Lifestyle

Source: iol

SOURCE: iol

Johannesburg – Social media influencer Mihlali Ndamase’s now deleted 3am tweet about underage teenage girl children dating older men in their 20s and 30s has landed her in hot water with “Black Twitter”.

Mihlali, 24, has been accused of encouraging paedophilia in some quarters for her views.

At 3.43am, she tweeted she did not see anything wrong and still did not see anything wrong about teenage girls aged under 18, dating older men between 20-30 years old.

In another subsequent tweet, she tweeted in isiXhosa: “Andiboninto ewrongo m’na” – which asserts, I do not see anything wrong about it.

By Monday morning, as South Africans commemorate Freedom Day under strict Level 5 lockdowns, Mihlali was a top trending discussion on Twitter, with some condemning her views, while others defended her.

In South African law, it is a criminal offence for men over the age of 18 to have sexual relations with children under the age of 16.

For more, visit the original article on iol

Cape Town – Poets and writers from across the country have come together during this time of collective angst and uncertainty, to bring hope through poetry.

Poet and co-founder of Impepho Press, Vangile Gantsho said: “We have a huge network of poets, so we reached out to a few of them and they agreed.

“As time went by, poets reached out to us. We deliberately wanted different languages and, predominantly, women of colour. But we also wanted to make sure that there was a poet for everyone. This is so that people could find a poet who speaks to them.”

An initiative by Impepho Press, 21 Days. 21 Poets, allows one contributor to share a poem for one day of the lockdown, which is then shared on social media platforms – such as Youtube and Facebook.

This will continue for the duration of the now extended lockdown.

“Msaki said something beautiful the other day, and I completely relate to it. She said, ‘I choose to be available because I am built for times like this’.

“‘Born to encourage, lament, to comfort, to hold.’ I think this is what I was feeling. It felt right. Something said: ‘We need poetry, and I listened’.

“We had already gotten some momentum following the virtual World Poetry Day event. We saw that people needed poetry, because we also need poetry. And we did it. If we are to be in crisis, let us at least have poetry,” she said. Bell Hooks said hope is essential to any political struggle, for radical change, when the social climate promotes disillusionment and despair.

“Poetry lends itself to hope. We want to be a part of what is keeping people alive and healing them, rather than what adds to the despair.”

Poet Diana Ferrus said: “I was asked to submit videos of where I read my poems. I read three poems. One was ‘The Peace Song’ which speaks about war and peace. We are constantly at war, in spite of all the wars before.

“This poem is important for me, as I always want to advocate for peace.

“The second one was about a dancer from Nyanga, who was knifed to death for his sunglasses.

“Our young are exposed to so much violence but still want to pursue their dreams, and the third was a love poem called ‘Bitter Coffee’.”

SOURCE: iol

Overwhelmed by the idea of doing laundry? Don’t panic. It doesn’t have to be a complicated task, but there are a few tips you should know in order to properly clean your clothing and other materials.

It will feel like second nature once you know how simple it is.

Start by sorting your clothes.

Start by sorting your clothes because that is the absolute foundation of better laundry practices. If you’re just cramming everything into one load, You are not doing it correctly. Ideally, you should divide your laundry into whites/lights, brights, darks, household linens, and gentle/cold water washable.

With relative ease, you can eliminate tough stains from your clothes and everyday household products. Whether it’s on soft furnishings or garments, there are plenty of ways to tackle difficult stains, Look for stains and pre-treat them correctly. Just make sure you read the label and start by trying on a small, inconspicuous area, as with any cleaning system you use for the first time.

Dosing the right amount of detergent is a big element in ensuring that the laundry is clean. How much detergent you would need depends on the size of the load, how dirty the clothes are and the kind of detergent you use. Some liquid detergents come with a measuring cup to make things simpler, but you can use only one tablespoon of laundry detergent per regular load size as a general rule of thumb.

Determine the right size of load to your washer. Overloading it allows inadequate water and soap to make its way into the clothes, stopping them from being very clean. Everything needs to be loosely packed, not tightly.

That is where it comes in handy to sort your things. You would want to choose the correct washing cycle, depending on the color and material of your load. The washing cycle determines the tension rate and water temperature.

• Normal / Regular Cycle: Ideal for sheets, towels, socks, etc. It uses quicker agitation to clean fabrics which are more durable.
• Delicate cycle: This is best for items that require special care such as wool or silk. It involves slow agitation and a slow cycle of rinsing.
• Permanent Press Cycle: Ideal for heavier-duty fabrics such as non-cotton pieces and synthetic fibers. This uses fast and sluggish agitation velocities.

Take everything out the dryer when it’s barely dry and not hot. Beware that your clothes might start to shrink quickly. After that, you’ll want to fold your clothes properly and put them away, so they remain in good shape.

For the original article, read iol

It’s a grey and gloomy day in Cape Town and we can feel winter slowly creeping in.

This is usually the weather we would enjoy being indoors, all snuggled up under the covers, watching movies while enjoying a wholesome cup of soup.

My little one didn’t mind the bread so much. Picture: Gerry Cupido

But we’ve been indoors for so long now, does this weather still inspire the need to stay indoors?

I’m sure that at this point most of us will seriously consider dancing in the rain instead.

So what was your past week like? Mine has once again been a bit of a roller coaster ride. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is how things will be for a while to come.

Firstly, I have to admit that I think I’ve become addicted to baking.

I know I’m not alone in this because all I see on social media are people baking.

It doesn’t even matter what it, all I know is that I must bake.

Chocolate brownies, basic biscuits, scones and easy cakes, I’ve done them all. Expect one, bread. Just a basic bread.

I’ve never baked a loaf of bread before but according to all the recipes, I needed yeast.

I soon discovered that yeast has become baking ingredient gold. When I went to the shop I would dart to the baking goods section only to find empty shelves where yeast would usually be.

One afternoon I discovered a shelf filled with boxes of yeast at the corner shop. The sachets glimmered like gems. I got so excited that I unashamedly bought six sachets.

I had already done my research and watched many YouTube videos and having decided on Jamie Oliver’s bread recipe, I was now ready to make my first bread.

Under the watchful eye of my daughters, I started what seemed to be an easy process.

The 14-year-old stood there watching, occasionally laughing but mostly shaking her head and repeatedly saying, “Mommy that’s not how you do it” followed by “Mommy WHAT are you doing?”.

I quickly realised that things were definitely not going according to plan. Jamie’s dough definitely didn’t resemble a wet lump of sludge.

Visibly defeated my daughter came to my rescue and advised me to add more flour. She assistant in this manner with uncontrollable laughter and little moral support.

Very long and sticky story short, the so-called dough made it into the oven and came out looking beautifully golden on the outside and it had even risen to the occasion BUT it most certainly didn’t pass the taste test.

This rather unpleasant baking experience cured my baking obsession, and I’ve only baked one batch of brownies since.

My compulsive need to bake was my way of coping with and avoiding what I was going through on an emotional level.

The process of baking is calming and seeing and tasting a successful product rewarding (the bread excluded).

But even with all the baking to distract me, I still had my quiet moments when I could feel myself unravelling. That familiar feeling that you know is creeping up on you and no matter how many baked goods you churn out, you know it will catch up with you.

Sensing that I wasn’t coping, my beloved parents suggested that they look after my little for a while.

Trying to work while trying your hardest to keep depression at bay and give your attention to your little girl was becoming challenging and a risk to my mental health.

With my little one off to her grandparents, it’s just my teen daughter with me at home.

As mentioned before, I was missing my 16-year-old son terrible. This past weekend he came home and my heart filled with joy to see him again.

The teenagers happily, okay sometimes not so happily, keep each other company and entertained. The dynamics in the home has changed of course.

For now, our home is fairly quiet, with the occasional sibling squabbles. But when baby sister gets home, that when things become a bit exciting/rowdy!

SOURCE: iol