RSA-Overseas - The Expat Portal: Weekly Magazine

Washington D.C. - Southern African beer, wine and spirits will now legally be available in the United States.

SAB has appointed an import agent in the West Coast of the United States. SAB USA, LLC - Southern African Beverage will import, distribute and wholesale imported beverages.

The products which will be marketed in the United States, include Castle Lager, Lion Lager, Windhoek Lager. An exclusive supply of Libertas wines, such as Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Hunters Gold and Hunters Dry, as well as the popular Savannah, will also be imported.

“Already the demand is higher than the supply” said Brian McLaughlin, the Managing Member of S.A.B. USA.

McLaughlin said the first shipment of imported South African beer is currently in customs. 600 cases from SAB containing Castle, Lion and Windhoek will soon be distributed to their first clients all over the USA.

After all the paperwork involved to obtain valid licences and permits, as well as a legal property licence, SAB USA is ready to launch their marketing campaign to attract pubs, liquor stores and other potential customers across the States.

Although they have not been given financial support, SAB USA has received the full support from SAB South Africa, who gave them the exclusive right to import SA products.

McLaughlin said other previous attempts which have failed, have really benefited their tender.
“We gave SAB substantial size orders and payments on time, so SAB has written anyone else off,” McLaughlin said. “Previously other importers went about it in the wrong way. We buy for projected orders.”

SAB USA will target several pubs in the United States, especially those where large South African audiences watch cricket and rugby on satelite TV.

The game plan for SAB USA includes appointing sales people all across the United States. “We are not trying to take over the whole world with Castle” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin have been very wary about over-exposure, because a paperwork glitz has already slowed down the distribution of the beer in customs.

Presently the orders for a variety of the South African beverages are streaming in, and Americans and South Africans are equally interested. Already requests are flooding in for other nostalgic products like Old Brown Sherry and the ever popular Tassenberg. McLaughlin originally started off in business in a surf shop in Camps Bay, Cape Town. The surf shop expanded to become a chain of five branches.

He sailed around the world for two years before he was “ridiculously fortunate” enough to win a green card in a lottery.

McLaughlin has been based in California for the past seven years. Besides his daily surfing and supplying South African alcohol to the local surfing community, McLaughlin is also involved in the textile industry.

© RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ]

Katie Koekblik Column
Ilda Jacobs

Washington D.C. - As droom-oog reënboog idealis was ek ‘n tydjie terug by my eerste Suid-Afrikaanse Ambassade partytjie in Washington DC.

Die kleurskakering van die ambassade het my beindruk, daar was selfs twee jong, wit ouens, die een nogals single ook.

Nou ja, Kytie K, het ek gedink, en jy dag wit, jong mans kan ‘n beroep in die diplomatieke diens maar op hulle mae skryf en afvee met ‘n nat lap, soos my ma sou sê.

Heelwat later na die meeste pers-persoonlikhede hulleself getroos het met Suid-Afrikaanse witwyn en Amarula, het die ambassade ouens voorgestel dat ons SA teen die All Blacks gaan kyk, ‘n goeie bonding experience.

Hoe meer ons gepraat het, hoe meer het ek die donker wolke agter die silwer rante begin raaksien.

Die jong manne ry blinke karre, bly in netjiese woonstelle en hulle betaal nie self huur of water en elektrisiteit nie; boonop kry hulle in salarisse in die allemagtige dollar EN ‘n salaris in rand wat in ‘n spaarrekening in Suid-Afrika oploop.

Het hulle met hulle alies in die botter geval of wat? Ek wou nie eers die sommetjie maak nie, veronderstel elke diplomaat kry twee salarisse, is dit waarheen ons belasting betalers se geld nou eintlik gaan?

Niemand klim op die soustrein nie, jy klim in ‘n vliegtuig land-uit en maak asof jy so vreeslik baie omgee vir ons Afrika-landjie se probleme…

Dit is nou naiwiteit gewees, Kytie Koekblik, het ek besef. Die meeste Nuwe Suid-Afrikaners, swart of wit, is volskaalse kapitaliste wat hulle eie belange eerste stel.

My eerste kennismaking met die eintlike mag agter die politiek, geld. En waar daar geld is, is daar mag, en waar daar mag is, is daar korrupsie.

Hoekom leer ons nie hiervan in die skool nie? Of op universiteit nie? Ons leer van groter ideale, soos objektiwiteit, menseregte en vryheid van spraak.

My baas is op ‘n stadium uit die SA Embassade in Washington verban omdat hy gewaag het om te skryf oor ‘n kriminele voorval in die vorige administrasie onder Franklin Sonn. Sogenaamde “transparency.”

Maar ek moet sê, in Ambassadeur Sheila Sisulu het Suid-Afrika ‘n uitstekende keuse gemaak, en tot op hierdie stadium kan ek nie gal braak oor haar bestuur of personeel nie.

Maar in die geskiedenis kruip daar donker dinge weg, en ek het ongelukkig die goed loop oopkrap in my baas se argiewe,…Dit was na ‘n hofsaak hierdie week voorgekom het waarin immigrasie wette verbreek is.

Volgens die US hof is ‘n man wat sy Brasiliaanse slaaf/ domestiese huishulp vir amper 20 jaar onwettig aangehou en misbruik het, tot ses jaar in die tronk gevonnis. Die man is ook $110 000 armer.

Suid-Afrika het ook minstens twee “slawe” in Amerika, altwee is steeds in die land na hulle summier afgedank is. So lui die storietjie….

‘n Baie Belangrike Diplomaat wat op die oomblik in Pretoria aan bevel staan van die Amerikas, ene Ntshinga, is bevoorreg. Hy het definitief nie grootgeword met die ou gesegde: Take Responsibility for your Actions nie…Face the consequences… Hy het klaarblyklik diplomatieke immuniteit.

Ntshinga het na bewering die reëls verbreek en ‘n jong, 19-jarige SA meisietjie, Nattey Mdingi, in diens geneem. Volgens die Immigrasie-diens (INS) mag diplomate domestiese hulp van hulle tuisland af saambring op ‘n spesiale visa.

Maar, Ntshinga stuur toe die meisietjie om vir sy niggie, ene Peli Melabie, ook ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse Amerikaner, in New Jersey te werk. Dus die Eerste Oortreding.

Eennag tydens ‘n dronke partytjie in die woning van Die Diplomaat breek daar toe ‘n geveg uit waarin Ntshinga glo as vredemaker opgetree het. ‘n Ander prominente Suid-Afrikaner was ook betrokke.

Die staat lê hierop ‘n klag teen Ntshinga en die ander prominente Suid-Afrikaner, en beskuldig hulle van ernstige aanranding.

Toe die 19-jarige meisietjie haar weer kom kry, word sy afgedank deur Ntshinga se niggie, en die niggie kla haar aan van “Child Endangerment.”

Dat die Niggie die cheek gehad het om ‘n werknemer wat sy in die eerste plek onwettig in diens geneem het, aan te kla? Gaan my verstand te bowe.

Ntshinga se diplomatieke immuniteit is wel opgehef vir die saak, maar volgens die onoffisiële weergawe is sy Top Prokureur deur die Embassade - aldus die belasting betalers betaal, klaarblyklik ‘n stywe bedraggie in die omgewing van 25 000 US dollar.

Die saak is uitgegooi omdat die vername getuies, gaste in die Diplomaat se woning, almal in die buiteland was.

Asof dit nie genoeg is nie, kry Ntshinga ‘n promosie na sy termyn in die USA verstreke is. Nattey beweer Ntshinga het gedreig om haar uit die weg te ruim daardie nag…

Sy niggie Peli Melabie sit toe weer sonder ‘n huishulp. Waarop sy ‘n 43-jarige vrou uit SA laat invoer op ‘n toeriste visa. Toe die vrou siek word, toe dank sy haar summier af.

Cara Moya sit nou nog in die VSA, sy is steeds siek, moes ‘n noodoperasie ondergaan en sy het vir maande in ‘n nagskuiling weggekruip omdat sy onwettig in Amerika is.

The rich get richer, sê hulle mos. Dit klink soos ‘n soapie, nie ‘n hoofstuk uit die geskiedenis van ons land wat ‘n leier is vir menseregte nie.

Waar is Madiba en Biskop Tutu, vra my hart, om my weer te inspireer? En waar was Madiba en Franklin Sonn tydens die voorval in 1998? vra my verstand.

Kytie K.

Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road.

You can contact her here.

© RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ]

Clinton's visit to Africa
Ilda Jacobs

Washington D.C Outgoing US President Bill Clinton's visit to Nigeria and Tanzania this week, has opened up the proverbial can of worms about relationships between the United States and the larger "Africa."

Clinton is the first American president to visit the African continent twice during his administration.

Clinton’s two day visit to Nigeria is of strategic significance to the United States, Whitney Schneidman, the Department Assistant to the Secretary of State for Africa, told African Eye News Service.

“Oil interests in Nigeria can be more easily protected than oil interests in the Middle-East,”he said.

The visit is largely regarded as the Clinton administration’s continued efforts to increase trade relations with the African continent, although sceptics reckon it is a token visit to secure a Democratic Party victory in the upcoming presidential elections. The visit is seen as a renewed effort to increase their support amongst the African American population.

In his address during annual Democratic Convention in Los Angeles last week, Democratic Party Presidential candidate and US Vice-president Al Gore, said Africa is on the Democrats’ agenda. Last weekend Clinton signed a bill that sets up a global World Bank Aids Trust Fund to provide grants for ADIS prevention, care and education to countries hardest hit by the disease.

African issues or trade relations with Africa did not feature in the address of his major opponent, Governor George W. Bush, to the Republican Convention in Philadelphia.

According to Schneidman, the spotlight that is currently shining on Africa for its potential as a trade partner.

The new born democracy Nigeria is currently 15 months old, and Schneidman said the visit is a valuable opportunity to pledge US support for the democratic government of Nigeria. The other issues which feature on the American president’s agenda, is the global threat of HIV/AIDS, as well as other peacekeeping matters.

Dapo Olorynyomi, the Director of African programs at the Panos Institute and former journalist in Nigeria, said Nigerian expectations about the Clinton’s trip include US assistance to the relationship between the AIDS drug industry and Nigeria to provide th e country with cheaper HIV/AIDS medicine.

Nigeria would also push the issue of debt relief for their 6 billion US dollar debt. Leonard Robinson Jr., the President and Chief Executive Officer for the National Summit on Africa, said the visit is important because Nigeria has enormous market potential. He also views the visit as politically significant in order to secure democracy.

“President Clinton has the gift to communicate, and he will talk with opposition figures in Nigeria,”Robinson said.

He regards the visit as the promotion of further trade options with Africa. “Modern African leaders do not want aid” Robinson said, and emphasised the increased US efforts to encourage the private sector to invest in Africa.

Robinson was quoted saying during the press conference that “Nigeria is more important than South Africa.”

He then told African Eye News that he does not want to compare the two countries, because it is the same as comparing an “apple and an orange.”

“Increased trade relations with Nigeria will have a ripple effect for the whole region and for the African continent,” Robinson said.

Clinton will also pay a one day visit to Tanzania on invitation from former President Nelson Mandela.

Reportedly Clinton was supposed to visit South Africa during his African trip.

“We will have the chance to connect with South African indirectly.” Schneidman said in response to a question from a member of the United States Information Agency African Press Service about whether the controversy surrounding president Thabo Mbeki’s stance on aids, is the reason for the exclusion of South Africa from the visit.

© RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ]

SA movie screened
Ilda Jacobs

Washington DC - Film screening at the Trans African Forum, “A walk in the night” directed by Mickey Madoda Dube, 1998, 78 minutes. In English and Afrikaans.

South African director Mickey Madoda Dube's film adaption of Alex La Guma's celebrated novella "A Walk in the Night", stirred discussion about racial relationships in the new South Africa at a screening August 15th at the TransAfrica Forum in Washington DC.

About 30 people with an avid interest in South Africa attended the screening of the film. The audience ratio was diverse, ranging between African Americans, American youth who has been on student exchange programmes in South Africa and other Africans with an interest in the dynamics of the country.

Only two South Africans attended the screening.

The film was not at all discussed on its merits as an art work or medium of entertainment, despite its beautiful cinematography and its obvious qualities.

It was only valued in terms of its underlying ideology and its application to actuality.

This film " n Nagstappie"/ "A Walk in the night" depicts the current tensions between South Africans of all colours and races. Adapted form the original novel and written by Madoda and the celebrated writer, Mandla Langa. The film offers a refreshing perspective from a black view point on the racial dynamics.

The film suggests tensions between the Coloured and the black African communities, particularly with regards to immigrants who steal jobs from the local South Africans.

The identity of the Coloured turned out to be a contentious topic of discussion at the screening. The confused Afrikaner who is adapting to the new South Africa that was portrayed, also evoked commentary.

The traditional stereotypical South African policeman still surfaces in the film, although this particular version of the bad cop spoke mostly English. It is indeed an Afrikaans policeman who, towards the end of the film, acts within the interest of humanity.

The tension between the white man and the Coloured is the source of this film, simply because of apartheid's damage and the ongoing discrimination which has not been eliminated in the South African society as yet, although it is suggested that there are whites who have integrated and changed.

This point evoked many questions during the screening, and various view points were discussed very openly and sensitively. The African Americans were interested in the policies of affirmative action, as well as the racial relations between younger generations.

The film depicts the insecurities of a system which has scarred all its citizens emotionally. Ironically enough, two whites and one coloured boy dies in the film.

The final scene shows a white policemen hunted down by the coloured community after he shot his fellow racist policemen.

This scene raised questions about revenge at the screening.

Specific questions about the freedom of the media and the disclosure of human rights violations were also posed.

Further questions were asked about South Africa's security system and the judicial system, and the issues were not related to the film at all.

© RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ]

Mandela's portraitist in US
Ilda Jacobs

Washington DC - Cyril Coetzee has approached his art with a truly hybrid perspective which draws on both European and African sources.

This South African artist who is known as “Mandela’s Portraitist” has recently been in the States to complete a portrait which was commissioned by a well known concert pianist.

“I aim to create work with more than one voice” Coetzee said about his interest in the South African historical situation and its people.

Coetzee’s work has become increasingly popular in the United States because it draws on a range of techniques, ranging from classical, hyper realist portraits to imaginative, authentic South African art.

Although support for the fine arts is dwindling in South Africa, Coetzee has fully grasped the paradox in a country that is so torn by poverty and its economic struggle. “We have a historical and spiritual wealth” Coetzee says.

Drawing on the resources of his home country, Coetzee hopes to expand his market in the United States. His work contributes towards an understanding of the diverse South African culture in its political and artistic dimensions.

Coetzee recently spent ten days in Washington DC to complete a portrait of Marcia Daft, a concert pianist who commissioned him to paint her after they met during an exhibition of African art in July this year.

During July, Coetzee did the preliminary work, and took several photos to rely on during the creation of the work. He also spent time with his subject to become familiar with her.

Coetzee says he has portrayed Daft in more suggestive colours as opposed to an ordinary hyper realist portrait. She is pictured in a soft, impressionistic setting in front of her grand piano in her apartment.

Coetzee then painted the work in South Africa, and during his short visit to the States, he has done the finishing touches.

It is important for Coetzee to be familiar with his subject, and to have a sense of their presence.

Most people cannot imagine what it is like to “have a sense of Madiba’s presence.”

Coetzee admits that his first portrait of Mandela in 1995 was a challenge. “There was the euphoria about the new South Africa, and Mandela was a very charismatic figure.” Coetzee said. “Luckily I had experience in portraiture, because I wanted to portray what Mandela represents.”

Advocate George Bizos gave the portrait to Mandela as a gift. The larger than life portrait now belongs to Mandela’s personal collection, and it is showcased in the foyer of his house in Houghton.

This year Coetzee was again commissioned by Bizos to paint of portrait of Graca Machel and Madiba together for a special wedding present. Bizos’s history with Mandela goes back about forty years, back to the Rivonia trials in the sixties when he represent Mandela.

There was not an official unveiling of this portrait, which is a full length double portrait of Madiba and his wife in their garden at home.

Coetzee has also recently completed a series of four portraits commissioned by the South Africa government for their Woman’s Day Celebrations.

Coetzee describes it as a “unique exercise” because he worked with people who were historical figures that he had never met. He had to paint portraits of four woman activists, Helen Joseph, Sophie de Bruyn, Rameenah Moosa and Lilian Ngoyi by relying on archival material.

His other major project has been the painting of an enormous canvas for a wall in the Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand.

This particular project allowed Cyril to do in-depth research into history and the stereotypical portrayal of African and Africans through a western perspective.

“It was an imaginative exercise on a grand scale” Coetsee says about this work. He used Andre P. Brink’s novel “The First Life Of Adamastor” as a major resource. He also drew on the De Bry travel book illustrations of the 17th century.

“The work was a playful subversion of the European perspective” Coetzee said. “It goes beyond the issue of either the African or European perspective. The techniques are based on western tradition, and the work is not ethnic. But it is both African and European in a sense.” Coetzee explained.

Coetzee is currently working on a book which aims to reflect the complex process of creative and technical production of the Wits Cullen Library work.

A slideshow at an informal reception in Washington last week, gave artist the opportunity to reveal to Americans the diverse traditions which a South African artist could draw from to create a truly indigenous work.

The Cullen Library canvas glows with colours, and as a South African work about the first arrival of the Portugese in Africa, the work subverts the stereotypical colonial perspectives into a post-colonial and post-modern idiom.

More Coetzee creations were recently included in an exhibition of South African art curated by South African Enid Holden at the Touchstone Gallery in Washington.

It is currently being exhibited at the South African Consul in New York City, after which it will be moved to the trendy Madiba café in New York’s borough of Brooklyn.

© RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ]

Umbilical cord between African Americans and Afirca
Ilda Jacobs

Washington DC - Former President Nelson Mandela once said that an unbreakable umbilical cord connected black South Africans and black Americans.

“Together we are the children of Africa” Mandela said.

This unbreakable umbilical cord has become the focus at Howard University, an institution in Washington D.C. that is historically associated with the freedom struggle.

Recently President Mbeki awarded the American people for their contribution towards the Struggle in South Africa, and Howard University was chosen as the custodian for the plaque.

The university has launched a research project to chronicle this relationship between African Americans and black South Africans from the eighteenth century when African American sailors began venturing to South Africa, to 1965. The research project commenced in September 1999, for a three year period.

Although most African Americans trace their ancestry to societies in West and Central Africa, the exchanges between South African and African Americans flowered when African Americans started up small businesses in the South African interior, as far back as in the 1880’s. This forms a large part of the research.

1965 was chosen as the cut-off date for the project, because of shifts in the American civil rights movement and the progression of freedom movements in South African from legal, above-grounded protest to underground, armed resistance.

Their research team at Howard University consists out of the two co-directors Robert Edgar and David Anthony, and the senior researcher is Robert Vinson. The team has extensive experience in researching and writing on African Americans and South Africa.

Close ties were formed between African Americans and South Africans because of the shared experience with white domination and segregation in industrializing nations.

The ties were formed in a diverse range of areas, ranging from politics, economics and business, to religion, education, sports, literature, music, theater and art. The African American culture has also influenced South African culture and music tremendously.

The mayor tie between African Americans and South Africa, was the tireless efforts in support of the freedom struggle. Anti-apartheid movements was kept alive in churches, on campuses, in corporate boardrooms and trade union halls.

Three African Americans provoked one of the longest-running and most effective political demonstrations in recent U.S. history when they stated a sit-in at the South African Embassy in Washington D.C. on Thanksgiving eve in 1984.

For several years, African Americans organized daily marches outside the SA Embassy, drawing national and international attention.

Effectively it was the continued efforts on behalf of their brothers and sisters in oppression, which had built up the pressure to change American foreign policy towards South Africa.

Congress passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986. Subsequently, South Africa’s main opposition groups were legalized in February 1990 and Mandela was released a week later. The Act is presented to be one of the reasons why the transition in South Africa came about.

In Mandela’s autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”, he recounts some of his impressions of African Americans during his first stay in New York City.

“I went up to Harlem, an area that had assumed legendary proportions in my mind since the 1950s when I watched young men in Soweto emulate the fashions of Harlem dandies. Harlem, as my wife said, was the Soweto of America.”

Mandela also said that he was inspired by great Americans such as W.E.B Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and Martin Luther King, Jr. He followed the struggle of black Americans against racism, discrimination and economic inequality while he was in prison.

The first exchange between the blacks of these two large, urbanized, industrialized multi-racial nations, goes far back, although it is a marginalized part of history which surprisingly little is known about.

The researchers have centered the focus of the project around several thousand documents which they have collected over the past several decades from a variety of sources, including speeches, letters, diaries, government and personal documents.

The collection’s documents include discussions between both communities over appropriate political and economic strategies for responding to and challenging segregation and white domination, and their attempts to pressurise the American government and the international community to oppose the apartheid system.

In the 1950’s, ANC leaders corresponded with African-American civil rights leaders about their respective struggles. Through the exchanges a friendship was forged between Martin Luther King Jr and Albert Luthuli. These two prominent advocates of non-violent tactics were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The exchange of culture is also being researched. In the arts, the African Americans made notable contributions to South African music. The absorption of American jazz and ragtime, dance and recording styles in South Africa in this century has resulted in distinctive urban African music styles such as marabi. Marabi and its variants, in return, have made their way to the united States and influenced popular music.

In the field of religion, the African Americans influenced South African significantly. The establishment of the National Baptist Convention and the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)attracted many African Christians who were disenchanted with European mission Christianity.

Many South Africans received scholarships to study in the United States through the AME. It is believed that the SA government was alarmed at the prospect of African students being influenced by radical political ideas at black colleges in the United States, and in 1916 Fort Hare, a university exclusively for black students was found.

© RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ]

Features & Briefs

FIRE RAGES IN PRETORIA
Three floors of post office building on Pretoria's Church Square were "completely gutted" on thursday night by a blaze which raged through the historic site.

The fire burned from 8pm to 10.30pm and again highlighted the city' poor firefighting standards. The building is situated only a few blocks from the main fire station.

The blaze follows serious other fires which caused millions of rands damage to the SALU building and completely gutted the municipal headquarters, Munitoria.

Thanks to www.eep.co.za

SPRINGBOK DALTON AN INFORMANT?
The sensational allegations that James Dalton, Springbok hooker of the Golden Lions was the informant who kept Dr Louis Luyt apprised of conversations from the inner circles of players and management of the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU), increased in intensity on Thursday, Beeld reported.
Last week Luyt announced out of the blue that he had tapped the telephone of the chief executive of the GLRU, Mr Johan Prinsloo, after he received "certain information" which indicated a "conspiracy."

Shortly afterwards Luyt said "his informant, who was involved in certain conversations amongst the players" was a Golden Lions' player. However, he did not announce his name. On Thursday Finansies en Tegniek (F&T), reported that it was allegedly Dalton. Who knows??!!

Thanks to www.eep.co.za

STRYDOMS MEET PRESIDENT
Monique and Callie Strydom, newly arrived in South Africa after they extended captivity as hostages in the Philippines, met Thabo Mbeki at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on Thursday.

Their meeting, where they were formally welcomed back by the president, was televised live. The Johannesburg press club announced that it had elected the couple as its Newsmakers of the Year, and life will never be the same for the Strydoms.

Hundreds of wellwishers welcomed them back at Waterkloof Air Base on Wednesday after their 13-hour flight from Tripoli, and after laughter, tears, and the national anthem, the Strydoms hugged Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who had accompanied them back.

Thanks to www.eep.co.za

E.T. RELEASED
A much thinner, but clearly elated Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader Eugene Terre'Blanche walked out of the Pretoria High Court on Thursday a "free" man, telling reporters that he was "not bitter, but better".

Terre'Blanche said he would be returning to the Rooigrond Prison in North West with his legal team "to fetch his things" and to sort out certain formalities.

His release followed a decision by the Department of Correctional Services to release him on parole after he had served six months of his year jail term for assault, but also after a Pretoria High Court Judge granted an urgent order for his release.

Thanks to www.eep.co.za

SA JOURNALIST IN DC
Matheson Communications, U.S. Representatives for Africa Eye News Service, recruited Ilda Jacobs as part of their continuing commitment to provide opportunity for young journalists in South Africa to gain valuable experience abroad.

Ilda graduated from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, in November 1999 with an honors degree in Arts Journalism, Drama and Afrikaans-Dutch.

We want our readers to be the eyes and ears for Ilda as she fulfills their commitment to provide news coverage to South African newspapers, magazines and various news services.

Please don't hesitate to email us leads, story ideas and assistance.

Ilda is interested in a broad spectrum of stories, ranging from hard news to Africa or South African related information.