When will load shedding in South Africa come to an end?

Is South Africa facing an energy crisis? Eskom says the situation is under control. However, the large number of citizens present at the Green Peace Rainbow Warrior campaign in Port Elizabeth shows that people are not happy with the current energy situation. The government’s temporary solution to the energy shortage has been switching off power to certain areas at scheduled times. Most of us know this as ‘load shedding’. Green Peace proposes a solution to these issues centred on renewable energy projects, but Eskom and the government say that coal and nuclear energy are the answer.

Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior docked in Port Elizabeth on Sunday the 22nd of February to fight the South African government’s proposed nuclear plans. The government has proposed the construction of a nuclear plant in the Eastern Cape as the solution to South Africa’s current energy shortage. Greenpeace argues that this is not the solution and will only cause more problems for the country, they argue that renewable energy is the only long term solution.

Report by Rhea MacDonald and Louise Fuller

AfricaBurn

Imagine going to festival where nothing is for sale. Where free food, free clothes and free costumes are the order of the day. AfrikaBurn is one such festival that is all about giving without expecting anything in return. With more than 10 000 festival goers this festival aims to make radical self-expression accessible to everyone.

Produced by Rhea MacDonald and Siyavuya Makubalo

Sugar Loaf Cleanup

Sugar Loaf Hill in Grahamstown is a popular illegal dumpsite, so the local community members decided to clean up the otherwise beautiful space. Filmed and edited in the style of Dziga Vertov, this piece compares the actions of littering to students wasting in their university dining halls.

Produced by Nikho Mageza and Tebo Ramosili

Soweto Rising

Production by Lilian Magari & Noxolo Mafu

“Soweto Rising” explores the amalgamation of street culture in Johannesburg. We look at the influence of Soweto and how it has come to inspire some of the most well-known street culture collectives and township youth movements such as Isikhothane. This film delves into the intricacies of this urban culture and tracks the journey of three sub-jects who have all made their start from the township’s emerging creative space.

Skin Deep

Production by Deneesha Pillay & Megan Flemmitt

Colourism is an issue which is particularly prevalent amongst the youth in South Africa and has shown to privilege some and not others in many ways. It is a topic which is discussed on social networking platforms, but these discussions rarely show the impact of this phenomenon on the individual who has experienced discrimination. Skin Deep looks at how this issue affects two women of the same ethnic group, within the South African context.