26 March 2012 Issue 7

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

26March2012

Perdebate: The African language question

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Kony 2012

Losing our religion?

SuperPicks – predict the winners

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Tuks secures home semi-final

KEVIN VAN DER LIST On 19 March Tuks made history by beating Varsity Cup holders UCT 29-18 in the last round-robin game of the Varsity Cup held at UCT. Tuks went into the game as the underdogs, having never before beaten the men from Cape Town in the Varsity Cup’s five year history.

The unprecedented win, bonus point try and Maties’s draw against UJ, ensured that Tuks finished on top of the log, securing a home

semi-final tonight.

Although Tuks looked like the comfortable victors in the game against Ikeys, there were many nervous moments for the Pretoria side.

Ikeys drew first blood when fullback Dillyn Leyds’s dummy pass got him over the line.

The try was converted by Nick Holton to take the home side to 8-0. Ikeys dominated the opening minutes while Tuks struggled to get in the game.

In the 29th minute, Hayden Groepes scored Tuks’s opening try. Willie du Plessis converted

successfully. Ikeys bounced back with a well worked try by Damian de Allende with a conversion by Nick Holton. The first half ended 16-8 to the home side.

A yellow card followed by a penalty resulted in Holton extending Ikeys’s score to 18-8.

With twenty minutes to play, all seemed lost for Tuks. They were unable to score off their superior possession and they failed to take 18 kickable points at goal as opposed to Ikeys’s two points.

Deon Helberg went over the line for Tuks

in the 70th minute, for what seemed like a consolation try.

With five minutes remaining, Ikeys’s Levi Odendaal was sent to the sin bin. Tuks made this one man advantage count when Wiaan Liebenberg scored and Willie du Plessis converted to take the score to 24-18. To rub salt in Ikeys’s wounds, Sthembiso Mlongo scored for Tuks in the 80th minute securing Tuks a bonus point.

Tuks will relish the momentum from this win and will look to secure their second consecutive Varsity Cup final match on when they face NWU Pukke tonight. Tuks 1 coach Nollis Marais will seek to motivate his troops going into the semi-final. “My biggest challenge this week will therefore be to make every player understand that our incredible journey will come to nothing if we take anything for granted. Yes, we have beat Pukke in the group phase, but that is water under the bridge. I do not doubt for a moment that we can beat them again, but to accomplish this we will have to improve dramatically on our performances aganst Shimlas, NMMU and Ikeys,” he said on the TuksRugby website.

The semi-finals take place a week after it was revealed that several Varsity Cup teams were found guilty of fielding ineligible players.

Shimlas and NMMU were the ones at fault in the senior Varsity Cup competition while Tuks was found guilty of fielding ineligible players in the u20 Young Guns competition. Varsity Cup Managing Director, Duitser Bosman, told the Varsity Cup website that there were some changes made to the competition rules and that this was not a case of teams cheating but rather an unfortunate “administrative oversight”. The teams found guilty were let off with warnings.

Tuks take on NWU Pukke in their semi-final tonight at 19:30 at the TuksRugby Stadium, while Maties and UJ will face off in the other semi-final match at 17:30. p Perdeby747Sport

Photo: Jaco Joubert

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Editorial

26 Maart ‘12

Perdeby 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: Beyers de Vos perdeby@up.ac.za @perdebyeditor News: Margeaux Erasmus news@perdeby.co.za @MargeauxErasmus Features: Meagan Dill features@perdeby.co.za @meagandill Entertainment: Nadine Laggar entertainment@perdeby.co.za @Alula273 Sport: Carlo Cock sport@perdeby.co.za @CarloRP Web: Marissa Gravett webeditor@perdeby.co.za @perdebynews Copy: Hayley Tetley @Hayley_Tet Layout: JP Nathrass @JPNathrass Visuals: Brad Donald @Brad3rs

Teams Layout Nolwazi Bengu Yannick Pousson Copy Louis Fourie India Goncalves Jaco Kotze Saneze Tshayana Nadine Wubbeling Marié van Wyk Yuan-Chih Yen Advertising Sales Tel: 012 420 6600 Cell: 083 318 9738 carel.willemse@up.ac.za

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

Shut yo’ mouth I’ve been called many things over the last two weeks.

First, we received an anonymous sms calling an editorial I wrote a few weeks ago “pink”, which I assume was meant to be some kind derogatory comment about my sexuality. Why this person felt the need to make the comment, I don’t know. I can only assume they’re intolerant and ignorant, and also a little bad at insults, if we’re being honest.

Then, someone commented that my editorial photo makes me look pompous and that I should realign my ideas so that they fit in more appropriately with the university’s, because my liberal views are too different from the conservative stance UP has taken (this is not the first time I’ve been told this, to be fair). First of all, I don’t think Tuks is that conservative at all. Or that anything I’ve said in any editorial I’ve written has been particularly liberal. Trust me when I say I could turn the radical liberalism up a notch.

Secondly, I wasn’t aware that it was my job to promote the ideals and values of any institution, let alone those of this university. I am not the editor of propaganda. Thirdly, I’m sorry if you think I look pompous in my photo. Apparently my booze face and my pompous face are fairly similar. If you feel that strongly about it you can blame my bone structure.

Later, I was standing in the ATM queue while people in front of me were discussing Perdeby. They weren’t being very nice about us, complaining that they never find anything we publish interesting. They seemed to attribute this directly to how boring I was. Which is fair enough, you’re more than welcome to have that

Internet activism Completely oblivious of her imminent death, the blonde girl strolls right in front of my car whilst listening to the latest hit from Lady Gaga and simultaneously updating her Facebook status. She only becomes aware of me as I slam on brakes and come to a halt only centimetres from her.

Displeased is an understatement. I get the death stare from her as if the road belongs to pedestrians who don’t pay attention. Sorry ma’am, I didn’t get the sms.

This is but a simple plea to the students of Tuks to pay attention when walking, or driving, next to (or on) the road. I am sure I am not the only one who has this frustration. Turn the music down and put away the BlackBerry or simply keep out of the road. This is for your own safety.

I am pretty sure that everyone has seen the Kony 2012 video and there isn’t a week that goes by where I don’t see a “save the rhino” link on my Facebook newsfeed. I don’t have a problem with creating awareness around stories that are actual and important. I run a newspaper after all. I completely understand the power and necessity of sharing information. I do however have a problem with internet activists. Or perhaps we should refer to them as Facebook pacifists.

I promise you, liking a post on Facebook or

From the Editor opinion. But if you would like us to write about something that interests you, tell us about it. Don’t just stand there b**ching about it. I will say this though: typically when people have this complaint it’s because they want us to write about something like stamp collecting or flowers or the sounds that whales make or how the department of dentistry bought a new machine. Riveting stuff, usually.

I like, and frequently encourage, criticism.

Tell me that I suck at my job. Tell me that I have a political agenda. Tell me I can’t spell. Tell me any of these things, if you feel they are true. I will gladly engage with someone who is criticising from an informed, intelligent position. But don’t make sweeping generalisations or mindless, irrelevant assumptions.

Regardless, hopefully this week we have enough variety to excite even our toughest critics.

We have what I believe to be a brilliant satirical piece on hipsters, as well as great articles on Kony 2012 and on religion in the student community.

We also review the current production of Animal Farm, which I highly recommend. We also take a look at Blade Nzimande’s determination to introduce compulsory indigenous language education at a tertiary level.

Tonight is the Varsity Cup semi-final. Which I have no doubt we’ll win. I’m sure you’ll all be there tonight. You can find me in the beer tent if you want to come ask me about my pompous bone structure or my “pink” writing style.

Exit, pursued by the bear Beyers @PerdebyEditor

From the Editor-in-chief even sharing a link does not equate to you having done your part or contributing to the solution.

True, it isn’t as simple as picking up your machete and AK47, and taking on the Congo to quickly go and assassinate Joseph Kony. For most people the only thing they can do is send on the link and hope that someone else will handle the situation. This is not activism.

I am also not suggesting that you depart on a hunt for Kony. You probably won’t get very far.

Instead I’d propose that we all start a little closer to home. My suggestion is to take a look at the LeadSA initiative. What it basically boils down to is that we all have a responsibility to make a difference. You don’t have to save Africa from Joseph Kony to be an activist. It starts in your own community. Stand up for what is right, lead by example and blow the whistle on wrongdoing.

This is a far greater form of activism than liking a post. Go check it out at www.leadsa.co.za Enjoy your short holiday, pay attention on the roads and come back safely.

Carel Willemse Editor-in-Chief @Ed_in_Chief

News

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26 March‘12

Should an African language be compulsory at university?

MELINA MELETAKOS In a multicultural country like South Africa, our plethora of languages has historically been a source of tension and dispute.

Education Minister Blade Nzimande added fuel to the debate last year when he suggested that an African language may be necessary for university students to get their undergraduate degrees.

When South Africa adopted its democratic constitution in 1996, it recognised 11 official languages. It said that “all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably.” Sixteen years later, however, it is evident that there is a great disconnect between language policy and language practice in South Africa, especially in the education sphere.

According to Nzimande, African languages are in “serious decline”. In the past, Grade One to Three could study two other languages in addition to English. One of these options was an African language. With the new school curriculum, however, pupils have the option of learning only one additional language.

Many former Model C schools have scrapped African languages, only giving learners the option of studying Afrikaans as an additional language.

With this existing language policy, we could lose a number of our official languages. It is therefore crucial that an African language be compulsory at university in order to counter the

No

NADINE LAGGAR Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande reinvigorated the language debate with his statement last year concerning African language implementation at tertiary level education, “One of the things we are looking into is ... to what extent should we consider that every university student in South Africa must at least learn one African language as a condition for graduating”.

Firstly, the fact that there are 11 official languages in South Africa is not a feasible demarcation to have made. The actual definition of an official language states that it is a language that is given legal status and used for administrative affairs in the state’s political body.

There is no way that all 11 languages could be dealt with in this way. It would lead to a fracturing of state affairs, politics and every institution that comes with it. There isn’t even a publication that can deal with that kind of demand. As Rhona Kadalie points out in her opinion column on Politicsweb, “To legislate that all these languages must form part of the intellectual fabric of South African society, is simply impractical however desirable it might be. Where no practical plan and policy exist to develop and

decline of the use of these languages. If more students take an African language at tertiary level, it would also strengthen African language departments at universities. These departments have become considerably weaker with fewer students opting to study an African language. In an article in the Sowetan, Head of African languages at the University of Pretoria Professor Jerry Mojalefa, said that the Department of African Language Studies at the university used to be famous but has now lost its glow.

The department currently offers isiZulu and Sepedi. It is also the only university in the country that offers isiNdebele. With a small number of students taking African languages at a postgraduate level, the growth of these languages in terms of research, teaching methodology, textbooks and literature is not as highlydeveloped as it could be.

Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Pan South African Language Board, Chris Swepu, seconds Nzimande’s suggestion.

He says that the government should give indigenous languages an economical value by encouraging public service workers to learn the language they would use in the community where they work. Vincent Van Niekerk, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Pretoria, chose to study Zulu in his third year. He recommends that any student who will be working with people in South Africa take an African language because it will help them with their careers. “Even though I struggle or speak broken Zulu, it helps the patient to open up to you, as they see you are

trying to accommodate them by speaking their language. This, in essence, gives you more information than what you would have had initially, which is vital in medicine.”

Furthermore, the status of African languages should be elevated because if more people are able to speak these languages, there will be greater communication across the borders created by race and language. Language is intrinsically linked to culture and identity. If you learn someone else’s language, it will help you understand their culture. This, in turn, will foster tolerance. Having language in common will help South Africa build an identity which supersedes our differences.

Kwesi Kwaa Prah, Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society, said, “One of the serious problems in South Africa is the need for us to open doors into our collective cultures. We won’t do this without learning each other’s languages.”

Any debate on languages in South Africa has, and always will be, a controversial one. As Khadija Patel from the Daily Maverick pointed out, what made the public uncomfortable with Blade Nzimande’s suggestion is his justification for such measures. He said that, “We can’t be expected to learn English and Afrikaans, yet they don’t learn our languages.” The minister succeeded in polarising black and white people, which overshadowed what is actually a very meaningful and relevant debate that all South Africans should engage in.

implement the acquisition of languages at primary school level, achieving this goal at university level is an even taller order.”

This begs the question: if Nzimande wants a multilingual country, then why start at tertiary level? Why not address the foundation and intermediate phases of education where the assimilation of a language is the easiest and most effective? It is not the responsibility of the tertiary institutions of our country to pander to the ideals of politicians who cannot provide the educational resources for more than 24,3 % of matric students who make it into university. Furthermore, only one third of that 24,3 % will graduate. Are 8,1 % of graduates really going to make the difference that Nzimande is calling for when these statistics have only taken into consideration those that have made it to matric?

As reported by the Daily Maverick, “To pass, students had to achieve 40% in their home language, 40% in two other subjects and 30% in three subjects. The overall pass rate says little about the quality of education.” The problem is not the lack of African languages, it’s the lack of education that would otherwise supplement the decline in those proficient in African languages and African language studies. With a tertiary pass result being no

less than 50% it is no surprise that a third of tertiary students will drop out within their first year.

On an international level, business and trade are conducted in English. The educated CEOs, lawyers and politicians, amongst many others, depend on a proficiency in English to conduct business successfully. Yet English is not a compulsory language at tertiary-level education. Do students not have the right to choose what language they are educated in? If so, it is not the fault of the students coming in to university that their home language is unavailable. It is the fault of the education department and its inability to tackle the problem’s origin.

Greater proficiency in an African language could have multiple benefits, promote tolerance and generally increase the efficiency of communication among cultural borders. The answer is not, however, at a tertiary level. If we want a larger and more interactive African languages department, shouldn’t it start at primary school and home language level? Only once we have a generation that is not only multilingual, but excels at all academic endeavors, will our tertiary institutions be a little fuller and our lexicons a little larger for it.

@perdebynews

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News

26 Maart ‘12

Learning an African language could become compulsory ZUBENATHI JIZANA The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, wants to make it a prerequisite for university students to learn an African language before they graduate.

It was reported in Pretoria News on 16 September 2011 that Nzimande is disappointed with the development of African languages in the country’s universities.

Nzimande wants to explore the possibility of making it compulsory for all South African students at higher education training facilities to be able to speak, read and/or write at least one African language.

Prof. Mojalefa, Head of the Department of African Languages at UP, agrees, “African languages should be compulsory when doing a degree, or else it should be considered that African languages be compulsory for certain degrees where language skills will be needed in their career like social work, law and medicine.”

Rudzani Ramukumba, a second-year mechanical engineering student, told Perdeby, “I don’t think it is going to work unless they have

started learning the language before. Language is not like other things you learn in varsity where you can just come and jump in. African languages are some of the hardest languages to fully grasp and to ask a student to learn a language and to pass on top of everything they [are] doing [is] a lot of work.”

Similarly, Mabatho Motlatla, an honours accounting student said, “I think it is a good idea but it would have been better if it was promoted in primary school instead of in higher education because we have a lot more on our plates. I understand where he is coming from because we are losing our languages. We need to get the opportunity to go back to our roots.”

Mark de Lancey a second-year computer sciences student said, “On the one hand it is good to learn about the languages of your country. But most of the degrees are already over-filled. This would be adding new work.

And also what does [Minister Nzimande] count as an African language? We have 11 official languages, which ones would be compulsory? In addition to that there are people that specialise in languages, so why does it have to be enforced on other students?”

Read page three for a full exposé on this issue.

“The Minister of Higher Education and Training ... wants to make it a prerequisite for university students to learn an African language before they graduate.”

LC easy target for thieves

Intervarsity news DANIELLE PETTERSON North West University AfriForum Youth recently held a campaign and flash petition at NWU’s Potchefstroom Campus to protest against high oncampus food prices.

Almost 600 signatures were collected in one day to protest the food service monopoly at the university.

“Students are exploited because they have to make use of the few food service providers on campus,” said Marcus Pawson, branch chair of AfriForum Youth at NWU. AfriForum claimed that the petition had been passed on to the SRC. However, NWU’s SRC Chairperson, Chrisna Kraaij, stated that the SRC has not yet received the petition and that she has had no contact with AfriForum Youth regarding the matter.

Kraaij said that this is the first complaint she has heard of regarding food prices and that no official complaint has been made.

According to Kraaij, the Department of Food Services conduct regular price comparisons with similar off-campus food vendors. Students are not forced to buy food on campus and there is sufficient off-campus competition.

University of Johannesburg A girl was found dead in her room at a UJ residence on 18 March.

According to the Sowetan, Ayanda Masondo, a second year Human Resources student, was found leaning against the door in her room in UJ’s Benjemijn residence. She was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics.

Brixton Police Station spokesman, Constable Michael Kgatle, said there would be a judicial inquiry into Masondo’s death, “At this stage, an illegal abortion would appear to be the reason for her death. There was a lot of blood at the scene,” Kgatle told the Sowetan.

According to East Cost Radio Newswatch, Masondo’s friends said she had been ill for about a week before she died.

Times Live reported UJ spokesman Herman Esterhuizen as saying that the university offered counselling to Masondo’s family and other students living in her residence.

University of the Free State The annual intervarsity between the Universities of the Free State (UFS) and North-West (NWU), which traditionally takes place in the third quarter, has been postponed to 2013, because representatives from both universities could not decide on a mutually acceptable date.

UFS would have hosted NWU in Bloemfontein this year, celebrating their 70-year milestone. UFS will now host the 70-year celebrations of the event next year, according to the UFS website.

“The celebration of the 70th intervarsity between the two institutions will be an important milestone to commemorate decades of friendship, collaboration and healthy competition.

Therefore, we welcome this opportunity to plan a bigger and better programme for 2013,” said Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs.

FRANCOIS VAN DER WESTHUIZEN Four arrests have been made on the LC de Villiers Sports Grounds over the past two weeks.

On 12 March, a thief stole a laptop and several other items from an open bus. The thief was unaware that undercover operational security officers had taken notice of him and were waiting for him at the entrance of the bus. They arrested him when he exited the bus. He received a suspended sentence of five years.

Another suspect was arrested for trespassing on LC de Villiers Sports Grounds. This suspect was not a student and was loitering around LC de Villiers Sports Grounds without an explanation. This person had been arrested on two previous occasions for the same offence.

The other two suspects were arrested on charges of possession of suspected stolen property and one of them was in possession of equipment used to break into vehicles.

Colin Fouché, Director of Security Services, said, “Prevention is always better than cure,” and urged students to show collective responsibility in safeguarding personal

valuables.

Fouché said: “[S]tudents should lock up valuables in one vehicle of the participants and appoint somebody that they are acquainted with to look after the key [and] caretakers need to be formally appointed by administrators to safeguard valuables.” He added, “[S]tudents need to be alert for people who loiter with no specific reason.”

Rowan Watson, Manager of Investigations, urged students not to lock their valuables in their cars if the valuables are clearly visible. According to Watson, criminals will see this as an opportunity and will take advantage of the situation.

Watson explained that students often leave their car keys on the tyres of their vehicles, in takkies and bags when practicing their different sports disciplines. He explained that this is absolute negligence and an opportunity for criminals to steal a car without being noticed. Watson said, “Criminals are streetwise and are acquainted with the operations on the LC de Villiers Sports Grounds.” Therefore, it is important for students to be vigilant.

Photo: Eleanor Harding

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News

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26 March ‘12

Exclusive interview with SRC President MARGEAUX ERASMUS SRC President Mthokozisi Nkosi came to office after a student parliament meeting on 8 March. Perdeby sat down with him for an exclusive interview.

Why did you become involved in student politics?

Being involved in student politics is my way of contributing to the betterment of the country. In DASO, there were no blacks actively involved and I wanted people to see that blacks can be actively involved in the DA. Growing the opposition is very important.

What is your personal philosophy?

Whatever you want to achieve, if you have guts, you can achieve it, regardless of the challenges that seem to be in front of you. If you focus, you can achieve anything.

How will this affect your actions as SRC President?

There are so many things I want to do this year and I will achieve them regardless of the challenges before me. My philosophy will drive me to make sure that I achieve things and break new boundaries to show that there is change in the SRC. My actions around the university should show that there is change.

Why did you run for SRC President?

Initially, I wasn’t going to run for SRC President. But as a matter of principle, I ran, because I couldn’t be in an SRC where a person had uttered things that encourage segregation. So I thought that it would be best for the people to be able to unite behind someone who stands for people of both races. Whether I lost or not, at least I tried.

What have you achieved so far for students?

Last year I started the SRC Study Aid Fund. I was able to convince the SRC to allocate a certain amount of money to the fund. We are now going to aid 174 students with R800 [each]

to buy textbooks. My portfolio was somewhat insignificant but I was able to make something big out of it and this enabled people to realize that, as SRC President, I will also be able to come up with something new for the SRC. The good thing about this fund is that it is not a once-off thing, it is a continual thing and we are going to help another 100 students next semester.

What are your goals as SRC President?

First of all it is to make students at Tuks look beyond race. I want to make sure that we are united and that we look beyond all these stereotypes and rather focus on the capabilities of individuals. I hope to do this, first of all, in the SRC so that we can look at each other as Tuks students and not as black or white Tuks students. I also want to bring back student life to the university. I want to make sure that this year we have fun. We are also looking into helping students in Arcadia to get transport to the university. Hopefully we will be able to do that by the end of this term. I also want us to look into getting reduced prices on the Gautrain for students. I also want to unite students and want us to be able to understand each other’s culture, and to accept it and tolerate it, and to still work well together.

What legacy would you like to leave behind as SRC President?

I’d like people to remember me as a person who came up with innovative ideas that were not meant for [the] short term, but for a longer period. I also want to be remembered as a person who achieved more things in a single year than any SRC President in the past 103 years. I also want to be remembered as someone who was able to bring a very diverse group of people together to stand up for students. I want to be remembered as someone who was able to be a unifying figure in the University of Pretoria.

Visit Perdeby.co.za for the Deputy President, Secretary General and Treasurer profiles.

Photo: Liandri Pretorius

How AfriForum lost the Presidency MARGEAUX ERASMUS

The controversial statements made by AfriForum’s SRC Presidential candidate might have cost her the position.

At the student parliament constituting meeting on 8 March an article was circulated containing controversial statements made

by AfriForum Youth Secretary General Nikke Strydom. This came before she would stand for SRC President.

The article, “Inside South Africa’s last bastion of apartheid” published in The National, quotes Strydom saying things like: “I think apartheid was a good idea but they did it wrong” and “I think it’s not right to say, ‘Okay, you cannot come here’, but each culture must have a place to be where they want to be. I don’t think apartheid was as bad as they say, as they want to make it”.

Jordan Griffiths, DASO Chairperson, told Perdeby, “This article is what made many students align against AfriForum, it even caused some division in the AfriForum camp.”

Similarly Thabo Mdlalose, COPE@TUKS Deputy Chairperson, said, “The organisation [COPE@TUKS] changed its view of the proposed AfriForum leader after learning of the

Student Parliament tackles res placement MAXINE TWADDLE

Student parliament raised concerns over the placement of students into residences last Tuesday.

Parliamentarians debated which factors should be considered when first-year students are placed into residences.

Joseph Skosana, a representative for the Faculty of Law, told Perdeby that need and distance should be the determining factors when placing students in residence. “You cannot have someone from Kwa-Zulu Natal or Limpopo be denied accommodation because the room is occupied by someone from Menlo Park or Brooklyn,” he said.

Liza-Mari Coetzee, Chairperson of Afriforum Youth UP, was against the changing of the residency placement system. She said that, “Students should receive res placements based on academic grounds.”

Student parliament aims to address the issue this year and it will be dealt with by the SRC’s Heads of Portfolio for Residencies, Simone Engelbrecht and Nic Stead.

Engelbrecht and Stead agreed that residency placement, and the current quota system “should be adjusted to ensure fair and equal treatment for the students.”

The SRC will investigate student parliament’s concerns, and will present their recommendations to the university’s executive.

Most of the parliamentary body agreed that the quota system that is currently being implemented, which requires a 60/40 black/ white ratio, needs to be revised and possibly removed.

comments she made in an article in The National. We highly disagree with her views, and as COPE@TUKS couldn’t align ourselves with a potential presidential candidate with that line of thinking.”

Strydom told Perdeby that, “The article contains wilful and gross distortions of what I told the journalist. The discussion was focused on self-determination and steps that have been taken in the past by South Africa. I explained to the journalist that each cultural group may govern over themselves according to international laws. The old South African government used this as a reason to implement apartheid, but the steps that were taken to achieve this were obviously wrong and morally unjustifiable.”

Strydom continued to say that, “The fact that DASO seized this article opportunistically, and misused it without checking its validity with AfriForum Youth, is proof of the lack of integrity in DASO’s leadership [at] UP.” Liza-Mari Coetzee, AfriForum Youth UP Chairperson, said that, “The reality is that AfriForum Youth received three times more votes than DASO and two times more than SASCO during the student council elections. DASO, therefore, misused

the democratic decisions of the students to obtain the SRC President position.”

Strydom added that DASO used the article for personal gain.

“It is obvious that DASO was scheming with other political parties long before [student parliament],” she said.

Mthokozisi Nkosi, SRC President, disputed such accusations saying that he only learned about the article the night before the student parliament meeting, and after reading it he informed other parliament members that he would not run for the SRC because his principles went against the things that Strydom said.

According to Nkosi, it is only after independent members had come to him, and asked him to run, that he decided to contest Strydom for the position of SRC President.

“The people decided that Nikke can’t run because she doesn’t represent the whole student community, and I agree with that,” said Nkosi.

“This was a matter of principle, there was no political fighting,” he said.

Magrietjie and Madelief to study at M2 STEPHANIE VAN DER PLANK

The new study centre, shared between Magrietjie and Madelief, was officially opened last Tuesday.

Head of Residence Affairs and Accommodation, Professor Roelf Visser, oversaw the project and said that he is very excited for the girls to finally be able to use this new facility.

The study centre has officially been named M2 as a sign of the integration between these two residences. Vanessa Mphathi, Magrietjie HK for Academics, said, “There is no Magrietjie or Madelief here. [The girls] must come only with the aim of studying.”

Madelief Primaria, Lidalize Grobler, commented, “It’s nice that we can do this together and keep the sisterhood together.”

The aim of M2 is to provide the girls with a convenient, quiet and safe study environment that does not require walking to and from the library on campus late at night. M2 is open 24 hours a day.

“I am one of the library studiers and will definitely be using this facility,” said Magrietjie Primaria Esbe van Zyl. Prof Visser said, “I think it’s great. It’s a lovely new space and a safe study environment.” Prof. Visser also told Perdeby about plans to implement similar study centres at other university residences. He said that facilities have already been provided at Onderstepoort and Maroela and are “working well”. A hub is planned for Erika, Klaradyn, Jasmyn and Asterhof to share, incorporating a study centre into the already existing dining hall. There are also similar plans for the four residences on the Groenkloof Campus.

Photo: Eleanor Harding

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26 Maart ‘12

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Features

26 March ‘12

7

Kony 2012: activism or slacktivism?

BERND FISCHER The Kony 2012 phenomenon continues to make headlines. It has already trended at number one on Twitter and can be seen on just about everyone’s Facebook status. The 28-minute film created by Invisible Children is now officially the most successful viral video ever made – reaching 100 million views on video-sharing websites YouTube and Vimeo within six days.

Taking this into consideration, social media is clearly a powerful tool for raising awareness about certain social or political issues. But could Kony 2012 be doing more harm than good? Perdeby investigates.

The film’s self-proclaimed purpose is to stop the Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and their leader Joseph Kony. According to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Kony is number one on their list of the world’s worst criminals. For 26 years, Kony and the LRA have kidnapped approximately 30 000 children and have used them as sex slaves and child soldiers in northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

So how does one (according to the campaign’s main slogan) “make Kony famous” and therefore bring him to justice? In the film, Invisible Children has identified 20 “culture makers” and 12 “policy makers”. These influential members of society are believed to have the power to raise awareness about the campaign – and viewers are urged to contact them to force them to take action. The list of culture makers includes the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie and Mark Zuckerberg, while the policy makers range from former US President George W Bush to current Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. US President Barack Obama has already endorsed the campaign and in October last year, he sent 100 American advisors to affected areas in Africa.

On 20 April this year, the campaign’s actions will conclude in what is known as “Cover the Night”, when campaigners around the world will spend all night putting posters up in a final attempt to raise awareness.

Critics have been quick to respond. The

biggest critique of the film is that it is reductive in its attempts to address the issues facing Central Africa. Not only does it leave one with only a vague idea about Kony’s whereabouts, but it also exaggerates the number of the remaining LRA rebels. It is a commonly accepted truth in Uganda that Joseph Kony no longer resides in the country – as a matter of fact, he is believed to have been in the Central African Republic for almost six years now. The film only mentions this superficially. Rosebell Kagumire, a Ugandan journalist specialising in peace and conflict reporting, had the following to say: “This [film] paints a picture of Uganda six or seven years ago, that is totally not how it is today. [The campaign] is highly irresponsible.”

Dr Beatrice Mpora, director of a community health organisation in Gulu – a town in northern Uganda and once the centre of Kony’s forces – believes the video could do more harm than good, and she reiterates the concerns expressed

by Kagumire. “There has not been a single soul from the LRA here since 2006,” Dr Mpora says.

Another contentious issue is that Ugandan and American military action is strongly encouraged in the video. The Ugandan army itself has been accused of abusing human rights by making use of child soldiers, attacking civilians and looting homes and businesses. The assistance of the American military that Kony 2012 promotes has also been condemned. The New York Times insists that involvement by US military forces will promote the myth of the “white saviour” as the only solution to the problems in Africa.

Simon Allison, a freelance journalist for South African website the Daily Maverick, agrees with this sentiment. Allison argues that the campaign is based on a false belief that African issues require American involvement.

“This might sound completely reasonable to starry-eyed Americans, but here in the real world we know that increased American

involvement almost never leads to increased peace and stability. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

There are also concerns about violent reactions in remote areas by the LRA in response to the Kony 2012 campaign. Steven Van Damme, Oxfam’s protection and policy advisor for the whole of the eastern Congo, expressed his concerns about the Democratic Republic of Congo being a possible target for retaliation due to certain areas in the country being isolated, having limited infrastructure and a poor state authority.

Invisible Children has also been accused of spending the majority of the money they have collected for the campaign on staff salaries and expensive filmmaking. However, the organisation was quick to respond to these claims, asserting that their “financial statements are online for everyone to see.”

This kind of activism has also been labelled “slacktivism”. Terri-Lee Adendorff, a BA Journalism and Media Studies graduate from Rhodes University, describes “slacktivism” as “a form of activism that inflates the participant’s sense of charity and good will, without necessitating any action.” She continues: “People think that they can watch a 30-minute video, post a status and walk away thinking they have done something tangible to help the world.” Numerous critics have agreed that this kind of activism (or lack thereof) has the potential to detract awareness from legitimate efforts being made to help the cause.

On 14 March the ICC found Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of similar crimes committed by Joseph Kony. Invisible Children believes that if Kony is also charged by the ICC it will set a further example of justice to other war criminals who commit crimes against humanity.

Those opposing the campaign understand why Kony 2012 has attracted the attention of people around the world with its Hollywoodstyle campaigning. They also cannot deny the fact that the campaign has raised awareness about a previously little heard of warlord.

However, they do urge the youth to think critically and to do the required research about a cause before endorsing it. pperdeby747b

Photo: Gloria Mbogoma

Four (mostly) accurate signs that you might be a hipster

LUSANDA FUTSHANE Remember high school? That five-year period which was awkward for almost everyone, replete with cliques so exclusive from each other that you could almost swear they were physically cordoned off by invisible force fields.

Nerds, jocks, popular girls who fell pregnant straight after matric finals, and then right at the back of the classroom (and everyone’s minds), seething with self-pity and My Chemical

Romance lyrics, were the emo kids.

After years of torment and derision, the emo subculture seems to have mostly died out. What became of all those emo kids? Well, legend has it that after a brief retreat, they traded in all their black clothing for plunging V-neck T-shirts, oversized non-prescription spectacles and a flannel shirt for every day of the week and re-emerged as urban hipsters. Here are a few tips to help you decide if you (or someone you know) might be a hipster.

You know who Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are Who? Exactly. If your favourite band is unsigned or sings in a language other than English that you specifically learnt so that you’d get the chance to condescendingly explain the lyrics to whomever dares ask what your most recent MySpace blurb means, you’re definitely deck (that’s hipster speak for trendy). You still listen to Run DMC. You’ve bookmarked Pitchfork.com on your iPad. You learnt how to play the ukulele. You think Coldplay is for losers. You only know how to dance the pogo.

Like their predecessors, the emo kids, hipsters are largely defined by the music they listen to – the more obscure, independent and unknown the artist is, the better. Sticking to their belief of having the monopoly on everything cool, once hipsters hear their favourite band’s music playing on commercial radio or featured on a Twilight soundtrack, it is officially uncool. Back to the Pitchfork drawing board to find the next “big” act.

You’re still on MySpace Or Friendster. Or Bebo. Basically any social networking site that no one uses anymore. You

refuse to get Facebook or Twitter because of how overpopulated and “mainstream” they are.

One of the main characteristics of being a part of the hipster movement is to like things before they gain mass appeal and frequently smuggle into conversation how you knew about them “before they were cool”. Sometimes, however, hipsters will rescue outdated fashions like film cameras, Atari game consoles and rollerblades and claim to have made them cool again.

All of these defunct fads feature prominently on your Bebo Lifestream, usually captioned with “OMG, I’m such a nerd!” or “Look what I found at my neighbour’s garage sale. Tubular.”

You shop in your grandparents’ closet There’s a fine line between vintage fashion and hipster fashion. Vintage is your mom’s old tweed blazer. Hipster is your grandfather’s corduroy waistcoat worn with nothing but lace stockings, one opera glove and John Lennon sunglasses with the lenses taken out. If you’re a hipster, you almost never dress according to the weather and you have a Tumblr account that documents each of your outfits by way of pictures taken with your film camera (or the iPhone application Instagram, which makes it look like you used one).

The terms vintage and hipster are often used interchangeably because, despite every hipster’s best efforts and the fashion industry’s tendency to commercialise underground styles, trends that may have been pioneered by hipsters manage to filter through into the mainstream. This is when hipsters flock to their grandparents’ closets and come out looking like they’re late for a 40s fancy dress party. If your whole outfit isn’t machine washable, you’ve already won the

hipster style war.

Irony is your religion Not since Alanis Morissette’s 90s hit “Ironic” has a rhetorical device been so greatly abused. Hipsters are infamous for having a hazy ideology that co-mingles elements of existentialism and liberalism. How that translates to using irony as an excuse for everything you do is still a mystery. But if you’re a white middle-class 21-year-old who claims to be a liberalist, walking around carrying a satchel emblazoned with swastikas, you’re doing it right.

The apparent logic behind hipsters and their love of irony goes a little something like this: by embracing something notoriously uncool or culturally taboo, you “ironically” make it cool (since you’re a hipster and a self-proclaimed herald of everything awesome). Strictly speaking, this is not how irony works, but maybe that’s the whole point. Perhaps in a few years the hipster definition of irony will also escape into the mainstream. And if you think about it, what subculture in history has ever claimed to have redefined part of a language?

Just another notch in hipsterism’s long-running reputation of “doing it before it was cool”.

To be fair, most of these indicators can be seen as generalisations and a person can be guilty of one or two of them without necessarily qualifying as a hipster. Chances are by the time this article is published, hipsters will have long moved on to quirkier and kitschier things and this will just be a list of four things that are just plain midtown (more hipster speak).

Photo: Eleanor Harding

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26 Maart ‘12

Features

Losing our religion: is university to blame?

BERND FISCHER Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum recently described universities as “indoctrination mills” which produce less religious members of society. Could he be right? Perdeby takes a closer look at this claim.

The degree to which university education affects religion is a sensitive and often controversial issue. The fear that some people have about university is that it creates a secular emvironment: one in which people throw their religion out of the window. The fact that universities either do not cater properly for religious students or provide what is traditionally regarded as a “liberal” education is blamed.

The authors of The Psychology of Religion, Hood, Hill and Spilka, maintain this opinion.

The book attempts to show that senior university students, when compared to firstyear students, are either less orthodox in their religious beliefs, have a more negative view of the church as an institution or are more sceptical about the existence of a god. A study carried out by The Higher Education Research Institute on people who attend university reiterates this – its findings prove that regular attendance of religious services by students has dropped from 43% to 25% in recent years. The study also shows that students who identify themselves as having no religious preference doubled from 8% to 16%. Those who call themselves “bornagain” remained stagnant at 25%.

The University of Michigan has become the front runner in investigating this issue.

According to a study done by the university, the choice of degree heavily influences whether or not a student is likely to become less religious.

In this report, it was found that students who major in the social sciences or humanities are more prone to secularisation, while those majoring in education or business are expected to become more religious. As for students majoring in biology or physical science, they are, interestingly, believed to remain just as religious (or irreligious) as they were before they attended university.

Back home, the response seems to be more or less the same. “It’s most definitely true, especially I think, for those studying science.

Science in its facts points out too many flaws with religion and religious thinking,” says Petra Schwab, a third-year BSc Human Life Sciences student at Stellenbosch University.

However, critics argue that education is not necessarily the cause of this change. The maturation that students undergo when leaving home for university is said to play an essential role. Conor Friedersdorf, a staff writer for the American magazine The Atlantic agrees with this sentiment. “They [university students] leave

their church, the community incentives to attend it and the watchful eye of parents who get angry or make them feel guilty when they don’t go to services or stray in their faith.”

Samantha Taljaard, a second-year BCom Communications Management student at the University of Pretoria, agrees that the influence parents have on children before they leave home could impact the way they would behave at university. “I think a lot of girls whose parents kept them from going out in high school [in order] to get good marks have the freedom now at varsity [to do as they please].” Taljaard also believes that being “forced” to pray and

attend weekly masses (as she was when she attended a Catholic school) could result in some people becoming rebellious once they leave high school. “Now at varsity, I haven’t been to church, whereas in school, we were forced.”

Friedersdorf argues that for the majority of these students it is evident that their religious behaviour was mostly driven by community, social or parental pressure, instead of their own personal beliefs.

Jabu Tshabalala, Chairperson of the Association of Catholic Tertiary Students (ACTS) at the University of Pretoria, believes that a religious background affects whether or not a student is likely to stay religious. “If one had a strong religious upbringing at home, then one will find it easier to establish themselves in religious activities when they reach varsity.”

Tshabalala does, however, agree that peer pressure could cause religious students to stray from their faith.

On the other hand, some say that attending university could have the opposite effect.

Students who come from a conventional religious upbringing could be repulsed by a university culture which often includes alcohol, drugs or sex. This leads to students feeling socially isolated from mainstream university life. Abbas Mahvash, head of the Bahá’í Association at Yale University, argues that attending university could strengthen faith or even develop faith. “When you realise that you’re on your own, you have psychological needs. For that reason, people reach out to religion even if it’s not completely rational,” Mahvash says.

Interestingly, factors involving spirituality (as opposed to religiousness) are seen to increase during a student’s time spent at university.

These include, but are not limited to, finding a meaningful life philosophy and developing a clear sense of ethical responsibility.

Despite what proponents or opponents about this issue might say, if university does one thing well as an institution, it educates individuals on a variety of different matters, and teaches people to think for themselves.

Photo: Eleanor Harding

Bad romance: toxic student relationships Not all stories of abuse in relationships end badly, though. Amy* stayed with her boyfriend after years of abuse and currently attends regular couples therapy with him. “He bullied me out of my virginity and was living off me financially for years while he struggled with his alcohol addiction. I decided to forgive him because I love him and I wanted to fight for our relationship.” Amy is one example of how abuse is about the offender just as much it is about the victim. Once the abuse has been reported, both need to be counselled in order to prevent any occurrence of abuse in the offender’s future relationships and pave the way to healing for both parties.

We’re told to do almost anything to find love and that when we think we’ve found it, we should fight like hell to keep it. But the line between love and imprisonment blurs quickly when you’re in an abusive relationship. What price should we be willing to pay for love?

LUSANDA FUTSHANE

They say you’re supposed to meet your soulmate at varsity. We’ve all heard that dating can get trickier once you’re a responsible adult with much more to worry about than getting your undergraduate degree. What they don’t tell us are the relationship horror stories – how the person you thought was your soulmate could steal from you, cheat on you or lie to you.

Abuse in relationships is something that’s widely reported on. Some of us may have even grown up around abusive relationships and we probably thought we wouldn’t see them again until much later in life. However, it turns out that people of all ages abuse each other in relationships – including university students.

According to Dr Madeleine Nolte, head of Student Support at Tuks, abuse in relationships is not just physical. “It can be verbal attacks, sexual harassment, creating constant fear in the victim’s life and economical harassment,” she says. Too often, when the abuse isn’t physical, people might not immediately notice that they’re being abused. Nonhle*, who left her emotionally abusive boyfriend after two years, says she didn’t know that her partner’s controlling and philandering ways were abusive at first. “He made me move in with him and forced me to distance myself from my family,” she remembers. “At the end of the relationship, I didn’t have any friends because he told me not to see them anymore and he made no effort to hide his affairs.” Nolte says that there are many women like Nonhle who accept the terms of abusive relationships because they fear being alone.

As much as the majority of abuse in relationships is directed at women, there is a significant incidence of male victims as well.

If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, you can seek help in any of the following ways: It seems that only extreme cases are reported because of the stigma surrounding the abuse of men. People usually have no sympathy for men who have been physically abused by their partners because of society’s deeply entrenched gender stereotypes. But the psychological effects are the same: both male and female abuse victims are likely to stay with their partners and even after the relationships are over, their future relationships may still be affected.

Outsiders usually ask the same question: why do the victims stay? Nolte says that people

who are being abused don’t feel empowered to handle the situation on their own, especially when they’re financially dependent on their abusive partner. “[The victims] think [abuse] is the norm in relationships, especially if they were exposed to this sort of situation in their own upbringing. Sometimes the victims do not have the physical, emotional and financial energy or strength to take a break from the relationship.” She adds that in most cases, the victims’ parents and friends are the ones who report the abuse to Security Services or Student Support.

POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse) Telephone: (011) 642 4345/6 Email: info@powa.co.za Web address: www.powa.co.za SAPS Brooklyn Telephone: (012) 366 1700 University of Pretoria Student Support Student Affairs building, room 1-20?

Telephone: (012) 420 4002 Tuks Security Services Crisis service: 0800 006 28 *Names have been changed Illustration: René Lombard

Entertainment

26 March ‘12

9

Fire Through the Window: Live Long and Prosper

MELINA MELETAKOS Fire Through the Window has embarked on a dual EP release.

The first EP, Live Long, will be followed by Prosper later in the year. Perdeby caught up with the band from Durban to talk about delays, the new single “Long Gone” and spandex.

You guys have been nominated in the Best Hipster category for the MK Awards for “Succubus”. In one sentence, try and convince our readers why you should win.

Sinead wore spandex in the video. I mean, come on!

What did you think of being nominated in the Best Hipster category? Do you think the label “hipster” really fits Fire Through The Window?

Hipster is such a strange category for us. We certainly don’t think of ourselves like that. In fact, we’re probably the furthest thing form hipster. I guess maybe MK has a different meaning of the word but where we’re from, that’s kinda a negative thing to be. That being said, it’s still real nice to be nominated for anything. We’ve been in this industry for five years now and have put out three albums and an upcoming EP so a little bit of validation for all that work is great.

You guys have succeeded in making radio-friendly pop that

isn’t the least bit annoying. What do you think the secret to your success is?

[Laughs] Thanks, that is nice to know. I don’t think we have a particular secret. We write what feels good at the time. Our writing process is a very spontaneous one and we think that works best for us.

Why has the release of the EP been delayed until 30 March?

We’re working with an international label called Do It Records, who have offices in the USA and New Zealand. We’re coordinating the release with them.

What’s the reasoning behind releasing your new EP in two parts?

We just figured, why not? It’s at least something different. I think it’s been great so far [as] we’ve been able to give each and every song our full attention. We booted the ones we weren’t 100% crazy about – that was pretty fulfilling.

You’ve said that your new album is a little less happy and a little more edgy. Was it a conscious decision to steer your music in a bit of a different direction?

No. As I said, we write very spontaneously. We don’t ever set out with a sound in mind. I guess the new sound comes from working with a group of new people, from producers to

mastering companies etc.

You worked with producer Jacques du Plessis on Live Long. Do you think you’ll work with him again on the second EP, Prosper, which will be released later this year?

Definitely. Jacques is awesome and super talented. He makes you feel very comfortable in the studio. He is willing to spend time getting the sound just right. He’s incredibly patient. And he also has the best collection of PJ pants!

How was it working with Louis Minaar on your new video for “Long Gone”? Did you have a lot of input or did you give Louis complete creative control?

We are usually quite hands-on when it comes to making music videos (mainly to save some cash) but working with Louis is something we’ve always wanted to do. We gave him full creative freedom and I can honestly say that it was the best video-making experience ever. To see his imagination come to life through the process was awesome. He’s a very talented boy. Plus, it was nice not having to stress for a change. He even organised us earlymorning on-set breakfast. What more can you ask for?

Your drummer, Sheldon, has been sessioning in Cape Town as of last year. How have you managed without him?

It’s been okay. It sucks more that we don’t see him that much because he was a good friend, not just our drummer. He is still playing the Cape Town shows with us, though, but for the Johannesburg and Pretoria shows we are lucky to have Gavin from Wrestlerish step in behind the kit.

You guys all have day jobs. Do you think you would ever give it all up and become full-time musicians?

Isn’t that the dream? Ha! No, we’d need to get a hell of a lot more commercials to do that.

Marc and Keagan, you guys have recently started a new band called Anchors Up. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Anchors Up is a country project I started with our bassist Keagan, Jacques and Gavin from Wrestlerish, and my friend Ruan. I know country isn’t exactly a common genre here in SA but I absolutely love the honesty and realism of the music. And, to be clear, it’s good country, not Garth Brooks or Shania Twain or something like that. We have recorded a ten-track album and have just put out our first single and video so have a listen for yourself at www.anchorsupmusic.com.

You guys are from Durban. What’s the best thing about touring in Gauteng?

Sinead would probably say shopping in Sandton. No, but really, the gigs are always great in Johannesburg. And the Pretoria crowds are always amped to party. We’ve made tons of friends in Gauteng and it’s always nice to see familiar faces at the shows, along with a host of unfamiliar ones. That’s a good balance. pperdeby747d

Photo: Kevin Goss-Ross

Our Idiot Brother: crocs, crops and cops

NADINE LAGGAR Ned Rochlin (Paul Rudd) is a simple, good-natured guy who gets sent to prison for selling marijuana to a uniformed policeman.

Eight months later, he’s released and he returns to his little subsistence farm to find that his girlfriend Janet (Kathryn Hahn) is now his ex-girlfriend and that there’s already a new boyfriend, Terry (Peter Hermann). Homeless, Ned seeks a place to stay

in the homes of his three sisters – Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Liz (Emily Mortimer) and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) – but effectively becomes a refugee when his presence causes a scandal in each of his sister’s lives to come to the fore.

Our Idiot Brother is a light-hearted comedy that goes a long way to avoid the clichéd gags that most contemporary comedies make their primary focus. But it is Rudd’s performance as Ned that makes this film more than just a simple comedy.

Rudd doesn’t just act innocent: he has an unfailing belief in the goodness of humanity. And when your audience is most probably brimming with cynicism, that’s quite an achievement.

It is also necessary, with the alternate subplots boasting, at times, unsettling characters and situations.

This dark tinge marks the edges of the narrative in the form of Miranda’s total incomprehension of ethics, the four siblings’ alcoholic mother Ilene (Shirley Knight), and the chillingly brutal Dylan (Steve Coogan) – Liz’s unfaithful husband – to name a few. One of the most uncomfortable scenes to watch is when Liz confronts Dylan about his infidelity. It will make you cringe in every way your body knows how.

There is, however, something amiss between Ned’s impeccable faith and the darkness that surrounds him in the form of other characters. All the bits in between are neither here nor there, little fillers that detract from what is otherwise a solid narrative. In this respect, it seems more like an incomplete experiment than the final product. For example, Natalie is a self-absorbed Bohemianlesbian construct that ends up pregnant after a sexual encounter with an artist she models for. Her lover, Cindy (Rashida Jones), seems to get over it fairly quickly and this marks the biggest downfall of Our Idiot Brother.

The main plot and every subplot’s end is sickeningly sweet.

It’s not enough to kill the entire film but it makes those little gems of comedy and discontent seemingly superfluous when Ned is going to, all of a sudden, find a loving partner by following Willie Nelson (the dog, not the politician). Allegedly, the ending was changed after its Sundance viewing which would account for its lack of flow. It’s more like running into a wall of credits than a cathartic conclusion.

Regardless, it’s still an enjoyable film, even if you watch it just to see Janet being an angry hippy trying to keep Willie Nelson away from Ned. Our Idiot Brother is currently on circuit. pperdeby747e RATING: 6/10 Image: www.filmofillia.com

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26 Maart ‘12

Entertainment

Mandela, Malema and Zuma in Animal Farm

JP NATHRASS Taking your seat on the stage of the Breytenbach Theatre, one immediately becomes part of the performance. George Orwell’s Animal Farm is experienced from the start of the revolution to the decay of the society the animals have built for themselves.

The original text by Orwell has been adapted to suit a different context, revamping the old classic for a contemporary South

African audience. The characters are strikingly similar, both in nature and voice, to prominent South African politicians and struggle heroes. Kenneth Miambo, who plays Major the pig, tells the rest of the animals about his dream of a revolution while managing to mimic Nelson Mandela’s voice perfectly. The characters Napoleon (Thabiso Malebye), Snowball (Thato James Thobejane) and Squealer (Richard Ntsie) further help to reinforce this metaphor of South African politics with their resemblance in

character to current and past ANC and ANC Youth League leaders.

The narrators, Pieter Jonker and Katlego Chale, provide the audience with a well-articulated tour of the intermittent text not provided by the characters. This makes the production an easy performance to follow for first time Animal Farm viewers.

Animal Farm makes use of a strong narrative imbued with symbolism rather than visual effects and music to bring across the social message of the play. Characters’ costumes are simple wire-made masks that allow the audience to see the human face underneath. This makes the main theme of the play more prominent: humans are no different to animals, especially when society begins to crumble around us. The characters also make use of crutches and wire hooves to mimic the movement of farm animals. While the dogs (which only feature later in the play) wear military gas masks that resemble the faces of actual dogs, they also signal the violent events that come to pass after the eviction of Snowball.

The decor on stage is minimalistic: a roll of brown paper hanging from the ceiling; a collage of newspaper articles about South African politicians covers the centre stage. The use of shadows behind the brown paper and a roaming spotlight that periodically highlights characters of importance captures the audience’s attention and adds to the dramatic structure of events.

The use of well-known “struggle songs” and chants that have been prominent in South African politics, such as “Umshini Wami” and “Kill the farmer, kill the boer”, haunts the audience with the passion with which they are sung by the cast. This brings home the reality of politics in our country while adding to the drama of the plot. Adversely, the narrators’ voices are often drowned out by singing and the audience misses out on key plot moments.

On the whole, the play gives the audience something to think about, but not in a forceful or unpleasant manner. The director, Janine Lewis, succeeds in applying the universal social issues in the play to the confines of South African circumstances while also making it rather enjoyable.

Photo: Chris Taute

Perdeby EVENTS GUIDE Music: • Southern Gypsey Queen and Winterstasie. Firkin Centurion. 27 March. Free entrance.

• Queen live at Wembly screening. Arcade Empire. 27 March.

• Ray Dylan. Firkin Centurion. 29 March. R60.

• Newtown Knife Gang, Pestroy and more. Arcade Empire.

30 March. R40.

• Devald Dippenaar. Firkin Centurion. 31 March. R30.

• Haezer, Moejoe and more. Arcade Empire. 31 March.

R50.

• Afreak. Rust cocktail lounge & bar. 30 March.

Theatre: • Rhetorical. South African State Theatre. Running until 22 April. R67-R110.

• Moonshadows. Barnyard Theatre, Menlyn. Running till 29 April. R95-R145.

• Divas of Music and Dance. Atterbury Theatre. Running from 29 March until 1 April. R120-R180.

• Bok van Blerk & Peter Mitchell. Barnyard Theatre, Menlyn. 26 March. R120.

• Animal Farm. Breytenbach Theatre. Running until 30 March. R30 for students. R40 for adults.

• Chris Chameleon.Centurion Theatre. 28 March. R130 from Computicket.

• Beauty and the Beast. Irene Village Theatre. Running until 14 April. R65-R85 from Computicket.

Film: • Margaret. Showing from 30 March.

• Clash 2: Wrath of the Titans. Showing from 30 March.

• Good Deeds. Showing from 30 March.

Other: • Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, braai and wine tasting. Rust Cocktail Lounge & Bar. 27 March.

• Quiz night. News Café Menlyn. 27 March.

• Gem and Mineral Show. Brooklyn Mall. Running until 1 April.

• In Transit. Fine art photography exhibition, Association of Arts, Nieuw Muckleneuk. Running until 11 April. pperdeby747Events

A little mild Carnage BEYERS DE VOS The main problem with Carnage is that it isn’t nearly as bitter and as biting as it thinks it is. It’s supposed to be a car wreck that you can’t help watching, even while it makes you uncomfortable.

But it plays out more like the mildly interesting embarrassment of someone who just fell down some stairs.

Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C Reilly) and Nancy and Alan Cowan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Weitz) have come together in the home of the former to discuss their sons: the Longstreet son was hit in the face by the Cowan son.

All the action takes place in a New York apartment and the confined space is the perfect theatre for what becomes the rapid disintegration of a civilised discussion into full-blown verbal carnage. What starts off as a polite, if awkward, discussion about misbehaving children soon becomes an unadulterated battle of ideals between people who, up until now, have pretended to know better.

As the film progresses, their alliances shift to suit their own bloated opinions. The veneer of bourgeois politeness crumbles and burns and they devolve from concerned middle-class parents (and spouses) to base, selfish hypocrites, all in real time. You cannot and are not supposed to like or sympathise with these people: they’re

all unlikeable, trapped in their own prejudices, unhappy and smug.

Carnage was adapted from Yasmina Reza’s Broadway play God of Carnage, a comedy of manners commenting on middle-class hypocrisy. It is easy to understand why the action would be funnier on stage rather than in film. On screen it seems stilted, unwilling to let the audience participate, incapable of involving them. You are an observer, nothing more. And the comedy, barbed and fast as it is, fails to ignite completely. On film, the premise becomes unavoidably artificial. It feels as if it were made for the pleasure of making it, rather than for the pleasure of letting people see it. The unapologetic cynicism of the film isn’t striking enough for it to have any real emotional impact either. Yes, people suck. So what?

Still, the actors seems to revel in the material they’ve been given, which allows them to reveal, scene by scene, how people who keep up polite facades suddenly become fickle and cruel when they drop their pretences. All four of the actors demonstate this beautifully. Roman Polanski is a skilled director, whose film is, despite its deficiencies, wonderfully crafted and controlled and, in the end, funny enough (Winslet’s vomit scene is laugh-out-loud hilarious).

Carnage is currently on circuit. pperdeby747g RATING 6/10 Image: www.downwithfilm.com

Sport

11

26 March ‘12

Team Rag wins Steers Hugby Cup Predict Sports and Win with SuperPicks!

Go to games.supersport. com/superpicks/ and join the “Perdeby SuperPicks” pool CARLO COCK Tuks students were introduced to a new sport on Thursday 15 March as Steers hosted the very first “Hugby Activation” at the university’s Hatfield Campus.

Hugby is touch rugby involving seven team members per side that have to hug their opponents, as opposed to touching them, while passing a teddy bear instead of a rugby ball. The sport is part of a Steers campaign to promote their new range of ice-creams and milkshakes, hence the slogan, “Get in touch with your softer side”. Steers recently overhauled its dessert menu, which included the revamping of its existing milkshakes and the introduction of three new flavours, while improving its existing Swirls and launching three new deluxe toppings – the so-called Super Swirls.

These desserts, combined with the original Soft Swirls (soft serve in a cone), now make up Steers’ Soft Side menu. The grass outside the Aula was transformed into a makeshift

rugby field to cater for the event which saw a notable amount of teams entering. 5FM’s Poppy Ntshongwana attended and provided play-by-play commentary on what was an entertaining day of Hugby.

After a surprisingly intense preliminary stage, the final saw surprise package Team Ben 10 take on the much fancied Team Rag. Team Rag had impressed with their aggressive approach throughout the day and having gone as far as developing their very own “Haka”, they were definitely not taking the event lightly. With a R1 000 cash prize awaiting each member of the winning team, the final was a rough affair.

After some loving hugs, and at times notso-tender embraces, Team Rag were declared the winners of the final. Team Rag captain, Kudzi Taiferi, said after the final that he thought it was a great event. He was not about to reveal what he was going to do with the money though, saying, “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Photo: Bonita Lubbe

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Tuks dominate intervarsity sports day

UJ defeat Tuks in basketball KATLEGO PHEEHA The Tuks1 men’s basketball team lost to UJ1 in a closely fought match when the two teams clashed during Intervarsity on 10 March.

Tuks started the game on a high, passing the ball with precision and letting their pointguard control the game with clinical ball movement.

While UJ attempted to score through mid-range shots, Tuks attacked well, forcing easy lay-ups and foul opportunities. Both teams played well defensively forcing creative opposition. At the end of the first quarter Tuks was leading 12-7.

The next quarter started with UJ in the ascendency, dismantling the Tuks defence with fast break points. Tuks retaliated with

good dribbling and aggressive smash-mouth basketball, driving into the post and freeing up their guards for wide open three-point shots.

Tuks had a field goal percentage of nearly 100% from beyond the arch, extending the lead to double digits at one point. UJ, however, stuck to their guns and allowed their defence to create turnover points and the teams went into half time

with the lead reduced to 28-21 in favour of Tuks.

In the third quarter both teams showed the value of a good half time rest, playing fierce and fast-paced basketball. UJ relied on their passing game to create shooting opportunities and this tactic paid off as they evened the scores for the first time in the match with two minutes left in the quarter. But Tuks bounced back and once more UJ was trailing at the end of the quarter with the scores at 43-36.

UJ cut the lead to 49-47 in the dying minutes of the quarter. UJ continued placing pressure on Tuks, and with 28 seconds left, they took a one point lead. Tuks called a time out in the last second of play and attempted a lay-up basket but the pass went astray. In the end UJ won 54-52.

“It was very disappointing especially considering that we played very well for the first three quarters. What we need to improve is our defence. Big teams, the way they win, is defensively. If you play good defence, then the offence will take care of itself. We are actually a big team this year, as opposed to last year when we only had seven players, so at least now we have good rotation,” said Tuks shooting guard Teboho Nkotsi. Nkotsi became a crowd favourite during the match because of his dribbling passes, earning him the nickname “Rondo” after the NBA Celtics star, Rajon Rondo.

Tuks head coach Neo Mothiba said after the game, “On paper we were the better team, we beat them by 30 [points] last year. Fifty per cent of our squad is new, and we are trying to integrate them. But at the end of the day, they [UJ] stayed with it and managed to capitalise on our mistakes. I don’t think they won it, but rather that we lost it,” he said.

Photos: Kobus Barnard

Mixed bag for Tuks Netball

CHARLES SIWELE The Tuks u/21 A, Tuks1 and Tuks 2 sides were among the netball teams in action at the annual Tuks-UJ intervasity sports event.

Tuks u/21 A impressed with a clinical showing

to overcome UJ. The home side had the quarters 7-4, 13-8 and 18-11 respectively, finally winning 28-15. UJ failed to capitalise on a lot of goalscoring opportunities with their attacking players often lacking the confidence to take shots when in position. UJ opted to pass the ball in the box more than they probably should have, resulting in missed opportunities. Tuks however attacked their opponents’ net and took majority of their scoring chances without hesitation.

Tuks2 took to action in their match at the same time as the u/21s. Tuks secured a lead at the end of the first quarter but the visiting UJ team was not to be so easily outplayed. They came back to equal the home side’s score. Eventually, the game ended in a 27-27 tie.

Tuks1 fell at the hands of a determined UJ team who managed to contain the Tuks attack for the most part of the game. The result was a disappointing one for Tuks. Tuks managed to break the deadlock with the first point coming as the result of some accurate and structured passing. This lead did not last long as the UJ girls hit back immediately with two points to take the lead for the first time.

UJ’s tendency to frantically move the ball down the court seemed to suggest they were lacking structure and patience, but this soon formed a pattern that allowed them to be effective in their counter attacks. The faster UJ game earned them more scoring opportunities and the lead throughout the game.

As the game went on, UJ continued to stretch their lead as they scored twice to open the second quarter. A number of loose passes by the Tuks girls gave away easy interceptions to the visitors who did not hesitate to launch quick and effective counter movements. As the game drew to an end, Tuks pushed furiously to close the deficit but their efforts were in vain as the final score was 49-39 to UJ. Photo: Kobus Barnard

Tuks dominate rugby CHARLES SIWELE Tuks’s u/19, u/20 and u/21 rugby teams took on UJ in the Intervarsity competition at the LC De Villiers Sport Centre on Saturday 10 March.

The three games reflected the high level of competition between the two clubs with the UJ u/19 A team coming out on top in a fiercely contested game and both the Tuks u/20 A and u/21 A sides managing to etch out well-fought victories.

Tuks took an early 7-3 lead before the tenth minute. Soon after, UJ struck back with a try of their own. Penalties kept the teams in touch with each other, as neither seemed to have outright ascendency until the last ten minutes when Tuks capitalised on a lapse in concentration by the UJ defence.

The last ten minutes saw Tuks score two tries and UJ one. The final score was proof of how challenging the game was, but Tuks stretched

their lead late in the game to overcome UJ with a final score of 38-27.

The u/20 Tuks A side had a far less difficult time in their match as they convincingly beat the UJ side who were let down by handling errors. The UJ u/20 team seemed to be lacking in structure and discipline as they conceded five tries by half-time. Quick thinking by the Tuks forwards almost led to a sixth try soon after half time as the Tuks hooker threw in a quick lineout to a fellow forward.

The second half also saw the increase in unforced errors by both sides. The visitors continued to push hard for an elusive try that Tuks fought to prevent. Only towards the end of the game did UJ manage to sneak an impressive try courtesy of some fancy footwork from their number 11. However, Tuks managed to score in the last few minutes to put the result beyond doubt.

Photo: Kobus Barnard

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