BUT COVID CRASHED the DREAM of a TOURIST MECCA in ALEX Everson Luhanga
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Friday 26th February 2021, 0145 Real News. Scrolla.Africa HE WANTED TO BUILD A MEMORIAL TO MANDELA - BUT COVID CRASHED THE DREAM OF A TOURIST MECCA IN ALEX Everson Luhanga Tumi Masite is a multi-talented man who dreamt of turning the street he lives on into a tourist Mecca in Alexandra north of Johannesburg. Tumi stays on the same street where Nelson Mandela once rented a room in the 1940s. That was when Alexandra was called the “Dark City” due to having no electricity when the rest of Johannesburg was lit up at night. “My intention was to make 7th Street and Hofmeyer Streets buzz like Vilakazi Street in Soweto,” he said. “That has been my dream ever since I realised that I was staying in the same Street the icon embraced.” Tumi is the owner of the Ekasi gym, once visited by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Reg Park and Richard Branson. He sells his drawings and paintings to tourists from all over the world and has a tattoo parlour. He is a well known figure in Alex. He gave a beautiful painting to former President Jacob Zuma in 2012 while the ANC was celebrating 100 years of existence and has hosted local boxing championships. But like thousands of others, Covid-19 crushed his dreams and destroyed his businesses - now he is drowning in debt. He told Scrolla.Africa from his home in Alexandra that everything stopped in March last year when the government introduced lockdown regulations. No one came for tattoos as restrictions were introduced, and tourists who used to buy his paintings stopped travelling as borders were closed. He kept the hope alive that things would get better, and breathed a sigh of relief when people started coming back to his gym. But there was no money in their pockets. “When I asked for subscription fees, they would tell me that they too have lost jobs.” The father of three had to provide for his family so he sold some gym equipment, his television set and a washing machine and went to borrow money from the bank. But now he is drowning in even deeper debt. He said the couple has had to pack up the place they were living. His girlfriend has gone to stay with her gogo on the other side of Alex with the children. He has gone to stay with his gogo. His girlfriend, 28-year-old Sizakele Zuma, lost her job as a waitress during level five of lockdown. The couple said Tumi’s uncle who works at charity organisations as a driver delivered food parcels to them. “My uncle has been helping us a lot.” Tumi said in a normal world, he used to make nearly R20 000 a month from all his activities. “Now I cannot make R1000 these days. How life has changed.” The largest mass vaccination program in history has begun - but it needs to be even larger Arthur Greene On Wednesday, Covax delivered its first major shipment of Covid-19 vaccines to Ghana. The global initiative plans to distribute over two billion doses of the vaccine to 92 countries this year, which, officials say, would make it the largest vaccination operation in history. The shipment of 600,000 doses was delivered to the capital Accra first because studies have suggested that the spread of the virus in West Africa has been much wider than official numbers show. According to a recent study, at least one in five people in Lagos, Nigeria, could have contracted the coronavirus by October last year. Similar results were found in Accra. Covax, which will provide vaccines to low and middle-income countries, will work against wealthy countries’ “vaccine nationalism” and make distribution fairer. However, the buying-up of jabs by rich countries still dwarfs Covax’s efforts. The New York Times reports that while 44.5 million Americans have already received a shot, as of last week more than 130 countries had yet to vaccinate a single person. Even Covax’s shipment to Ghana covers less than one per cent of the population. And by the end of 2021 they will only have been given enough jabs to vaccinate 20 percent of its population of 30 million, so it will have to purchase more. The United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, said last week that the distributions had been “wildly uneven and unfair.” He added that the pandemic will not end until everyone has been vaccinated. “This is not a matter of charity,” he said. “It’s a matter of epidemiology.” It is not enough for wealthy countries to provide enough vaccines for their own populations. They must ramp up their contributions to Covax if the pandemic is going to end. Picture source: @WHOAFRO Wear a mask, Sho Madjozi - the kids are watching By Mmaditaba Covid-19 has undoubtedly affected the livelihoods of everyone, including artists, but what message are our celebrities sending in a time of a global pandemic? With the ban on events in South Africa, South African musicians have resorted to going to neighbouring countries to perform. Which is good - but where are your masks guys? Sho Madjozi has been in Tanzania for almost a month - shooting amazing content and living her best life - but where is your mask Sho? Cassper Nyovest was also in Zanzibar flexing his famous bottle dancing skills that we love him for. But Cass: where is the mask? Fellow musician Focalistic performed in Kenya earlier this month to a very large crowd that wasn't wearing masks. Celebrities always say they didn't ask to be role models but the title comes with fame. When Sho Madjozi changes a hairstyle, so do all the kids. When she launches a clothing line, the kids are first in line. We are not asking that they stop making a living - not at all, times are tough. We are not asking for them to perform with a mask while they are alone on stage. But why is the crowd at your feet not wearing masks? In a world, particularly in Tanzania, where there is a denialism of this global crisis, we are not asking you to be role models, just to be responsible for your own health, or to keep the irresponsible behaviour off social media. The kids are watching. Video source: @ShoMadjozi Zim’s Vice President leaves a trail of sex scandals and angry husbands Joseph Chirume Calls are getting louder and louder for Zimbabwe's Vice President, Kembo Mohadi, to resign. Mohadi, 71, who has had two collapsed marriages, is accused by angry husbands of destroying their marriages. One of the women works in Mohadi’s office as a Central Intelligence Officer. Mohadi was allegedly approached at his Glen Lorne home by a CIO agent, Jacob Mumpande accusing the vice president of sleeping with his wife, Abbigal Muleya. Mumpande demanded that his wife be removed from Mohadi’s office. This is after Abbigal was heard on the phone asking Mohadi if he had taken sex enhancing tablets ahead of their meeting later at a lodge. Mohadi is also accused of bedding Chervaughn Choeni, prompting her husband, Martin Chabuka, to file for divorce. In a leaked telephone conversation Mohadi is heard asking: "So, when will you give it to me?" Choeni replied that she had come to his office earlier. "Actually, I had come with the intention of giving it to you,” she said. “So you want to give it to me in the office?” asked Mohadi. "Yes," responded Choeni. Mohadi then said: “Okay, there is no other place. We will have to do it in the office." Mohadi is also said to be paying full tuition fees for a young girl who lives in Bulawayo. She has allegedly been trying to end the relationship after telling Mohadi that she has a boyfriend her own age. ZimEye.com on Twitter says, "Mohadi impregnated a Harare based Advanced Level student, giving her an STI (sexually transmitted infection) and making her feel worthless." Oliver Zaranyika wrote on Facebook, "I think the Mohadi scandal is just the tip of an iceberg. It is actually a culture in Zanu PF. The country is bleeding left, right and centre. But they are busy thinking about sex." A Twitter account in the name of Mohadi's former wife, Tambudzani Mohadi reports that: "He has a pregnant girlfriend who is in form six. Another girlfriend is his cousin's child." Mohadi divorced Tambudzani, his wife of 30 years in 2017, then quickly married Juliette Mutavhatsindi in 2018 but has not been seen with her since 2019. Picture source: Zim Live Zambian coach in court for fondling woman’s buttocks Joseph Chirume Zambian coach Milutin Sredojevic is learning the hard way that fondling a woman's body without her consent is not a joke. Sredojevic appeared for the second time today at the New Brighton Magistrate’s Court in Qqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, facing sexual assault charges. He will appear again on 25 May for trial at the New Law Court. His bail of R10,000 was extended to the same date. NPA regional spokesperson, Anelisa Ngcakani said during the Cosafa Games in Qqeberha on 7 December a woman took Sredojevic coffee at the Wolfson Stadium and asked him if he needed anything. He allegedly said he needed another type of sugar, pointing at her private parts. The complainant complained to her boss who warned Sredojevic, but later the same day Sredojevic allegedly touched her buttocks. The court case attracted a small group of women activists who had come to give support to the victim. ANC spokesperson for the Young Women’s Desk, Nomafa Sinetile told Scrolla.Africa it was a very important case because it was not penetrative rape nor was there aggression.