In a week where the former president was sentenced to jail time by the Constitutional Court for contempt of the court, it has been good to reflect on the role of the courts, civil society and the media in keeping the country afloat.
This Professor Anton Harber did at the induction meeting last weekend, held on a Friday evening instead of the usual Wednesday morning.
That was the penultimate meeting of the month and therefore of this Rotary year.
Yesterday's meeting, although still in June, heralded a new era for New Dawn, hopefully an exciting and fulfilling one. Thanks to Judy Sligcher to agreeing to run the meetings for the first month. She'll be followed by Carol Stier, also a past president and then others depending on availability.
President Ian Widdop, who continues as president for the next Rotary year, addressed the club passionately on the great achievements of the past year, made more remarkable by the fact that he started his term at the height of lockdown a year ago and ends it as a third, even more deadly, wave sweeps across the country and is causing havoc in Gauteng.
President Ian's address has been circulated to club members, so if you couldn't attend the meeting, read it. If you did attend, read it again.
Anton Harber spoke about his new book, So, For the Record, Behind the Headlines in an Era of State Capture and said it emphasises the best and the worst of South Africa. He sees it also as an opportunity to give readers a close look at how journalism works, of how wonderful journalism can be, but also how damaging it can be "when they get it wrong".
The book, he said, is an appeal to journalists and editors to slow down, to not publish anything where the facts have not been verified. So, for the Record concentrates on three stories: The so-called Cato Manor death squads, the Guptaleaks story that brought the once powerful family and the president and cabinet ministers, parastatal heads and others they manipulated, to a fall; and SA Revenue Services' supposed Rogue Unit.
He described his task with the book as investigating the investigators.
He remarked that social media has taken away a lot of the power and influence that editors once held. These days, if an editor gets something wrong, he or she is bound to be called to account almost immediately.
He said it is important that all of us become more media literate and he hopes his book will contribute to this.
Three members, intrepid travellers all, introduced themselves during the meeting on Wednesday and told the club a little bit more about themselves, so necessary in these Covid times with meetings on Zoom lacking the personal touch.
Gavin Atkins moved from Durban to Johannesburg, to Hong Kong and Brazil and back to Johannesburg. Gavin started off as an IT specialist in ATMs for banks and has ended up as a skilful project manager.
He told the club that he'd moved to Hong Kong to join his brother, during which time he had the opportunity to travel in China before that country had fully opened up to Western tourism. After Hong Kong he again followed his brother and business partner, this time to South America.
He met his Italian born wife after returning to South Africa in the late 90's and they now have two children, a daughter at UCT and a son at school.
Peta Thomas is a Zimbabwean by birth. She left 20 years after independence because of the dire circumstances there, but says she remains a Zimbabwean at heart. She now teaches a group of PhD students at the University of Johannesburg
Peta has travelled all over the world, most notably to Bhutan, a tiny Bhuddist kingdom in the Himalayas, bordering China. She also co-owned a bartending school in California, not a skill most people would be able to put on their CV.
She has also travelled in the Caribbean and to many African countries like Rwanda, Kenia, Zambia and others.
Jenine Coetzer went from the Free State, where she was born, to Stellenbosch and then Namibia before settling for work at the SABC in Johannesburg. There she soon joined Channel Africa (in 1989) and remained until being unceremoniously dumped (retrenched) late last year.
During her time at the SABC she travelled all over Africa, often under the auspices of Gift of the Givers, a very influential force for good in the South African humanitarian sphere.
Jenine is a former Vodacom Journalist of the Year in 2008 for her reporting on the Zimbabwean election. She says she and her husband, Steve du Plessis (an ex-New Dawner) are hanging around in Johannesburg and might relocate to Hermanus in a year or so, where she inherited a holiday house from her parents.
The New Dawn order for 160 blankets was finally ready during last week and Lee Ndlovu of Auckland Park Accommodation went to great lengths to see that they were collected and delivered to Woodside Sanctuary in Cottesloe and the 5 Cees in Yeoville/Berea.
They were gratefully received, so many thanks to all of you who contributed.
As is obvious from the photo above, Woodside has taken all possible precautions to prevent Covid from entering. The handover was done outside in the street, the closest Lee or I got to the front door. Paul Kasango sadly reports that Covid has since struck at Woodside and has caused predictable chaos.
Ajith and Sarah Sunker say the 5 Cees has coped with the death of Pastor Mike Sunker and is soldiering on. Ajith is considering establishing a trust fund in his father's name.
As can be seen from the above, New Dawn featured prominently in the handover from Annemarie Mostert to the new District Governor, Dr Stella Anyangwe of the Rotary Club of Pretoria West and an old friend of our club. The recognition was for, amongst other things, membership growth and our continuing contribution as a club to the Rotary Foundation.
President Ian Widdop was recognised by IPDG Annemarie Mostert for exceptional leadership and this blog as the second best in D9400.
Carol Stier was also recognised as a Major Donor to the Rotary Foundation.
Covid and the club: Lucille Blumberg had a short message for the club for her (almost) weekly Covid update: Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. Lucille said the third wave we're currently experiencing hasn't reached its peak yet. The Delta mutation has proved to be super transmissable and the high rate of cases is a reflection of a vaccine programme that was too late and not enough.
She and colleagues have been looking after hundreds of patients. Lucille said if members contracted Covid, they should contact her and she'd try to help.
And finally: The take up for the Superbru fundraiser has been quite slow, so do register and take part (after depositing your R100 per tournament into the club bank account). You could win a cash prize for guessing either/or the Lions rugby tour match results, the outcomes at Wimbledon or the various Tour de France stages.
Carol Stier has the details if you can't follow her instructions on WhatsApp.
A Thought for the Week: Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. - Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
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