Good afternoon X'ers. I'm in need of your help to please spread the word. #Photographer #WorkNeeded

Eugene Skeef's poem, "Sing a Song for the Children Who Are Gone," written in the aftermath of the Soweto Uprising of 16 June 1976 and followed here by an Afrikaans translation. The images of children lying dead in the streets of Soweto reverberated throughout South Africa and across the world. Apartheid did not fall overnight, but the killing of children forced many Afrikaners to look in the mirror, and they did not like what they saw. The idea that the survival of the volk might depend on a willingness to kill children became too terrible to bear. Sing a song of children gone sing a song of children gone sunflower flute songs are smiles of suns heaven and earth are shorn of all glory only the sun can smile sing a song of children gone sing a song of children gone those afrikan gems those eternal starlings slain reeds whistle their gushing melodies while resilient rushes stay their pithless strength they too shall be woven into recumbent dinner mats the pale fingers of a silent craft have eyes of a staining blood on their jiving tips these too must be woven at their own requiem sing a song of children gone sing a song of children gone angels are the progeny of wrath see the dark fire immured within their frenzied flapping wings all bugles muted only hell's altar hath the music for their immolation sing a song of children gone... Sing n lied van kinders wat weg is sing 'n lied van kinders wat weg is sonneblom fluit liedere glimlagte van sonne hemel en aarde wat ontneem van alle glorie net die son kan glimlag sing 'n lied van kinders wat weg is sing 'n lied van kinders wat weg is daardie Afrikaan juwele daardie ewige spreeus dood gemaakte riete fluit hul bruisende melodieë terwyl veerkragtige biesies bly hul pitlose sterkte hulle sal ook geweef word in aandete neergelêde matjies die bleek vingers van 'n stille handewerk het oë van bloed wat bevlek ook hulle dans stappe hierdie moet in geweef word by hul eie dodemis sing 'n lied van kinders wat weg is sing 'n lied van kinders wat weg is engele is die nageslag van toorn sien die donker vuur opgesluit binne-in hul dolle fladderende vlerke alle trompette is gedemp net hel se altaar het musiek vir hul self-opoffering sing 'n lied van kinders wat weg is.. Eugene Skeef

Total bit of useless Comrades-route info... Back in '96 & '97...I walked the distance from PMB to DBN (over 2 days, each time)... for charity... It's a frigging long way! Had #BruceFordyce join us the 2nd time...he reckoned it was easier to run it!😎

Trucks are ready to be loaded with goods and furniture during the forced removal of the people of Sophiatown, February 1955. Credit: Terence Spencer

I don't get the outrage at cage fighting at the White House. It not only reflects the mentality of most of the people who voted for Trump, it's also symbolic of his political style. Next: WWF in the West Wing & hot dog eating contests at the Capitol. It's the nature of the beast

A family of Yellow-breasted Apalis were foraging in the rank vegetation next to the Sabie river. Beautiful little female with gorgeous red eyes and yellow breast but no black band… #sabieholiday2026 #nature #birding #krugerthroughmylense #pringlebaybirding

As hate edges South Africa towards bloodshed, the state seems half asleep dailymaverick.co.za/article/… @PeterHerring @rayale26

Phyllis Naidoo (1928-2013) was a lawyer, an academic, author & activist. She was a member of the Unity Movement, NIC, SACP and MK. As a writer Phyllis wrote 'Waiting to Die in Pretoria', which decried the inhumanity of capital punishment. She also put out a publication 'Le Rona Re Batho: An Account of the 1982 Maseru Massacre'. Image Source: UKZN Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre

Dear @CyrilRamaphosa

South Africa’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has reacted strongly to reports involving referee Omar Artan and claims about a diplomatic passport. He told Robert Marawa: “The information we got is that this ref (Omar Artan) travelled on a diplomatic passport. He’s not a diplomat. Let’s start there. Even if I am the President, I’ll not allow him in the country. What is this ref doing with a diplomatic passport? Is he a politician?” 𝐖𝐎𝐖! 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄!!! #FIFAWorldCup #WorldCupwithMicky #SouthAfrica #Somalia

FIFA just quietly changed football from two 45minute halves to four 22.5minute quarters to accommodate Commercial interests! Gianni Infantino is a criminal @FOXSports @FIFAWorldCup

Zoë

Damn. Straight cold hard facts?

Solid response, and appropriate step proposed by Ashor. Just because @tarathinks gave a thumb-suck opinion, doesn’t mean she should now be subject to threats and harassment. Name and shame, Tara. Provide those names and even the screen-shot proof.

There is nothing more cowardice than sitting in front of a keyboard and threatening the life of a journalist and a woman at that. @tarathinks expressed nothing more than a opinion which she is entitled to do.

The DA, leaders, members, supporters, sockpuppets, laptop boys, must introspect on why its losing a leading position, how people view their 'always right" comms, and importantly reckon with their misogyny. 20 years in CT, 17 years in WC, 2 years in GNU and its drunk on power.

Hi @WorldRugby you still have time to move ur world cup, bad things are happening in the USA

I'm so sorry, Tara. This is definitely uncalled for.

I’m staying in some of South Africa’s most neglected neighbourhoods, yet I’ve been met with nothing but love. People are opening their homes, sharing their stories, and showing up in numbers looking for housing solutions. What inspires me is their hope and agency. What hurts is that I don’t yet have the solution. What this journey has taught me is that lasting solutions are not built for communities, they are built with communities. The answers come from listening, earning trust, and co-creating alongside the people closest to the problem. I’ll be sharing my learnings from this journey with you all soon. The biggest lesson so far: listen to your users.

This photo was taken in 2008. I was a young reporter, notebook in hand, in Khayelitsha, trying to make sense of the first wave of xenophobic violence to rip through this country. I was profoundly affected. I watched Somalian mothers in tents, cradling their babies in disbelief. Spoke to Ethiopian men, almost crying from the shock and pain of it all. I thought: We will never let this happen again. Yet, here we are. Eighteen years later and I'm watching the same fires, literal and figurative, and the same dangerous lies spreading faster than ever, turbocharged by social media and amplified by politicians who should know better. But the numbers do not support the narrative. Immigrants, documented and undocumented combined, make up roughly 4 million people. That is about 5% of our population. The idea that 5% of the country is responsible for our crime, our unemployment, our collapsing healthcare? It is not just wrong, it is mathematically absurd. Look at who the Zondo and Madlanga Commissions have implicated. Look at rape statistics: 120 women a day, and a third of South African men have admitted to committing rape. Are we really blaming foreigners for that? If every undocumented immigrant left tomorrow, your local public hospital would still be broken. Not because of the person standing ahead of you in the queue, but because of corruption, mismanagement and decades of underfunding that have nothing to do with them.  March and March's June 30 deadline is not a peaceful protest. It is a dog whistle. And the media and political figures who treat it as legitimate activism are complicit in what it is actually designed to trigger. I started explain.co.za because I believe that access to accurate, contextual information is not a nice-to-have. It is the foundation of a functioning democracy. And a democracy that allows dangerous misinformation to go unchallenged, that allows real economic despair to be weaponised against the most vulnerable, is one that is putting itself at serious risk. We have covered this crisis extensively at explain.co.za. We will keep doing so. Because owe it to each other to do better. #SouthAfrica #Xenophobia #MediaLiteracy #Journalism #Democracy #Explain #FactsMatter #SouthAfricanMedia #BuildingInPublic #Immigration

I have a few choice words but I’ll say this instead because I won’t let the enjoyment of the World Cup be ruined for me: let’s all get behind Senegal when they play.