INTERPRET DURBAN

Nomfundo Mgabadeli

Interpret Durban is a contest for the creative mind that runs through the whole of September, the main event is usually at the end of the month which brings together an award ceremony, exhibition of some of the works and stellar performances from some of Durban’s musical acts such as Fruit and Veggies and Coals of Juniper. This year the event will be held on the 29^th of September at the Bat Centre with a whopping R160 000 worth of prizes. 

The theme for this year is “ENTER DURBAN” where you are asked to consider the city “from a tourist’s perspective as someone approaching Durban with fresh eyes” and the categories are video, photography and t-shirt design (which is by invite only). Entries do close today on the 25^th of September, so if you haven’t entered yet, now would be a good time.

The event is offering a free shuttle service to and from the Bat Centre on the night of the main event. The shuttle will begin the route from 6pm, starting at the KZNSA and making its way to “Cube” on Innes Rd and after it heads to the Bat Centre where passengers will be dropped off on the Esplanade and guided through the tunnel under the train tracks by INTERPRET DURBAN personnel. The shuttle will then go back around to KZNSA and start its rounds again.

Hope to see you there!

Commissioner Zulu on heritage, culture and the media

Nomfundo Mgabadeli

Professor Nogwaja Shadrack Zulu visited the Journalism department yesterday for a thought provoking talk on culture, language and the media. He is part of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural Religious and Linguistic Communities and a lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In the beginning of his speech he spoke about the current state of the media.

Commissioner Zulu listening to comments from the audience 

“There are papers that I buy that are interested in headlines, there’s an act that’s developing, and we are reading these tabloids with big personalities. Some of the stories about the farm people who are working in farms that are still oppressed by these farmers, nobody talks about them, nobody, it doesn’t exist in the media.”

He preached about the importance of a person’s right to privacy and dignity referring to the revealing now defaced painting of President Jacob Zuma and the current case on the topless pictures of the Dutchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton. He emphasised the need for a balance in our democracy and a responsibility to each citizen not to abuse the rights enshrined in our constitution.

On the topic of language, he didn’t believe indigenous languages are facing any form of threat or challenge by virtue of the first newspaper being written in an African language and the first English newspaper being written by a native South African and the arrival of John Dube with his paper, iLanga laseNatal. But he did note the colonisation of South Africa has played a role in how we view and perceive our language and heritage.

He concluded by stating the need for people to understand that South Africa does not have one culture, instead it is a diverse country with different heritage, religions, colours and cultures. And not just in South Africa but Africa as a whole.

“We are connected, we are one because we are South Africans, we are the same and we are all human.”