Latest news with #Gounden
The Citizen
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Durban shines bright at 13th annual Sari Stroll
THE power of unity and sisterhood was on full display at the 13th annual Sari Stroll in Durban on Sunday as scores of women, from different races, cultures and backgrounds, rejoiced in the momentous event. The sea of colour moved in waves along the promenade, from the Bay of Plenty to Suncoast, with songs of praise, chatter, and laughter providing the perfect soundtrack to the walk. Event organiser and founder, Kamlesh Gounden, said the Sari Stroll is the perfect way of showcasing Durban and its culture. She said, 'Today we are walking together as one, there are no racial lines or divides. It's nation-building in a sari. It's Durbanites celebrating, the power of women. There is no better way to celebrate than by bringing our culture together, a melting pot of wonderfulness.' Gounden said the Sari Stroll was established in 2010, to celebrate 'our diversity' as a nation. It has since grown in size to accommodate over 1000 walkers who receive a free sari to wear during the 1km walk. Also Read: Sari Stroll returns to the Golden Mile The event is normally held in September, but this year it was moved to August to coincide with Women's Month and the celebration of Raksha Bandhan, a significant Hindu festival celebrating the brother-sister bond, which was observed on August 9. 'It just made sense to celebrate both, at the same time, with the addition of marking 165 years since the arrival of indentured labourers. The turnout is amazing, and good to see that so many people came out to have fun and enjoy this event,' said Gounden. Among those who were in attendance was eThekwini Municipality chairperson of Community Services Committee, Councillor Zama Sokhabase, who was accompanied by the acting director of Recreation and Parks, Dr Zakhi Mkhize. She praised the event organisers for hosting the Sari Stroll and uniting the people of eThekwini. Her sentiments were shared by Jo Rushby, the owner of Ike's Books on Florida Road. She said, 'I live nearby and every year see the Sari Stroll and this year I knew I had to come out and experience it. I'm glad that I came. It's amazing and everyone is welcoming and happy which is lovely to see. The vibe is amazing and it's all just perfect.' For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Click to subscribe to our newsletter – here
The Citizen
09-08-2025
- The Citizen
Umgababa victims remembered this Women's Day
THIS Women's Day, Renegades Search and Rescue's Dawn Gounden has issued a heartfelt appeal to the public, authorities, and relevant stakeholders to recommit to the fight against violence, particularly the violence that targets women, children, the elderly, and other vulnerable members of society. Also read: Security guard in court for murder of grannies Her call comes exactly two years after the brutal killings of Zanele Mbuso and Monica Xulu, who were murdered at an Umgababa daycare centre where they worked, on August 9, 2023, Women's Day. Their bodies were discovered days later in a shallow grave nearby. A 60-year-old man, employed as a security guard at the centre, was arrested, tried, and sentenced to two life terms for the crime. Despite the heavy sentence, Gounden said the families of the victims remain deeply affected, and justice has felt elusive. 'Their deaths remain a stark and painful reminder of the gender-based violence that continues to claim lives, even among the most vulnerable in our society. To this day, their families continue to struggle with the devastating loss. The emotional scars have not faded, and healing has been slow. What was once a time for celebration and recognition of women has become an annual reminder of grief and unanswered questions,' she said. Gounden emphasised that the memory of Mbuso and Xulu endures through ongoing calls for justice and meaningful change. 'Let their lives not be forgotten, and let their deaths not be in vain,' she said. For more South Coast Sun news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox. Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
IOL News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Freedom Charter at 70: tapestry of hope
Ladies from various community groups at Kliptown. Image: Supplied AS SOUTH Africa, this Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, adopted on June 26, 1955, in a defiant gathering in Kliptown, Soweto, it is timely to interrogate its legacy not with nostalgic reverence but with the sharp lens of critique. The Freedom Charter was born of a radical imagination. The activists gathered there dared to envision a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, prosperous, and egalitarian country. It remains the cornerstone of our nation's constitutional democracy and its rights-based ethos. Yet, this document, hailed as a beacon of liberation, casts a long shadow over a society fractured by enduring inequalities, where the widening gap between rich and poor mocks the charter's lofty promises. To reflect on this milestone is to confront the paradox of a nation that celebrates its democratic triumphs, while wrestling with the reality of unfulfilled aspirations. The Freedom Charter was no mere political manifesto. It was a subversive act of collective dreaming, woven from the aspirations of the African National Congress (ANC), South African Indian Congress (SAIC), Coloured People's Congress, and Congress of Democrats. South Africans of Indian descent, in whose veins ran a century of resistance against colonial indignities from indenture to segregation, were integral to this tapestry. Activists like Swaminathan Gounden, a worker from Durban's industrial heart of Jacobs, embodied the courage of the marginalised. At great peril, Gounden slipped through the apartheid state's surveillance to attend the Kliptown gathering, a journey fraught with the risk of arrest or worse. The Congress of the People was organised by the National Action Council, a multi-racial organisation that later became known as the Congress Alliance. It was held in Kliptown on June 26, 1955, to lay out the vision of the South African people. Swaminathan Gounden was one of the Natal delegates who attended the Congress under the leadership of Archie Gumede. Image: Swaminathan Gounden Collection His return to Faulks shoe factory was met with swift retribution - dismissal for daring to dream of a world where 'the people shall govern.' Such sacrifices were not isolated. Among the apartheid regime's repressive responses was the 1956 Treason Trial, preceded by lightning arrests that ensnared 156 activists, including Chief Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, and Indian African stalwarts like Monty Naicker, MP Naicker and Kay Moonsamy. The trial, intended to smother dissent, instead amplified the Charter's rousing call, exposing the moral bankruptcy of a system that equated the fight for social and economic justice with treason. Since 1994, South Africa has drawn on the Freedom Charter's lofty promises, enshrining its principles in the 1996 Constitution - a document lauded for its progressive ideals such as an independent judiciary, a vibrant civil society, freedom of faith, and the dismantling of racial hierarchies. Indian Africans, once relegated to the margins in the obscene racial pecking order, have carved spaces in the nation's political and economic fabric. Census data points to the fact that people of Indian origin have been net economic beneficiaries of the democratic state on a scale second only to those of European descent. Yet, this narrative of progress is haunted by a brutal truth - South Africa is among the world's most unequal societies, its Gini coefficient a statistical indictment of a dream deferred. Delegates from Natal at Kliptown for the signing of the Freedom Charter. Image: Supplied The opulence of Zimbali's villas stands in sharp contrast with the squalor of Cato Crest's shacks. Unemployment, officially upwards of 32%, ravages black youth especially, while land reform and wealth redistribution, which were central demands of the Freedom Charter, are caught in bureaucratic red tape and elite capture. The ANC, once the standard-bearer of liberation, is being suffocated by corruption. Its moral authority has been eroded by governance failures that have left the 'born-free' generation grappling in large part with economic despair. Should today's youth honour the sacrifices of Goonam, Gounden, Luthuli, and that golden generation? Young peoples' discontent has been channelled into movements like #FeesMustFall, which echo the Freedom Charter's demand for accessible education. Yet, others, burdened by the immediacy of survival, dismiss the Freedom Charter as a relic, its promises hollowed out by a post-apartheid state that has traded revolutionary zeal for compromises with traditional and new elites. Struggle veterans, Judge Thumba Pillay, from left, Kay Moonsamy, and Swaminathan Gounden at the Passive Resistance Monument marking the occasion of the 60 anniversary of the Freedom Charter. Image: Kiru Naidoo Social media is a vocal outlet for their disillusionment, with hashtags demonising political and economic grandees. This generational rupture threatens to sever the connective tissue between the struggle's heroes and a youth population that feels betrayed by the very democracy they inherit. The state has failed to translate constitutional rights into tangible material benefits. There has instead been an inordinate focus on the burgeoning (and unsustainable) social welfare system as a breathing valve to hold the poor at bay. Judge Albie Sachs with delegates from the South African Indian Congress SAIC at Kliptown. Image: 1860 Heritage Centre To read the Freedom Charter in 2025 is to ponder a text that is both prophetic and accusatory. It prophesied a South Africa free from apartheid's straitjacket, a vision partially realised in the nation's democratic stability. In a world convulsed by war from Ukraine's battlefields to Gaza's ruins to the Congo and Sudan, South Africa's upholding of the rule of law and constitutionalism is no small feat. Yet, the Freedom Charter also chastises with its words, translating into a mirror reflecting the nation's failure to bridge the gulf between rich and poor. The struggles and sacrifices of those who fought for freedom compel us to ask - what does it mean to honour a struggle when its fruits are so unevenly distributed? Hope lies not in blind optimism but in the radical act of reimagining the Freedom Charter's possibilities. South Africa's people must reclaim the courage of Kliptown - its defiance, its unity, and its insistence on justice to forge a future where the people truly govern. Selvan Naidoo Image: File Kiru Naidoo Image: File Selvan Naidoo and Kiru Naidoo are co-authors with Paul David and Ranjith Choonilall of The Indian Africans, published by Micromega and available at * The Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal will host a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter with the launch of veteran activist Saro Naicker's biography, Love for Learning, at 6pm today (June 26) on the Westville campus. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. THE POST
IOL News
12-06-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Wade Gounden's emotional redemption at the Comrades Marathon
Wade Gounden holding his medal with his friend Keshav Maharajh, who introduced him to running. Image: Supplied Last year, Wade Gounden did not complete the Comrades Marathon but this year, the 25-year-old returned to redeem himself. He earned a Vic Clapham medal, having completed the race in 11 hours and 55 minutes. The Vic Clapham medal goes to those athletes who finish the race between 11 and 12 hours. Following the race, Gounden went directly to Hare Krishna temple in Chatsworth to give thanks. 'I usually visit the Lord on Sundays. Unless I'm racing, I go for the 7pm aarti (prayer) after I'm done with a race. My friend Keshav, who introduced me to running some years ago, managed to get me to the temple in time to say thanks to Krishna, who handled every aspect of this race for me. He helped me with my entry to my shoes to my accommodation and support. All he left me with was the fun stuff, like training," said Gounden. 'I was just happy I got to take something back to Lord Krishna - my medal - to give thanks. There were a few times towards the end of the race where it felt like my body was moving for me." Speaking about the race, he said: 'There's always the daunting mileage that's always ahead of you. I also had to fight off a new level of pain for a longer period compared to previous races. It was the first time I had competed from darkness to darkness with starting early in the morning and finishing in the evening. It was the longest time on the move I've ever done. 'Almost everything brought an experience. The Comrades Marathon is an iconic worldwide event. The startline, the people both racing and cheering, the amount of work I put into training, and finally having the opportunity to reap my fruit. The scenery, the amount of love and support I got from so many people was insane. It was like an experience out of a movie. It was truly one of the most memorable experiences of my life." He said finishing the Comrades Marathon brought on a mix of emotions, happiness, pain and passion. 'There were a few moments when I did not think I would finish. It was a daunting race from start to finish but you just move with faith rather than fear and don't stop no matter what negative thoughts fill your mind.' Gouden said everyone was proud of his achievement. 'Everyone is super proud of me. I'm over the moon about completing the Comrades. I feel I can only claim redemption once I've beaten the up-run, which was what beat me before.' He said hours of training helped him reach victory. 'I did a lot of extra mileage and also introduced more speed sessions. Lord Krishna himself put me on a race weekend training plan of dry fasting for at least 12 hours before the race. It helped detox and clear my system as well as prepare my mind.' Gounden said no one should give up on completing the Comrades Marathon.
