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13 April 2018
Photo Moeketsi Mogotsi
A brisk morning at work in studio with the Breakfast show team, Richard Chemaly, Sam Ludidi and Orefiloe Kelane.
Kovsie FM’s breakfast show is in the race to win the “Best Breakfast Show for Campus Radio” in this year’s Liberty Radio Awards. This comes after the station’s first national radio awards-nomination in the history of Kovsie FM.
The Kovsie FM Breakfast show has evolved over the years, and was dubbed the #MonateFelaBreakfast in January 2018 by co-presenters Richard Chemaly (Chem) and Orefile Kelane (Fifi).
“The one thing you want to avoid when you wake up is being miserable, and the only way you can achieve that is by focusing on being happy,” said Chemaly. This realisation was a crucial turning-point for the show. The hot -duo carried on to say they wanted to make a distinction between themselves and other radio breakfast shows locally and nationally.
Inspired by a need for revolution and a closer relationship with its audience, #MonateFelaBreakfast re-examined and focused the crux of its content on the heartbeat of society, allowing the topical interests of the listeners to determine the subject of discussion or theme choice.
The appeal of the show does not rely on bringing super famous personalities as guests, but to allow up-and-coming artists to use the show as a catalyst to break through to success in their respective industries.
Chemaly and Kelane attribute their chemistry to understanding the old and new school elements of radio. They said transformation also plays an important part in the show’s lucky charm.
UFS’s Unit for Children’s Rights instrumental in helping human trafficked victim
2010-03-29
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Adv. Beatri Kruger.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs |
“Wheeling and dealing is part of our daily life. But what if the ‘product’ bought or sold is not a spanner or a cell phone, but a living human being? Disturbing news came to the fore... apart from other places in the country, and for that matter all over the world, it was discovered that people are treated like commodities here in Bloemfontein as well,” said Adv. Beatri Kruger from the Unit for Children’s Rights at the University of the Free State (UFS).
Adv. Kruger was instrumental in completing and availing the first comprehensive Research Report on Human Trafficking in South Africa to the public on 23 March 2010. As a member of the Reference Group advising on interim research reports on human trafficking, she contributed to the report. The report proves to be an extremely valuable tool for, among others, government departments and non-governmental organisations that use it as a guideline in planning interventions to combat human trafficking.
The Unit for Children’s Rights is also one of the founding members of the Free State Human Trafficking Forum (FHF). To react on and fight the disturbing reality of human trafficking more efficiently, a number of concerned role players such as Child Welfare and other non-governmental organisations, police officials, prosecutors, social workers, health practitioners, private businesses, churches and community organisations joined forces and formed the FHF. The Unit for Children’s Rights hosts monthly meetings at the UFS to facilitate the coordination of this multi-disciplinary counter-trafficking team.
Adv. Kruger is very excited about some of the successes of the FHF; such as the story of Soma (not her real name). This Indian woman was recruited in India by an Indian couple who are staying in South Africa, by promising her a good job in South Africa. However, instead of finding the promised job, Soma was extensively exploited for labour purposes. With the help of a “good Samaritan” she managed to escape from the perpetrators and fled to the police. Soma was removed to ensure her safety and accommodated in a safe place in Bloemfontein. Counselling and other services were rendered to her by an organisation which is also a member of the FHF. One of the challenges facing Soma and the service providers was that Soma speaks a foreign dialect and for weeks a trusted interpreter could not be found.
This obstacle rendered communication with her to the bare minimum. The perpetrators were arrested but unfortunately the new comprehensive counter-trafficking law is not in force yet. Therefore the perpetrators could only be convicted of some offences in the Immigration Act. However, due to good police investigation followed by shrewd consultations, the perpetrators agreed to pay for the victim’s return flight to India as well as for the flight ticket of the investigating officer to escort her to safety. The Unit for Children’s Rights did networking with Ms Maria Nikolovska of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), who agreed to assist in the safe reintegration of Soma in India. Soma is now on her way back home. |