Machika Jerry Rantsho (The Village Child)

  Community radio stations should be improved to benefit all the members of our communities Since the born of Media Development Diversity Agency (MDDA), we have seen the mushrooming of radio stations in our communities. The MDDA was set up by an Act of Parliament (Act 14 of 2002) to enable “Historically disadvantaged communities and persons not adequately served by the media” to gain access to the media. Its beneficiaries will be community media and small commercial media. One amongst the ways in which MDDA can achieve all these objectives is: To encourage the  channeling  of resources to community and small commercial media. Now, those who have been to our community radio stations like me can attest that if not all the community radio stations but some, do not comply with all that is said in the MDDA documents with regards to how radio stations should include communities in some of their decisions.   I have done my Work Integrated Learning (WIL) at a community radio...

  Ga-Phaahla- In celebration of heritage month, Kgoshi Letsiri Phaahla, from Ga Phaahla area narrates the history of unknown tree, believed to be planted by the late 1 st  chief Makadikwe Phaahla in around 1610. According to Letsiri, the late chief Makadikwe Phaahla had an abnormal protruding belly and he was terrorised and tormented by his community at Madibong village back in the days until he got angry and secretly decided to leave his tribe, headed north to seek assistance from any community he could come across. Letsiri said the late Makadikwe wanted to be assisted to wipe all Phaahla men because they were unfairly terrorised him. “The late Makadikwe walked for months without meeting any community until he crossed Limpopo River in Zimbabwe where he met Karanga tribe. On his arrival, Makadikwe explained his situation to Karanga tribe. “He promised Karanga tribe livestocks owned by Phaahla tribe only if they could assist him in Killing men who tormented and terrorised him f...

If asked to name a South African Sangoma, most people would mention Credo Mutwa, a world renowned traditional healer, aouther and a philosopher. He had forseen a number of historic events including the assasination of John Fitzegerald Kennedy, Hendrik Verwoerd and Chris Hani. but he was modest about it all. "I am not special. There are men and women who came before me in this regard," he once told a TV host when he was asked about his unusual gift of seeing into the crystal ball. He had famously predicted the June 16 1976 student uprisings, but what's not well-known is that he was gracious enough to reveal that there were other people who predicted the watershed event-peers and pupils who all lived in Soweto at the time. Incidentally, all three women- Lillian, Mateilari Teka and Dorcas Danisa. He described the latter as "two of the best sangomas in the group of healers and deviners of which I am the ritual leader". In his book, Let Not My Country die, ...