21 October 2013 issue 23

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

21October2013

Sasco protests for boycott of SRC elections

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One Bloody Mary to curdle your blood

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Literature supplement inside

New SRC elected for 2014

Students lined up and cast their votes for the 2014 SRC. Approximately 4 000 students voted. Photos: Michael Mbaya and Oan de Waal MOLEBOGENG MANGOALE On Thursday 17 October UP students across all six campuses voted to determine the 2014 Student Representative Council (SRC). Enwee Human was elected as president, defeating Taymoon Altamash, the new deputy president, by 15 votes.

Human told Perdeby that he is very excited for next year and that he is glad that an SRC has finally been appointed. “I’m confident in the new SRC. I’m also glad that there are ex officio positions. This will allow for bigger participation and communication channels,” said Human.

Kim Ngobeni of Daso won the elective portfolios of both day students and external campuses, and facilities, safety and security.

Ngobeni chose the latter and the runner up for the day students and external campuses portfolio, Marna de Jager, took over this portfolio.

The elections were run by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Dr Willem

Jorissen, the chief electoral officer of the IEC and deputy director of student affairs, told Perdeby that the new SRC is representative and that UP is well positioned with the new SRC results. “It is well spread across the race and gender ratios,” he said. Dr Jorissen also said that the university is pleased with the results and with the 2014 SRC and added that all processes leading to the SRC elections went well, including the security presence and the fact that the provincial and national IEC was running the elections. “The outcome of this SRC election was a triumph of democracy and transformation,” he said.

Less voters participated in this year’s elections than in the last elections. Just over 4 000 people voted this year, whereas 7 000 students voted in 2011. Dr Jorissen does not believe that the new constitution influenced the number of voters, stating that most students have applauded the new constitution. Campuses such as Onderstepoort and Prinshof are already writing exams and did not attract many voters.

Dr Matete Madiba, the director of student

affairs, believes that for a completely new constitution this is a very satisfactory number of voters. She said that this year’s voting participation cannot be compared with that of the previous SRC election, where students were familiar with the constitution. “The 2013 SRC elections have confirmed that this new constitution is a model that works. From now on, it is a matter of building upon it,” she said.

While vote participation on Hatfield campus seemed to be active, this was not the case on Groenkloof campus. Two hours before voting stations closed, only 397 votes had been cast out of the more than 17 200 students on Groenkloof campus.

Voting stations were open from 08:00 to 20:00. On the main campus students voted at the Humanities building and the Rautenbach Hall, where SRC candidates did some lastminute campaigning. Security was heavy and guards were stationed around the campus. They also required students to display their student cards at the gates.

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2014 SRC President: Enwee Human Deputy president: Taymoon Altamash Secretary: Monique du Randt Deputy secretary: James Lotter Treasurer: Arno Burger Facilities, safety and security: Kim Ngobeni Marketing, media and communications: Khutso Ntuli Study finance: Amy Ashworth Postgraduate and international students: Wilbri Vorster Day students and external campuses: Marna de Jager Societies: Matshepo Tladi Transformation and student success: Nthabiseng Nooe

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Editorial

21 October ‘13

Perdeby

We’re rebelling against the system

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 Margeaux Erasmus

perdeby@up.ac.za @MargeauxErasmus

News Danielle Petterson

news@perdeby.co.za @DLPetterson

Features Bernd Fischer

features@perdeby.co.za @Bernd_Fischer

Entertainment Melina Meletakos entertainment@perdeby.co.za

@MelinaMeletakos

Sport Maxine Twaddle Web Nolwazi Mngadi

sport@perdeby.co.za @MissMax6

When you’re in the final year of your degree it is around this time of the year that you have to make some difficult decisions. These decisions mostly concern your future.

What will you do next year? Are you going

to start working? Are you going to study some more? Are you going to refuse to decide and become a hermit? These are all questions we need to grapple with at some point in our life.

But if anything, thinking about this has just made me feel quite old.

After all, I am now 21, that age when you’re supposed to wake up and miraculously feel older, independent and ready to take on the world. Apparently, I’m an adult now, and being an adult entails making certain decisions about where my life is going to go.

Instead, I felt a bit indifferent. All birthdays are starting to feel the same to me now. And I can’t help feeling a sense of dread. I’m calling it a student-life crisis. It’s almost exactly the same as a mid-life crisis, just minus the money to buy a new car.

As for making a decision that may or may not determine where I end up in 20 years’ time.

Well, whose bogus idea was it to let a 21 year old decide something like that? This is why many of us spend more time at university than we should. We’re not confused about what we want to study. We know that the world is trying to make us enter the working world soon and we’re rebelling against the system.

From the editor I’m convinced that that is the real reason why there are postgraduate studies. It allows all of us some extra time to be students and to enjoy life. And as an added bonus you might finally realise what profession you want to go into.

See, everyone wins.

This is the second last edition of Perdeby for this year. Time really flies when you’re spending your days in a newsroom. This edition has our special literature supplement. Our entertainment section has been working since the holidays to put this together for you, and I think it is great way to showcase South African literature. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

We also have a features article about memory and whether we can trust our past memories.

That article is on page 15.

Our news team also did a follow-up article on students who are still sleeping on campus because they don’t have accommodation in Hatfield. The article is on page 3.

Do postgrad, Margeaux

Correction: The Intervarsity News article published on 7 October has been corrected after it was brought to our attention that we incorrectly reported that Pabie Tabo is the administrator of the UCT-exposed blog. She was accused by a group of independent investigators of being involved with the making of the blog. She has denied the allegation. We apologise for the mistake and any harm it may have caused.

webeditor@perdeby.co.za @perdebynews @NollyNM

Head Copy Editor Yuan-Chih Yen

copy@perdeby.co.za @sreddyen

Layout Nolwazi Bengu

layout@perdeby.co.za @cherrypop18

Visuals Brad Donald

visuals@perdeby.co.za @Brad3rs

Teams Layout

myrestweets.co.za @myrestweets

Ditshego Madopi Rebecca Paulsen Thabang Letageng Thabang Matebane Copy

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 nescessary. Perdeby cannot be responsible for unsolicited material. The opinions expressed in Perdeby are not necessarily those of the editors and printers of Perdeby.

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News

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21 October ‘13

Sasco protests for boycott of SRC elections MOLEBOGENG MANGOALE Last Wednesday the South African Students Congress (Sasco), together with the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) at Tuks, held a picket outside the main gate of the Hatfield campus in an effort to oppose the Student Representative Council (SRC) elections.

Sasco called on its members as well as general students to boycott the elections. The student organisation regards the elections as undemocratic and as creating “an unfair election environment” which prompts misrepresentation.

The protest began with a few Sasco members gathering outside the main gate chanting revolutionary songs. Shortly thereafter a group of Sasco members from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Soshanguve campus arrived to join the protest. UP closed the main gate to keep the protesters off campus. Security presence was heavy and employees of the Department of Security Services ensured that no one entered the university’s premises without a valid student card or form of identification. The police were also present and kept an eye on the protesting crowd.

The leaders of the protest reiterated to the protesters that the purpose of the gathering was not to induce violence. Lwando Majiza, the regional secretary of the Sasco Tshwane branch, told the members that they had assembled to

send UP the message that Sasco will never accept an institution that refuses to transform.

He added that the purpose of the protest was to reject the SRC election which adheres to the new constitution for student governance, which Sasco regards as unconstitutional.

After a short while, members of the Sasco TUT branch dispersed from the rest of the crowd and headed to their bus. A man who only identified himself as Thabang and the chairperson of the TUT branch told Perdeby that they were not happy with the fact that they were not allowed to protest on campus. After a few minutes of deliberation, the TUT Sasco members rejoined Sasco Tuks and continued to chant their songs.

Bricks Mahlalela, one of the members from the TUT Sasco branch, told Perdeby that, “We are here because we are supporting our comrades in their political course of boycotting the elections tomorrow. This new constitution will kill student activism. Who are these individuals who are going to represent students?

They must allow political organisations to be representative as well.” Another member who asked to remain anonymous said that the new constitution is undermining black students.

Daso chairperson James Lotter said that, “We don’t believe that they are correct in boycotting this election. Although we support their democratic right to boycott and demonstrate,

Sasco protested last Wednesday in an attempt to convince students to boycott the SRC elections. Photo: Michael Mbaya we do not support the fact that they are discouraging students from utilising their democratic right to vote.”

Jaco Oelofse, the deputy secretary of Sasco Tuks, told Perdeby that the Department of Student Affairs refused to accept their memorandum and referred them to the executive of the university, whom Sasco say they contacted.

According to Oelofse, the metro police refused to escort protesters if they marched because no one from the university would accept Sasco’s memorandum. He added that the fact that the university implemented such strict security measures indicates that it was well aware of the boycott.

However, Vice-Principal of Student Affairs Dr Themba Mosia said that Sasco never applied to the university to march on campus and hand in a memorandum to the university.

“They ought to know the rules governing those kinds of requests. Secondly, they applied to the Metro Police to picket outside the university.

Their application said nothing about handing [over]a memorandum. Even if it did, we could not do that [accept the memorandum] in the jurisdiction of the Metro authorities. We are confined to the university premises to accept memoranda if we approved a request for a march,” he told Perdeby.

Khwezi Mabasa, a part-time junior lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences at UP and an active member of Sasco, said that the new constitution is aimed at depoliticising student participation. “We are arguing that individual candidates cannot achieve all these things alone.

That clause [of individual candidates] reduces the participation of societies. A platform must be created for both societies and individuals,” he said.

Late payouts from NSFAS cause problems HUMPHREY MOKOENA Students are still sleeping on campus due to financial reasons and late payouts from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). In some cases, students experiencing financial hardships find that their studies at the university are being negatively affected.

Sibusiso Makamo, a first-year BEd Natural Sciences student, told Perdeby that when he came to Tuks this year he was not placed in a residence and could not afford private accommodation. “I used to sneak into my friend’s flat when the caretaker was not around, but when he was there I would go to sleep in the library on an occasion of three times a week with no cash for food,” said Makamo.

Makamo told Perdeby that his unemployed single mother wanted him to return home. He said that he told her that he could not because he believes that receiving a degree is the only way to change his family’s situation.

“The University of Pretoria is one of the

most recognisable universities in South Africa, as soon as possible because it affects many but at this rate I don’t see it holding on to its students’ academic performance.

Temporary Student Committee (TSC) standard. It needs to have accommodation for chairperson Jordan Griffiths said that, “Many disadvantaged students because this serves as students apply for NSFAS and the university a barrier for poor students,” said Makamo. He tries to process as [many] applications as added that a late payout by the NSFAS has led to his poor academic performance. possible before [the] next year. Time is Lehlohonolo obviously always a problem.” He explained Motaung, a firstI provided all documents year BEd student, the money for needed for the application but that NSFAS is allocated has also experienced up to this day I haven’t received from the government problems with NSFAS. “I provided and then allocated to any funds [from NSFAS] all documents needed the university. “The university has an entire for the application but up to this day I haven’t received any funds department dedicated to NSFAS who work as fast as possible to get the money out,” Griffiths [from NSFAS]. I live outside of res and I have to pay all my expenses by myself. As it is, I said. am struggling and even my academic life is Grace Soko, TSC member for international students and study finance, said that the somewhat affected. How am I expected to reason many students find themselves in these deliver on an empty stomach?” situations is because of a lack of communication Despite this struggle, Motaung wants to get and the students’ failure to submit the required his degree and hopes that the issue is addressed

documents. “The university gets allocated money from the government. As a result students might not get what they applied for because the money from government doesn’t always cover all the students,” Soko said. She added that students need to go to the SRC when they are experiencing problems.

She said that NSFAS applications can be affected by various factors such as expected family contribution, historical debt funding, the current balance on the student’s account and how much the university receives from the government.

According to Soko, the university has partnered with several owners of private accommodation in Sunnyside to house students who need accommodation. This accommodation includes Hantra, Walkerville and Indwe.

UP management had not responded to Perdeby’s enquiries at the time of going to print.

Email perdeby@up.ac.za or tweet @perdebynews to share your views.

Madelief’s new HK doesn’t meet racial quota BOIPELO BOIKHUTSO Madelief’s new house committee (HK) does not meet the racial quota set out by TuksRes. According to Madelyn Pienaar-Fourie, the manager of residence management and student life, house committees are supposed to have 12 members in which a minimum of five members must be non-white. TuksRes requires house committees to meet this requirement or have fewer members to make it a smaller structure.

Madelief’s house committee does not fit this criterion. Currently, there are ten white and three non-white girls serving on the HK. According to Nthabiseng Nooe, a Madelief resident, four girls in Madelief were outsourced by primaria Belinda Kelly and house mother Dr Suzan Thembekwayo to help with the practical distribution of the HK workload because the committee was too small. Pienaar-Fourie recognised this procedure and added that the girls will “assist the house committee in certain projects and portfolios”.

Concerns about Madelief’s new HK have

The Madelief house committee. Back: Stephanie Grobler, Faye Prinsloo, Anri de Lange, Anthea Venter, Mignon Paulsen, Ina Ferreira, Shaney Saunders, Carla Bester, Doney Snyman, Inge Viljoen. Front: Wina Lombard, Belinda Kelly, Koketso Mano. Photo: facebook. com been raised on social networks such as Twitter.

There has been a rumour going around that the residence put non-white girls’ names on their final HK list to evade the quota. Kelly denied

these allegations, saying that the residence followed the procedures set out by TuksRes. “The current house committee has been through the entire process of candidacy and has been

voted for by the house and approved from TuksRes,” she said.

The process of electing HKs begins with students nominating themselves or whoever they want on the committee. The academic progress of the nominees is then checked by TuksRes (candidates need to have a grade point average of 55 to be eligible to run). A circus is held for the house to vote and 15 candidates are selected by an interview committee. From the 15 candidates, 11 individuals are chosen to serve on the house committee. Kelly explained that the residence does not force nor deny ladies to run for HK. “If there is anything, we encourage the girls to take the golden opportunity awarded to them,” she said.

According to Nooe, the girls who were chosen to assist the committee will not be paid honoraria and will not receive service certificates. Kelly said that, “Should any concerns or discrepancies have occurred, take comfort in knowing that those were dealt with accordingly and within the stipulated guideline.”

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News

21 October ‘13

Tukkie Pride Day: are you a proud Tukkie?

TEBOGO TSHWANE Tukkie Pride Day was the hub of entertainment on Hatfield campus on 15 October. The day’s festivities took place at the Student Centre.

Students could participate in various activities and in return they received hampers or branded T-shirts which said “Proud Tukkie”.

Some of the activities on the day included a bungee trampoline, human foosball and a mechanical bull. Music was played on the main stage and students were encouraged to take part in dance battles and to answer trivia questions about the Student Representative Coucil elections or to mention what made them a proud Tukkie.

Marketing and public relations officer of the Temporary Student Committee (TSC) and organiser of the day Wanga Mbasa told Perdeby that one way to achieve inclusivity at Tuks is by making use of the current structures and becoming a part of them. “Tukkie Pride is an event that shows all the student structures that are removed from students’ academic lives working together toward a common goal. That creates the culture that Tuks students should be working towards.”

Mbasa added that it is people’s interests that bring them together in their diversity, not the focus on socio-economic issues which usually does the opposite. He told Perdeby that he was not proud of what Tuks is at the moment, which is why he chose to take part in organising the

Dance group Elements of Revelation performed at Tukkie Pride Day. Photo: Brad Donald day. “I don’t want to be the type of person who complains without solutions,” he said.

The day took a surprising turn of events when what looked like a dance-off between two ordinary students escalated into a performance

by Elements of Revelation. But what looked like a performance turned into a “freeze-mob”.

A countdown led the dancers, various members in the crowd and those at the different activities to a frozen stance. This lasted for a few minutes until another countdown revived everyone from the static state.

Devon Carlinsky, a first-year information science student and a member of Elements of

Olienhout and Madelief win Pot ‘n Pons Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Residences Olienhout and Madelief Boekenhout and Curlitzia Vividus Men and Jasmyn Olympus and Vividus Ladies Tuks Naledi and Lilium Luminous and Inca Sonop and Katjiepiering Maroela and Nerina Mopanie and Asterhof Kiaat and Klaradyn Kollege and Magrietjie Zeus and Zinnia Taaibos and Erika

Mopanie residents outside Olienhout and Madelief’s winning Google-themed stall at Pon `n Pons. Photo: Michael Mbaya MARISSA BRITS UP held its annual Pot `n Pons competition on 12 October. Olienhout and their 2014 Rag partner Madelief were the overall winners with their Google theme.

Boekenhout and Curlitzia came second with their Masterchef theme and third place went to Vividus Men and Jasmyn with their Dasmyn’s New Groove theme.

The judging was based on four criteria.

Firstly, participation counted 15 points. The participation aspect took into consideration the number of people present and participating as well as the vibe and the level of excitement

present at the stall. Secondly, the theme counted 15 points. These points were based on the originality of the theme as well as how people reacted to it. Thirdly, ten points were awarded for the best potjie in regard to taste, appearance and presentation. Lastly, ten points were awarded for the best punch. Each judge gave every residence a mark out of a possible total of 50, leaving each residence with a grand total out of 350.

Marina Bosch, a first-year Magrietjie resident, described Pot `n Pons as the best social of the year. Claire O’Donoghue, a third-year Nerina resident, said that this year’s Pot n Pons had the best themes and punch. First-year

Erika resident Palesa Moloi said that, “I think everyone has been very creative. There is a very good vibe. It’s a good Saturday.”

Vice-chairman of Taaibos Nicholas Bornman said that the competition between the residences was tough this year. “Many reses that you did not expect to do well have done well,” he said.

Themes included Gru’s Lab by Kiaat and Klaradyn, Luck of the Irish by Zeus and Zinnia, Welcome to Bedrock by Maroela and Nerina, Hangover Under Construction by Luminous and Inca, Whoville by Sonop and Katjiepiering, and Pirates and Sailors by Mopanie and Asterhof.

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Revelation, told Perdeby that the idea behind the freeze mob was to simply “showcase the talent God gave to [them], to Tuks”. He added that the performance also served to commemorate a former member of the group, Brian Sibisi, who passed away in April.

Carlinsky said that he was thankful to Stuku and the TSC for giving them the platform to do this.

The main event of the day was the announcement of the Tukkie Pride video competition winner. Third place went to Alexander van Wyk whose video received 86 likes on Facebook. Second place was taken

by Mzwandile Maawu whose video received 243 likes. The winner of the competition was Sthembiso Simelane. His video received 281 likes, which gave him the grand prize of R1 500. Simelane worked with Alexander van Wyk and BCom Investment Management student Waldemar van Wyk on the winning video.

Alexander van Wyk said that he would have liked the winning video to have been chosen by the TSC members or that the amount of views be the criterion considered instead of the number of likes.

Perdeby asked students what made them proud Tukkies. Lunga Mbanjwa, a social sciences honours student, said that, Tuks is “one of the top universities, with great quality education. There’s a friendly environment as well as the diversity of the students [that] just adds to it”.

Perdeby

Literature: the home address Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks

21October2013

Books go mobile P2

Engage with meaning

year75

Overcoming trauma through art P5 Book reviews

P7 & P8

Interview with Kelwyn Sole

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WIN A BOOK HAMPER Illustration: Modeste Goutondji

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21 October ‘13 Literature: the home address EDITORIAL:

A celebration of local literature

A few weeks ago I attended the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival, an event which my friend and fellow book geek Sreddy and I had been eagerly anticipating for weeks.

As we sat down for a panel discussion which included the ever charismatic Nadine Gordimer, I couldn’t help but notice the meagre turnout. Worse yet, we were the youngest people in the audience. Was this it?

Do only a handful of people get excited by the potential of a truly magical book? And where were the English majors, the aspiring authors and poets, the people who will be telling our stories in the future? I didn’t find the answers to any of these questions so instead, I resolved to celebrate our country’s potent literature the only way that I really know how: through journalism.

And so, I welcome you to Perdeby’s first literature supplement Literature: the home address, a name that alludes to Mongane Wally Serote’s epic poem “History is the Home Address”.

We have worked tirelessly to bring you a number of features, interviews and reviews, all of which we hope will entice you to celebrate South African literature with us.

I hope that you will find our supplement engaging if you are an avid reader and that it will inspire you to pick up a book if you’re not.

A special mention must also be made to Protea Book Shop, who kindly sponsored the books for our reviews and the competition.

This really wouldn’t have been possible without your support.

Happy reading Melina Entertainment editor

Reading the question, Bookly the answer JOHAN SAAYMAN Many initiatives have been created to help revive book-reading culture, but not many are practical. Marketing agency Native and Mxit have taken up the challenge and joined the cause.

Bookly is an app that Mxit users can add to their Mxit service. It offers a wide variety of books to any WAP-enabled phone that supports Mxit and has the social network installed.

From classics, such as Shakespeare’s works, to numerous new titles including Team Trinity

by Fiona Snyckers, access to literature is now possible with a cell phone.

“I wanted to find a way to bring easy and Photo provided free access to books to the whole country. Lack of education is one of the primary issues facing South Africa and I wanted to use technology to help solve the issue. We created Bookly as a tool to promote literacy and a reading culture in South Africa,” said Levon Rivers, head of inventions at Native.

Bookly is free to install and certain books can be bought with Mxit’s currency, Moola.

Selected titles are completely free and only charge for data transfer. On average, it costs R1.50 of data a chapter to read a book and totals to around R30 for the entire book. This is considerably cheaper than the R150 price tag in bookstores.

Market research company Pondering Panda spokesperson Shirley Wakefield said that a

study revealed that most young South Africans would like to read more often, but due to inaccessibility and the price of books they can’t. Bookly is trying to overcome some of the challenges in getting our youth to read by making books cheaply available.

“Mxit is one of South Africa’s largest social networks, with a user base of over 7.3 million monthly active users. A partnership with Mxit guaranteed us the reach we needed to spread Bookly to as many people as possible,” said Rivers, who has received tremendously positive feedback on the app.

“Our numbers are massive.

We’ve had over 550 000 unique users since the launch, with over 10 million page views and over 180 000 books have been started,” said Rivers.

In a study done by the South African Book Development Council, reading as a leisure activity was ranked as the sixth most satisfactory activity.

In a sample of 976 teenagers, 51% said they read on a regular basis. Of those that said they read regularly, only 21% had read a book within the month of the study. It was also found that 8% of our country’s teenagers could not read at all.

Bookly wants to fill this literature gap.

Rivers said that Native is in the process of expanding the app onto other feature phone platforms for people outside of Mxit and they also wish to put textbooks on the platform.

“Vernacular language books are a major goal of ours and we will be adding books from all our South African languages,” said Rivers.

We want to hear from you What did you think of Literature: the home address?

Send your comments and suggestions to entertainment@perdeby.co.za or tweet us @perdebynews. Alternatively, visit our Facebook page.

Munro claims Nobel prize her raw and honest depictions of characters, domestic life and love. These works are semi-autobiographical as Munro draws from Two weeks ago Alice Munro was named the her own personal experiences of femininity, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. relationships and life in rural Canada.

Munro, who has produced 14 collections of “Munro’s stories (often relatively lengthy) are short stories, is the 13th woman to win the prize. deft, subtle and understated The prestigious award, – as good stories should be. which is now more than She captures the inner lives 100 years old, is presented of characters with great skill, annually by the Nobel and manages, within the Foundation and amounts to limited scope of the short ₤770 000. story, to communicate a great Prof. David Medalie, an deal about their lives and English lecturer at UP and a interactions,” Medalie said of renowned short story writer, Munro’s style. said that Munro is a very Interestingly, Munro was worthy winner. not, according to the bookies, “What is particularly the favourite to win the Nobel pleasing for me is that the prize. Betting on the prize Nobel Committee selected winner has been a strange a writer who has specialised phenomenon ever since in the short story, since I Ladbrokes, one of London’s admire good short stories eminent betting organisations, greatly and regret the fact that the short story as a genre Nobel prize winner Alice Munro. opened wagers in 2005.

Ladbrokes has a 50% accuracy is frequently overlooked or Photo: Peter Morrison / AP rate when it comes to the prize undervalued. It is very rare winner. This year’s favourite was novelist and for the Nobel prize to go to a writer of short short story writer Haruki Murakami. stories,” said Medalie.

Munro retired from writing last year and was Munro is a Canadian author and some of described during the announcement by Peter her most celebrated collections include Dance Englund, permanent secretary of the Swedish of the Happy Shades and Dear Life. Focusing Academy, as a “master of the contemporary many of her stories on the lives of women short story”. and small-town life, Munro is best known for MICHAL-MARÉ LINDEN

Youngest Booker prize winner announced MICHAL-MARÉ LINDEN The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, awarded to the author of the best full-length English novel of the year, was presented to Eleanor Catton on 15 October. Twenty-eight-year-old Catton is the youngest winner of the prize and was nominated for her book The Luminaries, an 832-page tome.

The Luminaries, Catton’s second novel, is based in 1866 and follows Walter Moody, a prospector new to the New Zealand goldfields.

Moody becomes entangled in a local mystery involving suicide, disappearances and unexplained fortunes. Chairman of the judges, Robert Macfarlane, described Catton’s work as “a magnificent novel: awesome in its structural complexity; addictive in its story-telling; and magical in its conjuring of a world of greed and gold.” A citizen of New Zealand, Catton receives a £50 000 prize and a guaranteed increase in book sales.

The struggle for bookie favourite this year was tight between Catton and British writer Jim Crace. However, Catton proved that experience

and age are not a prerequisite for the prize.

Other shortlisted contestants included NoViolet Bulawayo from Zimbabwe, and IndianAmerican writer Jhumpa Lahiri.

This will be the last year that the prize is restricted to citizens of the Commonwealth.

It was announced in September that the prize would be opened to citizens of all countries.

This announcement has spread fears that lesser-known writers such as Catton will be overlooked. Speculation is rife that this change has been made to compete with the new Folio Prize, an international award for English fiction.

However, Catton is positive about the changes and feels “it’s a really great thing that finally we’ve got a prize that is an English-language prize that doesn’t make a distinction for writers who are writing from a particular country.”

South African literature has experienced success with the Booker prize with local authors Nadine Gordimer winning in 1974 for The Conservationist and JM Coetzee claiming the prize twice in his lifetime for Life & Times of Michael K in 1983 and Disgrace in 1999.

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21 October ‘13 Literature: the home address

Twisting reality with fiction LUSANDA FUTSHANE AND MICHALMARÉ LINDEN Dystopian literature is a genre that has experienced various peaks in interests over decades of global political and social change.

Books such as Animal Farm and the more recent Hunger Games trilogy fit into the genre. Dystopian literature is characterised not by a personal antagonist, but rather by a dysfunctional society against which the protagonist must act. Brutal living conditions, tyrannical leadership and a clinical atmosphere permeate the storylines of dystopian fiction.

South Africa is in no way late to the party, with Apocalypse Now Now by Charlie Human and Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City generating pronounced success.

You’d be forgiven for assuming that dystopian storytelling simply means zombies and shape-shifting monsters. The terms “dystopian” and “post-apocalyptic” are often used interchangeably, mostly because they are so closely related. Post-apocalyptic stories almost always contain dystopian motifs because they deal with newly formed societies that try to survive whatever world-ending event had occurred. But tales can also be dystopian without ever being post-apocalyptic, as is the case in South African science fiction.

Karen Jayes’s latest novel For The Mercy of Water won the 2013 Sunday Times Fiction Prize. It is a captivating account of a land that finds itself in the grip of a crippling water shortage, causing water to become a type of currency. All the stripes of dystopia are present: an oppressed society, squalor and the necessary plot-spurring hope for salvation. But the difference in Jayes’s novel is that her world never comes close to an apocalyptic meltdown, like many other dystopian novels.

Jayes, in an interview with LitNet this year, says dystopian themes in South African storytelling are an inevitable destination. Jayes says that the issues South Africans face are similar to the issues that other countries face.

“It’s important to embrace the universality of our living experience,” she says. She also says that our science fiction, and our literature in general, would do well to move away from tirelessly retold tropes and to welcome edgier,

Illustration: Modeste Goutondji more imaginative writing. “Creating worlds which are separate from, but also a part of, our own is a way to acknowledge this, while also slipping neatly out of the apartheid noose in order to explore issues in a way that hooks readers at a purely human level,” she says.

Perdeby caught up with Lauren Beukes, author of the Arthur C Clark award-winning novel Zoo City, to find out what exactly makes our country unique when it comes to dystopian literature.

Beukes believes that owing to our country’s rich and diverse culture, our writers are at a

better advantage to mine original material for stories that inject new life into the science fiction genre, capturing the attention of the rest of the world.

“Like Charlie Human’s Apocalypse Now Now,” she says, “our stories and mythologies and cultural quirks are fresh to the rest of the world.”

Beukes also says that the recent popularity of dystopian literature in South Africa is anything but an accident. “I think publishers have been more open to the genre, following international trends. The success of District 9 and Zoo City

winning the Arthur C Clarke Award showed them that there is an appetite for imaginative fiction that twists reality,” she said.

Whether all of it is strictly dystopian, Beukes admits, is something she’s not entirely sure of.

Strictly dystopian or not, however, it seems that the most talked-about novels in South Africa these days aren’t stories that are densely caked with apartheid remorse. Dystopian stories aren’t any less South African, but they have a riskier voice and a dimension of creativity that we’re not completely accustomed to.

Dystopian literature is not so much a portrayal of the inevitable outcome of our current problems, but rather explores our fears about the outcome and expresses them creatively. Through this, a reader can internalise and analyse the problems of modern civilisation and draw conclusions about the rationality of our fears. In a world where change is the norm, dystopian literature provides a constructive outlet for modern society.

Delving into dystopia Examples of South African dystopian literature • Sister-Sister Rachel Zadok • Dark Windows Louis Greenberg Coming out in April 2014

• The Spiral House Claire Robertson • Moxyland Lauren Beukes • When the Sea is Rising Red Cat Hellisen

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21 October ‘13 Literature: the home address

Engagement: an interview with Kelwyn Sole YUAN-CHIH YEN Is South African literature since the new millennium turning away from engaging with pressing social issues to becoming more weary and consumer-orientated in the process?

Kelwyn Sole, hailed by Rustum Kozain as “South Africa’s foremost poet writing in English”, reflects on poetry and the current state of literature in South Africa.

What does poetry mean to you?

It’s a very difficult question to answer. I was attracted to poetry round about the middle of my high-school schooling. In the early parts of my high school I wasn’t at all because what was on the syllabus then was mainly narrative poetry that I couldn’t relate to. But somewhere about 15, I realised that poetry could be used as a way or read as a way to deal with your own personal issues and to deal with wider social issues, things that are worrying you about your position in life, your position in society. And South Africa at that stage obviously, for a young white kid growing up, was a very conservative place and [it was difficult] to come across other modes of thinking, people with wider perspectives.

So do you feel that literature has to be engagé?

I think as a writer, first of all I’d say you have to engage with political topics, simply because they’re part of life. And I’m not necessarily talking about party politics, although some of my poetry is, often my satires are, aimed at specific political figures. I’m really saying that a lot of the life in South Africa is mixed up or has resonance politically and you’ve got to engage with that. You have to engage socially for a start.

Why do you choose to express yourself in poetry and not prose? Writers like Mongane Wally Serote have moved away from poetry to prose now.

I did kind of put my big toe into prose a couple of years ago with that book of prose poems [Land Dreaming]. It’s a completely different kind of thinking. It’s an interesting question.

You think much more simultaneously about a number of issues. There’s more energy in poetry, or you can put more energy in poetry than prose. I find with a lot of prose writers, they tend to stretch things out more. I must say, when I’ve written prose, I often get a little bored. [Prose is] a different kind of impulse.

It’s a kind of patience: you have to spread out the important things that you are trying to put across. Poetry, you do it in a much more

“South Africa’s foremost poet writing in English”, Kelwyn Sole. Photo: Ben Williams/BooksLIVE compressed format and it’s also much closer to music.

What is your view of the current state of literature in South Africa?

In terms of the literary market in South Africa at the moment, you don’t get a great deal of Black Consciousness or Africanist views in books that are being produced. I think the mainstream publishers are playing a very strange role at the moment and a role I don’t particularly like. The intellectual, the kind of academic world, has withdrawn into the universities and I think it’s the publishers who are influencing what I’d see as hegemony in literature and what is produced and what is regarded as the right topics and the wrong topics at the moment.

So what are these “right topics” that you are noticing?

Partly it’s commercially orientated. The market’s gone very commercial. Again, I grew up in a time when the anti-apartheid publishers,

these so-called alternative publishers, in the country were very heavily funded from overseas so they didn’t care about selling. But now it’s very commercial and it’s whatever sells or seems like it’s going to sell that’s put forward.

There’s the rise of genre fiction, for example, and I have great difficulty in seeing how much of it is a groundswell from young people and how much of it is what the publishers are putting out to people.

What is your opinion of spoken word/ performance poetry?

Some of what I’ve seen is very, very interesting.

I once read on a platform with [Iain Ewok Robinson a.k.a. Creamy] Ewok Baggends and Comrade Fatso and I thought they were both great. I think it can at times become a little bit too suburban and I think at times it can take itself just that little bit too seriously as well.

Oral poets like all other poets, you struggle to get craft, you struggle to get skill and I think

that the poets I’ve spoken to know that but often they’re seen as a kind of once-off, instant kind of gratification for an audience. It’s more than that. It’s got to be more.

How would you get students to be interested and to engage with literature produced by South Africans?

It’s about that word “engagement”. When I was taught poetry at the beginning it was, “Look, there’s this thing. It has a secret and mystery and your job here is to decipher that. If you don’t get it you are too stupid.” That puts people off. What you need is, and particularly with modern poetry, [to get] people [to] engage with meaning because a lot of the poetry that is being written is about meaning not simply [being] something that the author gives, but something that the reader has to negotiate with the author.

You’ve got to show [people] that it’s part of their life, that it has resonance in their life, otherwise you can forget about it.

Perdeby and Protea Book Shop are so excited about South African books that they are giving them away.

You can win a book hamper by entering one of the four categories below. A hamper will be awarded to the winner of each category. Each one will consist of three books reviewed in Literature: the home address.

Win with Perdeby and Protea Book Shop

Poem (maximum of 50 lines) Short story of 100 words A summary of your favourite book in 10 words Search for the answer: Which two performance poets did Kelwyn Sole once share a platform with?

Entries must be submitted to entertainment@perdeby.co.za by 3 November at 12:00.

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21 October ‘13 Literature: the home address

“No one exists outside the realm of poetry” YUAN-CHIH YEN

established herself in the South African spoken word scene, having performed at prominent Performance poetry in South Africa seems events such as the Jozi Spoken Word Festival to have burgeoned in recent years, especially (2007 and 2008), the South African Literary among the younger generation. This Awards (2011), the Thabo Mbeki African enthusiasm for the spoken word is evident in Leadership Institute’s International Women’s Pretoria, which hosts many open-mic sessions Day Celebrations (2012) and the South such as Spoken Sessions at +27 Café and African UN International Nelson Mandela Day No Camp Chairs Poetry Picnic in the Union Celebrations (2012).

Buildings gardens.

Gantsho believes that poetry helps her “We’re still at that phase where we’re “survive this phenomenon called life”. imitating a lot of slam/spoken word culture “Different people have different ways of from the US, which is problematic, slightly, expression and expression is how you survive. but also has a place,” says Vangile Gantsho, For me, my expression is poetry,” she says. poet and organiser of No Camp Chairs Poetry In her poems, Gantsho often deals with Picnic. “As a poet, you start by imitating your issues of being African. She believes that favourite poet and people have then you develop different layers your own voice,” of identity and she says. one of her core Nevertheless, identities is she feels that African. “So for unique South me, being African African voices is powerful. It’s like poets Mbali about ownership Vilakazi, Sarah and reclaiming Godsell and our spot on Phillipa Yaa this earth and de Villiers are understanding developing and that it all began coming through. here in Africa.

Vangile Gantsho with former president Thabo Mbeki.

When asked And also, Photo provided if post-apartheid unlearning some South African poetry is becoming mainly of the ‘ugly’ that we’ve been performance poetry, Gantsho says that we taught, unlearning that we have no literature, have to understand that poetry began through that we have no beauty,” she says. spoken word and that it is not something Gantsho has been mentored by Don Mattera, new, but a natural progression of the medium. the distinguished South African writer and “Even European literature began with the oral. political activist, and she feels that he is her The idea of putting it onto paper came long “poetry grandfather”. According to Gantsho, after it was spoken,” she says.

Mattera “is always about the message and Gantsho also believes that each age places about the people and about the voice”, greater emphasis on whatever medium is something that resonates with her. prevalent at the time. “We’re in a digital This voice is something especially important time now, so we’re getting a lot more audiofor Gantsho because she believes that it is her visual poetry. We’re also getting a lot more purpose to be a messenger. “If you understand multimedia poetry, so poetry is just moving that you’re a messenger, then you understand with the times,” she says. that this is a borrowed voice. It is not yours.

Since her breakthrough in 2005, Gantsho has These words are not your own,” she says. She

Vangile Gantsho performing at the No Camp Chairs Poetry Picnic, an initiative she started that sees poetry lovers meeting at the Union Buildings every second Sunday of the month.

Photo provided wants to use the voice that she has to continue writing the kind of poems that she has been put here to write.

According to Gantsho, “No one exists outside the realm of poetry. You just haven’t come across the poem that speaks to you.” She also says that there is no excuse to not read.

“It’s just stupid and no one wants to be stupid,” she says. Gantsho, in fact, has a practical suggestion: “Everybody loves chilling on the internet and if you can Google your area of

expertise, then [you can] Google poetry in that area. Like, say I like computers and I just Google ‘poems about computers’. Just start with something like that,” she says.

Gantsho also offers some humbling advice for aspiring poets. “The most important thing I can say is that it’s not easy. It takes a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of being open to reading, being open to falling, being open to critique, but also a lot of listening and suppressing of the ego,” she says.

Tackling social issues through art LIZL LOMBAARD Phoenix Arts is an initiative that brings together different forms of art to make people more aware of social issues like rape. Perdeby spoke to co-founder and managing director Camille Hall of Phoenix Arts to find out more about the organisation.

What exactly is Phoenix Arts?

Phoenix Arts is a non-profit organisation aimed at uniting both visual and performance arts to speak out against social issues in South Africa.

We aim to raise hope, awareness and funding to facilitate a strong, long-term change in the community to help those affected both in a practical and emotional sense.

How did the idea come about?

Phoenix started one afternoon when we realised that the issue of rape has affected too many people and we were tired of not being able to do anything about it. We realised that each person’s story of hurt has the power to help others in their suffering. Our art helps us to communicate

with ourselves and with those around us, so we decided to start bringing others together to use whatever artistic talent they possessed to tell their story. It was initially an idea of a small, mixed medium artwork.

However, the idea soon grew exponentially as we realised that Phoenix Arts could reach much further than what we had first expected. There were so many people who wished to contribute and have their voices heard that it grew until it became an organisation full of individual voices all speaking out against the same injustice.

Which forms of art do you incorporate?

Our goal is to integrate as many people and art forms as possible, and currently, we are including illustration, sculpture, photography, dance, music, spoken word, written word and film.

Who are the artists you are already involved with and how do they contribute to what Phoenix Arts is now?

We currently have approximately 100 artists contributing to our upcoming event, which is

focusing on the topic of rape. They contribute by doing what they do best: creating art. Each artist is creating a piece on their personal response to rape, which will be displayed at our events, published in an upcoming book, and/or available on our website.

How are you involved with spoken word?

Spoken word is a prominent feature within our performance arts. Our spoken word co-ordinator, Shae Bloem, has co-founded a Pretoria-based poetry movement, along with Kurt Schröder, known as Spoken Sessions.

They aim at creating a platform for poets to share their art in a safe space with an audience of appreciators of spoken word.

Tell us a bit about the spoken word recordings you are talking about on your social media sites.

Each of our spoken word artists wrote an original piece for our upcoming event around their response to rape. We have recorded each artist as we believe that every voice should be heard and has the power to make a difference

in someone’s life. We filmed each poet in a different location to give emphasis to their words and to put their words of experience into a real life situation, rather than having it feel as if it is occurring in the abstract.

We will begin releasing the videos on our website prior to the event as part of a build-up and so that the public may have free access to their meaningful words.

What can we expect from your exhibition on 21 February 2014?

The event will be unique, in that it combines the viewing of visual artworks with the presentation of performance pieces. The event will be held on the evening of 21 February, and will give additional information on the non-profit companies that we are supporting with this event, as well as an opportunity for individuals to get involved in any way that they wish to offer. Phoenix is about hope and our event reflects that ideology. If we can stand together, we can hope for change and together we can turn that hope into a reality.

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21 October ‘13 Literature: the home address

Caught in the colonial cringe?

CAROLE GODFREY Do you constantly compare South Africa, its people, practices, food, drink, scenery, arts and products to overseas versions and always find the South African one inferior? Do you only regard artists as successful if they manage to become popular overseas?

Well, here is your diagnosis: you suffer from colonial cringe, that feeling which leads you to place a novel back on the shelf as soon as you read “set in South Africa” on the blurb.

The colonial or cultural cringe (a term coined

by Australian critic AA Phillips) describes an attitude which denigrates a nation’s products and achievements in relation to other countries, and the belief that these products and achievements only have meaning when they are confirmed by overseas authorities.

We tend to depend on judgements imported from other countries, believing that they know better: this is why many of us are aware of the British Booker Prize and the American Pulitzer Prize, but not of the Ingrid Jonker Prize or Thomas Pringle Award, or the writers these prizes are named after. We are in awe of writers such as JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer because they have won international awards but we have little knowledge of South African literary awards.

The colonial cringe is thought to be the product of living in a society that is seen as inferior due to historical, economic or social forces. For example, South Africa may still be suffering from the shame of having been a

colonial and apartheid society.

Many of us are ashamed of our political leaders and crime rates. We may be ashamed of living in a developing country that owes heavy debts to foreign countries and is financially dependent on their investments.

We also see ourselves as inferior in terms of healthcare and education.

Due to this sense of shame, we try to be less South African. We associate ourselves with foreign countries by immersing ourselves in their seemingly superior arts and media and by rejecting our own in order to escape from our cringeworthy South African identities.

The colonial cringe also stems from the widespread conviction that what is oldest and most original is best. The countries which are believed to have invented a product will inevitably produce the best version. If the same product is produced somewhere else, it is thought to be inferior or to have had its purity tarnished by surroundings or influences that are somehow incompatible with it.

Countries such as Britain and America are thought to be better at writing English because they have been speaking English and producing novels for a much longer time than South Africa. In addition, many settlers have tried to replicate the culture of their homelands in South Africa and the modern world suffers from a tendency to imitate America.

Some South African authors, feel the shame of South African associations and knowing that the South African reading public tend

to reject obviously South African books, disassociate themselves by imitating the settings and subjects of foreign authors. This merely compounds the perception that they are producing inferior copies of foreign books.

All of these factors lead South Africans to reject South African literature even though there is no real reason why it should be considered inferior.

Critics compound the problem by showing approval of books and trying to sell them by comparing them to the work of foreign writers.

South African writers might also try to disassociate themselves from South Africa by claiming that they are influenced by foreign writers such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky or F Scott Fitzgerald. Often their claims are likely to be true as they themselves suffer from the colonial cringe and do not expose themselves to South African literature.

While they cannot be criticised for having foreign influences, writers can escape the colonial cringe if they expose themselves to other South African literature in order to observe its positive aspects and perhaps accept its influences. Critics, by exposing themselves to South African literature, could gain a more informed view of its trends and crossinfluences, so that they could mention these in reviews. This would help give South African writers a sense of pride in gaining influence from other South African writers, rather than being ashamed to admit debt to what is seen as an inferior form of writing.

What is The Inklings?

The Inklings is a drama and literary society at the University of Pretoria. It was formed in 1982 and registered as a student society in 1985, which makes it one of the longest running societies on campus The society was named after the original Inklings society at the University of Oxford, of which JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were members.

The Inklings run writing competitions, put on plays, make short films, run creative writing workshops, publish bilingual poetry and prose in a magazine called Inclinations and have occasional parties with slightly crazy themes.

Perdeby invited The Inklings to write for Literature: the home address. Here is a written opinion pieces on the colonial cringe from one of The Inklings’s members.

Many South African authors have been brave enough to publish work openly rooted in South Africa despite the colonial cringe.

You can encourage their work and help South African literature to flourish by overcoming whatever feelings of disdain or discomfort you may have towards South African literature and not placing the next “set in South Africa” book you pick up face down on the shelf.

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21 October ‘13 Literature: the home address Zumanomics Revisited Raymond Parsons

HEIN PAPENFUS

Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Professor Jonathan Jansen.

Photo: www.sairr.org.za

Dissecting SA education We Need To Act Jonathan Jansen

DITSHEGO MADOPI Following his previous title We Need to Talk, Jonathan Jansen’s We Need to Act is an interesting and intellectual read that does well without the pretence of academic verbosity.

This book is a collection of articles which have been published in The Times where the vicechancellor of the University of the Free State (and former Tuks dean of education) speaks about the state of school and tertiary education in South Africa Each article is three to four pages long in this 296-page book and this gives them enough space to be thought-provoking and informative but not tedious to read. They are not arranged chronologically, but under relevant headings that all begin with “We need to...” and this reflects the action-driven nature of the book.

The introduction starts off with an anecdote describing how a concerned veterinary sciences student, who collected stray cats on campus and sterilised them, approached Jansen for aid in making this initiative take place on a larger scale. This story doesn’t have the stuffy nature of writing often associated with serious topics such as education.

Jansen speaks about how most of the positive changes that we see in our country are not due to the countless policies drafted by the

Risk Jason Staggie

LUSANDA FUTSHANE Jason Staggie has never written a novel before, but don’t hold that against him just yet because there are a few other reasons why his debut novel Risk doesn’t quite live up to the expectations it creates for itself.

The book is a modern tale of a cosmopolitan group of friends in Cape Town who, bored with their usual vices and maybe a little out of social rebellion, decide to play a high-stakes game of dares with each other that soon spirals out of control.

Staggie’s characters are a fresh cross-section of post-1994 South Africa and the topics he explores are nuanced, even with most of the key players in the throes of drugs, alcohol and sexual tirades. You’ll hardly ever read

government, but by individuals who take initiative and use their own resources to help or participate in a cause. Several other brief stories about students and schools are mentioned to make the reader aware of the common thread in successful initiatives, which is self- or community-driven motivation not influenced by the government.

The book includes an explanation of student politics, public schooling and government policies that seldom push towards practical implementation. More controversial issues are discussed, like the current culture of entitlement and to what degree tertiary institutions should bear the responsibility of “nursing” students through feeding them, transporting them and clothing them when this might impair their opportunity to learn to work for themselves.

Jansen emphasises the social depth of education and communicates this directly to the readers by offering advice and by being straightforward about issues. He talks about how most students who participate in violent protests are those who are failing or do not have a strong educational foundation and how some tertiary policies the government wants to put in place are a result of their not being able to tackle those problems appropriately at school.

The articles have a conversational tone which makes them easy and enjoyable to read even for people who do not have a predisposed interest in how the country’s education system works. It is a relevant and engaging read for any student or parent wanting more information on how they are affected and can themselves affect education. about interracial relationships being written in this way, hardly ever witness the historical pressure of apartheid on today’s black youth communicated so honestly, and hardly ever be forced to ask as many questions about our country as you surely will do at the end of this book.

When the story begins, you steel yourself for a raucous high-octane adventure with cerebral thought-provoking moments akin to A Clockwork Orange or anything Chuck Palahniuk has ever written, and this does happen for a while.

But then the break-neck pace of the novel gets in the way of any real in-depth exploration of the issues it brings up. By the time you’re settling into one of Staggie’s intriguing social commentaries, the wheels are moving again and before you know it, before you can yell “Slow down!”, the story is over.

If you’re in the mood for a volley of hairpin plot-twists and racy action, then this is exactly the book for you. But if you’re looking for an intelligent, creative examination of present-day South Africa, then the risk just isn’t worth it.

As South Africans, our view of the future of our country ranges from happy optimism to doomsday pessimism. The majority of those who share the latter opinion have one thing in common: they are all woefully uninformed.

Enter Raymond Parsons, economic analyst and author of Zumanomics Revisited, a sequel to the original Zumanomics: Which way to shared prosperity in South Africa?

Parsons is a professor at North-West University Business School and the deputy CEO of Business Unity South Africa.

A collective effort by Parsons and other senior economic and political analysts, the first instalment of Zumanomics was well received ahead of the 2009 elections. It outlined the

After Tears Niq Mhlongo

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DOMINIC SKELTON After Tears follows the life of UCT law student Bafana Kuzwayo and the challenges that he faces. His initial problem is that he has dropped out of his final year at law school and his aspiration to become the first advocate in his family has been smashed. He leaves the Cape and returns to Soweto. His problems at home persist and he has to deal with the rising guilt of not telling his family the truth. They are already calling him “Advo” as they believe that he has passed the year with flying colours, but he keeps dodging his mother Rea’s questions about his results.

He often talks to his uncle Nyawana, who spends his time drinking J&B, chatting up ladies at his fruit and vegetable store and smoking copious amounts of dagga. Bafana also drinks and smokes but hides this from his affectionate mother. To add to Bafana’s problems, the family is in the middle of a housing ownership dispute because Rea wants to sell their house to pay his university fees.

Never Let Go Gareth Crocker

½ MICHAL-MARÉ LINDEN Based on the coincidences in his life, Gareth Crocker brings us Never Let Go, a gripping novel that combines mystery with science fiction. Crocker has received international acclaim for his debut novel Finding Jack and Never Let Go proves that Crocker’s success was not a fluke.

The novel starts when Reece Cole’s daughter is shot dead in his arms and he then reaches for his own gun. He tries to commit suicide because he is unable to live a life without her. However, after unexpectedly surviving, Cole must begrudgingly return home from hospital.

He begins to notice something strange – his daughter’s handprints appear daily in different positions on the kitchen window. A visit from a medium and another suicide attempt later, the doorbell rings. A man claiming to be a scientist leaves an envelope for Cole in the post box. The envelope contains a six-word letter: “I can bring your daughter back.”

Initially, Never Let Go seems a bit clichéd.

Its comparisons and occurrences appear to come out of a typical action film. The story is set in America, which targets an international audience but reinforces the feeling of mediocrity. This feeling is completely done away with, however, from part three where the pace picks up and the actual storyline develops.

weak points of the South African economy and what policies could possibly be implemented to promote shared growth. Zumanomics Revisited is Parsons’s individual assessment of how those policies have functioned, the current state of the South African economy and what road forward should be taken.

Zumanomics Revisited is by no means a casual read as knowledge of basic fiscal and economic concepts is essential to enjoying the in-depth analysis. However, Parsons provides plenty of explanation which makes it possible for anyone to understand the information he is conveying. A series of graphs and charts embedded in the text make the ideas and information clearer and the result is a thoroughly interesting read.

Zumanomics Revisited is a must-read for any South African voter who wants to know exactly what the real result is of the filled-in ballot after hours of endless queuing on election day. It is impeccably written and worth every fluctuating rand of the purchase price.

Bafana cruises around with his uncle’s cronies Zero and PP and shares many conversations about life, women, politics and HIV with them. The book often reinforces stereotypes found in South African society by stating people’s opinions on political and social issues.

Author Niq Mhlongo constantly uses creative and entertaining metaphors to describe the life of his main character. However, some of his comparisons are so outlandish that the credibility of the statements is lost. Quite a few Sotho words are used in direct speech and if one understands the language, a greater degree of humour is added to the reading experience.

Township slang is also used which, if you are familiar with the way taxi drivers talk to their clients, makes the interactions highly amusing.

The book is simply written and this adds authenticity to the plot by emphasising that Bafana is not academically inclined, making it easy to believe that he failed his exams.

After Tears will grab you, make you laugh and consider the harsh realities that a large number of struggling youths in Soweto face.

With so much pressure on him to be a success, Bafana must make some tough decisions that will make or break his future.

The storyline requires an open mind and the lack of a degree in applied physics to make it believable. It melds together time travel and deja-vu with coincidence to create unexpected possibilities and uncertainty both for the characters and the reader. The characters keep the storyline grounded as their reactions and emotions are portrayed realistically and insightfully, possibly the result of Crocker’s degree in psychology.

Never Let Go is sectioned off into chapters of only three or four pages. This makes it an easy read for those that don’t read often as well as for avid readers who feel the need to finish the chapter before putting the book down.

Death, recovery and the afterlife are all familiar topics in literature, yet Never Let Go manages to break away from the typical presentation of grief and healing by delving into a well thought-out theory of resurrection.

Dealing with a universally uncertain topic gives Crocker freedom to deliver an exciting culmination to a novel that becomes progressively more captivating.

Visit perdeby.co.za for more book reviews

Sister-Sister Rachel Zadok

We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo

Penumbra Songeziwe Mahlangu

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21 October ‘13

Literature: the home address The Childhood of Jesus JM Coetzee

The Imagined Child Jo-Anne Richards

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INDIA GONÇALVES

MARGEAUX ERASMUS

South African writer Jo-Anne Richards’s fifth novel The Imagined Child sees her exploring issues of parenting, guilt and resentment, adjustment to a new environment, lost and new love, and crime, all in the short space of 325 pages.

Richards does this through the story of Odette, a writer for a popular TV soapie who leaves the crime-ridden city of Johannesburg for what she hopes will be a quiet, new start in the small Free State town of Nagelaten. This new start, however, is shaken when elements of Odette’s past appear to unsettle her present.

Odette’s escape to Nagelaten comes after she is robbed at her home in Johannesburg.

The novel constantly points out dissimilarities between the urban and rural areas and emphasises the extreme to which Odette is an outsider in her new surroundings.

Flashbacks allow the reader to gain insight into the past that Odette is so intent on keeping buried and refuses to come to terms with. These flashbacks increase when her troubled daughter Mandy returns from the UK. Mandy, who suffers from so-called learning disabilities, is a suspect in the murder investigation of a baby she had been looking after.

This subplot creates suspense and intrigue in the novel and Mandy’s nonchalant reaction to her possible incarceration makes the reader want to delve further into the novel to discover the outcome of the story, even if this means reading through countless pages dealing with Odette.

Odette is stubborn. She seems to dislike talking about herself or her problems, but at times she can be self-indulgent and selfobsessed and this becomes rather aggravating.

Readers will be torn between becoming incredibly frustrated with Odette’s character and sympathising with with her and relating to her on a personal level.

Throughout the novel we see Odette trying to deal with her guilt as a parent and her resentment towards Mandy and other family members. The title of the novel, The Imagined Child, reflects this in a way. At first glance you would never expect the story to follow the course that it does.

The novel seems like another tedious story of a crime victim who struggles to deal with the wrongs that have been done to them. But after a few chapters the reader realises that this is not the case. Although the novel definitely has traces of a kind of post-traumatic stress induced by the experience of crime, it is not the main focus of the The Imagined Child.

Odette’s struggles and love life rule the plot of the novel. At times, this seems a bit mundane and pointless but the last few chapters of the book make up for all the tiring ones that came before it.

The ending is truly the strong point and climax of the story as it answers all the questions that the reader develops throughout the novel.

The Imagined Child is essentially an easy read. Overall, the novel does not require much concentration for sense to be made of the plot, but it does require patience from the reader to stick it out to the end because it is here that Richards really makes it worthwhile.

Kennedy Gihana was a Tutsi during the Rwandan genocide. A simple story would cast Gihana as a victim, but Jacques Pauw’s Rat Roads destroys the possibility of such a simplistic interpretation of the world. Gihana was a victim, but not an innocent one. As a Tutsi soldier, he not only experienced suffering, but also inflicted it.

Ethically, this is confusing. In Rat Roads, Pauw constructs a narrative that explores the conflicting ideas of victim and perpetrator. The title indicates the moral duality that the book confronts, a rat road having both positive and negative connotations. It can be a path used by ordinary people to avoid robbers on the main road or a path used by robbers to find isolated victims.

Rat Roads cannot escape Pauw’s background in journalism. He remains astonishingly objective throughout the book. He does not make it easy for the reader to pity Gihana, but does not harden the reader towards him either.

His writing is poignant and simple with a frank tone that at times seems detached. He uses beautiful descriptions but does so sparingly, which prevents him from sensationalising the story. Pauw tends to apply a narrative style

to the paragraphs in which he discusses the Rwandan landscape and reverts to a journalistic style when he is speaking about Gihana’s life and the genocide. In this way, Pauw contrasts the beauty of nature with the horror of history.

Pauw’s vivid description is absorbing and makes Gihana’s story seem very real. This shows great skill from Pauw, but is problematic for the reader as they cannot remain as detached from the story as Pauw seemingly is. His writing does not allow for an easy reading of the book. Instead, he forces the reader to confront difficult and serious questions about the human capacity for such barbarity.

Pauw’s technique of mentioning a specific event, either in Gihana’s life or in Rwanda’s history, and then zooming out to provide broad context is beautifully constructed, though it can become repetitive.

He uses elegant descriptions to create an idyllic image and then breaks this down with harsh, factual reporting. The narrative constantly builds suspense, but does not create a way for this tension to subside and this becomes frustrating.

In the book’s acknowledgments, Pauw says that he wanted to tell another story of what he calls “the godforsaken place” of Rwanda.

Through its brutal honesty, Rat Roads evokes a sense of hope that is grounded in reality.

While Pauw allows neither Gihana nor the reader to escape from the past, he presents both with an awareness of redemption and possibility.

JM Coetzee’s latest novel The Childhood of Jesus presents the reader with a strange world that is difficult to understand. The novel centres around two characters, an old man and a young boy, who are given new lives in a fictional place called Novilla where they will be given new names and will be encouraged to forget the past. The characters meet on board a ship as they cross the sea to get to this new life. The old man is Simón and the young boy is David.

Simón’s main goal in this new life is to find David’s mother.

The promise of a new life can be alluring but Simón feels unfulfilled and estranged. He isn’t the same as the other people living in Novilla.

They are good-willed and helpful, but they are never passionate or emotional and Simón believes that it is passion that will fill the void in his life.

Is he insisting on the primacy of the personal (desire, love) over the universal (good-will, benevolence)? And why is he continually asking himself questions instead of just living, like everyone else?

These are the questions that Coetzee poses in The Childhood of Jesus. This lack of passion makes Simón feel like he and David are living in a state of limbo and the reader is caught in this state with them. Coetzee achieves this feeling with his trademark straightforward style. His short sentences and brief descriptions not only make reading an otherwise complicated and unnerving book quick and easy, but also add to the feeling of being caught in limbo.

The Childhood of Jesus is existential and is more focused on ideas than on action.The plot progresses, but the characters don’t go anywhere and they never seem to escape the state of limbo that they find themselves in. In this way, the novel is reminiscent of works like Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett or Boesman and Lena by Athol Fugard.

Added to this is Coetzee’s refusal to reveal anything in his narration. The reader never really knows who Simón and David are. The reader never knows where Novilla is and the reader isn’t told why Simón would believe that he can find David’s mother without having met her before. Coetzee leaves these questions, and many others, open for interpretation. Coetzee’s refusal to be decoded is entrenched in the title of the novel, which is just as baffling as the story itself.

David and Simón’s story is not one that is tied to Christianity. Certain critics have linked David to an allegorical figure of Jesus, but this is not fitting either. David is a boy, and although he has strange and revolutionary ideas, he is selfish and throws tantrums. He isn’t a Christ-like figure. But that may just be the point. Coetzee is not a novelist who can be read purely for enjoyment. He wants to make the reader mull over what he has presented to them in his novel.

Avid readers, or readers who are intrigued by existentialism, will be enthralled by the novel’s constant questions and unique ideas. But for readers who are not interested in the absurd or philosophical movements, The Childhood of Jesus might become frustrating. Like Simón, you might not enjoy philosophy classes about the “chairness of chairs”.

schoolyard. Baxter Zevcenko soon discovers that he isn’t as normal as he makes himself out to be as he gets sucked into the dark underworld of the supernatural when his girlfriend disappears.

Zevcenko is accompanied by Jackson Ronin, a hired “Herbalist and Supernatural Bounty Hunter”, who becomes Zevcenko’s mentor.

The protagonist struggles to save the woman he loves and the entire world, all while trying to stay alive during every battle fought.

The book isn’t just filled with horrific monsters and gory scenes. Humour is always

present, distracting the reader from noticing the incredible pace of the rising death toll with the turn of every page. Incorporating humour into a book about unmerciful evil isn’t something many writers can do, and even fewer writers manage to do it well.

The course of events might sometimes seem too irrational, but when you have to save your girlfriend, fight zombies and travel between dimensions, you don’t have time to stop and wonder about logic.

Human’s decision to make Zevcenko so unlikable is ingenious and, ironically, makes the

reader get even more involved in the story.

On the other hand, having a main character that is a typical know-it-all rebellious teenager, together with the ever-present mention of high school, might make it hard for older generations to form a personal relation to the story.

The immense amount of violence and proleague fantasy is another element that not all readers will have an appetite for, but for others it might be what makes the book so exciting.

Whether you are a regular reader or the “I’ll wait for the movie” type, Apocalypse Now Now will be worth the time spent on every page.

Apocalypse Now Now Charlie Human

JOHAN SAAYMAN Apocalypse Now Now is Charlie Human’s first book and has been published in both South Africa and the United Kingdom. Set in Cape Town, it follows the grim adventures of a 16-year-old high school student who doubles as the boss of a porn syndicate run in his

Author and investigative journalist Jacques Pauw. Photo: www.dailymaverick.com

A martyr and a murderer Rat Roads Jacques Pauw

MAXINE TWADDLE

Features

21 October ‘13

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One Bloody Mary to curdle your blood ORENEILE TSHETLO It is clear from the seemingly endless morning line at Fego (especially during winter) that countless people cannot start their day without a fresh, steaming cup of tea or coffee. “I get irritable without it. I get angry.” Do these words sound familiar? They are taken right out of reality TV show My Strange Addiction season finale guest Michelle’s mouth. The first thing she wants in the morning is a bloody drink. Literally.

Her favourite brew is a cup of fresh, preferably human, blood and she is unable to start her day without it.

Michelle sounds like a fictional character from Dracula, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Vampire Diaries. These days there is a great deal of interest in vampires as we are bombarded with them on our television screens, in our movie theatres and even on our bookstore shelves. As a result, people may be wondering if there are humans out there who live like vampires.

Michelle, however, is adamant that she is not a vampire and according to her, the gruesome drinking habit evolved from innocent curiosity.

She used to cut herself as a teenager and wondered what her blood would taste like. Her thoughts became actions, her actions became a habit and, as they often do, her habit became a part of who she is. She has stopped cutting herself, but has not been able to stop drinking blood.

According to a report based on a study led

by Dr Direnc Sakarya and released by the Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Michelle’s case is recognised as an identity disorder called “vampirism”. Dr Richard Noll, an associate professor of psychology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, suggests that for sufferers of this disorder, “blood has a mystical quality, as if it can enhance their lives”. This impression could be a result of how vampires are portrayed in popular culture. Amber Bunn, a second-year BA General student, agrees with Dr Noll and admits that she is obsessed with vampire fiction. Although it only took her two weeks to read the entire Twilight series, Bunn

Photo: Oan de Waal says that the books led her to being “caught up in another world”. Bunn adds, however, that she is able to separate fantasy from reality, something she suggests those who claim to have a need to drink blood are unable to do.

On the other hand, first-year BCom Marketing student Rayle Ponting does not find the idea of vampires appealing. She says that the myth of the vampire has become twisted to the extent that it is “no longer intriguing or exciting”.

Ponting says that blood drinkers are “a little bit naïve and over the top” and adds that people who drink blood do not actually crave it, but rather seek the attention associated with the vampire craze today. Like the title of the movie, Ponting is of the opinion that “vampires suck”.

However, there is evidence that suggests that there are people who have a legitimate need to drink blood, or at least a certain substance contained in blood that could be addictive. The

New York Times journalist Philip Boffey says that, “Those dreaded beasts of folklore and superstition may have been nothing more than people suffering from a rare class of genetic diseases.” His interviewee Dr David Dolphin, a biochemist at the University of British Columbia, explains that this rare genetic blood disorder called porphyria “could have left victims grotesquely disfigured, turned them into creatures of the night and caused them to suck the blood of their brothers and sisters”.

Dr Dolphin adds that if this disease goes untreated, the skin may become sensitive to sunlight. He notes that treatment for this type of disease involves the injection of a blood product called heme. He is unsure whether the body can get heme from blood that is ingested, but he does not reject the idea either.

Not everybody frowns upon people who drink blood. Thotoane Sello, a second-year BA Social

Work student, is indifferent to blood drinkers but says that she would never drink blood herself.

Third-year BA Law student Daniel Badenhorst says that, “If it’s consensual, I don’t particularly see any harm in it.”

Believe it or not, this act can be consensual.

Julia Caples, 45-year-old mother of two children, spoke to Amy Rudd of Mirror about her drinking habit. Caples says that she has been drinking about two litres of blood a month from willing donors since the age of 15.

Rudd describes Caples as a “real-life vampire” because she believes that “guzzling down the lifeblood from others keeps her feeling young and vigorous, just like ageless vampires from cult movies”. Caples says that, “When I feed off of a person and drink their blood, I feel stronger and healthier. I know scientifically there’s not a lot of nutrition in blood, but maybe there’s some value we haven’t discovered yet. I feel more beautiful than any other time when I’m regularly drinking [blood]. I’m also extremely healthy with no major health problems and I have an abundance of energy all the time.”

Medical practitioners disagree and argue that drinking blood takes its toll on the body.

According to LiveScience.com, the consumption of blood can be dangerous. Apart from the pathogens found in blood that cause diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, experts say that drinking blood is also dangerous because blood is so rich in iron.

Drinking blood in large amounts can cause an iron overdose. According to Dr Dennis Lee, founder of MedicineNet.com, iron in high doses is poisonous and may lead to a condition called haemochromatosis, which causes various problems such as liver cancer, damage to the lungs and impotence in men due to testicle shrinkage.

Despite this, blood drinkers believe that blood goes well with any dish and is a delicacy on its own. They clearly disagree with American author Jarod Kintz, who says that, “Blood may be thicker than water, but it’s certainly not as thick as ketchup. Nor does it go well with French fries.”

Online drug trading: the digital age of drug syndicates MARKO SVICEVIC What would happen if the drug trade started operating on the internet? This may be something that you’ve never thought of before, after all, the internet is used for social networking, not for drug trading. But these two topics may be more connected than you would think. It is possible for syndicates to operate completely online, and a website called Silk Road has been using the internet for this exact purpose for nearly three years.

On 2 October, the FBI arrested the alleged owner and chief operator of the website, Ross William Ulbricht, and seized the site’s servers.

Silk Road, described as the “eBay for drugs”, was an online black market of the “deep web”.

The deep web, also referred to as the “invisible web”, is that part of the internet which cannot be found or accessed by conventional search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Additionally, the website operated as a “Tor hidden service”.

This means that all online users of the website could browse anonymously without being monitored or tracked.

The DailyMail.co.uk reported on 2 October that Silk Road had more than 900 000 registered users, all of whom used Bitcoin, a sort of digital currency, to buy and sell drugs. When the authorities shutdown the website they seized $3.6 million worth of Bitcoin.

Earlier this year, The Guardian reported that the website listed over 10 000 products of which roughly 7 000 were illegal drugs. The other 3 000 items included erotic material, books and fake identification documents. The website even allowed buyers to rate the products and their sellers. According to Gary Bryan, author

of Silk Road: where you can buy illegal drugs anonymously online, this rating assured buyers that they were purchasing a quality product.

There are many elements of online drug trading that seem appealing to users. Firstly, users can act anonymously on the website.

Secondly, buying illegal drugs online is considered safer, because the buyer does not have to make direct contact with the dealer.

Adrian Chen, a prominent online blogger, tells TheWeek.com, that “making small talk with your pot dealer sucks” and that “buying cocaine can get you shot”. Comments like these seem to show that the online drug trade has its benefits over its hand-to-hand equivalent of drug dealing.

According to a recent study conducted in Australia by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, the amount of online drug trading is increasing, both domestically and internationally. It was found that there was a 32% increase in the number of sellers using Silk Road from August 2012 to February 2013. The number of sellers rose from 92 to 374 during this interval.

The trade and use of drugs in South Africa is an increasing problem. According to the World Health Organisation’s drug statistics on South Africa, 15% of the population have a drug problem. Furthermore, the United Nations’s statistics reveal that South Africa is ranked fourth globally for drug offence cases per 100 000 people. In terms of online drug purchasing, it is suggested that South Africa would not rank too high, seeing as census data by Statistics SA reveal that 64.8% of South African households do not have access to the internet. South Africa does, however, produce and distribute drugs that are sold online. An article by IOL News

Photo: Paul dos Santos states that SA is represented on Silk Road and is best known for its marijuana. Local dealers also offer Durban Poison and Swazi Gold – dagga considered exclusive to southern Africa.

With drug dealers adapting to the digital age,

authorities may have to step up their efforts to curb drug-related crimes.

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21 October ‘13

Sudoku

Fun & Games Last edition’s solution:

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Pssst… sees that the Kollege boys are very impressed with themselves after beating Taaibos in Pot `n Pons. Pssst… feels quite sorry for Taaibos. It can’t be fun to lose to someone who wasn’t even trying. Speaking of trying, Pssst… would like to commend the Mopanie boys for their hard work training for the annual jock run. It worked more for some of you than for others. While Mopanie were running around in their undies, Olienhout were obsessing over rhinos again. Pssst… thinks that if you love the animals so much, you should donate your larger-than-average Pot `n Pons budget to them. Or you can share it with Taaibos, since they like to try so hard. Inca and Luminous could teach Olienhout how to have a good Pot `n Pons stand without quite a few corporate sponsors. Then again, Inca and Luminous didn’t have many people in their stall.

Pssst... understands though. Pssst... wouldn’t want to be seen with Inca and Luminous either. Lilium managed to do quite well at Pot `n Pons, despite still not having a HK. Pssst… is surprised too. Pssst’s... eyes are still hurting from Kiaat and Klaradyn’s overly-yellow minion theme. Pssst… would like to remind Nerina that there are other ways to a man’s heart

EXAM STRESS & STRESS-AWAY Dr. Grant Nijland M.Tech.Hom Meditation as Complementary treatment of stress: Meditation is a habit that many successful people have in common. It is a technique that can be applied by all of us to help us cope with stress.

With Exams upon us, it may be a good time to learn and start spending a little time morning and evening on calming and aligning our spiritual, physical energies through meditation...This allows you to integrate all your emotional and menatl intelligence keeping you focused, energized and ready to take on the challenge of being confident about your preprartiins for your exams When we are stressed adrenalin is released into the blood stream and this results in our heart rate speeding up, increased release of adrenalin can, over time, lessen your body’s response to adrenaline, which can increase blood pressure.

Some tips for meditation are: • Focus on your breathing.

• Breathe in and out through your nose while paying attention to some aspect of your breathing, such as the pause between breaths.

• Focus on a word or phrase while you meditate and repeat the word or phrase constantly, or focus on a flower, or the sounds of birds chirping outside.

• Focus on the moment by becoming aware of physical sensations, sounds and thoughts.

Allow them to pass through your mind without judging or getting involved with them.

• Meditate every day. Aim for 20 minutes a day. It is natural for your thoughts to wonder, just realign and turn to your focus - that word or phrase, sound or picture - every time your mind starts to wander.

• Eventually, you will do this for half an hour with ease you may find you are able to calm yourself in stressful situations and daily meditation may improve your health and wellbeing and ability to cope with stress.

Tibb Health Sciences (Pty) Ltdmarkets a product called Stress-Away that assists in reducing stress and anxiety, is non-addictive and is available without a prescription Stress-Away is a compound herbal formulation that contains a variety of ingredients that specifically allow the body to cope with the negative effects of stress, calm a person down, focus the mind and help you manage stress and be more productive during times of stress.

than through his stomach. Pssst… is glad that Maroela enjoy all the burgers and pancakes you’re feeding them and is even gladder that they don’t have a jock run.

Pssst… thinks it’s sweet that Sonop baked Katjiepiering a cake but Pssst… is concerned that it was quite boozy.

But don’t worry Katjiepiering, the Jasmyn girls will probably help you finish it. Pssst... was sad to see that Asterhof didn’t manage to win anything at the Prestige evening. We can’t all be over-achievers like Magrietjie and Erika, but then again, even Kollege won something.

Seems like they’re on a roll. Pssst... hears that Erika made themselves unwelcome at Taaibos after the facility coordinator complained that they had made the res too purple. If you don’t like the Erika girls, you just need to tell them, Taaibos. No one will blame you. Pssst... saw how Klaradyn tried to outsmart Kiaat at their quiz night. Pssst... doesn’t think that Klaradyn should be too impressed with themselves. It doesn’t really take that much to outsmart Kiaat.

Features

21 October ‘13

How reliable are our memories?

BEN JOOSTE

Scientists say that our brains have the endless capacity to store information permanently.

Why then do we forget the name of the person we had just met or what we had for breakfast last week? Apparently, our memories are less trustworthy than we think and Perdeby explores why that is.

Memories consist of our personal experiences and involve three processes: encoding new information into our brain, storing it and then retrieving it when needed. So where does the problem lie? If information isn’t encoded correctly due to a lack of attention, it can’t be retrieved. If information is encoded correctly but an error arises when it is being retrieved, we experience what is called a tip-of-the-tongue predicament. We know the information is there, but we just can’t access it.

But what about those vivid and emotional memories, the ones we can recall like they happened yesterday? New research done by the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University (NU) reveals that these are the most imprecise memories of all.

Every time we recall something, we chip away at its accuracy. This is because when we remember a memory, we only retrieve a copy of the last time we recalled it, not the original incident. Also, every time we access memories, they are put back in our brain slightly differently. Thus, memories are based on memories and any errors we make in memories (such as forgetting details or confusing them) can be compounded, leading to inaccuracy.

Donna Bridge, the lead researcher of the study conducted at NU, says that, “A memory is not simply an image produced by time travelling back to the original event – it can be an image that is somewhat distorted because of the prior times you remembered it.” This means that every time we recall a specific memory,

Image: Reinhard Nell we blemish it and it could eventually become completely false. It is rather distressing to know that our most special memories could be untrue.

There are circumstances in our daily lives in which our brain creates false memories – memories that we believe to be true. There are many cases where people identify a man as the criminal in a heist or car jacking, only to discover later that they picked out a man that they saw before the event who may not even resemble the real perpetrator in the slightest. Or perhaps they remember the car that they saw skidding across the road and into which they nearly crashed as silver, when it was actually green.

Daniel Schacter, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, says that this happens because our brains try to predict the future by using past events, but this seemingly evolutionary advantage does not seem to help us. “Memory’s flexibility is useful to us, but it creates distortions and illusions. If memory is set up to use the past to imagine the future, its flexibility creates a vulnerability – a risk of confusing imagination with reality,” he says.

It is important to know that our memories are susceptible to the many mistakes and errors that we create. Memories can be swayed by emotions and they rely on patterns and specific sequences of events to remember things

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correctly.

Elizabeth Loftus, a research psychologist, led a study which concluded that some memories are created in the present. The study had 5 000 volunteers look at fake political photos that were edited to give the impression that these events actually occurred. Almost half of the participants believed that they remembered the events depicted in the photos.

Apparently, our minds create strong links between past events and our imagination and are heavily influenced by social factors. The volunteers who believed that the fake political event occurred were readily persuaded into believing that the photos were true because the images tied with their personal hopes.

However, flaws in our memory don’t end there. Not only are our memories fallible, but they can be created as well. Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, studied and identified specific brain chemicals that are released when memories are encoded. They stimulated these chemicals in lab rats while playing a particular sound, and they managed to induce a specific response in the rats when the sound was played. The rats responded in the same way to the sound the next day. This is the first time evidence has shown that memories can be created by manipulating the brain directly.

On the other hand, the Scripps Research Institute has been able to destroy specific memories in rats without affecting the rest of their memories. By inhibiting particular brain chemicals released upon the recollection of a specific memory, the scientists effectively wiped the rat’s memory on that particular point. The leader of this project, Courtney Miller, says that this is beneficial to us because it can be used to selectively remove traumatic past experiences such as drug-related ones to aid drug abusers in their recovery.

Spec-Savers Hatfield Shop 29, Hatfield plaza Burnette Street Hatfield 0123622887

Sport

Tuks 1 beat Tuks 2

A Tuks 2 batsman prepares to hit the ball.

Photo: Brad Donald PHILIP STOFBERG The Tuks 1 and Tuks 2 cricket teams played each other on 12 October in a Northerns Cricket Union (NCU) Premier League match.

Tuks 2 posted a score of 211 runs in their 60

overs, losing eight of their ten wickets. Aiden Markram almost achieved a half century before losing his wicket on 46. Damon de Villiers contributed another 40 while Gerry Pike and Johan Wessels scored 34 and 30 runs respectively.

Tuks 1 played well in their innings, winning the match in their 44th over with eight wickets to spare. Cobus Pienaar scored 51 without the loss of his wicket while Theunis de Bruyn got to a century, scoring an unbeaten 131 to round out the innings.

“The atmosphere is very competitive and there is always a determination which promises for great excitement, because these players compete against one another for positions and try to prove a point,” TuksCricket manager and head coach Pierre de Bruyn told Perdeby.

“Tuks 1 and Tuks 2 play each other at least two or three times in the season. Tuks 2 need to learn out of their mistakes for the coming weekend and be more competitive,” De Bruyn said. “Having two teams in the Premier League means a lot [for TuksCricket] and shows that there is a lot of depth in the club. It gives more players at the club the opportunity to play in the Premier League.”

Tuks beat UCT in Cape Town UNCIAL HAUPT Tuks defeated the University of Cape Town (UCT) 68-28 last Monday in Cape Town in the sixth round of the Varsity Netball tournament.

UCT have yet to win a game in the tournament.

Tuks dominated the first quarter and pushed the score up to 23-2 while UCT struggled to keep the ball in their attacking third.

UCT’s defence missed intercepts and did not maintain pressure against Tuks shooter Elouise Annandale.Tuks’s defence was good and they managed to keep UCT under pressure.

The Tuks players continued to apply this pressure in the second quarter. They remained in the lead with a score of 42-11 at the end of the second quarter of the game.

The third quarter saw Tuks continue to lead, ending with a score of 56-19.

In the final quarter of the game UCT controlled ball possession. Tuks captain Shadine

van der Merwe was crucial to the defence and stopped UCT from catching up to Tuks, earning herself the FNB Lady of the Match award.

Van der Merwe said that even though the team won by 40 points, they “could have done better”. “Overall, I’m proud of my team, but there is always room for improvement.

Our variation of centre passes and immediate straight leads worked very well. We struggled to get the ball into the goal circle from a side angle,” Van der Merwe said.

Centre court player Lou-Mare Geldenhuys told Perdeby that, “UCT put up a good fight and never looked like they were going to give up.” Geldenhuys said that Tuks used the game to experiment with strategy. “We used a few combinations of play to see what works and what doesn’t for the upcoming game against Maties and the semi-finals after that,” she said.

The final score of 68-28 gave Tuks a bonus point on the Varsity Netball log.

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International sport news MAXINE TWADDLE Mourinho’s “made in Chelsea” plan Chelsea manager José Mourinho told The Guardian that he wants to develop young players at Chelsea to ensure stability at the London club.

Mourinho said that he wants to have players “made in Chelsea” to replace his current first-team players when they retire. Mourinho said that the club’s youth academy will focus on training and developing British footballers.

England players defend Hodgson The English national football team’s players have defended manager Roy Hodgson after he was accused of making racist comments during his half-time team talk in England’s 2-0 win over Poland last Tuesday.

Hodgson allegedly made a joke about a monkey in space to illustrate that the players should pass the ball to Andros Townsend. Hodgson told SkySports that the reference meant “give the ball to someone who can make things happen”.

The English players have said that they were not offended by the comment and Townsend said in a tweet that he is unsure “what all this fuss is about. No offence was meant and none was taken”. Wayne Rooney described the allegations as “absolutely ridiculous”.

England’s Football Association has also defended Hodgson and has blamed the media for sensationalising his comments.

Quintana says he can win Tour de France Nairo Quintana believes that he is capable of winning the Tour de France in the future. Quintana, who is 23 years old, finished second in his debut Tour de France this year.

The Columbian told a press conference hosted by his Movistar team that, “Yes, I see myself winning the Tour de France some day. I don’t see it far away. I don’t know if it will be in a year [or] in two or three, but I have the capacity to do it.”

Quintana will be Movistar’s co-leader next season alongside Spaniard Alejandro Valverde.

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More teams qualify for World Cup STAFF REPORTER The latest round of FIFA World Cup qualifying matches was held last week and saw Bosnia, England, Honduras, Russia and Spain qualify automatically for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

In total, 21 teams have qualified for the World Cup and there are 11 places left. The next qualifying round will begin on 16 November.

Africa No African team has automatically qualified for the World Cup. African teams will take part in playoffs on 16, 17 and 18 November.

The most notable result from last week’s games was Ghana’s 6-1 victory over Egypt.

Asia Australia, Iran, Japan and South Korea have definitely qualified for the World Cup. Jordan can still qualify if the team beats Uruguay in an intercontinental playoff after beating Uzbekistan last month.

Uruguay is the fifth-placed team in the South American qualifying group.

Spain’s Juan Mata celebrates scoring a goal against Georgia. Image: chelseafc.com Europe Nine European teams have already qualified for the World Cup. Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain,

Switzerland and Russia will be in Brazil next year.

There are still four qualifying spots available for European countries. Croatia, Sweden,

Romania, Iceland, Portugal, Greece, Ukraine and France are still able to qualify if they win their play-off matches next month.

North and Central American and the Caribbean America, Costa Rica and Honduras have already qualified for the World Cup. Mexico will play New Zealand in an intercontinental playoff.

Oceania New Zealand is the only team from the Oceania qualifying group to have a chance of qualifying.

It will have to beat Mexico to be able to play in the World Cup. South America Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Ecuador will definitely play in the World Cup while Brazil, as the host nation, has automatic qualification.

Uruguay can still qualify if they manage to beat Jordan in the intercontinental playoff between the countries.

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