Khanyisani Mbatha

I am Khanyisani Mbatha, an intern on Isolezwe newspaper. I was born in 1985 in Sweetwaters near Pietermaritzburg. I went to iMbanjwa Primary School, then Mthoqotho High School and matriculated at Msunduzi Secondary School. I registered at Varsity College for a diploma in journalism.

Growing up in Sweetwaters, we had no proper sports facilities and libraries so I had no direction in terms of which career path to take. But being exposed to newspapers at an early age instilled my passion for journalism. I wanted to know what was happening around me and in the world in general.

After graduating, I freelanced for a community newspaper, Taxi Indaba, which played a big part as I started getting exposure and put into practice the knowledge I had acquired. if you have not signed the treaty you are free to do whatever you want in space, nobody owns space.”

The purpose of the expedition is to establish the first human settlement on Mars and, whoever does rocket off into space, will have to collaborate to make it a reality.

What would happen if there was a war on Earth, while they were living in pods on a hostile planet, is something Marais doesn’t want to think about.

But one of the things she is forced to think about is saying goodbye to loved ones.

Young people tend to ask her about technology, and if she will have music, e-mail and movies and computer games. Older people worry more about saying goodbye to family, knowing that you may never see them again, she said.

“My friends have been fantastic. A lot of them have looked me in the eye and said ‘We know you’re gonna go’, because they really believe in me. I hope this is the track and I will eventually go,” she said.

As for saying goodbye, Marias said that it would be one of the saddest things for her to do. “But I don’t have children so I don’t know how I would feel saying goodbye to them.” She will still have to say final goodbyes to her parents, Theo, 69, and Marie-Anna Marais, 62, who live in Plettenberg Bay, as people have done throughout history when they have ventured to new frontiers.

But with modern technology at her fingertips, there will be internet on Mars, and video clip communication. There will also be uploading of YouTube videos of activities they do during the day, so it will not be goodbye for ever.