Denis Goldberg
Building the future of Hout Bay's young people
NEWSLETTER 3 - May 2019
A BIRTHDAY, A DEGREE, AN ANNIVERSARY,
AND THE FIRST SPADEFULS OF GROUND - A
WEEK OF CELEBRATION
Denis Goldberg, our founder and constant inspiration, turned 86 on 11 April 2019. That same day,
he was awarded the degree Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa (honorary), by the Cape
Peninsula University of Technology. His fellow Rivonia Trialist, Andrew Mlangeni, was awarded a
Doctor of Public Administration, honoris causa, in the ceremony. The University acknowledged
the double occasion by including a large, rich chocolate cake on the menu of the graduation
luncheon held after the ceremony.
The citation read out when presenting Denis for his fourth honorary doctorate made mention of
“his selfless contribution to the struggle for the freedom and his unwavering commitment to the
development of post-apartheid South Africa”. These are, indeed, the characteristics which have
made the life and career of Denis Goldberg memorable.
Less than a week later, on Wednesday 17 April, a further ceremony at the Hout Bay Museum
celebrated two events. Firstly, this was yet another birthday – the 40th anniversary of the
establishment of the Hout Bay Museum. Secondly, representatives of the three partners in the
Denis Goldberg House of Hope simultaneously stuck three special spades into the ground to turn
the first sod of Phase 1 of the House of Hope. Jonty Dreyer represented the Museum, Guy
Redman represented the provincial Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, and Denis used the
third of the three decorated spades as he represented the Denis Goldberg Legacy Foundation
Trust.
THE SPORTS & ARTS HOLIDAY PROGRAMME
To a primary school child holidays are, or should be, about the three “L’s” – leisure, laughter,
learning.
These are some of the goals and values that the Denis Goldberg Trust strives to promote with
the holiday programmes it offers the children of the Hout Bay. The March 2019 holiday
programme was in every way special. On this occasion, the Denis Goldberg Trust teamed up
with Sporting Chance, a local sports coaching and development organisation, and – indirectly
– with the Butterfly Art Project, an NGO dedicated to using art to enable healing and promote
creative skills.
Snoekies provided us with the venue for the March 2019 programme, and with delicious
subsidised fish and chip lunches. We are, once again, much indebted to Justin Strong and
the other directors of Snoekies for their ongoing support and generosity.
Twenty-six children, mostly from the Imizamo Yethu Township in Hout Bay, attended. The
target age group was 6-9 years. We were pleased to welcome some of the children who had
participated in our December 2018 holiday programme, as well as seeing many new faces.
Events over the three-day programme included decorating craft bags to take home the other
art items created, creating a colour wheel and decorating the slices of a huge 'pizza' with
each child being given a slice. There was clay modelling, singing, dancing and in the
afternoons, a variety of sporting activities under the auspices of Sporting Chance – tug of war,
shuttles, the basics of netball and rugby.
A special thanks to Melissa McLaren and Madele Huckins who were co-learners with
our project assistant, Lavinia Staddon, on the introductory Butterfly Art Project course –
the three used the holiday programme as a way of practically implementing what they
had learnt using materials that were provided by the Butterfly Art Project. To anyone
interested in facilitating creative workshops in their communities we highly
recommend this organisation. Others deserving special thanks are the Sporting Chance
coaches (Wonga Matshabane, Nick Blackhurst and Lonwabo Mzondo), Scarlett
Osborne and Noma Matiwane of the Ingoma Choir. And, as always, a huge thank you
and well done to Lavinia Staddon, the Denis Goldberg Trust’s ever willing and capable
project assistant, for putting it all together as well as co-facilitating with Melissa and
Madele.
These young people have a way of creeping into our hearts, and we hope to see them
again next time around.
LEARNING TO THINK ABOUT AND
PRODUCE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS
The fact that so many of today’s cellphones have cameras allows everyone with access to
such technology to take photos. However, this does not mean that they take good photos.
During April, nine young people who are unemployed and not studying learnt to use their
cellphone cameras more effectively. They also learned about the career opportunities that
photography offers. We were able to provide this opportunity because Hout Bay residents,
Adele Gordon and Michael Goldblatt of Phototeach, were willing to share some of their
knowledge and skills.
Participants from Imizamo Yethu, Hangberg and the Valley attended the five-day course.
Throughout the course, much of the time was spent on learning through doing. Participants
were given practical tasks in which the “theory” learned could be reinforced by “doing”. On
one of the days participants experimented with photographing the various neighbourhoods
of Hout Bay. Towards the end of the course each participant embarked on a photographic
project about their lives and community in Hout Bay.
At the end of the five days each participant was asked to send through their favorite photos
from the week of which five per participant were selected by the facilitators. We put up an
exhibition of these photos for the celebration of the Museum’s 40th anniversary and the sod-
turning for the Denis Goldberg House of Hope. The exhibition remained on display for the
following week.
Although Michael and Adele are away for the next three months, we will use this period to
bring the course participants together to meet other professional photographers and
perhaps go on outings together. In their feedback, many participants commented that they
had not realised how much “thinking” goes into taking a good photo. We hope to encourage
even more “thinking about” and “doing” of photography both for these participants and for
other young people of Hout Bay.
LIFE IS WONDERFUL
The documentary film “Life is Wonderful”, produced by retired British jurist Nick Stadlen, tells
the story, in graphically simple and moving terms, of the Rivonia Trial, of the legal team who
represented the twelve accused, and of the heroic sacrifices of Denis Goldberg, Ahmed
Kathrada, Bram and Molly Fischer and other struggle icons. The film is essential viewing for
every South African – our past and heritage must never be forgotten or lose its significance.
In particular, the film is a testament to the way in which individuals from across the different
apartheid “race” groups stood together in the struggle.
The Development and Alumni Department of the University of Cape Town hosted a
screening of the film at Snoekies Hout Bay on 13 April 2019. Over 100 people attended.
We were honoured by the presence of Denis Goldberg.
As the film came to an end, with the last flickering image fading from the screen and the
titles and credits rolling, the entire audience stood up and applauded the former Rivonia
Trialist seated at the front of the hall. It was a spontaneous, and fitting, tribute – a gesture of
acknowledgment and thanks from those who had come together for the afternoon to view
and reflect on the dark shadows of the past
Several members of the audience subsequently expressed interest in organising further
screenings of the film, both to raise funds for the Denis Goldberg House of Hope and – as
important – to share the story of the past struggles that helped to bring about a democratic
(although still flawed) South Africa. So be on the lookout if you have not yet seen the film, or
would like to see it a second or third time!
To donate go to:
Our banking details are
Denis Goldberg Legacy Foundation Trust
Nedbank account number: 1146197411
Branch code: 167609
South Africa
Swift code: NEDSZAJJ
UK
Community HEART e.V.
Germany
Sparkasse Essen – IBAN: DE60 3605 0105 0001 8002 00 – BICC:
SPESDE3EXXX
Stichwort: Denis Goldberg Stiftung
Where to find us:
#Lifeiswonderful
Trustees: David Goldberg, Denis Goldberg, Joe Noero, André Oosthuizen
Registration No. IT001927/2016(C)
PBO 930061049
NPO: 204-762 NPO