Understanding tenses

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0YOUYXyBahZMFRMZWxCWGdzMGs/view?usp=sharing

Active and passive voice

Using Thinking Maps for clear, precise thinking

Visual Literacy: Refugee crisis. Sensitive readers are cautioned.

There has been a growing awareness around the Syrian refugee crisis. It is important to note that one of the most pivotal moments in the campaign to raise awareness around the refugee crisis took the form of a tragic photo of a child. The power of imagery often surpasses the power of words.

Consider this image and what makes it so powerfully moving besides the obvious.

Why do you think this image evoked so much emotion, while images such as the following, did not receive the same level of emotion and horror? Is their tragedy any less? Why did their deaths then not inspire action like the death of Aylan Kurdi?

Some inspiration

Missing but found

I'm back! With a few hiccups, walking down paths I shouldn't have and meeting people best left 'unmet' I am back to business! It's good to be back.

When will this horror end? When will South African women feel safe?

As South Africans decry the scourge of rape, a three-year-old Limpopo girl has She was allegedly raped by a relative. NASHIRA DAVIDS

And as 17-year-old Anene Booysen, gang- raped and "slaughtered" last week, was being buried on Saturday, Cape Town police found the body of a teenager in a drawer . She, too, had been raped.
Today, two suspects will appear in the Bredasdorp Magistrate's Court, in Western Cape in connection with Booysen's rape and murder. Two men will appear in the Dutywa Magistrate's Court, in Eastern Cape, one for the rape of a half-blind and deaf grandmother, the other for the rape of a disabled 21-year-old woman in Eastern Cape.
Booysen's rape and murder sparked a national outcry and her story made international headlines, cementing South Africa's reputation as the rape capital of the world.
President Jacob Zuma has added his voice to the condemnation and has called for the "harshest sentences on such crimes".
The DA wants specialised sexual offences courts reinstated.
Even the UN has condemned the high level of sexual violence in South Africa.
But, despite the protests and demonstrations, the rapes have continued.
Yesterday, community members helped Mankweng police, in Limpopo, arrest a 20-year-old who allegedly raped a three-year-old on Wednesday.
The toddler was left in his care when her mother went to work. The child told her mother of the assault and the police were called in. The child was admitted to Mankweng Hospital.
"Doctors said she is fine. Her parents have received counselling," said police spokesman Constable Moses Molepo.
In Scottsville, Cape Town, a 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday.
"I can confirm that a murder and rape case is under investigation by the Kraaifontein police after the body of a 19-year-old woman was found yesterday afternoon at 3pm in the drawer of a bed," said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut.
On Thursday, a 69-year-old grandmother was raped in Thaleni village, near Dutywa. Her alleged attacker was found sleeping in her bed.
On Saturday, a 44-year-old man was arrested for the rape of a 21-year-old disabled woman in Sinqumeni village, also near Dutywa.
DA MP Debbie Schafer said: "One of the critical changes that must be made is the reinstatement of the specialised sexual offences courts.
"Though this will certainly not solve the rape crisis on its own, it is vital to provide a deterrent to would-be rapists. A clear message must be sent that rapists will be arrested and convicted if they commit this offence."
Lifeline East London campaign coordinator Lorainne Macdougall said South Africa's rape statistics were "terrible".
According to the police's 2011-2012 crime statistics, just under 65000 sexual offences were reported nationally - half of which involved children.
The offences include rape and attempted rape.
C hildline spokesman Joan van Niekerk said that though South Africans are good at "posturing" and politicians at making speeches, campaigns such as the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children have made "no difference" .
"I am not convinced that, with [Booysen's] murder, we have [become] activated as a country. We do a lot of posturing but [take] very little action," said Van Niekerk.
"So we want to see action. We want to see changes in the application of the law and we want to see further reform of our Sexual Offences Act. We need better-trained police, further law reform and the application of laws that have been passed."
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution said that the brutality of Booysen's violation showed that rape was not a crime of sex but of violence.
Three men have been arrested for Booysen's murder. Two are expected to appear in the Bredasdorp Magistrate's Court today; the other one will appear tomorrow.
It is reported that Booysen identified one of her killers shortly before she died.
Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution's researcher and analyst Nomboniso Gasa said: "There are hard and urgent questions that must be answered. We must ask why we have such low levels of arrest and conviction of those responsible for these crimes?"
Yesterday, trade union federation Cosatu called on people to march to the Bredasdorp police station to deliver a memorandum of demands to the police and the Department of Social Development.
"We need to demand that the government, [and] political and business leaders, co-ordinate our response to this crisis," the memorandum read. - Additional reporting by Michelle Solomon and Zwanga Mukhuthu

Stop the xenophobia!! Caution: Disturbing images

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa appears to be going out of his way to create obstacles in the Western Cape. Earlier this month, he described the province's Community Safety Bill - which allows the Western Cape to monitor the police - as unconstitutional.

He threatened court action if it went ahead.

Yesterday, Mthethwa's office responded sharply again - to an initiative by Western Cape premier Helen Zille, who has been pressed by community leaders to deal decisively with the escalation of vigilante action in Khayelitsha that has resulted in the necklacing of nine people so far this year.

Instead of offering constructive ideas on how to deal with this grotesque act, Mthethwa's spokesman described as "disturbing" the setting up of a commission of inquiry into the violence.

For Zille, it is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.

She is regularly accused of not delivering to the black citizens of the province, but when she attempts to do so, she is portrayed as a political opportunist.

The suggestion of an inquiry into the violence and lack of proper policing in Khayelitsha did not come from Zille. It came from the Social Justice Coalition with whom she had conferred on Friday.

But instead of its suggestion being welcomed, we have an ANC minister whose grandstanding is likely to cost lives and further expose the residents of Khayelitsha to the risks of becoming victims of both crime and vigilante action.

What has Mthethwa done, beyond one visit to the township, to chastise the residents for this trend of necklacing?

Zille, at least, is trying to take action - and rightly so.

Necklacing cannot be allowed to continue and neither can the high rate of crime.

It is part of Mthethwa's brief - as national minister of police - to ensure that the entire country's population is safe - and that certainly should include the Western Cape.

More Zapiro ads for you to analyse and enjoy

More Nandos ads

Nandos is notorious for pushing the envelope when it comes to its ads. Sometimes politically incorrect or risque, their ads are often censored. Take a look at these ads, and decide whether they take things a little too far. The humour in many of these ads can only be appreciated if you are aware of current affairs. Some of these ads stretch back a few years, but see whether you can relate them to a particular context. Other ads shown here use pun to create humour.

Should they have banned this Nandos ad for xenophobia?

Fast-food chain prints frames from controversial TV commercial in newspapers after South African broadcasters refuse to flight it

TREVOR NEETHLING

Published: 2012/06/11 05:09:08 PM

Media Editor

NANDO’s has taken to the newspapers to get its latest advertisement to the masses after the controversial new campaign was banned by South Africa’s three TV broadcasters.

On Sunday, the fast-food chain took out full-page advertisements, worth hundreds of thousands of rand, in the Sunday Times and City Press.

Broadcasters e.tv and DStv both pulled the advertisement last week, a few days after the South African Broadcasting Corporation decided not to air the advertisement at all, stating its "xenophobic undertones".

Nando’s, which has developed a reputation for social commentary through its marketing, has said the aim of the advertisement is to show the absurdity of xenophobia.

However, the three broadcasters said the advertisement could be misinterpreted and stoke xenophobia in a country with a history of violence against foreign nationals.

In Sunday’s newspaper advertisement, which Nando’s called "the pro-diversity ad broadcasters don’t want you to see", the TV commercial is displayed in still pictures.

Nando’s said this gave viewers the right to choose, unlike the SABC, DStv and e.tv, which "made the decision for you".

"Unlike our broadcasters, we’re giving you the right to choose," the advertisement reads.

The commercial opens with foreign nationals illegally crossing the South African border, followed by a voice-over that says: "You know what's wrong with South Africa? It's all you foreigners."

It then shows foreign nationals including Chinese, Indians and even Afrikaners disappearing in puffs of smoke. Finally, the only person left is a traditional Khoisan man who says he’s not going anywhere.

Dirk Dijkstra, head of communication at Ensign, the multi-channel media agency, said the banning of a TV advertisements did little to prevent its message.

"Banning the advert merely makes people want to see more of it, and they’ll turn to social media channels to access the content," he said.

Since the advertisement was banned, it had been viewed more than 250000 times online, Mr Dijkstra said.

When doubt is good - Jonathan Jansen

One of the memorably dishonest words used by apartheid politicians when under fire from critics was "categorically".

With that single word the charge of torture of detainees or military excursions into bordering states or the official incitement of violence in townships was dismissed: "I categorically deny that ."

What that infuriating word reveals is a much deeper fault-line in our democracy - a rigid, unyielding dogmatism that becomes especially aggressive when under threat.

It is not only in politics that this crude attachment to singular truth expresses itself; our religious organisations are steeped in an intimidating fundamentalism about right and wrong. Schools insist on pedagogical routines that discourage doubt, reflection and uncertainty in a facts-driven curriculum. When our first-year students returned from their study abroad experiences, I asked them what the one difference was between US and South African campuses.

Their answers were consistent: "In US classrooms students ask questions." Our incapacity for a reflective doubt was viciously exposed during the Spear saga. The hardline positions were cemented quickly.

Those who refused to bend to the certainties of the masses incited into action by their political masters were to experience the most aggressive intimidation, bullying and outright threats targeting ordinary citizens since 1994.

The editor of a newspaper buckled under political pressure; otherwise sensible journalists changed their minds in the heat of opposition; and the owner of a gallery apologised feverishly for the offending artwork with the disciplining politician by her side. The artwork must be destroyed on native soil, says the minister of higher education; no, the entire gallery must be destroyed, says his junior party sidekick.

The shift from reasoned arguments about dignity and artistic expression to raucous calls for the destruction of artwork was swift.

Once the emotional link was made to our hurtful history, the space for reason was shut down. It was as if this country never had a vicious history of censorship in which other dignities were suppressed. There should have been reason for pause, extended dialogues on freedoms in tension as we sought to make sense of the challenges offered by TheSpear. But where a nation is so cocksure of itself, doubt gives way to danger.

Yet the main lesson of The Spear is the failure of education. Our political conductors took advantage of this, and appealed to the rawest passions of a semi-literate chorus, no doubt sensing opportunistic advantage on offer to a party that fails to deliver on the basic education needs of the poorest among us. It is the cynicism of this political silencing of doubt that should concern us.

A few days later a senior politician made a public call to university leaders for more intellectuals in society, having just driven one of them, the scared artist, into hiding. Here is my concern: there will be more Spears, in a manner of speaking, to challenge our certainties.

The next time round we will be much more fearful to challenge boundaries, to question authority, to express dissent. We will, and should be, scared.

When Harvard president Drew Faust was recently asked what one book she would recommend to students, she chose Kathryn Schulz's On Being Wrong since "it advocates doubt as a skill and praises error as the foundation of wisdom" in line with her encouragement to students "to embrace risk and even failure".

I would add to that curriculum the movie Doubt and The Lives of Others. These different texts teach complexity and question certainty.

They put a hold on destructive emotions and force us to rethink starting assumptions. How could schools and universities encourage a pedagogy of doubt? Teach using questions rather than assertions.

Encourage curiosity about everyday problems. Show the complexity in what appears to be simple. Take time to draw out different perspectives on what is taken for granted.

Demonstrate uncertainty, even doubt, in your own teaching rather than assume you must know all the answers. Withhold judgment and allow students to draw their own conclusions as you guide them through rival bodies of evidence. And follow that Finnish maxim: less teaching, more learning.

This will take time, and it will be difficult. One teacher doing this will be isolated, but it's a start. University students come to class wanting "the notes" and insisting on "the scope of the exams". Our young people have long been socialised into social and educational dogmas.

The more we change - teachers, parents and priests - the better prepared the next generation will be to reverse our slide into barbarism.

Cartoon analysis

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Brilliant photography to inspire you, mesmerise you and make you think!