Somizi speaks out

First up, from a Sunday church service turned offensive, it’s a vote of no confidence for Grace Bible Church and homophobia everywhere. Choreographer, radio host and Idols SA judge Somizi Mhlongo stood up and walked out in the middle of a sermon, irked and repelled by the hateful remarks visiting church leader Bishop Dag Heward-Mills was making.

S o mi z i e x p r e s s e d h i s o u t r a g e on social media in an Instagram post, commenting on how the Ghanian bishop was drawing parallels between homosexuality and animals that were simplistic and problematic, but most of all violent and abusive. The debate ensued and stewed throughout Monday, and Somizi has received mixed reactions. Wouldn’t it be swell to read good news for once about churches not spraying poisonous insecticides in congregants’ faces, coercing and violating minors or spreading the kind of miseducation that cost Noluvo Swelindawo her life in the recent past?

Bring back the land

A revealing article by Khaya Sithole made its merriless way on to our Still hope: Members of the community light candles during a vigil for kidnapped photojournalist Shiraaz Mohamed at the Lenasia South Civic Centre in Johannesburg.

timelines and into our inboxes last week. It became a topic of discussion turned cutting critique that picked at wounds and ended up in a huddle of fallists around a colleague’s desk, where we ranted under our breaths about how unlucky a thing it’s often been to be black.

In short, Sithole tells the story of how several black families were dispossessed from the land on which prestigious private school Hilton College is built. These families lived on the land long before Hilton arrived and took ownership in 1872. Back then, and especially after the 1913 Land Act, the original inhabitants of the land, as black people, were turned into labour tenants and for a long time were forced to work for free in order to stay on the land.

What’s scary is how slow and ineffective the ANC government’s land reform processes have been and how much the government has failed these families, most of which are slowly dying out. The article is one sordid, endless reality check on how colonial laws have not been dismantled when it comes to land ownership.

Shiraaz Mohamed

We are going into the third week since a group of armed men abducted South African photojournalist Shi- raaz Mohamed in Syria while he was on a mission with aid group Gift of the Givers. The group says the reasons behind the abduction are unclear, but news came in on Monday that Mohamed might still be alive.

Brands and Stacey Dash behaving badly

Although the internet may seem like one big virtual party from the outside, it’s far from being your momma’s house. Especially if you’re an international brand like Puma.

It’s difficult to tell whether Puma South Africa’s Twitter account was hacked or not, because they certainly tweeted like they were invaded by