Innehållsförteckning för Issue 302 2021 från The Big Issue

Picking through South Africa’s history in preparation for this issue has revealed many curious stories. But what makes a moment significantly historic? History is a record of the passage of time marked in some way or other that accounts for events as they happened, not as we would have liked them to have happened. With that in mind, we have gathered those old and new stories that best represent what The Big Issue is all about. Roots, that signify the past, and shoots, the new. But first, a bit about our cover image. National Geographic photographer, Thomas P. Peschak, who lives in Cape Town, photographs ocean images with integrity, empathy and respect. His new book Wild Seas is a glossy collection of images which pays respect to our natural heritage,…

“The exposure that comes with accessing recreational facilities broadens minds ... Access to recreational facilities and services helps with the improvement of the general health, well-being, and the skills development of individuals. Yet these are not easily accessible to everyone, especially children from impoverished backgrounds in South Africa, the children of our vendors included. Poverty makes them socially excluded. Social exclusion, though complex, incorporates the inability of one to participate in the social activities available to many people in society, such as accessing recreational facilities. This poses many disadvantages for them. They lack the exposure which limits their interests and possibly skills they could develop. The exposure that comes with accessing recreational facilities broadens minds and it can spark some interests which can then be developed to become skills. Taking…

Thank you to the reviewers at The Good Book Appreciation Society, without which, these pages would not have been possible. White Trash by Terry Angelos, reviewed by Nancy Richards I thought “Digging up my past has not been easy” was a bit of an understatement from Terry Angelos, who notes that writing a book is often compared to birthing a child – and she would know. White Trash covers her descent into the ‘seedy underbelly’ of life as a 20-year-old high-class call girl in London – no easy ride. Luckily, as she wrote, she had not only her husband to ‘hold her hand and wipe away her tears,’ but midwife-publisher Melinda Ferguson who encouraged her to push hard and harder, till, I would imagine, the last drops of blood, sweat…

LET’S BAKE! Christmas sugar cookies 1. Use a spoon to mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until there are no lumps. 2. Add the two eggs and vanilla and mix everything well. 3. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to form a dough. 4. Put it in the fridge for 20 minutes. 5. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean surface. Use a rolling pin or bottle to roll the dough out until it is thin. 6. Cut out the shapes you like. 7. Bake for about 7-8 minutes at 200 degrees C. Get an adult to help. 8. Remove from the oven and cool. 9. Decorate with anything festive and delicious! Ingredients ¾ cup margarine or soft butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs ½ teaspoon vanilla…

Born in Benoni in 1928 Percy Tucker was of Lithuanian descent. A pioneer in the entertainment industry in South Africa, Percy’s love for the theatre began when he was a child. As a boy he was taken to see British singer, Gracie Fields, on stage in Benoni. He was mesmerised and would forever after be bedazzled by showbusiness. Devoted to the entertainment industry, he worked backstage for various theatres while studying for an accounting degree at WITS University. Businesslive reports that he would get up at 4am to catch a train into Joburg to collect tickets there for Benoni theatre enthusiasts. After camping out on a pavement in a queue over a weekend to collect tickets on a Monday morning, he was enraged to discover that the ‘cheap’ seats for…

Gennaro’s recipes are big on flavour without the heaviness of too much fat, intriguingly simple, and the ingredients easily available. In his words the end results are, “So good!” He is, after all, Jamie Oliver’s mentor. You’ll find recipes like Gelato al Parmigiano e Limoni (Parmesan and lemon ice-cream) which combines sweet and savoury, an increasingly popular trend in Italy. For a twist on the classic Christmas trifle, try Gennaro’s version instead, with the fresh flavour of lemon. What else? Gennaro’s Limoni: Vibrant Italian recipes celebrating the lemon by Gennaro Contaldo (Pavilion Books). ZUPPA INGLESE AL CIOCCOLATO E LIMONE CHOCOLATE AND LEMON ITALIAN TRIFLE Zuppa Inglese has nothing to do with soup as its Italian title suggests, and I am not sure how the name came about, but with the…

“The artist who aims at perfection in everything achieves it in nothing.”– EUGENE DELACROIX How did you come to join The Big Issue as art facilitator? In early 2010 The Big Issue urgently needed a teacher for the art programme, and Ray Joseph on the board contacted me as he knew I had completed a training to facilitate art with adults. I met the team and a few days later there I was, running an art session. I was a little nervous in this new territory, but the first session went well. The vendors were kind and helped me relax. Now I could share with so many the gift of the way of working that had changed my own life: Bridging Polarities through Art, brought to South Africa by three…

Dear Readers We are living in interesting times. We hope. The recent local government elections have indicated that the establishment is ripe for the small to disrupt. This, in a way, reflects the theme for this edition, ‘Roots and Shoots’. Our editorial is focused on how, in these times, many of us, our institutions and organisations included, are asked to evolve and adapt in a Darwinian manner to the new realities we face as a society and a civilisation. We highlight a few of the entities who have done exactly that, including The Big Issue itself. In addition, we have created our own new ‘shoot,’ the little issue magazine – 120 000 little issue magazines are distributed nationally, free of charge, to more than 300 primary schools and ECDs in…

The late great Johnny Clegg was born in England on 7 June 1953. He grew up in Zimbabwe and South Africa and spent a formative year in Zambia as that country transitioned to independence in 1964. Together with Zulu musician, Sipho Mchunu, Johnny formed the multiracial band Juluka. They toured all of South Africa, performing in township halls and at music festivals. The song Scatterlings of Africa, a hit in 1979, launched their international career. Johnny Clegg died on 16 July 2019, leaving his wife Jenny, and sons Jesse and Jaron. EVOCATIVE MUSIC As a 14-year-old, Johnny listened to Zulu street music as plucked by Charlie Mzila on the strings of a guitar one evening outside a corner café in Bellevue, Johannesburg, describing it as a ‘magical’ moment. The success…

It was a typical morning on a normal day at primary school, in Johannesburg – the weather though, a bit nippy. I warmed my school uniform on the Capil heater. (Who knew that asbestos was toxic? Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why I’m ADD.) I ate my ProNutro, or it might have been Jungle Oats, or Weetbix, and drank my milk from the bottle that miraculously appeared at the front door every morning. While I was having breakfast we listened to Springbok Radio. At the time the news was normally followed by the weather report. Stuck in the back of my little brain I can clearly remember the way in which the weather was presented. The announcer would say, “From Port Alfred to Port St. Johns, partly cloudy and…

Emmanuel Rassou, a Grade 11 learner from the South African College High School in Cape Town, received a gold medal and was declared the Overall Winner of the Senior Division of the Old Mutual South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO) recently. Noah Greenblatt, a Grade 7 learner from King David Primary School in Linksfield, Johannesburg, was declared the Overall Winner of the Senior Division of the NESTLE NESPRAY South African Mathematics Challenge (SAMC). SAMO is a high school competition, and SAMC a maths challenge for primary school learners. Both are organised by the Maths Foundation and their award ceremonies are held at the same function each year. They are designed to address non-curricular mathematics, which is different from the standard mathematics taught at school. This advanced maths requires problem-solving skills to…

Hout Bay, Cape Town Who: Joseph Klink, vendor number: 207 Location: Hout Bay Resides in: a retirement village in Bonnievale. Joined The Big Issue: almost 25 years ago. He became a vendor a year after the magazine opened in South Africa. At that time Joseph had been living on the streets for five years after he lost his job as a seaman. About: Joseph has been with The Big Issue for a very long time. He started selling in Woodstock, moved to Wynberg and now sells in Hout Bay. He recalls that when he started selling, he would earn R1 per magazine. Now this has become R12.50. Despite the hardships that he has faced living on the streets, plus many health complications, he says, “I can’t give up. As long…

Here are snippets from the book, as written by Johnny, published by Pan Macmillan, and available via www.panmacmillan.co.za Charlie Mzila and Walking with Songs It was 1967 in apartheid South Africa and I was 14 years old, living with my mother in the working-class white suburb of Bellevue. I had been sent up to the local corner cafe to buy milk and bread. Outside the cafe stood a young black street musician. He was leaning against a classic red English telephone booth with his guitar strapped over one shoulder. He was playing a complicated rhythmic picking line in a kind of absent-minded way. A Map for Manhood Most of my life I have felt a kind of internal rootlessness, a result of my upbringing in three different countries – Zimbabwe,…

Thousands of high school learners across the country have completed their exams in what has been yet another immensely challenging academic year. With sporadic school closures owing to the pandemic, children have had limited time inside the classroom. At Optimi Classroom, we have been focused on helping schools across the country in their catchup efforts by advocating for the likes of diagnostic testing to help determine gaps in learners’ knowledge, investment in extra classes, intensifying parent involvement, and the use of supplementary educational material. Over time and with an intensified effort, we can get our children back on track. 1 Rereading is just not enough When it comes to preparing for exams, simply rereading material can be a superficial process. What is more effective is that learners should take the…