JUGGLING MUSIC AND TEACHING

By: Zinhle Bhuda

Twitter: @zp_bhuda

Email: pzinhle560@gmail.com

 Sonto Mthembu, 27, hailing from Empangeni, Richards Bay, is a multi-talented musician and teacher, known by his stage name Sunday Musiq. He seamlessly navigates through various musical genres, including afro-pop, gqom, amapiano, and afro-house, all while maintaining his career as a high school teacher.

Teacher and music beats producer, Sonto Mthembu, well known as Sunday Musiq

He got his inspiration to produce beats from his older brother who used to produce beats, though he wanted to be more creative than him.

He got enrolled at the University of KwaZulu Natal to study for a Bachelor of Education in 2018. After he received his laptop, he installed a beat creating app and started getting creative with beats.

In 2019, he released his first gqom single However in 2020 when amapiano was introduced he decided to spread his creativity and produce amapiano beats.

His venture into the genre went so well that he was able to release an EP titled Chapter 1 in 2021, which opened opportunities for him as he started being recognized. “The EP was so good, it was playlisted on Channel O, MTV Base and Mzansi Music,” he said.

video below shows Sunday Musiq on set at the Massive Music show

Sunday Musiq with one of the musicians he collaborates with, Lasandra

Mthembu completed his degree and became a teacher by profession in 2022. He said that dual passion is what inspires him to be a teacher and musician at the same time. “Pursuing two careers that I am passionate about at the same time brings a sense of fulfilment and joy in me,” he said.

His students said Mthembu is their role model because he inspires them to explore their creative potential. “He shows us the importance of following your own dreams and interests” said one of his students, Lukhanyo Mbabane. Most of his followers think that his productions are always on fire and that he is going far with music.

Comment from one of his followers on social media platforms.

 

Ditlou Titans take down opponent Tuks 4 in a thrilling match

By: Zinhle Bhuda

Twitter: @zp_bhuda

Email: pzinhle560@gmail.com

 At the Tshwane University of Technology Astro grounds on Saturday, May 11, 2024, Ditlou Titans and Tuks4 clashed in a high-stakes hockey match. The showdown lived up to its anticipation, with Ditlou Titans clinching a tense 3-1 victory over Tuks4 in the Northern Blues Hockey Association league.

Ditlou Titans defending against Tuks4        Photo by: Elisa Letswalo

Within the first 15 minutes, the Titans upped the game pressure, with its middle forward Margaret Manabalala scoring the opening goal. Tuks4 fought valiantly to level the score, but as the first break approached, Ditlou Titans maintained a slim 1-0 lead.

 The second quarter unfolded as a series of back-and-forth exchanges, with both teams creating scoring opportunities. However, Ditlou Titans continued to assert their dominance, especially after Manabalala, still fueled with determination, struck a beautiful goal, extending her team's lead to 2-0.

The second half was intense, with both teams giving it their all. The Titans goalkeeper made several crucial saves, but Tuks4 had come back with a better strategy, and Mufaro Chetsango scored  a goal and gave hope to the team. Within the final minutes of the game, Titans right forward Mikateko Mawela scored the winning goal, securing a 3-1 victory for the team.

Ditlou Titans striking hockey ball    Photo by: Elisa Letswalo

Titans head coach, Masilo Mokoena, said he is glad that they won the match, but the team’s performance was not what he had expected. “Although we won the game, the team didn’t play a good style of hockey and that’s something we will work on,” said Mokoena. The win moved Ditlou Titans up on the leagues log standings.

According to the woman of the match Margaret Manabalala, without her coach and team members’ support, she would not have made it, therefore she is grateful for them. “It is not every day that this happens, today was my lucky day because I had a good practice yesterday,” she said.

Though the loss was a hard pill to swallow for Tuks4, head coach Keanan Wax believes that the team can still improve. “The team didn’t perform very good, like they normally do but there is still room for improvement,” he said.

Fans said that the match was good and enjoyable to watch. “The teams gave it their all, which made the game exciting,” said one fan.

Ditlou Titans will proceed to play with other teams for the Northern Blues Hockey association league in the upcoming weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

SGLD HOSTS STUDENT STRUCTURES POLITICAL DEBATE

By: Zinhle Bhuda

Twitter: @zp_bhuda

Email: pzinhle560@gmail.com

The Student Governance and Leadership Development Directorate (SGLD), collaborating with Tshwane FM and BUA student newspaper, organized a political debate among student political organizations on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Pretoria campus. The objective of the debate was to provide a platform for political structures to discuss youth-related issues and propose solutions.

Link to video of HoD speaking:

Student political structures recognized by TUT came in numbers to participate in the debate where various topics that affect youth such as student funding; youth unemployment and crime and corruption were raised and addressed.

The session became an opportunity for structures to prove their worth of people's votes in the upcoming elections. “This platform is also for structures to prove their worth for the upcoming elections,” said HOD of SGLD, Andrew Makhushe.

Photo of student political structures   By Zinhle Bhuda

Link to the debate session:

To keep youth and the nation up to date about politics and help them decide which party they will vote for in the upcoming elections, Tshwane FM announced the launch of their election coverage campaign called “Mark Ur Future” where there will be daily updates of news about the elections. “We have put together a news team that will you decide who you are voting for and promise that you will hear it from us first,” said Tshwane FM manager, Tebogo Magubane.

Link to audio of Tshwane FM station manager:  https://on.soundcloud.com/6Su7xSmLtFV88tey9

Audiences were able to get a grasp of what the political structures are planning for them and are glad that this event took place because it helped them in their decision making of who they are going to vote for. “Attending the debate has made it easy for me to decide who I will be voting for,” said Tshiamo Lekonyane.

Link to video of audiences comment: 

TUT FIRST ALUMNI CHAPTER LAUNCH

Tshwane University of Technology launched its first annual alumni chapter for the Faculty of Humanities on Friday, the 8^th of September 2023. The purpose of the event was to celebrate its alumni and to set about a journey of working together with the alumni to give back to the university. “The event is to acknowledge our alumni and provide an opportunity for them to recreate society closer to home” said Professor Masupye Maserumule, who is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. He further said that it is to see how an alumna uses their education and position in society to set a public note. “This starts with the commitment to support the institution that produced you, so that they could continue to produce more”, he said.

A representative of the event organizers, Dr Lerato said that the Faculty of Humanities hopes that by launching the alumni chapter, it will help bring about change in the institution and make TUT a greater university by having the alumni engaged with the university even after graduation.

In support of the proposal, Director of Advancement and Partnership, Dr Eric Pule said it is important to have and maintain a tangible relationship with the alumni as they play a huge role in the institution. “We need to have this kind of engagement with the alumni , where we will share ideas and engage in opportunities in the industry and also about the issues that are affecting the university”, he said.

One of the alumni that were present at the launch, Ms Xolile Ntshangase said “It is a good thing that the faculty launched this chapter because it will help keep record of the student’s database and keep track of how far they are doing in their careers”. She further added that this resolution will improve the Faculty of Humanities in such a great way and that it will also help those alumni that need to further their studies in the institution.

 

AFRICA CHECK: Fact Checking

 

Africa Check is an African based fact checking organization that sorts facts from untrue news stories by identifying important public statements, cross examining the best available evidence and publishing fact-checking reports.

The organization hosted a training session with TUT Journalism students to teach them about the fact checking process. The representative of the organization, Carina van Wyk was the one who ran the session. She said one of the most important things about fact checking is that it promotes accountability and attempts to ensure that people receive high quality news. It also protects us from being vulnerable to receiving fake news due to things such as conceptual bias.

She said that in the process of fact checking, it is essential to firstly see whether the statement can be verified or it’s just an opinion. If it can be verified, then go on to identify the original source and verify content by defining terms and concepts within claims. To do this, one can get official and scientific meanings and also look back in time where the terms may have been used. Then one should inspect evidence using latest reliable data such as contacting experts from which data can be verified. Lastly, sort out the evidence and reach your conclusion.

The training session was helpful to many of the attendees, as they’ve learned the importance of to not just use every piece of information that gets to you or you happen to have interest in, you have to fact check first.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MEG🦈🦈💥

 (source: Google)

The Meg is a science fiction movie that runs for 113 minutes, it was released on the 10^th of August 2018 in the United States. The movie was directed by Jon Turtletaub with screenplay by Dean Georgaris, Joe Hoeber and Eric Hoeber. Starring in the film are Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis. It was produced by production companies Gravity Pictures, Flagship Entertainment Group and Di Bonaventura Pictures. The film is played in the English language, therefore accommodates major numbers of audiences. The film is rated PG13.

Based on Meg: A novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten, a crew of scientists get trapped under the sea after their nuclear submarine got damaged. In the attempt to save all his crew, Jonas Taylor sees the hull being rammed by an unidentified creature, he is forced to flee, leaving two of his members in the damaged submersible. A few years down the line, billionaire Jack Morris meets Dr. Minway Zhang at the underwater research facility Mana One. Zhang and his oceanographer daughter Suyin supervise a mission to explore what turns out to explore what turns out to be a deeper section of the Mariana Trench. Along the way in their mission, with a submersible piloted by Japanese scientist, Toshi and Taylors ex-wife, they get attacked by a large creature that causes the submersible to lose control.

Taylor gets contacted by the Mana One manager to come to the rescue. With the help of Suyin, they go down the sea to discover what this creature might be. They discover that it is a large shark called a megalodon or the Meg which was believed to be extinct. The crew works on capturing the Meg, just after they’ve killed it, a second even larger Meg is revealed, making their mission a lot more harder.

The director did a great job in directing this film scene because the scenes clearly link with each other and the cast that was selected was just the perfect people for this movie. Their acting is so phenomenal, one can see the relation between them. The likes of Jason Statham, who has starred in several action movies, gave this film just the right feeling it needed.

The editor of the film made the movie to have a real feeling in a sense that the viewer becomes glued to the screen to see the end. Also, the sound effects make the film even more interesting. The special effects like when the Meg grabs on to the submersible with its sharp teeth make the film jaw dropping. The music that was selected for each scene blends in just correctly with each scene, especially with the help of the cinematography (visuals) that are so appealing.

It is no wonder why it gets a 5 star rating, this film is good and ideal to watch on a good family movie night, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a rating of 9/10.

  

ALCOHOL KILLING THE FUTURE OF SA YOUTH😓😩

BY ZINHLE BHUDA

The accessibility of alcoholic products to young people in South Africa has led to the misuse of alcohol by the youth of our country.

Over 50% of South African youth between the ages of 13-25 have consumed alcoholic beverage in their lifetime, although most of them would say they drink alcoholic beverages just for fun, there is a high number of them that drink alcohol in a very weird way and too much too often. In an interview with students, 22 years old Daniel Mboyane said, “I drink alcohol at least 15 times a month, depending on whether I have money or not”, he further added that if he does not have money, he borrows from friends or loan sharks. Most of the students said they drink mostly on weekends.

According to a survey by the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ), alcohol use amongst our youth is common, and increases with age for both males and females. There is also a tendency to more harmful binge drinking. SA Stats has also shown that at least 65% of South African youth drink alcohol every weekend. The main factors to use and misuse of alcohol amongst youth include peer pressure and the desire to fit in, Akonaho Dzivani (21) said, “I consume alcohol with my friends and roommates so that do not feel left out or lonely”.

Some more reasons for alcohol abuse are the relative cheapness of alcoholic products and how easily accessible they are, more especially in disadvantaged communities because they (alcoholic products) can be easily bought from bottle stores, supermarkets, bars and shebeens, and other unlicensed liquor outlets, which unfortunately outnumber the licensed ones. One student said that in her community, a child as young as 13 years old can be sold an alcoholic beverage.

Although alcohol has many harmful effects on every consumer of it, like taking a toll on the liver, which causes liver inflammations including alcoholic hepatitis and fibrosis, and can cause cancers such as oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, and esophageal cancer, most of the consumers do not even care about these effects. Happiness Shongwe (18) said, “I am still young and strong, nothing will happen to my health anytime”. Mboyane added that he does not even think about the effects of alcohol on his health, he just focuses on enjoying himself. This shows that our youth has given in to alcohol despite its harmful effects on their health.

“I exercise a lot, alcohol will not have that much of an effect on my health”, said Dzivani, however, the truth of the matter is that alcohol can interfere with the way one’s brain looks and functions, which changes how a person behaves and their mood, therefore making it harder to think clearly and move coordination. Alcohol was produced for people to have fun occasionally, but its initial purpose is only harming our people. It is only up to South Africans whether they put an end to the abuse of alcohol, particularly by youth or not.