Graduation & Accreditation Address PRISA/ PROVOX/ University of the Witwatersrand: Mixael de Kock: Thursday, 3 April 2003

Honoured Guests

Some months ago, when PRISA invited me to be the guest speaker at this event, I fully intended for my address to be brief and to the point. But, recent global developments and the concentration of fundamentalist thinking in many parts of the world have impacted on my own sensibilities and sentiments and, therefore, my story has become somewhat longer than I originally intended. I firmly believe, however, that what I have to say to you this evening is of great importance and I respectfully ask you to hear me out.
Let me begin with a little story.

Once upon a time, in a faraway forest, there lived a bunny and a snake. One day, they happened to accidentally bump into each other.
"Oh, my," said the bunny, "I'm so terribly sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I've been blind since birth, so, I can't see where I'm going. In fact, since I'm an orphan as well, I don't even know who or what I am."
The snake replied, "I have the same story to tell so let's help each other figure out the riddle of who we are!"

"Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful!" replied the bunny. So the snake slithered all over the bunny, and said, "Well, you very well may be whatever you think you are and, you may also be what someone else wants you to be, but because I find that you are covered with soft fur; that you have really long ears; that your nose twitches; and that you have a soft cottony tail, I totally and absolutely and in truth and nothing but the truth declare you to be a donkey!"
"Oh, thank you! Thank you," cried the bunny, ecstatic at finally having found a route to its identity.

So, returning the perceived favour, the bunny then felt the snake all over, and remarked, "Well, you're smooth and slippery, and you have a forked tongue, no backbone and no balls. I'd say you must be in Public Relations, Marketing, Advertising, Journalism or Politics.”

The snake replied, angrily: “So what?!” Then coiled itself tighter around the trusting little bunny, squeezing the last of life out of the warm and furry little blind creature and then, swallowed it.

You see, the snake was never blind, never orphaned and very well knew, right from the start, that it was deceiving the bunny. It took advantage of the blind bunny’s trust when they met in that faraway forest. In fact, the snake didn’t even care about its own identity being discovered at that point, for it already had the bunny tightly gripped in its coils.

What I am going to propose to you tonight, is that that little bunny of my story, represents an unsuspecting and random public and, that no qualification in this world will prevent you, the communication professional, from becoming that snake in that faraway forest - unless you are also qualified in and have a real understanding of the meaning of the values that should be driving our direct communication of intent. And these values are: Respect, Responsibility and Truth.

But, let’s pause for a moment and look at the meaning of the word Truth. According to the dictionary it has to do with facts and being faithful, exact, correct, genuine. But, the philosophical consensus is also that truth can never be absolute and that it is many-faceted. Also, the quantum sciences state that no more than a limited amount of the truth can ever be known, for if one attempts to measure reality the very act of observation interferes with the accurate results of the experiment.

Regardless of science and philosophy, I think we all are in agreement that the TRUTH refers to ALL the facts that are known at any given point in time - not just those facts that happen to suit you or your employers or your community or your political party or whatever affiliations or strategic objectives you may have.

Having dealt with Truth, let us now reunite it with Respect and Responsibility. To these, of course, we can add words like accountability, liability, care, concern, trust, conviction - there are so many words for moral and ethical behaviour and, funnily enough, the things they describe follow automatically when Respect, Responsibility and Truth are in place. An even funnier thing is that when you put into practice those three words, together with those they attract, you have an ethical framework from which Reconciliation naturally follows.

Then what is going on in the world now? Why are these qualities absent from the global stage as its actors play out their comedy of errors?

I should like to suggest that the present state of affairs is owing to the fundamentalist way in which we have come to think and which is the reason why we no longer spontaneously include those three important words in our international lexicon. And, while this discussion centers on all forms of fundamentalism, I may as well mention that the communication abuses of fundamentalist capitalism are prime examples of the total abdication of responsibility towards its publics. And, may I also mention that I share the view with people such as George Soros and Prof Noreena Hertz of Cambridge.

Noam Chomsky, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology media theorist and political scientist, has exposed, over his long career, the way in which fundamentalist structures have evolved the science of communication. According to him, these skills are ultimately abused in a process that aims at swaying mass sentiment and manipulating public opinion in a gigantic top-down hierarchy. The “scientific method” employed is to oversimplify issues into single, easy-to-understand messaging.

This approach has nothing to do with the real issues at hand but rather reframes complex issues into headline-length, easy to photograph concepts. Thus, we have the “sound bite” – a strategy of distraction and over-simplification, which carries no real data and no information on which one can make an informed opinion.

This posturing on behalf of fundamentalist ideas, be they religious or business-related, has resulted in numb-and-dumb publics who never say: “I object” or “I don’t believe”. In fact, the public has been lied to so often - and it has been manipulated so thoroughly - that it passively accepts its relegated role of stunned onlooker. Douglas Rushkoff holds that this is exactly the point of the strategy: That citizens and consumers should not be kept informed and should be fed meaningless slogans to rally behind.

Too many communication professionals the world over, rarely question the consequences of their endeavours or even care and they persist in spreading inflated promises, be they the basic premises of fundamentalist religion or the profit-driven aims of fundamentalist economics – and it is the experts who juggle with words, incomplete sentences and inaccurate meanings –and it is they who spread the viruses, the warped values, among unsuspecting and trusting populations. The results are monstrous. One simply has to glance at one’s television screen and the images of fear, and horror and infant corpses to realise that modern-day messaging has very little indeed to do with the experience of reality.

So, why is global communication in a mess? I believe that despite all the fears, the horrors and the atrocities of history, we have learned almost nothing about the importance of accurate and unfettered communication for the smooth functioning of society. Our memories are short and in fact, history as a subject has become quite unfashionable in education. Barely decades after any self-inflicted human cataclysm, greed and opportunism start their spread again because people simply do not know the track record. For every generation there are iterative effects and all because of a lack of insight into the past. The feedback loops feed back upon themselves and, eventually, you have the cacophony of sound we hear today.

May I also propose to you that polite society - and the notion that you should always be pleasant about every issue that bugs you – is at the base of the world’s present inability to communicate directly, respectfully and honestly. We forget that being respectful, responsible and honest does not necessarily mean being impolite or unpleasant or offensive. Wrong assumptions about cooperation, discussion and resolution have given rise to the current fashion for “politically correct” speak and behaviour that each of us is expected slavishly to follow.

In the opinion of the American academic and intellectual, the late Stephen Jay Gould, the custom of acting and speaking PC merits very little commentary because no intellectual argument fuels the fashion. He says that the strategy of, and I quote: “No offence, please, we’re politically correct adopts the fully avoidant tactic of never generating conflict by never talking to each other, or speaking in such muted and meaningless euphemisms that no content or definition can ever emerge.”

Gould continues: “The American culture has actually adopted this unholy contract for many issues that should be generating healthy debate, and surely cannot ever be brought to a fair conclusion if we don’t talk to each other. [We] can only regard such voluntary suppression of discussion as a guarantee that tough be resolvable issues will continue to fester and haunt us, and as a sin against the human mind and heart.”

He asks: “If we have so little confidence in our unique mental abilities, and in our intrinsic goodwill, then what indeed is man (and woman) that anyone should be mindful of us?”

Why, colleagues, is it so wrong to use the terminology: I am unhappy, I feel shit, I am angry, I don’t agree, I protest, I am pissed off, let us solve this problem, let us talk straight. I ask you, has direct and honest language become so questionable in itself, to be minimised and dismissed as pas de rigueur?

It is clear to me that certain communication professionals conveniently and intentionally cause confusion by giving new interpretations to old and trusted meanings. When in doubt refer to a dictionary, but even so, nowadays, I find myself quite unable to reconcile the usage of certain words and concepts with their traditional or standard definitions. That which I read, that which I hear and that which I see, all have been thoroughly impoverished by abusive and careless application.

Like Shakespeare’s depressed and tired-of-life Macbeth, I too declare: “It is the tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Without flying the flag for anyone – least of all Saddam Hussein or, for that matter, Robert Mugabe, or any number of abusive rulers - I am the first to confess – and maybe because I have spotted the PR in the word Propaganda - that I no longer understand differences between words that used to be perfectly clear. I am still amazed how, in recent years, the meaning of the word “liberal” has transfigured into “conservative” and how “conservative” has morphed into “liberal”. We now happily substitute liberation for invasion, terrorism for desperation, democracy for tyranny, partisan for thug, human rights for political expediency. By what demonic process, I ask you, do the persecuted become the persecutors of the persecuted who persecute?

I now also have serious doubts about almost all reports of jubilation, joy, sorrow, life and death. Those who formulate the messages appear to trivialise the importance of either overstating the understatement or understating the overstatement – whichever is the more convenient. Mark Twain’s famous phrase comes to mind: “The report of my death was an exaggeration”.

In this game of perplexed meaning, where do I fit in and who am I? Have I any identity at all? How does the snake see me?

Am I because I think, or am I who I think I am because I don’t think, or am I who I am told to think I am, or am I because I am? Do I think I am because I am told who I am supposed to think I am? This is the mockery of your and my identity. We are subjected to intrusive and obfuscating messages, transmitted by an uncaring and opportunistic communication industry. And that industry comprises you and I - of whom it is said that we are what we think we are not!

And, it is we who bombard others with catchphrases and pay-off lies which now have come to include the superlatives to the superlatives: super super super latest now enzymes; the absolute final and last words in; the most incredible fantastic, amazing; the deepest sweetest weepiest and, in the common experience of the end-user, the saddest and the most bitter and the most irresponsible and the most disrespectful and the halfest of totally and truthfully truest untruths.

That unsuspecting bunny of my story lives under this tyranny of snake tautology. And, as if this humiliation is not enough, communication experts now collaborate with their IT brothers to devise the indignities of computerised abuse. The very technology that should liberate has been turned against the bunny and he is being used for the purposes of manipulation and dehumanisation.

Just recall the frustrations of electronic banking! And, all of us, at one time or another have been victim to the electronic voice, or that ultimate insult, the call centre. The invention of these devices, l suspect, is a strategy for hiding those who take our money and in return give nothing but bad service, bad product and bad attitudes. There is only one thing about these people we can be sure of: The communication of their intent is not honest.

You may say that if conventional protest fails you always have recourse to law. But, even that route is suspect. Party A arrives with its lawyers and PR people carrying an issue under the arm; Party B retaliates by calling in its lawyers and PR people. These tactics result in delays and the buying of time – sometimes decades – and the result is always half-baked and way too late.

I firmly believe that we create our own realities. And, civil disobedience, terrorism and revolt, often, are but the opposite and inverse reactions described by Newton’s laws – expressions of frustration and despair caused by bad communication.

As I see the world, global communication appears to have sacrificed the true values of humanity to attitudes of recklessness and shoddy talk. In the process, all of us may have even lost our sense of humour, our sense of wonderment, and, we may have exchanged compassionate survival for bloodless existence. Have we become magicians abusing our magic for the transposition of meaning rather than the transformation of society?

I am glad to live in a country where I may be at risk of many dangers - but I am not at any risk of indifference as yet. In this country we still express our feelings, speak out on issues and, we do so in a largely respectful way. And, we have much evidence of our successful communication strategies.

First and foremost is the fact, that through good old-fashioned direct talk, and against all the odds, we embarked upon social political and economic reforms which have succeeded beyond expectations and which is an example to the world. We are a kaleidoscope of cultures that live in great harmony when compared with most other countries.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was unique in that it helped explain why bad things happened to good people. Instead of being a tool for Revenge, it was Responsibly designed, Respectfully operated and the Truth, as revealed, finally led to the most amazing Reconciliation in the social and political and economic history of mankind. We confessed to our injustices and everyone could understand what and why happened and who was responsible.

The Reports of the King Commission are cited the world over when people talk about business ethics and corporate governance and appropriate communication with investors and the public. We can hold our heads high for, unlike so many other parts of the world, we have not been tarred with the brush of blatant corporate deceit as yet.

But, now is also the time for South African communicators to proceed with the utmost caution. As we increasingly turn our gaze to the outside world it is easy to fall in line with bad global communication trends. We need to be vigilant, forever on the lookout for the joker in the hand dealt to us from abroad. This joker, the card that can mimic any card in the pack, will bring misfortune and indifference to our communication structures.

On the southern tip of Africa, we experience life and death on a daily and, at times, violent basis. What happens to me and to you and to our compatriots, is integrated into the process of survival and to that reality, no one who lives here can be indifferent. Our population may be largely uneducated and living in the worst conditions of poverty when measured by First World standards, but at least here, for most of us, there still exist the basic values of honesty, respect and responsibility. And - Ubuntu! – we talk straight.

These are the qualities that differentiate us as Africans and which make us so rich. The others - the ones who have sacrificed their true values for the empty objectives of greed and consumerism or religious beliefs – they are the poor ones; they who foolishly defend the indefensible on our television screens.

And do we really care about them? The fact is that we in Africa – and that is true for the major part of this continent – we have been so marginalised by the First World that we may as well congratulate ourselves: Why even bother about their empty values of Brand Loyalty and Brand Recognition? The bottom line of course is, that most of us are too hungry, too sick, too desperate and too isolated to be of any use at all to the snake. We don’t give a damn!

I am truly grateful – irrespective of my and your individual political views – to have a President and a Country who, during the past months, have flown the flag for transparency in the United Nations Security Council. For all our political differences, and for all the unresolved issues we still face, I am confident that the majority of us applaud South Africa’s refusal to prostitute itself to the thinly veiled motives – whether of greed, political expediency or fundamentalist fanaticism – on all sides in this conflict. All of us can today stand up in any gathering in the world and declare, “I am Proudly South African!”

All of humanity stands on the brink of world domination by one victor or another. In the next number of years, it may even be decades yet, irrespective of outcomes of present crises, we are going to be subjected to domination by one or the other world power, one or the other worldview.

And, in the end it will not be the politicians and the businessmen who have envisaged this new world and, it is not they who will ultimately decide the nature of its governance; it will have been you, the Communication Professionals – the advertising executives, the marketers, the PR people, and the journalists – it will be you that would have been responsible for the creation of this new world for all living things. I therefore beg of you that in constructing this world that you will design for us a leader who will ably and accurately calculate humanity’s coordinates and, with vision and clarity, will plot the course of all of life into distant time.

In conclusion, let me remind you that mankind is but one part of an infinity of parts that make up the integrated and remarkably thin layer of life that barely coats the surface of planet Earth. Homo sapiens is also that species which has evolved to a level of intelligence as yet unattained by any other life form on this globe. For all we know it may even be the only intelligent life form in this immense universe of which not one of us can even begin to perceive of its size or its time scales.

And for us in the communication industry, it’s important to realise that nothing stands between our human intellects and our beastly instincts other than the ability to communicate. We, the communicators, share the responsibility to convey intentions directly, honestly and with respect. That is simple common sense and good manners, qualities that are the making of civil society.

It is when this ethical code corrupts – when a forked tongue conveys the message - it is then that we, the communication professionals, stand accused of the worst crimes against humanity. Because when our intent becomes devoid of basic values and our animalistic programming becomes confused with rational intellect – that is when mankind so brilliantly distinguishes itself as the one species that intentionally kills its own.

I congratulate you on your individual achievements and I wish all of you a brilliant career in communication. As a parting shot I shall quote some words by the celebrated Harvard socio-biologist, Edward O. Wilson. In my opinion, this last paragraph from his book, Consilience, is the most brilliant of all brilliant writings and the most inspiring of all visions that have come to us in the last years of the 20th Century.

“I believe that in the process of locating new avenues of creative thought, we [humankind] will also arrive at [a system of] an existential conservatism. It is worth asking repeatedly: Where are our deepest roots? We are, it seems, Old World, catarrhine primates, brilliant emergent animals, defined genetically by our unique origins, blessed by our newfound biological genius, and secure in our homeland if we wish to make it so. What does it all mean? This is what it all means. To the extent that we depend on prosthetic devices to keep ourselves and the biosphere alive, we will render everything fragile. To the extent that we banish the rest of life, we will impoverish our own species for all time. And, if we should surrender our genetic nature to machine-aided ratiocination, and our ethics and art and our very meaning to a habit of careless discursion in the name of progress, imagining ourselves godlike and absolved from our ancient heritage, [then], we will become nothing.

SECRECY BILL PROTEST PICKETS

PRESS STATEMENT from Right2Know Campaign

This serves to notify all media that the Right2Know Campaign will hold protest pickets at six separate venues across South Africa on Tuesday 22 November 2011, and from 21-23 November in Cape Town.

DATES: TUESDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2011
(Cape Town: 21-23 November 2011)

PICKET 01:
Johannesburg 08h00 – 09h00
Chief Albert Luthuli House, 54 Sauer Street, Johannesburg
For more info, contact Dale McKinley on 072 429 4086
PICKET 02:
Vereeniging 10h00 – 11h00
The ANC Constituency Office in Vereeniging - 31 Senator Marks Avenue, Vereeniging.
For more info, contact Abram Moketsi on 0838787894
PICKET 03:
Soweto 09h00 – 10h00
Soweto, at the Hector Petersen Museum square, Soweto.
For more info contact Bongani Xezwi on 0710432221
PICKET 04:
Pretoria 08h00 – 09h00
In Pretoria, outside the ANC Constituency office in central Pretoria. Address: People's Bank Building, 200 Pretoria Street, Pretoria.
For more info contact Gaahele on 0796060654
PICKET 05:
Durban 18h00 – 20h00
Durban City Hall
For more info call Des D'Sa 083 982 6939
PICKET 06:
Cape Town
(Mon, Tues & Weds)
Monday 21 Nov 13h00 – 14h00
Tuesday 22 Nov 13h00 – 14h00
Wednesday 23 Nov 13h00 – 14h00
Outside Parliament, Plein Street
(Bring ID book or driver's license to gain access to Parliament.)

The Right2Know Campaign will picket at six separate venues on Tuesday morning - a day before the Secrecy Bill is due for its final presentation in the National Assembly - in a show of outrage at the ANC’s move to ram through the Bill without the promised process of proper and meaningful public consultation.
The return of the Secrecy Bill to parliament has taken place without any of the promised processes for further public consultation, to which the ANC committed itself on 19 October, when the ANC Chief Whip's office promised a transparent and clearly road-mapped process to "ensure that as many people as possible, regardless of their political allegiance, get an opportunity to have a say on the draft legislation before it is passed into law." Communities were promised ample notice of upcoming meetings to express their views on the Secrecy Bill.
Any public engagement has now been rendered meaningless by moving the Bill back to parliament, showing the Chief Whip's promises to be utterly empty. A number of civil society voices, including the Right2Know campaign, cautiously welcomed the ANC's proposal for further public engagement, and chose to accept in good faith the ANC's commitment to such a process. This move therefore completely betrays any good faith communities had in the process.
It is crucial to point out that whatever amendments made to the Secrecy Bill prior to the finalised version now tabled in parliament were all the result of the demands and sustained pressure from a range of civil society organisations, including the R2K Campaign. Regardless of these previous amendments, the Secrecy Bill which has now been returned to Parliament by the ANC without further amendment, abjectly fails to meet many of the most basic demands of the R2K Campaign as contained in the 7 Point Freedom Test
• Harsh prison sentences of up to 25 years, with no protection for whistleblowers except for the most minor offences. Even those who harbour whistleblowers may face prison sentences.
• Anyone who comes into possession of a state secret faces up to five years in prison if they do not hand the information to police or security services.
• Last-minute drafting by the Parliamentary ad hoc committee ensured that the Secrecy Bill would trump the Promotion of Access to Information Act which promotes citizens' right to know.
• The Bill shuts off the state security agencies from any kind of scrutiny or accountability to the public.
• There is no independent appeals mechanism available to citizens who wish to access information that may have been classified as secret without justification.
The ANC’s insistence in pushing through with the Secrecy Bill in its present version, sees the dark clouds of the securocrat past gathering around us. What is particularly troubling is that this Bill abrogates the ANC’s own struggle history, its stated commitments to an open/transparent state and society and will provide the enabling (legal) framework/cover for the future use of State Security agencies for party political and factionalist purposes that could see South Africa moving backwards to the kind of secret society that so many fought so hard against.
The kind of unfortunate cheap politicking and name-calling that ANC representatives have engaged in over the last week cannot and will not cover-up for the hard fact that this Bill poses a real and present danger to our collectively hard-won democracy. Yes, we need a piece of legislation that can replace the old 1982 Protection of Information Act but no, this is not that legislation. The stakes are far too high for ours and future generations to allow this Secrecy Bill to become law; a law that has the potential to take us right back to the same secret society that we thought had been vanquished.
To voice our outrage the Right2Know Campaign will hold six separate protest pickets across South Africa on Tuesday 22 November. In Cape Town the Right2Know Campaign will picket outside of parliament from Monday 21 – Wednesday 23 November. We demand that the current version of the Secrecy Bill be withdrawn, that a process of meaningful public consultation must take place, and that the bill should meet the list of demands contained in the R2K 7 point freedom test.
For further comment contact:

National coordinator
Murray Hunter: murray@r2k.org.za or 072 672 5468

R2K Gauteng
Dale McKinley: drdalet@metroweb.co.za or 072 429 4086

R2K Western Cape

Nkwame Cedile: nkwame.cedile@gmail.com or 078 227 6008

R2K KZN
Desmond D’Sa: sdcea3@mail.ngo.za or 083 982 6939

R2K Eastern Cape
Ayanda Kota: ayandakota@webmail.co.za or 078 625 6468

www.r2k.org.za (Sign our statement)
www.facebook.com/Right2Know
Twitter: @r2kcampaign
Join the campaign - SMS 'TRUTH' and your name to 31332

The Johannesburg Press Club supports national efforts by various organisations aimed at convincing members of Parliament to not support the Protection of State Information Bill during a plenary sitting that starts in the National Assembly at 14:00 tomorrow. Tuesday 22nd November 2011.

Tomorrow is a sad day in the history of democracy in South Africa. But, it could also be a sad day for democracy... worldwide as this is a watershed moment in a country where so many has died for freedom and, where a decision has to be made in favour of democracy.

If, globally, in the very birthplaces of democracy, elected governments are being replaced by designated officials appointed by foreign governments, every citizen of South Africa must take heed and protest the case for intellect and integrity.

The bill has come a long way since it was re-introduced in Parliament in August last year.

Many organisations including the South African National Editors Forum, civil society bodies and social movements, trade unions, religious formations, academics and opposition MPs have managed to score very significant amendments while the Bill was being processed initially by an ad hoc committee. Many draconian and unconstitutional elements have been chipped away.

It does, however, remain a terrible law and the fight against it must be intensified.

After the vote the bill will be referred to the National Council of Provinces, which has the power to run its own consultation process and make amendments – so it is important that pressure is applied and kept up.

It is important that South Africans make a strong statement against the Bill tomorrow. It is even more critical for us in the media industry to do so.

We would appeal to all supporters of this initiative, particularly members of the media fraternity, to wear black tomorrow to send a strong message to the MPs who will be voting on the Bill in parliament that South Africa rejects any attempt to turn our democracy into a secretive society.

Chairman on behalf of the Executive Committee
Johannesburg Press Club

Matthew Stewart and Business Science

Most of management theory is inane, writes Matthew Stewart, author, most recently, of The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the Modern World. According to him if you want to succeed in business, don’t get an M.B.A. Study philosophy instead. It is not entirely coincidental that the rise in the glorification of Graduate Schools of Business roughly coincides with the decline in American business and finance. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/06/the-managent-myth/4883/1/

2nd QUARTER PROGRAMME - PARKTOWN & WESTCLIFF HERITAGE TRUST

APRIL - ALL DAY BUS TOUR 'RETURN TO IRENE’ AND BEAT THE TOLL ROAD! SATURDAY 2nd APRIL A further opportunity to experience the country charm of an area, rich in history and resisting, still, the encroachment of urban development. Enjoy lunch in the peaceful surroundings of Smuts House and absorb the atmosphere created by the achievements of the remarkable personality of Field Marshall Jan Smuts through an inside tour of his home (now a Museum). After a visit to the concentration camp cemetery (and fascinating talk by the present curator), a view of the original village, the day finishes with a guided visit to Irene Dairy Farm. Please note - If anyone wishes to purchase any of the delectable produce, the farm is now a “cash free" zone. Credit cards are accepted. Meet Janet Hughes and Clare van Zwietan at 08h00 as the bus will leave at 08h30 sharp. Park at the Sunnyside Park Hotel, 2 York Road Parktown. The cost is R290.00 for members and R340.00 for non-members which includes lunch and entrance fees into Museum etc. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349. NB : BOOKING AND PAYMENT CAN ONLY BE MADE THROUGH THE OFFICE ON 011 482-3349 WALKING TOUR ‘HOUGHTON LOST AMONGST THE SAINTS AND ROBERT HOWDEN’ SATURDAY, 16th APRIL We simply could not cover all the lovely homes and the oak-lined streets we wanted to enjoy on our last trip to Houghton. This time we’ll be concentrating on Ash Street and St John Road, St Mark and St David with the homes designed by architect Robert Howden, though we shall include one designed by Kallenbach as well. Some rather grand houses on the tour and lovely gardens to enjoy before autumn takes a firm grip on the oaks. Meet Flo Bird and Candice Keeling at 14h00 and park at King Edward VII School - enter from St Patrick’s Road. The cost is R60.00 for members and R80.00 for non-members. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349.

WALKING TOUR ‘ROYAL ROMANCES THROUGH THE AGES’ WEDNESDAY, 27th APRIL, THURSDAY, 28th APRIL, SATURDAY, 30th APRIL Join Dennis for a nostalgic look at Royal engagements, weddings and the occasional romance! These are special tours for those who did not receive an invitation to the Royal Wedding! Join him in a champagne toast to our newest royal couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton, who celebrate their wedding on 29th April. Formal dress is definitely NOT necessary, but as space is limited, each tour will be subject to a maximum of 18 people. Meet Dennis Adams on Wednesday 27th April (FREEDOM DAY) at 10h30 to 12 noon and 14h00 to 15h30, Thursday 28th April at 14h30 to 16h00 and Saturday 30th April at 14h30 to 16h00. Park at Darrenwood Village, corner 4th Avenue and 1st Street, Linden entrance in 1st Street for Units 50 to 183 – parking is limited so please double up if you can. Cost is R50.00 for members and R70.00 for non-members – which includes a glass of Champagne. Maximum number 18 per session. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349. MAY WALKING TOUR ‘WATER TOWERS, HIGHLANDS AND RAND VIEW’ SATURDAY, 7th MAY This tour starts with a darling – a tiny corrugated iron cottage which must have arrived in a flatpack – do it yourself. You feel on top of the world looking across from this ridge to the Townsview Water Tower and the mine dumps to the west. Some exciting Art Deco blocks of flats Sam Remo, Helvetia Court and Diamond Court and then there are the gracious Westminster Mansions looking so pretty in seaside colours which come from an earlier era. Some parts are rather shabby but others are smart in their new paint. It is an easy walk – we have chosen the flattest route –while getting the best of the Yeoville Ridge. Meet Alex Parker and Raymond Cardoso at 14h00 and park in the grounds of Clayton House 43 Jolly Street Randview. The cost is R60.00 for members and R80.00 for non-members. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349. PLEASE NOTE THIS TOUR MUST BE BOOKED THROUGH THE OFFICE ONLY – 011 482-3349 - AND PAY BY EFT OR BRING THE EXACT AMOUNT ON THE DAY.

-----oOo----- WALKING TOUR ‘NEWTON – YESTERDAY’S DOWNTOWN, TODAY’S MUSEUM TOWN … AND TOMORROW’S MODEL CITY’ SATURDAY, 14th MAY Newtown is bubbling with Museums which have some fantastic new displays for you to enjoy. They are mostly housed in grand and gigantic old buildings. This tour covers the industrial architecture and the history of the old Electricity Site and Fresh Produce Market as well as a visit to the new Geological exhibition at Museum Africa, sparkling with a sumptuous display of crystals, the Workers Museum which is an old Compound tracing life for men in Compounds from 1908 up till 1980. Then it will be time to admire the beautiful Turbine Hall, an industrial Cathedral and finish the afternoon off with the S A B World of Beer. Beer Brewing is a traditional occupation in Johannesburg and you get to taste the product as well. Newtown is also the epicentre of Johannesburg’s urban renewal, and an optimist’s view of the city of tomorrow. Meet Ed Coogan and Brian McKechnie at 13h30 in the public parking between Sci Bono and Worker’s Museum – from Jeppe Street turn left into Miriam Makebe Street and immediately right into the parking area. The cost is R90.00 for members and R110.00 for non-members which includes R35.00 entrance to the World of Beer. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349.

WALKING TOUR ‘JEPPESTOWN’ SATURDAY, 21st MAY We are venturing back to a favourite historical area. The second oldest building in Johannesburg is the Church of St Mary-the-Less 1889 which we visit and where start the story of the Jeppe family and their name sake. Amongst the Edwardian shops there are still Nineteenth Century gems The Grand Station Hotel no longer Grand or an hotel, but it is still there with memories of heaps of prawns and Norman’s Grill. There is even a sky sign advertising a bottle store, but on a charming three storey building it doesn’t offend the way the giant building wraps do today. Jeppstown boasts the biggest concentration of buildings over 100 years. They may be shabby, but they are the real thing. Meet Val Hammerton and Clare van Zwietan at 14h00 and park in Park Street between Madison and John Page Drive alongside the Park. We have organised car guards. The cost is R60.00 for members and R80.00 for non-members. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349.

BUS TOUR ‘CELEBRATING THE SCOTTISH PIONEERS’ SATURDAY, 28th MAY Spend the day with us as we trace the immense contribution made by the Scots in the development of Johannesburg, from H.B. Marshall's Marshall's Township and his other interests to some of the Presbyterian churches, Scottish memorials, homes and activities. Many of our suburbs were developed by the Scots - Craighall, Blairgowrie to name a few, and no tour would be complete without a drive through Kensington. We will finish at The View to look at their magnificent restoration and their bar will be open - drinks for your own account. Meet Winnie Job and Dennis Adams at 09h30 for prompt departure at 10h00 and park at the Sunnyside Park Hotel, 2 York Road, Parktown. The cost is R190.00 for members and R220.00 for non-members excluding lunch and the afternoon drinks at The View. Please bring a picnic lunch! For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349.

JUNE BUS TOUR ‘CATCHING THE BRT’ ELLIS PARK TO THOKOZA SATURDAY, 4th JUNE Meet David Forrest and Pascale Petit at 09h30 for departure at 09h45 at the Ellis Park North Bus Station – PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE AS WE CANNOT WAIT. Safe parking has been arranged opposite the Ellis Park North bus station and for directions call Eira Bond on 011 482-3349. The cost is R130.00 per member and R170.00 per non-member which includes bus fare, all entrance fees but NOT parking and lunch. We suggest you bring a pack of sandwiches with you; otherwise you will be able to purchase a snack along the way. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349. NB: BOOK THROUGH THE TRUST OFFICES ON 011 482-3349

BUS TOUR ‘BAKER’S EASTERN SAINTS’ SATURDAY, 11th JUNE Visit three of Sir Herbert Baker’s lovely stone churches in the mining towns of the East Rand goldfields – Benoni, Boksburg and Germiston. St Michael and All Angels, (Boksburg) was one of the largest he ever designed and in the Romanesque tradition he chose to suit the grander scale. Dr Doreen Greig described it as “displaying a high degree of beauty and drama”. St Dunstan’s Church in Benoni and St Boniface in Germiston have their own special character and it is especially interesting to see how many features they share and yet are such different buildings designed within the short ten years he spent in the Transvaal before sailing to India. This is an extraordinary opportunity for Baker fans to visit this trio of fine buildings that have stood the test of time and survive sometimes in straightened circumstances to be the pride today as they were to those early mining communities. Meet Winnie Job and Esmé Wiesmeyer at 13h00 for prompt departure at 13h30 and park at the Sunnyside Park Hotel, 2 York Road, Parktown. The cost is R130.00 for members and R150.00 for non-members. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349.

WALKING TOUR WESTCLIFF, WOOLSTON AND THE WESTCLIFF STAIRS SATURDAY, 25th JUNE Starting from The Ridge School this walk goes along Woolston Road where there are some particularly important heritage homes, then plunges down the stairs to Westcliff Drive, stopping at Kanonklip and round the koppie to Wexford Road. There is a breathing space with Alfio Torisi’s post-Modern buildings before starting the climb up once more to Pallinghurst Road with Donore and Shinglewood and then up, up, up we go once more back to Woolston Road. If you have any breath left there will be time to look at The Woolsack now The Ridge School. The elements and qualities chosen by some modern architects respond to the Westcliff ridge and architectural tradition of Arts and Crafts. Meet William Gaul and Ed Coogan at 14h00 and park at The Ridge School, Woolston Road, Westcliff where safe parking has been organised. The cost is R60.00 for members and R80.00 for non-members. For more information telephone Eira Bond (weekdays from 09h00 to 13h00 on 011 482-3349.

ON THE OCCASION OF KRYNAUW NEL’S GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS AT THE ELEGANT CHEZ GIRARD

SPEECH BY MIXAEL DE KOCK, 25 FEBRUARY 2011


Ladies and Gentleman; Friends and Family

Krynauw asked me - after his flesh-and-blood brother has spoken on behalf of the family this evening - to say a few words and propose the toast to his good health. And, I have to admit that secretly I am hugely flattered, for that means I am now publicly being acknowledged as his virtual brother!

At the same time it can be said that Krynauw is either very trusting or under the misguided impression that I am very discreet. Whichever, I am most honoured to be standing here next to him at this very special and elegant celebration tonight, calling on you to ponder with me a few ideas I had scribbled down this afternoon.

Despite mainstream financial analysts’ theory that gold has no growth prospects and no dividends, gold outperformed stocks over the past 50 years. As of the close yesterday (and actually before then), the 50 year returns for holding physical gold are much higher than the 50 year returns for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. This is not a joke and believe me, has serious implications for any investor that is actually trying also to turn a profit on friendships!

So, it would appear that it takes around 50 years for gold to prove its worth and, therefore, all 50th anniversaries - be these birthdays, weddings or the ascension to thrones - are called Golden Jubilees. Somehow 50 years is the period required for the full value of a person or an event or an object to become apparent and, therefore, it is a time for great celebration but, it is also a time to feel deep gratitude for the very value we are commemorating.

Now, in the year that I turned 50, I had to share my Golden Jubilee with that upstart Elizabeth of England – and, I must say, I was not amused. It is for that reason that today I checked the web and found that Krynauw is particularly blessed on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee in that he does not have to share his festivities with any other old Queen!

That, Krynauw, was the good news about your 50th birthday, the bad news is that, for all the advances in medicine, there is still no cure for the common birthday and they are going to recur with boring regularity for many many years to come. So, you might as well start enjoying every minute of every day – and especially now that you have become so rich in life’s experience and - as Oscar Wilde so aptly put it - no longer need to be led to temptation – seeing that you are quite capable of finding it yourself!

It is said that forty is the old age of youth; but I can assure you, that fifty is the youth of old age. And, while we can no longer make provision for a magnificent life and lofty dreams as we did when turning 21, 25 and 30, we are now perfectly positioned to ensure that the second half of our lives will be spectacular and also meaningful – and richly so right to the end.
Being 50 is all about positive thinking and, as we all know, while our friend Krynauw may engage us in an arguments about the existence of reality, the day the fan of life gets struck, he is the one with the real advice, the real support and the real love - and he takes care of each and every one of us in a very real and loving way.

Also, with all his training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, his courses in Miracles and so many other of his philosophical pursuits, he, more than most of us, knows that age is strictly a case of mind over matter and has the unique ability to make it an insignificant part of his physical existence.

But Krynauw, from the mouth of your virtual older brother and, from one whom very well knows that age is a damn high price to pay for maturity, my immediate advice to you is the following: You may age chronologically from this point onwards but it is your first and foremost responsibility to all of us to stay immature indefinitely!

There is much that I would have liked to say about the subject of Krynauw: his loyalty, his honesty, his integrity, his transparency, his responsibility to his work, his devotion to his clients, his sincerity to his friends, his intense love and affection for his family and their children – I can go on for weeks about his ability to deliver the goods (and the good); his appreciation for all of the arts; his understanding and respect for the soul of all living things; his surprising depth when it comes to appreciating the aesthetic and his profound respect and sacred approach to space and design.

But, Krynauw asked me to speak for 60 seconds only and, my time is long up!

So, it is left for me to remind you that, of middle age, the best that can be said is that it is a time when, hopefully, we have:

• come to know how to have a little fun in spite of our troubles
• know that if we must choose between two evils to pick the one we has never tried before
• that while in some instances it might be sad to grow old, it is always real nice to experience the ripening process
• that it is better to wear out than to rust out
• and, if we should survive long enough, eventually we will become revered. And, as an architect Krynauw, you will understand the subtlety when I refer to the reverence we have for old buildings ………

Returning to the Golden Jubilee and what gold symbolizes in 50 years of our human experience:

• Gold is both the color and the object that symbolizes justice
• It also symbolizes power, strength, and perfection
• The ancients used gold to symbolize balance in all things, and, in the world of architecture this equilibrium in design is known as the "golden mean."
• Gold is associated with another mathematical principle applied in architecture – considered by some as the divine principles “Phi” which is also known as the golden ratio in architecture
• And, gold has always been regarded as a store of great value.

If we value others, we treat them “as gold”. At school we receive “gold stars” for excellent work. As grown-ups we receive "gold cards" for being valued customers and we award “Gold Cups” to winners. We value moments of peace by saying that "silence is golden." In Greek mythology, "the golden fleece" is the valued, sought-after goal. The list is endless.

But the most significant part of the gold’s association with ageing is that it contains the word “O L D” which, in turn, is always associated with wisdom – and, the height of wisdom, in every culture and every civilization of this world we live in, is always referred to as "the golden age."

Thirty eight years ago, at my father’s 50th birthday party – a time when I was actively engaged in writing poetry! – I concluded the speech with these two lines from a work I had dedicated to him:

Die jare val soos blare:
Groen, goud, grys.

But, tonight is special and, therefore, I want to turn to the Shakespeare of Afrikaans to conclude with Van Wyk Louw’s magnificent words from his poem “Vroegherfs”:

Die jaar word ryp in goue akker blare
in wingerd wat verbruin, en witter lug
wat daglank van die nuwe wind en klare
son deurspoel word; elke blom word vrug,
tot self die traagstes; en die eerste blare val
so stilweg in die rook-vaal bos en laan
dat die takke van die lang popliere al
teen elke ligte môre witter staan.
O Heer, laat hierdie dae heilig word:
laat alles val wat pronk en sieraad was
Of enkel jeug en vér was van die pyn;
Laat ryp word Heer, laat U wind waai, laat stort
my waan, tot al die hoogheid eindelik vas
en nakend uit my teerder jeug verskyn.

Ladies and gentleman, friends and family, please charge your glasses, be upstanding and, along with me, drink a toast of good fortune to our son, our brother, our god-father, our teacher, our architect and, our most treasured friend - Krynauw Nel’s Golden Years. What a great investment he has been for us all!

Whatever with the past, it has gone,
now the best is to come!

Mixael de Kock
Johannesburg, 25th February 2011

26th August 2008: Fulvio de Stefanis, Joburg Pride and Ru Paul - also Pastor Philip Liebenberg

Mixael de Kock interviews Fulvio de Stefanis a director of Joburg Pride, the Section 21 Company responsible for Johannesburg’s greatest annual spectacle.
Fulvio De Stefanis has a BSC Civil Engineering degree from WITS University. In addition to his role in the construction and property development industry.

Fulvio has also been a leading dance event promoter for over a decade. He was a co-founder of The Mother of All Raves which commercialised the rave ‘scene’ in South Africa with events attracting over 16 000 people.

He brought TRADE, London, to the country and produced the largest gay rave in South Africa, with Channel 4, BBC, Attitude Magazine and DJ International covering the event.

Fulvio went on to open Bitch super-club in Johannesburg which operated with great success for a number of years before he opened Legends nightclub in Pretoria. He also has experience in publishing, having launched The Vibe Magazine, with an audited readership of 100 000, which he published for 24 issues.

There will also be a short insert interview with Philip Liebenberg, the author of “Daar is ‘n Gay Pastoor in my Kop“. Phillip has been on quite a journey that took him form studying theology, practicing as a pastor, getting married, having children and, finally coming out ias the 21st Century dawns.

The main interview with Fulvio de Stefanis will centre on the great news that International diva, and the most famous drag artist in the world, RuPaul will be strutting her stuff in Johannesburg and Pretoria during Joburg Pride week this October: presenting a live performance at Therapy’s Viva La Glam Pride After-party and launching her new film at Cinema Nouveau’s Pride Film Festival.

The drag superstar singer and actress will be performing her chart-topping hits on stage at Therapy’s Viva La Glam Pride After-party at Carfax, proudly presented by Flex Bender, on Saturday October 4th, with a live act that starts at 11pm. The mega party will also boast four dance floors each featuring top South African DJs taking the event’s 2008 Pride celebrations into the early hours of the morning.

“This is a major scoop for Joburg’s nightlife and the city’s Pride celebrations – boosting both to an international level,” says Therapy co-owner Fulvio De Stefanis. “RuPaul is one of the world’s true gay icons, and we’re very proud to bring her to South Africa for the first time.”

RuPaul is also coming to the country to promote her latest film, Starrbooty, which will be exclusively screening at Cinema Nouveau’s Pride Film Festival around the country. Starrbooty tells the story of a gorgeous crime fighting federal agent named – you guessed it – Starrbooty, who disposes of villains while becoming entangled in various romantic liaisons.

RuPaul, who plays the titular character, will be appearing at the film’s glamorous premiere on Thursday, October 2nd at Ster Kinekor, the Zone, Rosebank, and will also attend the Pretoria premiere of the film at Brooklyn’s Cinema Nouveau on the 3rd.
All proceeds from the premieres will be donated by Cinema Nouveau and Therapy to the non-profit company that runs Joburg Pride on behalf of the gay and lesbian community.
RuPaul is a multi-talented American singer, actor and lyricist who has appeared across a grand spectrum of media. The singer’s remake of classic disco anthem ‘It’s Raining Men’, her collaboration with Elton John (‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’) and her massive hit ‘Supermodel (You’d better work)’all soared to the top of the charts.

RuPaul has also featured on the silver screen, with roles in mainstream cinema as well as in iconic gay films such as ‘To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar’ and ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’. In 1995, RuPaul was signed as the face of MAC cosmetics; making her the first drag queen supermodel. She is currently working on ‘RuPaul's Drag Race,’ a reality TV game show that aims to find the number one drag performer in the United States.
Therapy’s Viva La Glam Pride Afterparty - proudly presented by Flex BenderSaturday October 4, Therapy, Newtown, Johannesburg.

Doors open at 4pm with shower and change room facilities for revellers wanting to come straight from the Pride march at Zoo Lake. Entrance fees range from R80 between 4pm and 7pm (with no pass-outs) and R150 after 8pm. Pre-sale tickets for the event at R120 per person can be purchased by calling TicketLine 082 16789 or at www.sterkinekor.com. Therapy Happens at Carfax, Pimm Str, Newtown, Johannesburg. Tickets on sale from 25 August.
The Starrbooty Film PremieresThursday, October 2nd – Ster Kinekor, the Zone, Rosebank, Johannesburg

Friday, October 3 - Cinema Nouveau, Brooklyn, Pretoria
Tickets for the premieres of Starrbooty are priced at R150 per person and also include free entry to the Therapy’s Viva La Glam Pride After-party. Tickets can be purchased at Ster Kinekor cinema box offices, from cinema Self-Service Terminals, by calling TicketLine 082 16789 or at www.sterkinekor.com. The Cinema Nouveau Pride Film Festival takes place at Rosebank (26 Sept - 4 Oct), Brooklyn (26 Sept - 3 Oct), V&A Waterfront (3 Oct - 11 Oct), Gateway (3 Oct - 9 Oct). Tickets on sale from 25 August.