The Eerie Truth

The war in Israel has been going on for more than a century and with the time that has passed a strong party has appeared as a dominant figure and has started to oppress the weaker minority. Journalists around the world have described the events in Israel as heinous and that what the Israeli’s are doing to the Palestinians, is exactly what the Apartheid government had done to Africans, Coloureds and Indians.

It is outraging that with a history of segregation; South Africans have adopted a wait and see approach to what is happening in Israel. The world listened as we asked for international solidarity and even with reluctance from the world’s power states the United States Ronald Reagan and United Kingdom’s Margaret Thatcher; they too eventually relented and supported the downfall of apartheid, causing the South African economy to plummet.

Now as South Africans we should unite and show solidarity to the Palestinians in their time of need. We need to be proactive and not reactive, so this means that each individual South African can do their part by boycotting all Israeli products, services and companies, as well as not promoting tourism for the country. We in a new age, we saw the lotus revolution, we were part of the revolution all from the safety of our homes or offices because of social media, let us use our social media networks to show our solidarity.

Now South Africa all I am saying is that we should not be quick to forget our past and how we owe our appreciation to the world, and should a country ever need our help we should not hesitate. A neat and thoughtful letter from the African National Congress is not sufficient and cannot exempt a nation from support. 

When one of my favourite twelebrities (a new term used to describe people made famous by twitter. Twitter + Celebrity = Twelebrity) is hosted by the University of the Free State to present a guest lecture about his book “There’s a Bantu in my Bathroom”, you do need to guess who was first in line.

The lecture was presented at the Mabaleng Auditorium, it started at exactly 7pm. Eusebius McKaiser enters the auditorium and there us a roar of applause from the quite surprisingly full venue, he graces us with a smile and thanks us for attending. To my surprise he is quite formally dressed in a suit but no tie, this totally distorts the image of him in my mind.

The lecture was refreshing and it was quite thrilling to be confronted with issues we would rather not discuss and considering the history of our university, race was the touchiest topic. The whole venue was cringing, I know this because I too was cringing and deflecting my embarrassment with uncomfortable chuckles. Once the race issue was done we eased back into the lecture conversation ranging from non-service delivery, the dreaded affirmative action, BEE and as well as the inequalities in our society that affect both Black and White. Mr McKaiser was eloquent and charming, as well as very funny even at the most uncomfortable times. This lecture was one of the best lectures I have attended on campus, next to the late Chinua Achebe’s lecture which was presented in 2012.  

It is a windy and very chilly autumn day, not that this is shocking in Bloemfontein at this time of the year. She never ceases to amaze me; Rianie Kriel comes strolling down the sidewalk as cheerful as ever despite the gloomy weather. In typical Rianie style, she stops me mid-sentence and asks if I have a cigarette, I cannot help but oblige her. Rianie Kriel is a third year B.A Media Studies and Journalism student at the University of the Free State. “I’ve always been a super musical person “she says as she takes a deep drag. Rianie has a voice that most people would dream for and her accolades are proof of this.

She has been part of the UFS choir for almost 3 years; she also participated in the nationally acclaimed SERnade and competed against the best universities in South Africa.

“My mother has always nurtured my talent from a young age, I mean with the endless piano and violin lessons, I think my mother wanted me to become the next Beethoven or Mozart or something” she says rolling her eyes.

Rianie says that she loves a good party and being a Sonnedou girl at heart, she goes crazy for the boys at VERITAS. Rianie is also a woman of many talents she became Sonnedou RC Culture last year and she lights up as she speaks about finally getting to lead a SER launch and not only be a member of the group.

When asked about what’s on agenda for 2014, she simply laughs and calmly says who know maybe I’ll be as famous as Adele!

I was born on the 19th of January 1990 and I was raised by my Pastor father and my teacher mum. My childhood was spent playing on the not so dusty streets of Pimville, Soweto. Tales about my formative years are not as intriguing as the tales I can tell you about myself now. I have never been good at describing myself and for most of my life I have always avoided the high school essay of about describing myself or the cliché “your family vacation”. In a horrifying attempt here goes nothing…

My name is Oteng Relebohile Mpete, a proud Tswana girl with very little disregard for catergorising myself according to my tribe, but I am very cultural. Culture to me is as important as air, I believe in my ancestors and that shine on my life, this side is from my mother. I am also a liberal Christian, this side is from my dad. Culture incorporates Christianity while Christianity expels culture, so like expected I am conflicted by both but everything about life is about a balance. These are the two integral parts of my spirit, they define my spirit.

My soul is care-free, free-spirited, totally obsessed by Africanism and the African Renaissance. My soul speaks to my intellect, shaping my views on life, people and society in which I live. My soul loves more than it should and often hurts far more than it should but I love it that way, the ills of our society and the incredible people trying to mend and heal these ills inspire me to write from my soul and be the best journalist I can be.

Now after opening up my soul and spirit for you, i'll come back down to earth. I work and study, so I pay my own way for most things. This year university is my number one priority and graduation in September is the highlight on my calendar for 2013. Now please do read more of my blog posts…

Hello to all who are visiting my site for the first time. The Eerie Truth thing about life is that you cannot always believe what you read. Well at until now, welcome to my journalist blog.

The blog’s name comes from the bitter truth about life and the society in which we reside, the news is the one place that gives you the realities of life and hence the inspiration for the name of the blog.

The j-blog is my platform to express critical, analytic and always factual and researched opinion about the news. My j-blog will focus on the hyper local news; this simply means news that is generated from in and around Bloemfontein. Although national news will be included in the blog but it will be localised to make it relevant for you the reader.

Now you probably wondering who this blog is for exactly, it is literally for everyone who has an interest about local events and news. It is a place where you the audience can express your views and valued opinions about burning issues or even just comment on human interest stories you know the kind that warms your heart.

My aim for this j-blog is to incite topics from you the reader, I want the blog to allow for interaction amongst the readers and myself. This blog should be a community effort, so that we all contributors, so that you the reader never feels like passive participant. I value your perspective because it can add many intricate layers to a story that were never there from the start.

The Eerie Truth j-blog is a journalism blog after all; therefore it will be adhere to all the characteristics of good journalism. The news values of journalism will be preserved and lastly but not least I will remain objective and maintain middle ground between you the readers and the content that you contribute. Now with all that said let’s start this conversation…