Hola MaHigh School Volume 6, issue 9, September 2017
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Contents 06 Editors letter 07 Poem 08 We need writers 10 Contributors 11 Holler at us 12 Heritage Month: Where does it come from 14 Can heritage be Urban Youth Culture? 16 School uniforms - again 18 September Month
Contents 20 Culture vs. Tradition 22 Masiziba on learning 24 The weird people of IT 26 Automated translations! 29 Quotes 32 North Korea - dangerous 36 VW - Holding Hands 42 South Africans of note 44 Conspiracy 46 Next issue
Editors Letter
September - nearly October before we got it all finished for you. Spring is sort of in the air, but hey still nippy. This month is about our heritage. It is a difficult topic to get into because what is it really? So Marcia, our new star writer, sank her teeth into it. Masiziba is of course continuing on her journey at university. Read on. Finally, i got to write about some of South Africa’s personalities. This time it is Trevor Noah and Nataniel. Interesting people and very hard workers. Success does not come easy to anybody. Volkswagen is on a roll in terms of helping others. Remember last month? well, there is more. North Korea vs. USA is the international stuff. It is a dangerous combination and it can be ... scary. Science this month is about drones, or UAVs as they are called. So much more than any military application. IT programmers are leftfield? Well, we just provided the proof of that. ... and a good conspiracy. GOOD READ
Sybil
Time for poems:
Who am I? Who I am. Past defines me They say But they overlook I am unique Only one of me in the entire universe Despite my baggage And that is who I am
Sybil
We need writers! Our writers are growing up and getting older That is og course good. BUT.... it means they are leaving us Therefore: would you like towrite for us? What is required? That is easy You have to be in grade 10-12 Impeccable in your preferred language-and that might not be English. We try to be more than just English Passionate about your topic of choice no dull articles here
Do you get anything out of it? Well, not money, sorrry. BUT if we publish your articles you will have: Your bio in a commercial magazine A photo of yourself You can put it all on your CV you can use us as a reference ... and it goes in your portfolio
Is it important? YES it is. Look what Rofhiwa said: My name is Rofhiwa and I love to write. I think I am rather decent writer too. I took my talent and have used it to express my thoughts on international dealings of the world which have been published in Hola MaHigh-School. It has paid off, not only is my work printed for young people in the country to read, but it also contributed to me gettng a bursary from CNBC-Africa to do my post-graduate studies. Would be a lot harder to get by if I didn’t have platform like Hola MaHigh-School.
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n iva n co.za @romele . : nam e scho Cell n ol E-ma umber ... and il addres s we w ill tal k!
Meet our contributors I am Masiziba Hadebe. I study a BSc in Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State. I am originally from a small rural town in Mpumalanga, Balfour. My hardworking trait proves that anyone, regardless of the background, can make it. I love plants and animals. During leisure, I read anything readable and interesting. Writing is and will always be my passion, I would starve food just to write! Pinky Rapoo is a creative writer by nature and not yet by profession.She lives in Vosloorus and is currently in grade 12 at Vosloorus Comprehensive SecondarySchool. Listening to music is her hobby,writing is her passion. Her motto is “Think twice before speaking,think three times before acting and think thoroughly before writing”.
My name is Marcia Ramodike, a 20 year old young lady from Limpopo at Lenyenye. I am doing my second year law degree at the University of the Free State and I am also an author of a book entitled from an empty pride to a full price which is touch based on issues that affect black families such as black tax. I am very passionate about writing. It is actually my first love. I love chilling indoors while reading books and novels; I am a fun, loving person who always smiles and care about other people. My favourite quote is “when the caterpillar thought it was the end of the world it turned into a butterfly “.
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Heritage D Heritage Day – 24 September. But where does it come from? South Africa is easy. It used to be Shaka Day. With the new constitution in 1995, that day was recognised as a public holiday and turned into Heritage Day. But what is the significance of it? It is after all also aligned with international trends in terms of heritage in a broader perspective. That we also call it National Braai Day is sort of another way of uniting us all. Huffingtonpost says (18 April 2017): “April 18 was identified as the World Heritage Day in the year 1982 by International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). It was suggested that a special day should be marked and celebrated all through the world in the name of “International Day for Monuments and Sites”. In 1983, UNESCO’s General Conference also approved the idea and since then, April 18 is marked as the World Heritage Day. But that does not get us any closer to what heritage is. Looking after our historical roots (sites) is a must. We can learn from history. History is never dead. But that puts heritage into a different light. If we look at celebrating our diversity or historical roots, it becomes a celebration of folklore. Like the Portuguese festivals and
Day - roots! so on. Very nice with different foods from different regions and so on. And nice dresses. Is that heritage? Maybe closer to it. But heritage has an element of ‘old time’ in it. Now we get into the fun one: tradition vs. culture. Tradition is dead. Tradition cannot evolve. Culture can. So just because we used to do something 200 years ago or more, does it have any relevance to whom we are today? well, to explain where we are coming from yes, but that might be it. Culture is how we are now. We surely have our roots in all kind of things in the past, tradition being one of those aspects. But culture is NOW. So, if we try to look at heritage as a guide to whom we are, we can use it for something useful maybe. Heritage is now not dead. It is a part of us. Then the Portuguese Festivals (as an example) will make sense. I can see my roots in action. I might also be able to find something useful in my heritage which will make sense to me in the 21st century and a new world beckoning me.
Is global cultu “People now realize that globalization is not only for the multi-nationals and the circulation of money” –Lakhdar Brahimi. Have you ever asked yourself if our cultures are becoming extinct or if they are being globalized? Looking at what is happening in our country lately you would realize that countries like the US, UK and so forth has the greatest influence on how we live, what we eat and what we wear and this greatest influence is dominant on the lives of the youth. Each and every generation has its own standard of living, and as we look closely to our own era we would see that technology makes everything easy and information is always there. Looking at any media platform, it will advertise the latest fashion trends, TV programmes displaying how people should live or even the American movies that show how a person should behave and these are easily adapted by the youth of today globally. It has become our culture. Another example of a new culture is the hip hop culture where it has legends like 50 cents and Tupac. In their music videos they would wear big shirts, big jeans and market their brands globally. I know a lot of young
ure a reality? people who follow the hip hop culture who do not even know a thing about the culture of their forefathers, as the hip hop culture has become part of them. Any young person feels comfortable with speaking English fluently and never even try to speak their mother tongue, be it isiZulu, SePedi, Afrikaans, etc. If this is now trending as success what will the next generation be like if we fail to even learn our mother tongue languages? I have asked a few people about the food they eat. Some said pap was the only traditional food that they know, some said spinach and that anything green except lettuce they do not eat. As I looked at this I saw that the ‘global restaurant’ has made a menu for us to the extent where we do not even care about our cultural food. KFC gave us a fried chicken, MacDonald gave us burgers and that is a global trend. I decided to take a walk on Heritage Day. As I was walking down the streets to observe what was happening, a lot of young people were wearing casual normal clothes and it seem as if it was just another ordinary day to them. Why? It is now global culture. What we had is fading away day by day.
Marcia Ramodike
The school un The debate is there yet again: school uniform or not. We asked Masiziba about how she feels ‘out of uniform’ at varsity: In the last year or so, I did a series of articles about whether there should be school uniform or not. In that instance, I was a school learner with uniform but now I am a student and living without uniform. Nonetheless, what has been the impact of no uniform on student life? Firstly, the first two weeks during orientation week, all first years from my residence and other residences wore shirts representing their residence. We became close as first years and there was no discrimination at first sight because it was mandatory for us to be equal through “uniform” clothing. This proved beneficial especially since we were all strangers and some friendships were made. University made me realise that as much as uniform can be popularly associated with schools, it can stretch to ‘after-school’ life. For example, during promotional days, companies offer their employees a dress code that will prove that they are from the same brand—and that is uniform. However, in varsity and professional life, uniform is only applicable to specific occasions as compared to all year round in schools.
niform, again! The duration of no uniform in university does influence individuality. Varsity is where you can witness purple hair, long nails and even extraordinary shoes. Everyone gets to be themselves in a way unimaginable. Individuality on the other hand can encourage discrimination. It is a fact that we are all from different and diverse backgrounds and what we could consider “appropriate “ may infringe on other people’s rights and by articulating those views, it can be discriminating to the other person. Although “a lack of uniform” cannot largely lead to bullying as in the case of High school or primary school, it is probably more associated with low self-esteem and some students may feel less because of what other students are probably wearing (which could be expensive). But there are various services that students can make use of if they face discrimination or are in need of support. In addition to this, some students miss class because they feel they don’t have enough clothes and they cannot keep on wearing the same clothes as people will notice; and believe uniform would have served them right. Personally, I do miss my beautiful uniform, but I am glad that I can still stand out and feel a sense of individuality in University.
Masiziba Hadebe.
The month o September: the first month of spring. New season. Feels good. And it is back to being a bit warm again. But what else can we say about September? Heritage month, but that is dealt with otherwise. So, we have some gems for you (all courtesy of Wiki): Day of the Programmer The Day of the Programmer is a russian professional day, that is celebrated on the 256th (hexadecimal 100th, or the 28th) day of each year (September 13 during common years and on September 12 in leap years). It is officially recognized in Russia. The number 256 (28) was chosen because it is the number of distinct values that can be represented with an eight-bit byte, a value well-known to programmers. 256 is also the highest power of two that is less than 365, the number of days in a common year. Trust the geeks to figure this out! Hobbit Day
Hobbit Day is the birthday of the hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, two fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien’s popular set of books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In the books both Bilbo and Frodo were said to be born on September 22, but of different years. Bilbo was born in the year of 2890 and Frodo in the year of 2968 in the Third Age (1290 and 1368 respectively in Shire-Reckoning.)
of September French Republican Calendar The French Republican Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871. The revolutionary system was designed in part to remove all religious and royalist influences from the calendar, and was part of a larger attempt at decimalisation in France (which also included decimal time of day, decimalisation of currency, and metrication). Years appear in writing as Roman numerals (usually), with epoch 22 September 1792, the beginning of the “Republican Era”. By law, the beginning of each year was set at midnight, beginning on the day the apparent autumnal equinox falls at the Paris Observatory. There were twelve months, each divided into three ten-day weeks called décades. The tenth day, décadi, replaced Sunday as the day of rest and festivity. The months had new names: Autumn: Vendémiaire “grape harvest”, Brumaire “mist”, Frimaire “frost” Winter: Nivôse “snowy”, Pluviôse “rainy”, Ventôse “windy” Spring: Germinal “germination”, Floréal “flower”,Prairial “meadow” Summer: Messidor “harvest”, Thermidor “summer heat”, Fructidor “fruit” … but it didn’t work out!
Culture? Tradit Confused on what is what? We tend to use the words inter-changeable. But are they? Here is a short little introduction to this. Definitions all from Wiki. A tradition is a belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose. The phrase “according to tradition,” or “by tradition,” usually means that whatever information follows is known only by oral tradition, but is not supported, (and perhaps may be refuted) by physical documentation, by a physical artifact, or other quality evidence. For example, “According to tradition, Homer was born on Chios, but many other locales have historically claimed him as theirs.” This tradition may never be proven or disproven. Culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies. Some aspects of human behavior, social practices such as culture, expressive forms such as art, music, dance, ritual, and religion, and technologies such as tool usage, cooking, shelter, and clothing are said to be cultural universals, found in all human societies. “A culture” is the set of customs, traditions, and values of a society or community, such as an ethnic group or nation. Culture is the set of knowledge acquired over time.
tion? Confused? Still confused? Let us have some examples: Western Europe has a culture of democracy. It is the norm that there re parliaments and that conflicts are solved via democratic means as the usual (social) behaviour. That was easy.
docu-
According to tradition, Magna Carta is seen as the first democratic constitution although the British constitution has never been written down as one ment.
Remember, tradition is supposed to be ancient and therefore not able to change. Culture is living and develops according to social developments. Tradition is a belief system or a behaviour as a part of a greater way of a group of people living together (nation etc.). It may be tradition to carry a spear but it is surely not the norm anymore. ‌ and sometimes traditions are invented to enforce a certain practise. ‌ and who defines what is tradition anyway? Culture develops, but tradition is too often used to justify and enforce something by referring to what it used to be. Just because it is coming from ancient times does not automatically mean it is sacrosanct. Traditions might help us to identify ourselves in a social context and that is not too bad either.
Masiziba at University:
Imagine witnessing CEO’s, Honour students and lecturers giving you the key to serving the world. . That is what university has offered besides academic knowledge. Practical sessions and learning experiences have been the best moments of my life. In fact, I would never have received this prodigious exposure if I were still at home. My university schedules times for first years where CEO’s, top researchers and doctrine holders come and inform us about their experiences and how university is an opportunity to fulfil greatness and serve a purpose. In an economics learning experience, presented by a well-renowned Economist, Nthabiseng Moleko, I learnt a lot of things in an hour that have changed my whole entire life. There I understood the importance of education and the role that young people should play in counteracting all the global issues. I have always wanted to be a researcher within the dynamic
My learning experience agricultural sector. Hence Agricultural Economics. However, I have never understood what impact finding a solution through research is to the whole universe. It is a fact that there have been a lot of changes, and the world we live in does not allow anyone to merely move with the wind. University allows and encourages original thoughts and experiments that may counteract global and continental issues. I was glad to hear that the primary sector in which agriculture is part, has an important role to encourage job-efficient economic growth. This sector can, when properly developed, absorb a large portion of the population and make them contributors to the economy. In addition, the statistics used in these learning experiences prove how immense the need for education is, coherently for the revival of people’s lives throughout the world. However, these statistics are not vividly accessible on the internet. This proves that institutions such as a university offer people the knowledge in a technological world and gives them the ability to be educated which translates to them never stopping to learn. For instance, one of my lecturers mentioned that Google is now a big competitor to graduates since anyone can Google, but what is important is the ability to make a difference and not “programmed� difference with no logical explanation behind it. Furthermore, fake news have been more proof that with accessible technology, we still need to be educated. All this information would not have been available to me if I never transcended to university life.
Masiziba Hadebe
Weird stuff fro Real IT programmers are a bit left-field? right? Here is the proof: Ever heard of ‘duck typing’? thought not. This is a bit left-field. Here goes (from Wiki as the main source): There is this saying: ‘If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck.’ So far so good. In programming, it is desirable to establish the suitability of an object. It is good to defer it to runtime but also to extend the object definition at runtime to more than just the object definition. It is worth looking at how suitable the object is in context. Confused? Me too. This is where the ‘duck test’ comes in (if it walks like …). Why is it important? Because when classes need to be operated they must be compatible. But it is hard to do at compile time, rather at runtime and that is where the duck test comes in, looking at the attributes at that point in time. Use of the term “duck typing” has been considered superfluous in light of the fact that other terms, such as dynamic binding, express the concept more clearly. Monkey Patch This becomes worse and worse! This is the instance where a program modifies system software
om the IT world (or itself) at runtime. It is a most horrible thing to do as it becomes nearly impossible to debug or check. I have programmed this back in the 1980’s where memory was of essence. At runtime my application loaded an extra module in memory by overwriting part of the OS. When finished executing, I uploaded the ‘missing’ part of the OS back in. DIRTY! But why monkey patch? Confusion reigns: It came from ‘guerilla patch’ as in these insurgents. But somehow somebody got it wrong and it was called ‘gorilla patch’. That did not make sense so someone somewhere got it into monkey patch as in ‘monkeying around’ with code. Unladen Swallow Guido van Rossum, the inventor of Python programming language, is a great Monty Python fan (hence the name Python). How did Python come about? He was bored during a Christmas and wrote an interpreter for a new scripting language. That was Python. When Python needed to be enhanced, Google sponsored this development. The developers, as all Python associates, are madly in love with Monty Python, hence ‘unladen swallow’ from ‘Monty Python and the holy grail’. I challenge you to watch it and be astounded and be wary of all PhD programmers!
Translating servic Translatin According to reports, using Google translate or iTranslate can turn out to be embarrassing, especially around native speaking people of that specific language, and it is not recommended for assignments or any duties that may ruin one’s reputation. In fact, the growing demand for translating services is no longer limited to and from English but spread on a variety of languages. For instance, the European Union’s bureaucrats now have to communicate in 24 languages. Furthermore, due to globalisation, companies trading in Africa regard the continent’s languages as progressively more important. And, well, the tourism industry makes use of translating services. It is clear that the need for translating services is increasing; but what could be the difference between traditional translating services and automated translating services? The debate of technological involvement in translating services evolves around the fact that there are over 6,909 languages in the world in which humans are constantly speaking. Context is changing, along with human creativity and interactions. But with hundreds of translating apps and “embarrassing moments”, traditional translators and pioneers in translation memory programming are claiming their importance in the industry. “Learning a language is extremely rewarding and very
ces VS Automated ng services much accessible to everybody regardless of age and wealth. Despite the great advances in technology we’ve made, the universal translator (and even a fully functional single language translator) will remain science fiction for a very long time.” States Benny Lewis, Founder of Fluent in 3 Months. According to Lewis, traditional translating services can be competitive against technology. London Translations also echo similar sentiments by testifying that a good interpreter has to have an in-depth, up-to-date understanding of a language’s quirks, nuances and colloquiums as well as how their speakers conduct business. However, technological services offer mishaps such as “Russians” being translated to “occupiers” which in the case of human translators it would have been common sense that it is a nationality. Moreover, the tone and register is also mentioned as a disadvantage of automated translating services. Romantic or friendly connotations may not be inferred in the way they should be, especially along with the feelings.
Translation services On the other hand, Stepes, an online translating service or app, claims to be standing out of the pack. It claims to be the only app that connects over 100 000 human translators around the world in more than 100 tongues to clients in need of translating services. Stepes is powered by TermWiki.com, a multilingual terminology platform in which human translators all over the world participate in translating across six continents. These translators are set locally, for example if you become a tourist in South Africa, you set the location, state for how long you may need a translator and then you are charged per minute and allocated a South African translator. Stepes suggests that the platforms they offer cater for human translators in a technological world, creating friendships similar to those formed with tour guides, in addition to learning about different foods, cultures of these various countries. In South Africa, there are a few traditional translating services such as Wits Language School, translating 11 official languages of South Africa, including South African sign language (which varies from country to country). According to the South African Translators’ Institute (SATI), even though the translating profession in South Africa is not presently regulated and anyone is free to work as a translator or interpreter, being a good language practitioner involves training – whether formal or informal – and a commitment to giving a client a flawless product. Because that is important.
Masiziba Hadebe.
Quotes
Quotes are alive again! These are just great! All from https://www.brainyquote. com. Being prime minister is a lonely job. You cannot lead from the crowd. Thatcher An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind: Ghandi For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind. Ralph Waldo Emerson Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable. Franz Kafka
We provide loans and bursaries to students at all 26 public universities and 50 public TVET colleges throughout the country.
North Korea a
Is this the beginning of the end? Can this actually escalate into a nuclear war? This is all very speculative and based on the facts as we have it through the newspapers. Let us recap a bit. North Korea right now is not I a good shape. North Korea has not been in a good shape for many many years. At least if we take the general population as the yard stick. North Korea has developed missile systems capable of hitting nearly any target in Asia and are now also threatening continental US. On top of, North Korea has developed nuclear weapons, inclusive of the most powerful of them all – the hydrogen bomb. The missing link here is whether the bombs can be put on the missile system or not. Let it be said: it is not so easy to take a bomb and shoot it across thousands of miles through the atmosphere. What has North Korea done to get this to the point of war? First of all, their rhetoric is filled with war threats against all and sundry. Especially South Korea and the US. Threatening that South Korea will disappear in a sea of fire is not conducive to things.
and the bomb
Also bear in mind that people in North Korea can hardly (if at all) access any news media outside of the government propaganda. North Korea has tested its bombs, and flown missiles across Japan. In other instances that would have been an act of war. So why? The population cannot be kept in the dark forever. It was easy when the neighbour (China) was just as poor. But that is not the case anymore. China is motoring ahead and North Korea is going nowhere in terms of living standard. That simple fact – due to interaction between North Korea and China – is becoming more and more clear to more and more people in North Korea. It might just be all for internal consumption. Meaning that if it is possible to invent an enemy (the rest of the world) and blame this enemy for all the ills in the country, it is possible to stay in power and deflect the anger towards this enemy. If it is possible also to show that the leadership is protecting everybody by having nuclear bombs, well.. the more the better. That could be.
It is a dangerous game, though. Dicing with nuclear weapons.
North Korea a Let us look at what the outside world is doing. Trump’s America is fanning the fire by the threats of military intervention. But that is not where the danger is, really. UN has imposed sanctions of lately. These are: Ban on coal export etc. which costs North Korea $1bn – a third of their export income. That hurts. Partial embargo on oil exports to North Korea, which will hurt their economy even more. Oil and petrol will run out or be reserved for the military. The little prosperity achieved will go away very fast. The big thing here is the attitude of China. The sanctions are authorised by UN Security Council by 15-0 vote. China voted for the sanctions. And China is North Koreas only friend. This in essence means that China is really tired of North Korea now. But why not just cut them totally off then? China can do it and
and the bomb Trump is nudging them in that direction. That, however, can be dangerous as well. North Korea might just threaten China with a nuclear attack instead. Or maybe China is looking at a post-Kim-Jung-Un scenario? If that involves a coup or a civil war, South Korea might just walk in and take it over. A united Korea after all. But that might mean that the South Korean alliance with the US will remain in place and suddenly there will be US troops on the border to China. China cannot be interested in that one. That could hold China back and that North Korea would know. But what about other players? Russia (Putin) is not so interested in seeing a US dominated Asia. That immediately points to Putin’s statement that military conflict should be avoided. And Russia is too close to North Korea for comfort. Because their missile system can just as easily target Russian soil with nuclear weapons. The biggest question of them all is: Is North Korea really threatening a nuclear war? Will they ever fire off a nuclear missile against South Korea or US territory? My best bet is: not for now. It is for internal consumption – for now. Will they do it at all? My best bet is: YES. The minute the leadership is about to get ousted, they might just not care about it anyway. And that situation might arise if the general population is going for an ‘Arab Spring’ solution.
Volkswagen for Goo ployee Volunte
At the recent Beyond Painting Classrooms Conference held in Johannesburg, Volkswagen Group South Africa’s (VWSA) employee volunteer programme, “Show of Hands” won the Beyond Painting Classroom Award - Partnering for Change category.
The Beyond Painting Classroom Employee Volunteer Programme Awards recognise and celebrate inspiring examples of employee volunteering initiatives that go beyond traditional approaches to employee volunteering. These are aimed at giving real value to business, volunteers and communities. By showcasing inspiring examples of employee volunteering, Beyond Painting Classrooms aims to inspire more organisations and South Africans to get involved in employee volunteering, and to contribute to creating lasting social change. The main criteria for this award is to recognise employee volunteer programmes and initiatives which prioritise and successfully execute a partnering approach to employee volunteering. Volkswagen was selected among 24 entries nationally. The winner in the same category for Non-profit organisations was Symphonia’s Partners for Possibility Programme. Volkswagen was recognised for the holistic and comprehensive approach it takes in ensuring that the employee volunteer programme is working in synergy with all the other CSI programmes. Once the facilities of a selected beneficiary are improved, VWSA then works with its partners to introduce and implement interventions that are aimed at improving education outcomes in the classroom and extend the programme beyond just painting the classroom.
od honoured for Emeer Programme
At the Show of Hands events, employees assist with installing libraries and reading corners, planting vegetable gardens, and improving existing facilities including ablutions in order to create an environment that is conducive for learning. Employees are also encouraged to mentor and act as role models to learners as part of the VW Mentorship Programme which partners with the Alexandra Education Committee. After the Show of Hands event is completed, VWSA partners with Nali’Bali, Edupeg, and Shine Literacy to help equip the teachers, caregivers and parents with the skills they need in order to support their children’s development in the classroom and at home. “The Beyond Painting Classroom initiative has at the forefront of its vision a desire to encourage employees to be active citizens that are engaged in building a just, equitable and united South Africa. At VWSA we have the same desire. We cannot operate in a community without being involved in the general upliftment of that community from which we will hopefully source future Volkswagen employees, who have been given a good education. I am immensely proud of my Volkswagen Family!.” said Thomas Schaefer, Volkswagen Group South Africa Chairman and Managing Director
Caption from Left to Right: Jenitha John, Chief Audit Executive at FirstRand Limited; Desiree Storey, Manager at FirstRand Volunteers Programme; Vernon Naidoo, Nobuntu Lange and Nkosinathi Clay from VWSA; Judith Mtsewu, Knowledge Manager, Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa.
The drones a Drones are not actually called drones. The technical term is UAV = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. It covers everything from those small helicopter one’s from Game to those big military one’s. The common thing is: they can fly around for a very very long time and can be controlled from anywhere on the planet (in essence). The small one’s from Game are of course line-of-sight but the big military one’s can be controlled from a control centre somewhere else. But what can they be used for? Is it just a hobby? Another toy? I read an article in Mail & Guardian (1 September 2017: Are drones taking off as the future of African healthcare? By Ra’eesa Pather and Simon Allison). It is a mighty great article and it walks into something fundamental: UAV’s can be used for a lot of different things as they are ‘cheap’, flexible and easy to fly (sort of at least). The article talks about the fact that within Africa we have areas hard to access due to no infra-structure (roads!) or roads are flooded in rainy season or just not there. It is fine to have a nurse in a remote area, but if medicine cannot reach the nurse, then healthcare is not optimal. The article is mentioning several projects and they all deliver! Of course there are negative sentiments (it is witchcraft!) and so on, but the operational side is working. But there must be so much more? I think we have seen the adverts for delivering pizzas and so on, but this is much larger and very different. We need to start thinking about this new world.
are coming! Here are a few other uses: We all know the value of communication. It is essential to be ‘connected’. It is more than the cell phone and WhatsApp. Again look at Africa and the lack of infra-structure, in this respect telephone and land lines. If the nurse can get hold on a doctor and show the doctor online video of a case, we start to have real healthcare without the cumbersome infra-structure requirements. What if we put a drone in the sky which can act as the cellphone tower? Is it possible? Yes it is. UAV’s can fly (maximum) for some few weeks on end. The more realistic timeframe might be a couple of days, but if there are two in relay? Problem solved.
More drones! What about natural disasters? Put up the UAV and voila, we are in business again. That leads into something else: it is now suddenly far cheaper (compared to a satellite) and way more flexible to use UAV’s for specific tasks. Such tasks might be veldfires, crop estimates, healthcare, communications network, the list is really endless. But what are the costs for such things. Of course the bigger tasks like healthcare in Africa does require some investments but what about a one-day session for doing some photowork or similar? We contacted Droneon to get a feel for what type of cost is involved. According to Skye Quadling at Droneon, the cost for a full day is around R6,000 inclusive of the drone pilot (exclusive transport though). The output – either video or pics – are made available to the client via dropbox or similar. This technology is affordable! And be aware: those drones are the commercial one’s. the price range is anything from R15,000 – R65,000.
Flying UAV’s. Is it actually legal to go buy one in Game and start having fun? We looked at the website of ‘Fly UAV Industries’. Their website (www.flyuavi.com) is quite instructive on this. The following are direct quotes.
Documentation and legal requirements In order for a company or individual to operate a drone (RPAs) commercially they are required to have the following licences: • • • •
Air Service Licence (ASL), issued by the Department of Transport Remotely Piloted Aircraft Operator Certificate (ROC) Remote Pilot License (RPL) allowing pilot to operate a certain type of aircraft and within certain limitations RPAS Registration with the SACAA – this should be clearly marked on aircraft using black lettering against a yellow background
Additional requirements • • • • • • • •
Third party liability insurance in name of the company Management roles within company Accountable Manager (CEO) Responsible Person Flight Operations Responsible Person Aircraft (Chief Pilot) Safety Manager Quality Manager Security Manager
• • • • • • • • • • •
When a pilot operates commercially the following documents are required onsite: Copy of the ROC and Operational Specifications of the operational company Copy of the ASL Proof of Insurance Original Certificate of Registration Original RPAS Letter of Approval (RLA) User manual for the applicable aircraft and ground station Pilot’s license book Aircraft logbook clearing the applicable RPAS of any outstanding defects First aid kit and fire extinguisher within 300m of the takeoff and landing location Licensed air band radio to communicate with other aviation traffic and Air Traffic Control (this is only a requirement if the pilot is operating outside of the limitations of R-VLOS and without the Control Zone of an operational airfield).
Required on site documentation
• This is professional and commercial usage of drones!
Trevor Noah: somebody to be proud of This is a South African we can be proud of. Trevor Noah started his career as comedian and presenter with SABC. No doubt, he is a very very talented person. Let us jump into the ‘hot stuff’: He started with the ‘Daily Show’ as their international correspondent in December 2014. From September 2015 he became the host, replacing Jon Stewart. Is it significant? We have to realise that ‘Daily Show’ is among the most viewed and enormously influential in all walk of American life. The key word is AMERICA as in the US of A! It has some 2,5 million viewers which – apparently – is quite amazing for a cable program. Daily Show has won some 24 Primetime Emmy Awards. The best part is that Trevor Noah has won the following awards in 2017: • Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award • GLAAD Media Award • MTV Movie & TV Awards • Primetime Emmy Award On top of, his book ‘Born a Crime’ has won the NAACP Image Awards and Zora Neale Hurston Award. This is a 33-year old South African! Be proud!
Nataniël: Another one to be proud of A lot of this is quoted from Wiki. Nataniël launched his career in 1987 with the release of his first single, Maybe Time. Since then he has released 16 albums, staged more than 70 original theatre productions and published 15 books. Nataniël is so much more than just in the Checkers adverts: Initially he was a concert pianist and musical director and started singing after about three years. Because established agents and producers ignored him, he started his own record label and publishing house, Nataniël House of Music. He then proceeded to build a cult following and his stage performances were almost always sold out. He produces more than two stage productions per year on average and has on occasion performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Two of his operas as well as several other compositions were performed and recorded by the Stellenbosch Conservatorium. Opera? Huh? Through his company Kaalkop he has also established a fashion line and sells a range of branded products. It is the mix of English and Afrikaans ‘van die kaap af’ that makes it an intriguing character to watch. But let there be no mistake: he is immensely intelligent and a very hard worker!
Friday 13th: just ... what? Superstition anyone? Friday 13 as an unlucky day. But… is it true and where does it come from? Wiki says: Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition, which can be the case at least once every year, and up to three times a year. The fear of the number 13 has been given a scientific name: “triskaidekaphobia”; and on analogy to this the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví meaning “Friday”, and dekatreís meaning “thirteen”. The superstition surrounding this day may have arisen in the Middle Ages, “originating from the story of Jesus’ last supper and crucifixion” in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday. While there is evidence of both Friday and the number 13 being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items being referred to as especially unlucky in conjunction before the 19th century Soooo…. It is actually recent that this little superstition came into play. And Jason and Dan Brown and all the others just latched on to it. Amazing… superstition need not be very old after all
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