A Jubilee Sunday for Alex as Fieldband lift up six national trophies

Hey guys, Hope you enjoyed the last read as I have enjoyed bonding with Alexandra Township these past two weeks. I mean, one of the Sundays.

Moa and son bump into a colourful, jubilant community of Alex last Sunday in high spirit as I visited the old man of kraal.

I was curious to know what was happening and couldn't resist but get on to taking pictures and videos of the beautiful display. I mean, I was home and there was work. You don't really need to ask for permission but do what you are known for around the world.

So me, missed my planned Sunday church services because God says start with him, family and the rest will follow right.

So there I was that Sunday morning following the Fieldband who were touring the township and showing off their victory celebration.

The first stop for the group who had beaten other band teams from as far as Eastern Cape and Western Cape at Wanderers Stadium, was the 1912 house in second avenue.

Here, Bab'Twala and his girlfriends were waiting to give the guys some blessings. Yes, the man and the Gogos were so ready and proud of the kids achievement.

I mean six trophies? He even organised a nice curried stamp freshly made by Devine Foods. I don't know how he read my mind, but I last ate a delicious curry meal like that in Woolhope High School back in Malarbar township of Port Elizabeth. But anyway, while I was admiring Bab Twala's work and consitancy for so many years.... I mean through his frika Tikkun, a non-profit organisation that man has put lawyers, chartterd accounted,businessman through school from their creche stage right up to their career stage. as I was waiting with the grannies outside the tent.

As I waited univited to the event, the granies shared powerful stories on how he automatically became the father of some household. Giving the widows food and the necessary support after they were almost kicked out of their homes. The celebration day coincided with their day of collecting clothes and food parcels. I did take some great pictures of the event that day, but unfortunately the ones saved for this blog were erased from my phone together with all the other material.

Hence you see some of the image material is collected from my social media pages. But one of the highlight of the day is in this video below. This women just spoke to my heart and I knew I was home... Please watch Explainer: She is basically expressing her proudness in the children.

The term used is not the vulgar term, here it describes how everything is going to be lit after all the preparation she will do to enter the competition. Anyway, chow for now and please do follow us on all social media platforms.

Time for accountability in our land

WOW!!!!

It has been such a looong time since I started writing here. I mean, my last article was published on May 2020 after a visit to the famous township of Soweto. I remember that year, I had a blast and was excited about the new stories I was founding here in the this city of gold. I must admit, personally. I was also going through a lot and didn't know where the hatred came from. I mean, I've always been a nice girl raised up in church and have all mannners in check. So who would dare touch me? A God loving woman, prayerful woman? A multi-award-winning journalist whose

work has been published in Ilizwi, Herald,Sowetan, Sunday Times and even had a stint in the Mail and Guardian's

Amabhungane investigative journalist centre. I mean, I am a South African legend in this industry. A veteran of the struggle and I can sniff and root out a corrupt company, government officials etc a miles away.

I am a trained but now self appointed country's top security guard. A veteran of the struggle. And if I am not mistaken, even God the creator of heaven and earth is so impressed with my work right now.

He might replace or add me in his holy book, ie The New Creation Testament Bible. So that South Africans can have something they can relate to when they read the scriptures. Just like the jews have the book of Esther in the old Testament, fair right? I guess, you must be wondering where I have been? Apart from MCing wedddings, attending showers and engagement parties as well as bonding with the African community from Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique etc. I mean I need to accountable to you readers for the almost four years I've been not scribbling any of your favourite articles.

I know you do not pay me yet, but I still think I am accountable to you for disappearing for so long. Right now, I know my story will sound like those black brothers, who vanish from their homes with bonuses on December 16 only to reappear in their homes second week of January flat broke. Or those Sandton brothers that lie on pay weekend telling girlfriends in Sandton they were arrested for drunken driving on William Nicole Drive, now known as Winnie Madikizela Mandela Drive. Only o discover, the only house arrest was with his regte on 7th Avenue Alexandra township having loads of fun. I mean real fun, trust me, theres something about Alexandra Township ladies that keeps men hooked. I seriously don't know what it is', but if I am lucky enough to interview former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, one day. I will ask him the secrete cause MaM Zanele Dlamini Mbeki is from Alexandra Township and has done tremendous work here.

But be happy readers, I was not kidnapped by Aliens or relocated to the Alien Nation TV Series. On a serious note though,as a veteran of the struggle, I was still haunted by apartheid ghost. Things that I thought were dead and buried in 1994 were not for some. To the point that my beloved country's image was tarnished. The whole world knew us as a xenophobic nation.... I mean can you imagine that? I remember when I was still in the newsroom and thinking it was all true. I mean pictures of a Mozambican man burnt alive were splashed all over for the world to see how inhumane, my people were. So was the others that followed, to make things worse, these were happening right here in the vibrant colourful, multicultural, multi racial township that I happen to experienced its love growing up. With the noise of the newsroom, journalist chasing deadline, there was no time to seat and reflect on why it happened.... I mean the real roots of the problem without being shunned as blaming everything on apartheid. The pictures and videos were enough evidence to support any work, especially if you have not been around for more than twenty years and your reliable sources were your colleagues... I mean we were all professionals right? No propaganda right? Well... Thats how the church girl first thought until I went on a journey of discovering who I was really. So, I did a lot of reading and one of the books I read was Helen Zille's Not Without a fight. According to her book, shes half German and half Jewish. In the book, I learnt how she neutrilised many clever blacks who moved to the surbubs after 1994. With her most targetted victims being those that came from exile.

Ms Zille also openly tells her readers how she mastered teh power of gossip since childhood to enforce social norms. How she used that to destroy people's reputation over night and knowing exactly that it took years to restore. To my surprise, Helen is from Hilbrow and went to a school right next door to me St Mary's for girls. She coppied the ways to control people. Often used by these fake pastors who instil fear on and their job prospects using Bible verses to support their abusive behavior. Oscar an accident waiting to happen and Reeva Steenkamp by her mom June Steenkamp.

Now I know exactly who has been behind my torture. Worse, I live in the DA controlled ward that is full of illegal immigrant who are clueless on the South African laws. I've also been reading Trevor Noah's Born a Crime many times trying to figure out what happened to Mam Patricia Noah and guess what.... The DA and Helen are to blame for some of that mess too.

Bassie my Journey of hope was another book and Good Morning Mr President by Zelda le Grange.

All these book paint a picture of why South Africa is in this mess. Its time for Helen to take responsibility. I had time to go around Alexandra Township and I can tell you the root of all this, hatred.

Theres someone who wants to tarnish everything that Bab'Linda Twala has worked so hard for all these years painting his people as xenophobic yet these are people who came through the back door, undocumented with a mission to kill and destroy what was build over the years.

I doubt if theres any African leader, who will instruct his people to go and destroy by another black men.Often, all these people calling South Africans Xenophobic are not proud to display who they really are. You do not even know why they are in South Africa and often, they are found loitering doing nothing at all accept gossipping and torturing South Africans. Now that we know the root cause, African leaders need to take responsibility for their own as well. Church leaders as well as we, South Africans cannot take it any longer. Theres absolutely nothing xenophobic when you ask for respect or else leave. Worse these are the people who don't mind killing or force girls into prostitutions. They have an I don't care attitude and the DA seems to have known about this for so long but blaming the African National Congress. Helen has full details to those who tried to challenge them but that time is over. Everyone must now take responsibility for their mess and be accountable even with the Fifa 2010 soccer world cup

As for me..... I am still in the beads business, studying ministry at JBC. I still document every day life on You Tube and now Tik Tok and still sell ice guava juice and oh by the way....

Welcome to my blog. Please do follow me on these following social media platforms: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@khanyikuhle https://www.tiktok.com/@khanyikuhle/video/7405237718491368710?lang=fil-PH Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khanyiswa.ndabeni.5/ https://www.instagram.com/khanyiswasa/ https://twitter.com/ndabenik?lang=en X: You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpHw2f6NKHt93rkEiNAWKQw Linkden: https://za.linkedin.com/in/khanyiswa-ndabeni-8256b620 http://africanbeadsstories.blogspot.com/

Who are you to tell me how to run my church?

That was a question I was asked on Fathers Day last year. At the time I was still drunk on the word received from my church. I had honoured an invitation from my Bracken High School friend, Nalo. The girl who decided to shortened my name from Khanyiswa to Khanyi. So to accommodate all the white speakers who found it difficult to pronounce the swa, the last three names of my full name. So there I was in Soweto, at this different kind of church where R60 offering is collected at the gate. Before you could see the different evangelists, prophets,apostles and pastors of this different church took to the show grounds to wow congregants with their car spinning skills. The Bible was the line up of BMW 320 or BMW 3 series E21 cars renamed to Tezza, MA. ERA, Izinyoka nyoka and Skudunga. These cars to wow the crowd as they spin on the field until all tires were damaged or the sport referee calls them out as soon as he spot danger. When watching the sport live, you can't help but clutch your teeth and cross your fingers that the driver doesn't loose control and he come crushing on the bob wire fence. According to Floyd, one of the participants and name the sport as a BEE sport. The sport is costly. He bought his BMW E21 as a second hand for R40 000. He has his own mechanic and has spent almost R100 000 on just maintaining it. One of the courageous ladies, Phumzile from Protea North in Soweto said she loves the sport as it helps her release stress. Phumzile aka Lady P first saw the sport at the South African hip hop star, Pro Kid's memorial service. "I fell in love with the adrenaline rush that it brings. From that day on, I bought myself a car and whenever I want to release stress. I climb on it". Car spinning is not a new sport but it is a growing sport in the black community.

Every Wednesday and Sundays there are sessions held all around Soweto with competitions held in Durban and Cape Town. Please follow us on the various social media pages: Facebook: Khanyiswa Ndabeni Instagram: Khanyiswasa Youtube:Khanyi Ndabeni and here is the link with this article https://youtu.be/QXQ67xYqZEE Twitter: @ndabenik

English is not my mother tongue

IT took a lot for me to gather courage and blog today. I mean so much has happened and critics have been on my case on the blog, the grammar and spelling errors in my other posts. So much had been said to the point that, I my self lost the confidence and focus of why the blog was started in the first place. First and foremost, it was so that I can continue write African Stories.

Especially positive stories coming out of the hood or black community of South Africa. The second point was that, I as a beneficiary of many youth empowerment project that were ran in the 90s and saw me benefit from them, I would also go back to centres like, Youth Alive, Teen Out Reach and the Gifted Child Programme and maybe schools around to teach and learn from the new generation how stories are told. Of course, English is the universal language but growing up in South Africa before our democracy, I always had an attitude towards it and Afrikaans. Thanks to the legacy of former statesman and hero of the struggle and not to mention both my parents who were active during their time with African National Congress (ANC), I was amongst the first group of black student to be enrolled at Rand Girls High, a formerly white school but when the government got rid of the apartheid policy it took in black students for the first time in 1996. Apast from that, I also went to one of the premium high schools in Gauteng, Bracken High School prided itself with 100 % matric pass rate during my time and it has continue with this record over the years. But not only that, it was in this school that I learnt to read and write proper English. Our English teacher was so creative that she would go as far as letting us watch inspirational film in order to register a point through.

Yes, I was amongst those kids who studied George Owell's animal farm, Mac Beth, Cry the beloved country, The Suit and Boesman and Lena in my English class and I really got good symbols too considering that it was not my home language and I was doing it on higher grade. What is my home language you may ask? Well, I am a mixed breed that was manufactured at a time that black people were rebellious towards apartheid as a result I do not have an English ie slave name. My father is a Zulu man and if you read Trevor Noah's book, born a crime, you will know that Zulus are proud warriors who once fought the colonial armies that invaded South Africa centuries ago with spears and shield. Of course, they were murdered in thousands but they never stopped fighting. My mother though is from another tribe, Amampondo which are also associated with Xhosas. Nelson Mandela and Mama Winnie are also from this tribe. They are known to be thinkers and they've also tried their luck with the colonisers and lost. But their approach however was learning the language of the Whiteman so that they will be able to negotiate with them. Anyway, in the height of apartheid my parents formed me. I'm still not sure if they were trying to send out a message to the white man that black people are united when the mission was to divide and rule the black nation then. Anyway, knowing this little history might give you as a reader a reason why, I write the English language the way I do on this blog. I mean for 12 years, I was very professional. Oh, no it's not even 12 years. It is more than that when I count the years at school and my stint at PE Technikon, the creative and journalism qualifications I obtained at Intec College. Before I embarked on a 12 year long career as a print journalist. I started at a community newspaper and received a national within six months of being in the game. I then wrote for The Herald but the stories were also shared by Dispatch,Sowetan and many other titles under the then Tiso Black Star. Before I left the company, I counted six awards. Two were regional and the other four were national. While the other were a team work, my first and my last stories which got national nods were a sole project. I even went as far as honouring, Mr Drum, a well known journalist who went all out to tell the truth under the difficult banner of apartheid. Now, if Im so educated and have had the status quo "Black by nature, proud by choice" on my Facebook profile for over a decade now. By the way, that was stolen from Nelson Mandela. Why would I be shaken by what other people say about me. Because of what they say, do I then forget that I grew up surrounded by educated black men who encouraged me to take education seriously. Of which I did and still do as I enrolled for law at Unisa and did the Social media marketing and Blogging through Shaw academy as well as learning other creative ways of telling stories. Why can't I then do what I want to do without caring what the other person say, especially if the criticism is not to build you but rather pull you down. Why can't I be like Steve Biko and just write what I like? Anyway if you like my work please follow me on instagram:Khanyiswasa Facebook: Khanyiswa Ndabeni You Tube: Khanyi Ndabeni Twitter: @Ndabenik I'm more than just a writer, I'm an aspiring actress and tv talk show host. I also make and sell African jewellery