Litnet

"Both Namibia and South Africa grapple with high rates of SGBV and gender inequality. A key similarity is the presence of dedicated activists and movements fighting for justice. A significant difference is the legal landscape regarding abortion; South Africa repealed the old law, allowing girls as young as 12 to access safe abortion on request, while Namibia still operates under the restrictive 1975 act."

"The moment it starts feeling like a lecture, you’ve lost the audience. The key is to create compelling characters who want something and who drive the story forward. If the drama is truthful and the characters are engaging, the history or the message comes through naturally."

"[I]f you wouldn’t put it on a billboard, you should not let it exist in digital format. Digital content is vulnerable content; it is dangerous content, it can be recorded, it can be shared."

"The arts and money have a peculiar relationship. People too often think they don’t 'need' the arts, forgetting the role it plays in social cohesion and the building of a nation."

Ismail Joosub is the manager of Constitutional Advancement at the FW de Klerk Foundation. He tells Freek Robinson that BBBEE has created 100 extremely rich individuals in South Africa, but has done little to nothing for the poor. What, then, are the alternatives?

"Though our focus is on black history – because it has been neglected and deliberately suppressed – we tell the entire history, including the over-represented colonial and Afrikaner history. From the booklet, you learn not only about Governor Somerset and Bruintjieshoogte, but also about what was there before the European arrival. You learn who Nojoli was, and how all these histories interlock and are joined at the hip, despite our pretensions."

"I asked if I could interview him about directing before he returned home, and he readily agreed. I opened a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau and turned on the tape recorder. I was 32 and Athol was 49."

Simon Strachan calls himself "an advocate for the most vulnerable little people in our society" and says he is "passionate about the access to quality care for everyone". But if this is true, why, then, does he, like many other doctors, oppose the government’s National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme when the politicians say it is a "strategy to achieve universal health coverage"?

"It involves supporting the individual and their family as they process the diagnosis and adjust to the impact of the disease on the family system, and walking the road with them all till the end of the life of the person living with dementia."

"In Afrikaans, bedonnerd has pejorative associations. But I used the name to mean 'crazy about books'. I feel that there is no greater word for my memoir than BookBedonnerd."

"The arts give us the space and capacity to express ourselves freely on any topic and any concern, to meet those who are most unlike us, and to understand their points of view" ... "We create conversations that confront and heal. We speak for those who don’t have a voice and take those who need to escape, to far-away places. Audiences leave changed."

"Gaza has become the centre of the universe, the same way Soweto was the centre of the universe." A book discussion and video interview with Haidar Eid, author and professor in postcolonial studies and postmodern literature at al-Aqsa University, Gaza City.

Will voting be based on competence or identity? Freek Robinson talks to William Gumede, chairperson of the multiparty convention.

Elections are looming. Herman Mashaba (ActionSA) tells Freek Robinson how ActionSA would fix a country that is falling apart.

Rory Riordan explains why all of us should demand that the blue team formally work with the green, black and gold team to move South Africa forward.

"This is my first traditionally published novel set outside of South Africa. This is a story that could only be set in the USA. The combination of survivalist cult, ultra-right-wing white supremacists and federal authorities could only take place there. That was the story I felt compelled to tell, and that dictated the setting."

Anthony Turton, an expert in water resource management, outlines the extent of the water crisis in South Africa.

For the second year running, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has been ranked as the leading producer of accredited research outputs in South Africa. Sarah Gravett, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation at UJ, emphasises the importance of research that impacts communities and society.

"Acknowledging the work of independent theatre makers at awards events like the one in Tembisa is important. Firstly, it validates their contributions to the cultural landscape, recognising their creativity and talent. Secondly, it provides them with exposure and opportunities for networking, funding and future collaborations. Additionally, celebrating independent theatre helps to diversify the arts scene, ensuring that a variety of voices and perspectives are heard and appreciated."

"The title, Mirror, refers to the water’s surface as a physical mirror reflecting the surrounding elements, be it the sky, the weather, rock, or architectural structures. This mirror, when clear, also reveals the hidden worlds beneath the water."