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The Citizen
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Big in Japan! Springbok Jesse Kriel speaks Japanese like a pro — and Faf? [WATCH]
'Jesse san': Bok player Jesse Kriel scored big time with fans when he spoke Japanese fluently in an interview. Springboks Jesse Kriel and Faf de Klerk during an interview in Japan. Kriel runs with the ball during the NTT Japan Rugby League One match between Yokohama Canon Eagles and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay in February 2025. Picture:Springboks player Jesse Kriel is not only versatile when it comes to the game of rugby — darting around the field as utility back, centre, wing or fullback. Throughout the years, he has also emerged as a man who can speak in 'many tongues': From English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa…and now Japanese! 'Konnichiwa': Jesse Kriel and Faf de Klerk in Japan The 31-year-old rugby player currently plays for the Canon Eagles in the Japanese Top League in Yokohama, Japan. Kriel also scored some bonus points with his fans recently when a video interview of him speaking Japanese resurfaced on TikTok. He is joined in the studio by fellow Springbok Faf de Klerk, who also runs out for the Canon Eagles. In the clip, De Klerk has clearly not mastered the intricate language, while Kriel spoke it fluently, conversing at length with the Japanese rugby commentator. WATCH: Jesse Kriel and Faf de Klerk speak Japanese… isiXhosa? No problem! Last year, a clip of the powerhouse utility back speaking isiXhosa went viral. Jesse Kriel speaks isiXhosa during his interview with Springboks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick. Picture: TikTok/ In the video snippet posted on social media by SuperSport, Jesse is interviewed in isiXhosa by Springboks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick on their team's 2024 season. Take a look… 'Growing the De Klerk team' Meanwhile, Faf is 'growing the De Klerk team', with the blonde scrumhalf's wife, Miné, announcing over the weekend that she is expecting the couple's second child. Faf and Miné, who welcomed their first daughter, Remi-Ré de Klerk, in February last year, shared that they are expecting another baby girl. 'Surprise! We're growing the De Klerk team! Big Sister Duty: Pick the Faffie of our new teammate… another girl on the way,' Miné captioned her Instagram Reel. Hier kom die Bokke! Kriel and De Klerk have been included in the Springbok squad, which will face the Barbarians in their first encounter of the season on South African soil in Cape Town on Saturday, 28 June, where they will play for the Qatar Airways Cup. This will be followed by back-to-back Tests against Italy in Pretoria and Gqeberha on 5 and 12 July, and Georgia in Nelspruit a week later on 19 July. Springbok squad Forwards: Juarno Augustus (Northampton Saints), Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Renzo du Plessis (Lions), Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Neethling Fouché (Stormers), Cameron Hanekom (Bulls), Jean Kleyn (Munster), Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (both Sharks), Wilco Louw (Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi, Ntuthuko Mchunu (both Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Retshegofaditswe 'Ox' Nché (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls), Vincent Tshituka (Sharks), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Cobus Wiese (Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks). Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi (both Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Jaden Hendrikse, Jordan Hendrikse, Ethan Hooker (all Sharks), Quan Horn (Lions), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Manie Libbok (Stormers), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Ntokozo Makhaza (UCT), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morné van den Berg, Edwill van der Merwe (both Lions), Damian Willemse (Stormers), Grant Williams (Sharks). NOW READ: Evan Roos called up to Springbok squad
IOL News
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- IOL News
uLuntu Lwethu: The Stories That Shape Us
When people come together behind a brand, it builds a legacy, but when people come together to share their journey authentically – it builds more than just cars, it builds communities too. Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) is proud to shine a spotlight on their community, the community behind the brand, through the compelling six-part docuseries, uLuntu Lwethu ('Our Community' in isiXhosa). As a brand that is conventionally defined by its products and prestige, uLuntu Lwethu focuses on the human stories behind the brand, highlighting its six-decade-long contribution to society and transformation in South Africa, particularly in East London where the manufacturing plant is based. MBSA understands that meaningful transformation starts with people. It is in the meaning of the docuseries title that it is a community of people coming together, working together to build and produce the world's most desirable cars. This collaborative project is testament to highlight the many incredible stories of people who are impacted and transformed by the footprint of Mercedes-Benz. It demonstrates that 'Our stories are not only important, but they are beautiful, reflects MBSA employee Sivuyile Tafeni.
Miami Herald
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Trump Highlights South Africa's ‘Kill The Boer' Chant: What To Know
In a tense White House meeting with South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa, President Donald Trump showed footage of two South African politicians chanting "kill the boer, the farmer." The chant is a legacy of the struggle against white majority apartheid rule, and Trump asked president Ramaphosa why they had not been arrested. Ramaphosa met with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, amid high tensions between the two countries, namely over America's classification of Afrikaans farmers as victims of a "white genocide" and "refugees." When the pair got to this topic, Trump paused the meeting to play a video that alleged "white genocide." The four-minute clip featured a series of snippets of Jacob Zuma, the head of uMkhonto weSizwe (once the fighting wing of the African National Congress), and Julius Malema, the head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), chanting "kill the boer, the farmer" and talking about land expropriation—an issue that has plagued South African politics since the end of apartheid just 31 years ago. Ramaphosa responded, saying that the speeches by the growing opposition party leaders shown in the video were "not government policy," adding: "Our government policy was completely against what he (Malema) was saying." "They are a small minority party," Ramaphosa added, before attributing the killing of white farmers to "criminality in our country." South Africa's Minister of Agriculture John Henry Steenhuisen also responded, saying: "We have a real safety problem in South Africa. I don't think anyone wants to candy-coat that." He later added: "The two individuals that are in that video that you've seen are both leaders of opposition minority parties in South Africa uMkhonto weSizwe under Mr. Zuma and the Economic Freedom Fighters under Mr. Malema." "Now the reason that my party the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has been an opposition party for over 30 years, chose to join hands with Mr. Ramaphosa's party was precisely to keep those people out of power." When a member of the American press asked Ramaphosa if he denounces the language used in the video, he answered: "Oh yes, we've always done so … we are completely opposed to that." Trump then interjected with the question: "But why won't you arrest that man?" South Africa's courts have been grappling with this question for more than two decades—here is everything you need to know about it. The phrase originated from an anti-apartheid isiXhosa protest chant— "Dubul' Ibhunu," which translates directly as "kill the boer." It was chanted in protest against white minority rule, which enforced segregation and denied South Africans of color basic political rights, freedom of movement, access to quality education, health care and land It was widely sung throughout the 1980s and 1990s, during the peak of the anti-apartheid struggle. Malema started singing the song again in 2010, when he was the head of the ANC's Youth League, according to South African outlet the Daily Maverick. In response, the Afrikaans civil rights group AfriForum took Malema and the ANC to court which was the start of a long-standing legal battle about the chant that was ruled on by the Supreme Court on March 27 this year. Although the South African Supreme Court ruled on this case just a few weeks ago, issuing a final refusal of leave to appeal, the crux of the case was decided in 2022, when the Equality Court of South Africa ruled that the chant does not constitute hate speech. Malema argued that the chant was not literal, rather that it was "directed at the system of oppression." As an example of this, he told how, "when Black police drove into the Black townships with police vans, they used to run and say there comes the 'Boers' even when there were no white people in the vans," Judge Edwin Molahlehi summarized in his judgment. Malema "testified that he understood (the chant) to be referring to farmers who represent the face of land dispossession." Malema "also accepted that the chant was intended to agitate and mobilize the youth to be interested in the struggle for economic freedom," Molahlehi wrote. Meanwhile, Afriforum argued that the chant is "sung in a climate or environment where farmers are frequently tortured, and murdered and thus that is good reason to believe that the words chanted by Mr. Malema and EFF call on people to kill farmers and amounts to the promotion of hatred on the grounds of race and ethnicity and constitutes incitement to harm." While Molahlehi found that the chant "may well be found to be offensive and undermining of the political establishment," he ruled that Afriforum could not "show that the lyrics in the songs could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to harm or incite to harm and propagate hatred." The decision has not quelled the controversy around the chant, with the DA, South Africa's long-standing official opposition party, saying in a statement earlier this year that it has "no place in our society, regardless of any legal ruling on its constitutionality." "This type of divisive language is not just damaging on a local level, it has international repercussions as well," the party said. "South Africa's reputation on the global stage is at risk when such hatred is openly condoned, making our country more vulnerable to external scrutiny." "We cannot afford to further polarize our society or undermine the international standing we've fought so hard to build," it added. Newsweek has contacted Ramaphosa's spokesperson, via email, for comment. Related Articles Trump Administration to Tackle Billions in Medicare OverpaymentsKremlin Reacts to Report Trump Told Allies Putin Is 'Winning'Trump's Approval Rating Soars Among HispanicsVideo of Theo Von Saying US Complicit in Genocide Viewed 18m Times 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Daily Maverick
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
SA fisher-led nonprofit Abalobi hopes to reel in huge global prize with tech-powered approach
The company's approach to sustainable fishing and helping small-scale fishers thrive has netted it global recognition as a finalist in the 2025 Global Food System Challenge. Abalobi ('fishers' in isiXhosa) is a South African social enterprise that aims to revolutionise the way we catch and buy fish – and its modern app-based approach, which connects local small-scale fisher groups with shops, chefs and anyone who wants to buy fish, is already having a global impact. Abalobi has just been named one of four finalists for the Grand Prize in the 2025 Global Food System Challenge. The Muizenberg-based nonprofit, whose model has been piloted in more than 10 other countries, aims to transform the lives and livelihoods of the world's 500 million small-scale fishers by helping them to manage climate change and protect their employment. Abalobi is fisher-led and its vision is 'to cultivate thriving, equitable and climate-resilient small-scale fishing communities' by supporting small-scale fishers along the entire South African coastline to fish sustainably while continuously improving their fishing practices and earnings. Its tech platform and programme connects fisher groups and, increasingly, fisher cooperatives with markets, training and financial services. 'Fish with a story' is the South African brand for the fish that gets channelled through the Abalobi Marketplace app, which connects buyers and sellers, putting 'traceable, storied seafood supplied by local small-scale fishers' in the palm of your hand. Abalobi Marketplace also offers additional technology to fishers and is used in other parts of the world. One can also shop without the app via the 'Fish with a Story' webshop, online via Babylonstoren or in person at Checkers and other smaller brick-and-mortar shops. 'We had this 'aha' moment seven to eight years ago,' says Serge Raemaekers, one of Abalobi's founders and its executive director. 'You go to restaurants in Cape Town, even branded or marketed as restaurants where you can eat seafood from South Africa, but the main items on the menu are not from fishers landing their catch nearby. 'The prawns are from Asia, the salmon is from Norway or Scotland, the squid is from Patagonia, the hake is from trawlers or longliners. You do not easily find products from the fishers who are literally fishing a couple of miles from those restaurants.' Raemaekers, a group of fishers and University of Cape Town colleagues, including Abalobi cofounders Abongile Ngqongwa, now director of partnerships, and Nicolaas Waldeck, now food security programme director, were at the time (in 2017) working in a research programme at the university that focused on the 'co-production of knowledge'. 'At the same time,' Raemaekers recalls, '[we were] working with all these fishers catching these [fish] species and logging them, and we thought, hey, we don't have enough fish markets in South Africa where these worlds come together, so in the absence of that, why not create a virtual marketplace?' And thus Abalobi was born, meeting the need for small-scale fishers in South Africa to sell their wares, and the needs of local restaurant chefs, supermarkets and any home cook with a smartphone – now countrywide – to buy fresh, sustainably caught fish (Abalobi delivers). 'For small-scale fishers,' Raemaekers says, 'the biggest [issue] is they think there's a price [for their catch], but once back at the harbour, that price is way lower or there's not a market for what they have. 'On the other hand, restaurants are saying, 'Yes, I want to support small-scale fishers but I don't know where to go'.' With there being about 500 million small-scale fishers around the world, Raemaekers, who has a PhD in fisheries science from Rhodes University, wanted to understand certain aspects of the industry. 'How do you connect with communities that have deep, rich, local knowledge? What was going on in coastal communities, socially, economically, in the roles of women, in food security?' he explains. 'How do you bring that knowledge in a respectful way to the table? How do you bring that important information into a fisheries-development approach? How do you support the livelihoods of half a billion people while also protecting the oceans and marine life? 'Globally, in the ocean and climate emergency, for the 500 million people around the world who are fishing as small-scale, subsistence, artisanal fishers, how do we support them on their journey towards sustainable livelihoods?' Raemaekers asks. 'For us that's the most important aspect of this ocean and climate emergency.' How Abalobi works Abalobi 'tries to do three things well', Raemaekers says. First, data collection and data-driven tools and analysis, codesigned with fishers, to help them improve their fishing business and practices. Second, skills building – mostly training via hybrid e-learning. Third, connecting fishers with a dependable and transparent marketplace. Practically, the 'data' bit is shorthand for a vast range of digital tools (including apps such as WhatsApp and data visualisations) to help fishers articulate their work and collect and analyse data on their catches and their businesses. 'We spend a lot of time engaging with fishers around the notion that data is power,' Raemaekers emphasises, 'and if you use it, you can move the needle on a lot of things.' Skills building has evolved into an extensive e-learning programme. It includes coaches working with fisher groups on digital literacy, financial management, marketing, conflict resolution, organisational development and climate change. And, piggybacking on the data and skills aspects, Abalobi enables a hugely expanded marketplace for the fishers. 'To really unlock opportunities in fishing communities, we've built a marketplace that connects all these fisher groups with you and me, with retailers, with exporters,' Raemaekers explains. What does this mean for consumers wanting to buy fresh fish straight from the source? In short, they can ask an app to alert them to a particular type of fish when it's caught, place an order and have it delivered to their door. It's local, sustainably caught, reasonably priced fish harvested by small-scale fishers. The fishers receive fair prices for their low-impact catch without a middleman gouging their share or inflating the price to the consumer. They also get skills building, cumulative data collection on their catches and their revenues, and guaranteed access to a national marketplace – not just the quayside sales at the harbour from which they may or may not make a living, and have no guarantee of sales or of the volumes a buyer may want. (Pre-orders from larger buyers help with that.) For the fishing communities of all the participating fishers (Abalobi welcomes anyone who wants to participate), it also means enhanced food security through programmes that so far have benefited 8,000 beneficiaries to move from being food insecure to food secure (having access to adequate food at all times). 'We were working with groups of fishers who were codesigning [with us] and they were starting to use [our] mobile apps to record expenses, catches, income – it was an accounting tool but then it was also aggregating data,' Raemaekers says, explaining how an academic project turned into a vibrant and growing social enterprise. Registered as a nonprofit in 2017, Abalobi, through Raemaekers and cofounders Ngqongwa and Waldeck, started to raise more funding, which allowed more people to work full-time. 'Suddenly we had some staff and needed to stand on our own feet. There was momentum, fishers liked it – it was not just a research project,' Raemaekers says. 'They wanted to use it every day… and we knew that to grow it, it needed funding.' At that point 'it had a boring academic name, but as the fishers started engaging with it, they started calling it Abalobi'. Making an impact The organisation now employs 50 people full-time and another 70 part-time, with a particular focus on women in fisher communities. It supports 27 fisher collectives in South Africa and Kenya (a total of 7,322 small-scale fisher beneficiaries). Its impacts – checking the social, economic and ecological boxes – include annual revenues of almost $2-million, of which $1.67-million is channelled directly into small-scale fishing communities. Abalobi's list of prizes and accolades is long and illustrious, and includes the Earthshot Prize ('Revive Our Oceans' finalist); World Economic Forum-UpLink (UpLink Innovator); Ocean Resilience Innovation Challenge (winner); and the Zayed Sustainability Prize (Food Prize finalist). Raemaekers became an Ashoka Fellow in 2024 for 'disrupting the traditional seafood supply chain and changing consumer behaviour by empowering small-scale fishers with data-driven technology, direct market access and the necessary tools to run sustainable, ethical and profitable fishing businesses'. The winners of the Global Food System Challenge 'Seeding the Future' prizes will be announced next month, say its organisers, the Institute of Food Technologists and the Van Lengerich Foundation. But winner or not, Raemaekers, Waldeck and Ngqongwa are keeping their eyes on the real prize. 'We're honoured to be named a finalist in this process,' Raemaekers said on hearing the news. 'This kind of recognition supports the hard work of a lot of fishers, fishermen and fisherwomen, who have put in the hard work to get us to where we are – their efforts to drive ocean sustainability really matter. 'And hopefully, it helps to connect with and convince a whole lot of other players within this ecosystem that this is worth pursuing.' DM The overall winners of the 2025 Global Food System Challenge will be announced in June. Thirteen winners in three categories will each be awarded part of $1-million in prize funding, and a peer-reviewed, interactive database will showcase their innovations in forums such as the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and its World Food Programme. This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
Daily Maverick
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Judicial Conduct Tribunal highlights contested gendered and cultural understandings of emojis
Complicating matters at the hearing are completely divergent understandings of a range of emojis, from eggplants to peaches, from a dripping syringe to 'pervy' eyes, that shot between the Judge President and the legal secretary. Much is invested in the process and outcome of the Judicial Conduct Tribunal of Judge President of the Eastern Cape, Selby Mbenenge. This week, postponing the tribunal until 30 June, the chair, retired judge Bernard Ngoepe, repeated evidence leader advocate Salomé Scheepers' statement at the start of proceedings in February that the matter was 'unprecedented in the history of South Africa'. The complainant, 40-year-old legal secretary Andiswa Mengo, has accused the head of the Eastern Cape Division, Judge President Selby Mbenenge, 63, of sexually harassing her in a series of WhatsApps in 2021. At her side is formidable advocate Nasreen Rajab-Budlender, while Mbenenge has advocates Muzi Sikhakhane and Griffiths Madonsela in his corner. Both men, too, are formidable, but in quite a different fashion. Complicating matters are completely divergent views on gendered, linguistic and cultural understandings of a range of emojis, from eggplants to peaches, from a dripping syringe to 'pervy' eyes, that shot between the Judge President and the legal secretary. Power dynamics Most professional workplaces in South Africa have protocols and principles governing the role of leadership in hierarchical structures. This is something Rajab-Budlender has pointed out from the start. Yet this obvious power imbalance appears not to have moved Mbenenge's legal representatives, who have argued that Mengo had agency. They objected to proposed evidence to be presented by gender expert Dr Lisa Vetten, questioning its relevance. On Tuesday, Ngoepe ruled that Vetten would be allowed to testify and that he would 'rather err on the side of caution'. The tribunal could decide afterwards whether it was indeed relevant, he said. Language in pictures Last week, forensic linguist Dr Zakeera Docrat gave expert testimony with regard on the contexts of the WhatsApps between the Judge President and Mengo and the meaning of emojis. The YouTube transmissions of the tribunal have been marked 'GRAPHIC CONTENT' as a pre-warning to those watching the live proceedings online. Docrat had testified that Mbenenge's use of a banana, peach, eggplant and dripping syringe emojis had 'sexual connotations' and indicated that he wanted to be intimate with her. 'This was not a discussion about vegetables.' Docrat, who speaks, reads and understands isiXhosa, testified that Mbenenge's advances were unwanted and Mengo's responses – often featuring 'hysterical laughing' and 'embarrassed monkey' emojis – were because she did not know how else to react to his advances as he was her boss. Mbenenge, through his counsel, has admitted sending some of the messages and claims the relationship had been consensual. However, he has denied sending her a picture of his penis or asking her for oral sex in his chambers. The outcome of this tribunal will send a message to women and men about working rights in professional circumstances. In a country plagued by misogyny and patriarchal proprietary inclinations, the ruling must protect those with less agency. DM
