Author: Buhle Andisiwe Made

By Buhle Andisiwe Made The National Arts Festival’s (NAF) Chief Executive Officer, Monica Newton, spoke to Grocotts Mail and Rhodes Music Radio presenters Amahle Shosha and Naledi Ndala about the upcoming National Arts Festival. The much anticipated NAF will be in full effect in Makhanda from 2 June to 2 July 2023. Newton, who was appointed to run the festival in 2020, has been working alongside her team of creatives and executive team members, namely stakeholder manager Nobesuthu Rayi, artistic director Rucera Seethal, Fringe manager Zikhona Monaheng, as well as technical director Nicci Spalding. The team has curated an activity-filled 11 days of the…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made Inspired by Issey Miyake, a Japanese fashion designer, and David Tlale, a South African fashion designer. Shiba Sopotela has a passion for fashion. “I’m hung up on the threads I’m addicted to,” she says, using the quote from Tumblr fashion blogger, ‘Littlefashionbox’. Sopotela encapsulates this statement as she lives through her passion for costumes and design as the head of wardrobe at the Rhodes University Theatre. The Cape Town native is now based in the small town of Makhanda at the Rhodes University Drama Department. You can find her in front of the stage, directing cast…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made and ‘Odidi Matai-Sigudla Those in ‘deep mourning’ gathered at the Settlers Monument in Makhanda on 10 June to celebrate the life of Eusebius McKaiser. Silence filled the Guy Butler Theatre as mourners stood in respect while family members carried the coffin where Eusebius McKaiser lay to the stage – a place he had once received so many awards. “To do the memorial is one thing, but to do this is something totally different. This is where it becomes more real than ever before when you are about to lay the person to rest,” said Roger Kirkwood,…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made As rapper Nayvadius DeMun Cash, better known as Future, would put it in his hit song ‘Digital Dash’ with rapper and friend Aubrey Drake Graham, who goes by Drake: “I put in the work, it was evident”. Pietermaritzburg-raised Unathi Mtsi is a sure example of those lyrics. The 21-year-old former Rhodes University student went from being enrolled in his Bachelor of Commerce degree to selling pizza to students on campus and, later, dropping out of his course. Mtsi has now opened his fast food restaurant, The Night Owl, situated at the nightclub 37 On New. Unathi…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made Rhodes University final year Journalism and Psychology major, Zamamiya Majola, has hosted a cohort of senior phase learners (Grade 10 through Matric) at a Career Connect Expo at Nombulelo Senior Secondary School. Majola regards herself as a media practitioner with a background in audio, writing, film and photography. She is interested in, “how multiple media forms influence and impacts cognitive or behavioral development”, and started her own company, Mykhanda Media, to offer multimedia support and training. Mykhanda Media has also created learnerships for three learners from Nstika Secondary School, Khutliso Daniels Secondary School and Nombulelo Senior…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made Film director Shameela Seedat’s film, African Moot, follows the journey of four pairs of law students from four different African universities in Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. This eye-opening documentary showcases human rights and refugee issues in Africa. The following paragraphs will re-examine the film and highlight the screening hosted on 4 May by the Documentary Filmmakers’ Association (DFA) and docLOVE at the Amazwi South African Museum of Literature. African Moot documentary is a derivative of the Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition – a large gathering for African law students wherein they…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made As the student shutdown of Rhodes University campus against water cuts entered its second day on 9 May, a petition against the deteriorating state of water in Makhanda was also picking up speed. The Makana Municipality has had an ongoing water crisis, which has worsened in the past year and a half. The municipality has been unable to remedy the problem, and has severely restricted water, implementing water shedding every night and establishing a “two days on, one day off” system. However, some areas do not even get that amount of water – as of May…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made and Malikhanye Mankayi On 29 April, music projects and academies around the Eastern Cape came together to hold a joint orchestral concert – the Iimbewu Youth Orchestra at the Guy Butler Theatre, Makhanda. The event was produced by Access Music Project and staged by the National Arts Festival. The ensemble presented a rousing performance, showcasing the Eastern Cape heritage through a contemporary and multicultural lens. Brand-new orchestral arrangements of well-known South African repertoire combine indigenous and digital music production with orchestral tradition. The Iimbewu Youth Orchestra is a newly formed orchestra inspired by iimbewu, the isiXhosa…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made Risoso Libi and her family have been living through a nightmare for the past three years. She resides in Phumlani in Extension Two, which is part of Ward Three. With a drain located inside of her yard, whenever the sewage pipes in the area become blocked, sewage erupts out of the manhole cover and overflows through the backyard. This drainage problem comes not only with a foul stench, but with bacteria that festers in her personal space and affects her children and well-being. Libi and her family moved into their home in 2020 and since then…

By Buhle Andisiwe Made Mzwanele Tshishonga is a multimedium artist hailing from the township of KwaZakhele in Gqeberha. Tshishonga is an alumnus of the Advanced Photography Programme at the Market Photo Workshop. Also known as Rez Inyanzi, he focuses his work on storytelling through his mixed media by engaging in issues that apply to the idea of ‘Blackness’. Photographer Mzwanele ‘Rez Inyanzi’ Tshishonga’s portrait. Photo: Siqhamo Jama. Rez Inyanzi’s art allows viewers to gain knowledge of African systems and cultures. On 14 April, Rez Inyanzi exhibited a couple of his collections, titled Ukulandela Umoya, at the Rhodes Fine Art Gallery…