win the award twice.

4. At the age of 17, Hazard became the youngest player ever to score for former club Lille in 2008.

5. Hazard comes from a football-playing family.

His father played at a semi-professional level for most of his life, while his mother played professionally until she fell pregnant with him.

All three of his brothers also play football.

His brother Thorgan Hazard is also contracted to Chelsea but is currently on loan to Zulte Waregem.

1. Both of Touré’s brothers play football. His older brother Kolo plays for Liverpool. Before Kolo was transferred to Liverpool in 2013, the two brothers played alongside each other at Manchester City. Their younger brother Ibrahim Touré plays in Lebanon for Al-Safa SC. 2. Touré does not drink due to religious reasons, so when he wins a man of the match award, he foregoes the tradition of celebrating with champagne.

3. Touré was the first midfielder in 12 years to win the African Footballer of the Year award.

4. Touré has been appointed as a UN goodwill ambassador due to his campaign against the poaching of elephants, as well as his work raising awareness about environmental issues.

Touré is also a Puma spokesperson. He donates Puma equipment and gear to disadvantaged children across West Africa.

5. Touré is incredibly dedicated to his career.

He is known by teammates and fans alike for staying behind after training to practice his freekicks and other skills.

1. Ronaldo was named after former actor and president of the United States Ronald Reagan, whom his father admired.

2. Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or, the Fifa World Player of the Year award and the Golden Boot among an extensive list of other awards and titles throughout his career.

3. The speed of Ronaldo’s free-kicks clocks in at 31.3 metres per second, which is over four times faster than the launching speed of the Apollo 11 rocket.

4. Ronaldo has raised funds for rehabilitation after the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004, donated £100 000 towards the building of a cancer centre by the hospital that saved his mother’s life, and funded the treatment for a young child that had been battling cancer for many years.

5. He has always been passionate about football.

“He loved the game so much he’d miss meals or escape out of his bedroom window with a ball when he was supposed to be doing his homework,” says Ronaldo’s godfather.

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TuksAthletics comes out trumps

WILLIAM ALDRIDGE On 28 April Tuks won the fourth and final meet of the Varsity Athletics season in their own backyard. Tuks, who have had an outstanding season to date, winning the previous three meetings held at NMMU, UJ and Maties, capped it all off with sublime performances on both track and field.

This year marks the second year of the current Varsity Sports programme running in South Africa. The initiative aims to grow local talent by providing a basis for varsity sports teams to compete against each other in sports such as hockey, athletics, beach volleyball, football, netball and Sevens rugby.

The competitions have been backed by huge sponsors and look to attract crowds of students to back their favourite university sport teams.

Recently the TuksAthletics team ended the first leg of the season with a clean sweep in the Varsity Athletics programme and some of the Tuks athletes were selected to represent South Africa at the Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow, Scotland in July and the African Senior Championships in Marrakesh, Morocco in August.

Since the start of the Varsity Athletics programme two years ago, Tuks have been victorious in all seven meetings.

Tuks celebrate their victory. Photo: Brad Donald

The track athletes from Tuks were clearly inspired by the support of their home fans as the women claimed four of the five titles and the men walked away with three wins.

Defending champion and current record holder Anneri Ebersohn won her 400m hurdle race in just over 57 seconds, her season’s best

Assupol TuksCricket: Momentum National Club Champions

time. Anuscha Nice won her 800m race in two minutes and eight seconds. Stella Marais, a 3 000m race favourite, won a tightly contested race as she managed to sprint away from UJ’s Caroline Marandela and TUT’s Thembi Baloyi. Rounding off the evening, the ladies won the 4x100m relay. NWU-Pukke athlete

Tuks players to represent SA in IRB Junior World Championship KAYA NOCANDA

The Tuks cricketers congratulate one another. Image: cricketsouthafrica.com

USHENTA NAIDOO Assupol TuksCricket won the Momentum Club Championships for a third consecutive year. The tournament took place from 23-27 April and Tuks were well aware of the expectations that surrounded them. Before the tournament, head coach Pierre de Bruyn said, “We’ve won the last two club champs and have been unbeaten in both, which means there is a lot of pressure on us this year.”

Day one saw Tuks take on Bidvest Steiner Kempton Park. Tuks posted 258/8 with Sean Dickson scoring 70 runs, earning him the Man of the Match title. Kempton Park managed 219/9 in their innings, giving Tuks the win by 39 runs through the Duckworth-Lewis Method.

On the second day Tuks played against Cape Town CC. Tuks won the toss and elected to bat first, reaching 387/6 in their 50 overs. Murray Coetzee scored 111 runs and was named Man of the Match. Tuks put on a stellar bowling performance and secured their second victory by bowling Cape Town all out for 183 runs.

Tuks faced United CC on day three and, batting first, scored an incredible 377/2. Aiden Markram produced a record breaking 210 not out, setting the highest individual score by any batsman in National Club Championship history, and won the Man of the Match prize.

United CC were bowled out for 223 runs, leaving Tuks with a comfortable 154 runs win.

On the fourth day Tuks played Steinhoff Maties. Maties won the toss and chose to bat first, setting a score of 206/9. Tuks made 207/7 in 49 overs, winning by three wickets with Dickson making 74 runs and being named Man of the Match for the second time.

On day five Tuks met Madibaz George, who won the toss and sent Tuks in to bowl first.

Madibaz George finished 171 all out. Tuks responded with 173/3 within 35 overs, sealing a seven-wicket win and progressing to the final after topping the log in section two.

Tuks met Madibaz PE in the final at SuperSport Park. The Madibaz won the toss and sent Tuks in to bat first. Graeme van Buuren (97) and Aiden Markram (79) were the top scorers as Tuks finished 316/6. The second innings saw another phenomenal performance from the Tuks bowling attack with Sean Nowak (8-1-31-3) taking three wickets, and Gerhard Linde (7-0-32-2) and Corbin Bosch (6-0-28-2) taking two wickets each. The Madibaz were 222 all out in 40 overs and secured a 94-run victory for Tuks, which ensured their third consecutive National Championships win. Markram finished as the tournament’s top scorer and earned the title of Player of the Tournament as Tuks were named the Momentum Club Champions 2014.

Melissa Hewitt broke Tuks’ full house win when she won her 100m race in 11.72 seconds.

Akani Simbine won his 200m race to beat Kovsies star Gideon Trotter over the finish line in a time of 20.70 seconds, nearly breaking his own record of 20.66. Simbine also finished off the final leg of the 4x100m relay for Tuks to win. Kobus Moolman won the 110m hurdles to defend his title from last year. Rynhardt van Rensburg from Kovsies won the mile race in the last moments to see off Jerry Motsau from NWU-Pukke. Kovsies athlete Wayde van Niekerk won the 400m in a time of 45.37 seconds.

The field events produced mixed results.

UJ’s Dewald van Heerden narrowly beat Tuks’ Orazio Cremona in the men’s discus with a throw of 54.98m less than a single centimetre more than Cremona’s 54.05m.

Dwayne Boer from Tuks was unable to beat Boipelo Mothlathlego from Maties in the men’s triple jump, and Kovsies’ JVA Steytler won the high jumping, clearing 2.08m.

The ladies from NWU-Pukke triumphed on the evening with victories in the shot put, javelin and hammer throw events while Patience Ntshingila from UJ won the long jump.

Sport fans can now look forward to the hockey programme which began on 3 May.

South Africa u/20 coach Dawie Theron has announced the final squad of players that will represent the country in the upcoming IRB Junior World Championship to be held in New Zealand from 2-20 June. The final squad comprises of 28 players, 12 of which are students at UP. These players are: Corniel Els, Warrick Gelant, Dan Kriel, Jesse Kriel, Wilco Louw, Duncan Mathews, Ngobisizwe Mxoli, Abongile Nonkontwana, Pierre Schoeman, Juan-Phillip Smith, Dayan van der Westhuizen and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg.

Perdeby spoke with Abongile Nonkontwana about his inclusion in the squad and what it meant to him to be selected in the squad.

“I was filled with lots of excitement, but at the same time I felt the nervousness as the selection carries out responsibilities and major expectations to be fulfilled,” said Nonkontwana on being selected for the Junior Bok squad.

When asked whether his participation in the FNB UP-Tuks Young Guns side had a positive influence on his performances at the trials held in Stellenbosch, Nonkontwana said, “Yes, I believe so. Game time is always better than no game time. As a rugby player you always learn more by getting game time and being tested in different scenarios and situations. I strongly

agree that the Young Guns competition played to my advantage and many others in preparation for the trials.”

It is also likely that Nonkontwana will play alongside his fellow Tuks teammate Janse van Rensburg, who was his partner in the second row during their campaign in the Young Guns competition. “It would be a nice opportunity, especially since we understand each other.

Janse has been a good helping hand. He has worked with Victor Matfield so he has been able to share some of the technical aspects in the line-outs, which will be useful for me covering lock and eighthman at this level,” Nonkontwana said of pairing up with Janse van Rensburg for the Junior Boks.

The Junior Boks will play against Scotland on 2 June, the host nation New Zealand on 6 June, with their final match in the pool stages being against Samoa on 10 June.

The most important game will undoubtedly be against host nation New Zealand as the Baby Blacks will be going into the game as favourites. The Junior Boks beat the Baby Blacks in last year’s play off for third and fourth place and also in the final of the competition in 2012 in Cape Town.

The side has just completed a three-match international friendly series against Argentina in the Western Cape in preparation for the Junior World Championship.

Players after the team announcement. Image: sportlive.co.za

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