Home

eThekwini Municipality celebrates Josiah Gumede’s life

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The eThekwini Municipality has celebrated the life of the 4th African National Congress (ANC) president, Josiah Gumede, to promote culture and heritage.

A dialogue has been held focusing on the role and impact of social media, technology and cyber-crime in society.

The dialogue has been attended by members of the community and learners alike at Ntuzuma Township, north of Durban.

Speakers have said that social media and the internet have become an integral part of society and allows for quick and easy access to information.

However, it has also negative aspects like false employment adverts, hacking and cyber bullying.

The municipality feels that not much has been said about Gumede, and should have there been social media during his lifetime, more information could have been accessed about him.

The Municipality’s Head of Parks, Culture and Recreation, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, elaborates.

“Upon our investigation, we discovered that in 1927 he was the very first person in South Africa to lead the ANC delegation to establish relations in Russia and that later on led for instance to the development of a very firm relationship between the ANC and the Russian authorities and also the SACP. Even during the exile days and that’s where they were based and got a lot of assistance. Now, we are trying to understand him in the context of today’s scenario where social media dominates; where almost every day you have a record of how you spend your life, the people that you interact with and so forth.”

Meanwhile, ICT guru at Transnet, Sindisiwe Moloi, has cautioned learners about the bad aspects of using social media.

She says using social media is good and modern because it is immediate, whilst on the other hand, it is bad in that it can be used for fraud and even identity theft.

“We need to facilitate and encourage our youngsters to ensure that they use technology positively like using the email, applying for positions, applying for jobs and even using it in advertising, or if they use it for fraud or even for the copywriters as well.”

Author

MOST READ