In episode five of Influential Africans, we look at the life of Cecilia Makiwane, South Africa’s first black professional nurse.
Raised in a family of academics, which was not common for Africans at the turn of the twentieth century in South Africa, Cecilia Makiwane set her path in the healthcare profession and ended up becoming the first black professional nurse in the country.
She was such a pioneer in her profession, other sources regard her as the first qualified African nurse in the entire continent.
Her dedication to her work cost her life.
For more see video below:
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SABC News reaches 1M YouTube subscriber milestone
10 September 2020, 3:57 AM
The SABC’s news division has reached a million subscribers on its YouTube channel.
The milestone has put SABC News in the forefront of digital news platforms in South Africa as the first news channel to reach these numbers in the country.
On average, the channel receives 1 million views in a 48 hour period according to YouTube analytics.
Over the years the platform has carried livestreams and breaking news which have contributed to the channel’s growth, as it serves as a news medium for people on the go.
One of the most viewed videos on the channel is a Nelson Mandela Lecture from 2018 by former US President, Barack Obama, a partnership between SABC and YouTube.
The video garnered 13 million views, making it the most viewed livestream on the platform.
In second place is the 32nd annual reed dance from 2016 with over 3 million views.
Former SABC News contributing editor, Vuyo Mvoko’s live mugging outside Milpark Hospital is the third most viewed video.
A total of 494.5 million views have been generated by content on the SABC News YouTube channel.
The channel has seen rapid growth in the last three years, having only reached 100 thousand subscribers in late 2016.
In 2019, SABC Digital News won an IAB award for best digital channel in the silver category.
SABC News YouTube channel was opened in 2012.
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Influential Africans, part 4 | Mapungubwe Kingdom
25 August 2020, 8:14 AM
This week on Influential Africans, we look at a kingdom predating great precolonial African states like Great Zimbabwe, the Kingdom of Mali ruled by Mansa Musa I, and a World Heritage Site in Limpopo, South Africa, Mapungubwe.
The Mapungubwe Kingdom is known to have existed about a 1000 years back, with a sophisticated hierarchical social structure.
Derived from either the TshiVhenda or Tjikalanga languages, speculation is that Mapungubwe (Mapungubgwe original spelling) could mean “Hill of Jackals”.
Nothing much is known about the dynasty ruling this kingdom, but archaeological finds dug up in the 1930s reveal a civilisation rich in culture, gold artifacts, and foreign trading.
For more see video below:
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Sanef honours journalists with Nakasa Award
22 August 2020, 6:13 PM
South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) has awarded all journalists in the country with 2020 Nat Nakasa Award for their brave reporting on the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement coincided with the airing of a documentary commissioned to commemorate the vital role journalists play in society.
Sanef says the acknowledgement of journalists is also to honour their on-going dedication to promote an informative and free press.
The forum’s new chairperson, Sbu Ngalwa says it makes perfect sense to recognise journalists as they are doing a sterling job in their reporting on the virus.
“Since the declaration of the coronavirus pandemic in March. Journalists have been working under harsh conditions, dangerous conditions. They have been at the fore front, telling South Africans stories of the coronavirus. And we have also lost some colleagues and also seeing colleagues go off work, have the entire section quarantined or colleagues isolating as the result of the coronavirus, but that did not stop us from doing the work that we do.”
Sanef will be celebrating the award with the screening of a documentary that celebrates journalist.
SABC News will air the docie on Sunday morning, at 9am.
Earlier on Saturday, Ngalwa was elected as the new chairperson of Sanef after the forum’s Annual General Meeting. He takes over from former chair, Mahlatse Mahlase, who is now the new secretary- general.
Adriaan Basson is the new deputy chairperson whilst Nwabisa Makunga has been elected as the treasurer.
Below is a complete list of the new Sanef member council:
Ministerial Committee on corruption is like ‘comrades investigating comrades’: Majola
7 August 2020, 9:03 PM
Leadership expert, Mazwe Majola says South Africa doesn’t need commissions and committees to probe the COVID19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) tender irregularities.
Referring to the newly appointed Inter-ministerial committee to probe COVID-19 PPE tenders, Majola says President Cyril Ramaphosa should take decisive action to deal with the rampant corruption in his administration.
“We know that President Cyril Ramaphosa loves committees, task teams and commissions. Always when he has to make a decision, he has to ask certain people first to do the work for him….so it’s a waste of time and resources really.”
He further explains that such committees cannot be objective when deciding on such matters “because comrades have all done business with the state.” “It’s like comrades investigating comrades, government investigating government…”
He quotes the ANC secretary general Ace Magashule saying ‘ANC leaders have all done business with the state.”
Majola was speaking during an interview with SABC News on Friday afternoon:
