Audio: Nelson Mandela’s first official press conference after his release in 1990

source: Festival Karsh Ottawa

!!SPECIAL FROM THE BUSH RADIO ARCHIVES!!

Audio from the first Nelson Mandela press conference held at Bishop Court after his release (12 February 1990).

This is an edited version of a Bushblog post: Nelson Mandela speaks

67 more minutes of activism #Mandeladay

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Some of the Bush Radio trainees and volunteers joined in on the 67 minutes of community activism protest at Parliament, calling for a stop to necklacing and asking parliamentarians to help address the issues of poverty in our communities – an underlying cause of crime.

Related:

Making every minute count – #madiba67

Nelson Mandela speaks

Making every minute count – #madiba67

Bush Radio staff and interns devoted their 67 minutes of work for Mandela Day to St Anne’s Homes on Monday the 18th July 2011. The team spent the morning face painting, story-telling and playing. The children also received soup (kindly donated by Cyrildene Fisher) and party packets at the end of the morning.

The team enjoyed themselves, and have signed on to to arrange even more of these activities in future.

Related posts: Lending a helping hand

All pictures: A.Louw

Jack Parow to Chuck D, find it here

Have you been looking for some of the videos of artists recorded at Bush Radio?

Check out the Bush Radio YouTube channel.

Since 2008, we have been posting video clips of some of the happenings at Bush Radio on local video and photo sharing site Zoopy. The company has recently changed direction (see Bizcommunity) and due to several requests from listeners we have launched a YouTube channel.

You will still be able to find some of the old videos, special audio clips and we will continue to post new ones.

So whether it is; Jack Parow talking about rock music and big guys, Byron Clarke performing his amazing Cape Town anthem, how we teach children radio and media  , Illuminati Getuies (above) or the funny Buy Nothing Day ads they all here.

You can check out the videos on your computer or phone.

News in a language you understand

Ofentse, Khanyisa, Kim and Nomava who are training at Bush Radio

The young Bush Radio newsteam 2009/10 which is composed of 2nd-year journalism students learning their craft live on the station have been covering their first State of the Nation address. Check out the coverage on their blog.   

They are also hosting a special reaction to the show this Friday, 12 February 2010. They have invited politicians, civil society and of course will be getting your opinions. Tune into 89.5 FM or listen online from 09h00 – 12h00.

Nelson Mandela speaks

source: Festival Karsh Ottawa

Today Bush Radio celebrates with the rest of the world the 20th anniversary of the release of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela from prison. This morning Victor and Shiraaz paid tribute to him and we also managed to find his first press conference audio in our archives (See below).

Listen to a clip from the breakfast show – CLICK HERE

!!SPECIAL FROM THE BUSH RADIO ARCHIVES!!

Audio from the first Nelson Mandela press conference held at Bishop Court after his release (12 February 1990).

Dennis Brutus: A hero remembered

by Khanyisa Tabata & Adrian Louw

Prof Dennis Brutus

Family and friends of South African poet, teacher, activist, and a fighter against oppression Dennis Brutus gathered at the Iziko Museum in Cape Town on Wednesday, 6 January 2010 to pay tribute to this remarkable man.

Dennis Vincent Brutus was born on the 28 November 1924, Harare, Zimbabwe (formerly Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia) to South African parents. His parents moved back home to Port Elizabeth when he was 4 years old.

In 1959, Brutus helped form the South African Sports Association as founding secretary. In 1962, he helped form a new group to challenge South Africa’s official Olympic Committee. The organization, the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee, of which he was president, persuaded Olympic committees from other countries to vote to suspend South Africa from the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.

In 1970, the group gathered enough votes from national committees, particularly those in Africa and Asia, to expel South Africa from the Olympic movement.

He was also a member of the Anti-Coloured Affairs Department organisation (Anti-CAD), a group that organised against the Coloured Affairs Department through which the nationalist government attempted to institutionalise divisions between blacks and coloureds.

He was arrested in 1960 for breaking the terms of his “banning,” which were he could not meet with more than two people outside his family, and convicted to 18 months in jail. While trying to escape, he was shot in the back at point-blank range. While recovering from the wound, Brutus was sent Robben Island for 16 months.

Brutus was forbidden to teach, write and publish in South Africa.

His first collection of poetry, Sirens, Knuckles and Boots, was published in Nigeria while he was in prison and received the Mbari Poetry Prize, (an award to black poets). He declined the prize because of the racial exclusivity of the prize.

After he was released, Brutus left South Africa and in 1983, he won the right to stay in the United States as a refugee.

He continued to participate in protests against the apartheid government while teaching in the United States.

He returned to South Africa after his “unbanning” by the SA government in 1990 and was based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he often contributed to the annual Poetry Africa Festival hosted by the University and supported activism against neo-liberal policies in contemporary South Africa through working with NGOs.

At an induction ceremony in 2007 into the South African Sports Hall of Fame, he publicly turned down his nomination, stating, “It is incompatible to have those who championed racist sport alongside its genuine victims. It’s time—indeed long past time—for sports truth, apologies and reconciliation.”

In the memorial Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane described Brutus as fearless, a hero who served people selflessly.

Ndungane added that Brutus will always be remembered.

Brutus died on 26 December 2009, at his home in Cape Town, South Africa. He is survived by his wife, May; two sisters; eight children; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

A selection of audio clips from the memorial service:

Archbishop Ndungnane

Frank van der Horst (Sports Administration Community)

Professor Kader Asmal

James Matthews

Tony Brutus

Poems by grandchildren and closing

Greg Brutus

* The original version of this story was published by Bush Radio News