More than Mozart

The world is still enjoying the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart even after many centuries. And now amid the high cost of living and many atrocities in our country, there is a hidden treasure. It is a pity that Michael Mosoeu Moerane, a composer, pianist and choral director is not on this earth to hear me laud his work.

I fell in love with most of his work as a member of a chorus. He wrote different kinds of works, choral classical, traditional and many more. But in all his works, you could see he was a romantic. A creative one even! Some of his song titles are women's names. Word has it that some were his girlfriends. I'm talking about songs like Sylvia and Della. The only artists who interpret these songs in the way they were meant are Sibongile Khumalo and the Gauteng Choristers led by Sidwel* Mhlongo.

I won't leave out the fact that Ntate Moerane is uncle to His Excellency President Thabo Mbeki. Mr Moerane apparently taught the young Thabo Mbeki how to play the flute. I may be clueless, but the little research I have done does not show any high national order in his name. When I write like productive people like Mr MM Moerane, I also want to lobby organisations like the South African Music Awards (SAMA)and the government to find our roots in music. The SAMA is so far the only relevant platform to acknowledge such marvelous work. Wena Moerane ngwana wa Phoka, Mofokeng, a wa swa o robetse! Tiro ya gao e ntle e tla nna e phatsima.

Indeed we give thanks!

Her name says it all! Sibongile means we give thanks and for many jazz fans that is the sentiment. We give thanks for the talent she shares with the world. She also must get the highest recognition for her contribution t the country's arts and culture. This former opera singer has established herself exceptionally well in the jazz scene.

Some have described her music as therapeutic and she has received many other compliments for her angelic voice. I have never had a proper interview with with Sibongile Khumalo. But I did work with her during the inauguration of the President in 2004. The true version of her personality would not be accurate, but I am guessing that only the most beautiful personalities can produce such majestic and beautiful sound.

We are mourning Dr Ivan Toms

Cape Town's director of health Dr Ivan Toms died of meningitis, city manager Achmat Ebrahim said on Wednesday. Toms, an anti-apartheid and gay rights activist, was found dead in his Mowbray home on Tuesday morning.

Ebrahim told journalists at a briefing that the city had been told by the State pathologist's office that the death was being attributed to meningococcal meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes around the brain.

The estimated time of death was late Monday afternoon or early evening.

Ebrahim said this was a notifiable disease, and the city health department would follow up on contacts and prophylaxis.

Acting city health director Dr Ivan Bromfield said meningococcal meningitis was caused by a bacterium which many people carried in their nasal passages without any ill effects. In a very small minority of cases the organism might cause meningitis.

Last year there had been 74 cases reported in Cape Town, of which eight were fatal.

He said meningococcal meningitis was a communicable disease, spread between people who had been in very close contact over a prolonged period. Symptoms included sudden fever, intense headache, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck and a fine pink rash.

In the vast majority of meningitis cases, no identifiable contacts could be found - in other words, the source of the infection remained unknown. He said it was possible to have a "quite acute" onset of symptoms. Toms had been alone at home at the time.

If he had got a headache, took a pill and lay down, it was possible he could have slipped into a coma. Specialist in infectious diseases at the University of Cape Town Dr Graeme Meintjes said in most cases it took one or two days between the emergence of the first symptoms, and death, but the disease could sometimes take a "catastrophic" course.

In those cases, it could be only a matter of hours between the onset of symptoms and a fatal outcome. One of the signs of meningococcal meningitis was confusion, and it was possible a person might become confused and be unable to seek help.

Ebrahim said it appeared that Toms' sole living relative, his brother Charles, who has been on a Pacific cruise, would arrive in Cape Town next Wednesday, and that the funeral service would likely be on April 4. Story from News24.com and picture by AP

On your marks, Redi, GO!

I dare say Redi Direko is one of the most remarkable assets to this country. She gets you talking. Love her or hate her, she still gets you talking. That's if you tune into Talk Radio 702 and Cape Talk 567. If do tune in you'll know that my appreciation of her as one SA's greatest people is not exactly a matter of opinion but a fact. I suppose that is still my opinion. hehe!

Soweto girl with an Honours degree in Literature to her name. She puts all those news makers on the spot and ask them questions that my 65 year old mother would want to ask. In a more clever way of course. I am not sure why she moved from national airwaves to regional. But she still makes her point...wherever she is. I don't exactly know where she came from before the SABC, but when she uttered "Come on Mr President" during her interview with President Mbeki, I knew she was special.

I got to work in the same office with her at Primedia. I didn't pay so much attention to her...there was just no time. And she didn't have her show back then. The one true lesson I learnt through this young lady is that no one is really invincible. She did not replace the veteran Tim Modise...she designed her own existence on the slot and made her own. In a few years' time we will be giving the title of a veteran journalist if not yet. I hope when JZ becomes head of State in 2009...he will bestow one of the national orders on her. Picture courtesy of Primedia

Not exactly messiah, but close!

It's almost like he removed a deadly brain tumor that I had for many years. His compassion and determination to break animosity within society are so refreshing. In one of my blogs I called him the rebellious son of God! Archbishop Tutu will go down in history as a man of peace. He's one of the few freedom fighters who do not belong to any political party. He is undoubtedly man of God. His wisdom and courage inspire me.

He fought the apartheid regime without any weapon. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death. He feared no evil! And evil was there, trust me it was there! Goodness and mercy are following him through all the days of his life. And he still dwells in the house of the Lord.

GREAT SOUTH AFRICANS