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Mail & Guardian
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mail & Guardian
Jonathon Rees: Finding stillness in a note
A moment in time: Images from Jonathon Rees's show titled Stillness. At this year's National Arts Festival in Makhanda, I stumbled upon a quiet revelation in the Monument — a photographic exhibition titled Stillness, where images of jazz musicians mid-performance stood suspended in time — full of intensity, intimacy and grace. The photographer behind them is Jonathon Rees. He might not be a household name in the South African art world just yet but his debut solo exhibition made a powerful case for the visual possibilities of live music. Rees's portraits are stark, focused and emotionally charged; they don't just capture musicians playing music. They distil a moment of devotion, a flicker of transcendence, the quiet just before the applause. The photographs feel like jazz itself — improvisational yet studied, free yet focused. What makes his work all the more remarkable is that Rees is not a full-time photographer. He came to photography — and to jazz — as an outsider. And perhaps that's exactly why his perspective is so refreshing. When I spoke to him, he began, quite unexpectedly, with journalism. 'I studied journalism and history at Rhodes University,' he told me. 'It was at the festival actually, late at night, in a smoky bar, that I discovered jazz. It absolutely moved me.' This was in the 1980s, during apartheid. Rees remembers the jazz venues of that time as some of the only truly integrated spaces. 'It was mixed, but authentically mixed. It just felt natural — it felt like the world we wanted.' And maybe that's the thread running through his work — the longing for unity, beauty and presence. Freeze frame: Photographs from Jonathon Rees's exhibition Stillness which was on at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda. Although he had always taken photographs, Rees never considered himself a professional. It wasn't until 2016, when he attended the farewell concert of Max Luner, a young jazz drummer and the son of a friend, that something shifted. 'He played with Caroline Mhlanga, and I took photographs. That night gave me the bug. I realised I could make visual art out of live jazz performance. And that excited me.' Rees didn't grow up with art and music: 'There were no paintings in our home and we didn't really listen to music,' he told me. That context, the absence of cultural exposure in his early life, makes his soulful connection to jazz and photography all the more poignant. 'I felt like I had an opportunity to be an artist in the musical world, even though I never imagined I'd be here,' he said. And once he caught the bug, he chased it obsessively. Rees started attending jazz gigs around Johannesburg two, three, sometimes four nights a week, learning how to work with bad lighting, getting familiar with venues and musicians, and developing a style. For the first five or six years, it was purely about learning. 'As an older person, that was really rewarding. It proved you can still learn something new later in life.' He set out initially trying to capture full-band shots, faces, fingers, full instruments, but quickly realised that between lighting limitations, stage obstructions and constant movement, that approach wasn't sustainable. Instead, he began to move closer, literally and metaphorically. 'I realised I was making portraits. I was focusing on the person and their concentration, their passion, their communication.' Many of the images in Stillness are not of performance in the traditional sense. They show the moment after a solo, the breath before the applause. A moment in time: Images from Jonathon Rees's show titled Stillness. Take the photo of musician Thandi Ntuli right after her final piano note. 'She looks up, absolutely quiet. That moment before the clapping starts, that's the stillness I'm after.' And in another image, of Nduduzo Makhathini, taken on a freezing night at Constitution Hill, vapour rises from a musician's mouth as he exhales into the cold. 'He was making a connection with someone else on stage. That's why I love that image. You can feel the environment, the music and the intimacy,' Rees said. These in-between moments when the musician steps back from the microphone or pauses between phrases are when he feels closest to his subject. 'It's in those gaps that you really see someone.' But stillness, he admits, is also something personal. 'I think I'm also looking for the stillness within myself. We live hectic lives and we need to find a way to be quiet over the chaos.' Photography, as any journalist knows, is technical. In journalism school, we get a crash course at best. So, I asked Rees when he knew he'd taken a solid image and how he developed confidence in his craft. 'I look at a lot of other photographers,' he said. 'There's a strong tradition here — Ernest Cole, Cedric Nunn, Oscar Gutierrez. I admire them deeply.' But, ultimately, it's a matter of internal validation. 'I have to look at a picture and say: 'This is good for me. This is the best I can do.'' He has developed a recognisable visual style — tight black backgrounds, clean compositions and a singular focus on the musician's face or hands. 'I don't want clutter. I want the image to be clear and reflective of what I felt in that moment.' And maybe that's why his images don't fall into the usual tropes of South African photojournalism —poverty, protest, pain. 'We've seen enough of that. I want to show people in their power.' Stillness marks Rees's first full exhibition. He's done mini-shows before in a small town, in a hotel, but this was different. 'To show my work at the National Arts Festival, where I first discovered jazz and where I've come back year after year to shoot jazz, meant everything to me.' Many of the musicians in the photo were performing at the festival. Some came to see the exhibition. Some gave feedback. Most, he says, were gracious and warm. 'You don't always get feedback in a gallery space but I got enough from people I respect to feel validated. And it's motivated me to keep going.' Now, back in Johannesburg, Rees is planning to show Stillness again —possibly at Afrikan Freedom Station in Sophiatown. He might tweak the selection after seeing how the images sat on the walls in Makhanda. But, mostly, the show will stay the same, with a few new additions. He's not slowing down. 'I've never worked so hard on anything in my life. And the question I ask myself constantly is: 'Have I done my best?' With this show, I believe I have.' And that, perhaps, is where the real stillness lies — not just in the silence between two notes but in the quiet, unflinching pursuit of one's own artistic truth.
News24
07-07-2025
- News24
Body found in Port Alfred river during search for missing Rhodes student
A body was found in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape in the early hours of Saturday during the search for missing Rhodes University student, Fulufhelo 'Lekay' Munzhelele. National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the body was found in the Kowie River at about 01:00. He said it was believed to be the body of 22-year-old Munzhelele from Musina, Limpopo, who went missing in the early hours of Friday at East Beach in Port Alfred. However, he added: 'Formal identification is in progress and at this stage the identification is yet to be confirmed.' He said police opened an inquest docket. According to Lambinon, the information the NSRI had received at the time of the missing persons report was that three friends – two men and a woman – had got into difficulty while swimming at East Beach. It appeared that the three friends became caught in rip currents, he said. One man and the woman were able to swim to safety. However, Munzhelele appeared to have gone missing in the surf zone. An extensive search operation was launched, which led to the discovery of the body on Saturday morning.
The Citizen
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Is the two-pot system a blessing or curse?
R57 billion has been paid out so far since the two-pot retirement system was implemented in 2024. The jury's still out – and probably won't be in for at least another decade or two – on whether the two-pot retirement system will be of long-term benefit, or not, to South African workers. Prof Lucien van der Walt, director of Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit at Rhodes University, makes a good point when he observes that the R57 billion paid out so far to people accessing their retirement funds has helped people to escape the current tough financial times and that is 'better than being trapped in a downward spiral of financial instability and losses'. Previously, 'many people quit their jobs so that they could access their retirement funds, often leaving them broke later, and on the small government old age pension system,' he added. ALSO READ: Two-pot retirement system: Almost 4 million withdrawals close to R57 billion However, we wonder how many people used the money to bail them out from the poor choices which got them into debt. Taking that money would also negatively affect long-term savings for retirement. Will the two-pot system actually help to inculcate a savings culture in a country where 'live for today and to hell with tomorrow' is almost the national motto? However, what is clear is that there needs to be better financial education in our schools. NOW READ: Liberty pays out R600 million for two-pot retirement system in 2024
Daily Maverick
29-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
The why behind the surge in Christian fundamentalist hate against transgender people
Two researchers explain the disinformation tactics used by Christian fundamentalist groups to attack transgender and gender-diverse people. Christian fundamentalist organisations are tailoring deliberate anti-transgender messaging in South Africa and other African countries, framing 'gender ideology' as a form of attack on them. Why is this happening? The anti-transgender language is explicitly developed to deliver a message that transgender people are a threat to cisgender women's rights and safety, and to the family, and they disseminate that message to the public with pseudoscientific messaging. The disinformation is deliberate, designed to question the existence of transgender and gender-diverse people and justify discrimination against them. Dr Ingrid Lynch is an independent researcher and research fellow at Rhodes University with years of experience and published peer-reviewed papers about gender. In one of her reports, she notes that these groups primarily leverage religious fundamentalist narratives in two key ways: by positioning themselves as defenders of the ordained 'natural' or 'traditional' family. However, in South Africa, less than a third of families conform to this narrow two-cisgender heterosexual biological parent model. The notion of protecting the family, Lynch argues, is really about exclusion – about determining who does and does not deserve social and policy protections. 'Ultimately, this 'pro-family' messaging excludes most South African families and undermines any real support for their wellbeing,' says Lynch. Common entry points for fundamentalist groups have included opposition to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), the rights of LGBTIQ persons and their families, and safe and legal abortion. But in recent years there has been a sharp increase in opposition to the rights of transgender and gender-diverse people, especially regarding access to gender-affirming healthcare. 'There are still people who have prejudiced ideas about homosexuality and gender diversity. But this Global North anti-trans rhetoric is not organic. It is fermented in countries like the US and UK and exported to African countries. It comes back to Christian nationalism and the far right. These movements promote a narrow vision of national identity tied to conservative religious values. 'There is a rigid idea of what a family should look like, which for so long was used against same-sex marriage and LGBTQI+ rights. That is being bolstered again to attack the rights of transgender and gender-diverse people. This very particular idea of what a family should look like, within that ideology, does not accommodate gender diversity. 'Because it is rooted in a very patriarchal system, we are seeing how the rights of not only trans women but also cisgender women are being eroded again. These groups cling to the patriarchal gender binary and the traditional view of women, often tied to white supremacist ideas about race and national identity. In the US you see it at political rallies where they talk about the great replacement theory – a conspiracy claiming that certain groups are being 'replaced' demographically – and pronatalism,' says Lynch. It is an absolute and violent reinforcement of the gender binary. Jenna-Lee de Beer-Procter, a clinical psychologist and researcher, who provides mental healthcare to transgender and gender-diverse people, says: 'Gender diversity unsettles the dominant order. In societies that are built around rigid ideas of gender, where cisgender identities are treated as natural and unchanging, the idea that gender might be fluid, self-determined or simply different is seen as threatening.' Children are not protected The typical response is 'we want to protect children' when gender-affirming care is withheld. Fundamentalist groups struggle to influence policy using straightforward religious rhetoric alone. Lynch explains that 'they undermine the rights of transgender people by targeting gender-affirming healthcare'. These groups often claim they protect the 'vulnerable' and advocate for 'exploratory psychotherapy', essentially a form of conversion therapy that has been discredited as unscientific and inhumane. 'They constantly invent new terms and distort research to justify denying transgender youth access to gender-affirming care. Pseudoscience has become one of their main tools,' says Lynch. 'If they genuinely cared about transgender and gender-diverse children, they would care about them not being discriminated against. And they would accept the fact that they exist. They want to delay care and withhold any affirmation in the hope that it will go away. This leaves a child with no support. Instead, focus on ensuring that transgender youth don't have to face bullying in schools, and on creating a sense of belonging and safety regardless of a child's gender identity. It is heartbreaking that this argument is used,' says Lynch. De Beer de Beer-Procter adds: 'The harm done is immense. When care is delayed, distress increases. When identity is doubted, trust breaks down. And when young people are forced to prove they are 'really' trans before being believed, they learn that support is conditional and that they must perform their pain in just the right way to be taken seriously. Many give up. Some are forced to seek care in unsafe or underground ways. Others simply learn to disappear. 'What gets called caution is often a refusal to see – or to listen. And while it may protect institutions or adults from feeling uncertain, it leaves trans youth alone in their pain. That's not protection. That's abandonment,' they say. Questioning gender-affirming care under the guise of 'concern' within a society which privileges cisgender people over transgender people is anything but neutral. Power is not distributed evenly when certain groups are afforded more visibility, legitimacy and safety than others – not always because they ask for it, but because systems have been built around their experiences and assumptions. Cisgender people occupy this dominant position. They are not asked to prove their identities, explain their pronouns or justify the healthcare they receive. Their gender is taken for granted as 'normal', 'natural' and the 'default'. Trans people, by contrast, are consistently positioned as questionable. De Beer de Beer-Procter explains: 'Our identities are scrutinised. Our access to care is debated. Our presence in schools, hospitals and public life is treated as controversial. In this context, so-called neutrality doesn't create balance – it reinforces stigma. And it sets back the hard-fought progress we've made in securing gender-affirming care, legal recognition and the basic right to exist without being treated as a problem to solve. What's more, the 'concern' being expressed is rarely based on accurate information. Gender-affirming care is routinely misrepresented as rushed, reckless or automatic – as though thousands of children are being hurried into life-altering decisions. 'But this is simply not true. In South Africa, access to gender-affirming care is already extremely limited. Public provision exists in only a handful of clinics, often with yearslong waiting lists. Only one public clinic in the entire country offers support to trans youth. In the private sector, trained endocrinologists, social workers and mental health professionals are few and far between – and the costs place them far out of reach for most families,' says De Beer-Procter. 'Feminists' to the rescue? Some so-called feminists are also claiming that their rights are in danger. Describing themselves as 'gender critical feminists', they don't support the rights of transgender people. Most notable is JK Rowling, with Helen Zille recently echoing similar talking points in a social media post. 'I don't call them feminists because there is nothing feminist about their views. By upholding deeply misogynistic beliefs, they become complicit in their own oppression,' says Lynch. 'They can't see how something like bathroom bans against trans women is going to hurt all women. Do we really want cisgender women to have to prove that they are 'feminine' enough to be recognised as women? Are we okay with the fact that these gender-critical groups want us to police all women, including cisgender women? They are not feminists, they are not recognising that this absolute attack on transgender women is enforcing patriarchal oppression.' Lynch stresses that protecting rights is not a competition. 'We can and should all fight for cisgender women's rights – in the workplace, in reproductive justice and to ensure safety.' She points out that globally the leading cause of physical and psychological harm to women is violence within their intimate partnerships. 'But this particular flavour of so-called feminism is rooted in whiteness, it is not intersectional. It overlooks the experiences of women facing multiple and overlapping forms of oppression, including those often marginalised within feminist spaces. They cannot see beyond their own privilege. If they could, they would look at the data and fight for the urgent issues affecting all women.' The evidence is there The claim that there's a 'lack of evidence' is one of the most common, and most misleading, arguments used to question gender-affirming care. De Beer-Procter explains: 'We have longitudinal studies, clinical audits, qualitative research and systematic reviews that all point to the same thing: gender-affirming care improves mental health outcomes, reduces distress and increases wellbeing – especially when it's timely, respectful and affirming. 'But no amount of evidence will ever feel like 'enough' to people who aren't actually looking for evidence. For many of the most vocal critics, the real issue isn't about data; it's about belief – that everyone is either male or female, that this is fixed at birth, and that it reflects some 'biological truth'. 'But that belief doesn't hold up to scrutiny. It's not supported by science, and it's certainly not reflective of lived reality. 'We've known for decades that sex and gender are far more complex than two boxes on a form. Intersex people exist. Trans and non-binary people exist. Cultures all over the world have recognised more than two genders for centuries, says De Beer-Procter. So, when anti-trans groups demand 'proof', what they're often doing is moving the goalposts. They dismiss rigorous studies for not being perfect. They discredit researchers for being too close to the communities they study. And they ignore the overwhelming consensus from major medical bodies around the world. Because what's actually being defended isn't science, it's a worldview. A belief that gender diversity is a deviation rather than a natural part of human variation, and one that fuels disinformation and fear across borders. DM
The South African
27-06-2025
- The South African
Rhodes University student missing after midnight swim in Port Alfred
A 22-year-old Rhodes University student from Limpopo has gone missing after being caught in a rip current during an early morning swim at East Beach in Port Alfred. The incident occurred at approximately 01:42 on Friday. According to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), the student had been swimming with two friends – another male and a female – when all three were reportedly pulled into the surf by strong rip currents. The two friends managed to swim to safety and did not sustain any injuries. The third student, however, vanished in the surf and has not been seen since. The NSRI Port Alfred station launched an immediate search and rescue operation involving rescue swimmers, a rescue craft (Rescue 11 Alpha), and a shoreline response vehicle. They were joined by the South African Police Service (SAPS), Multi Security, the SAPS K9 Search and Rescue Unit, and the SAPS Water Policing and Diving Services (WPDS). Despite an extensive land and sea search throughout the day, no trace of the missing man has been found. Police have confirmed that an investigation has been opened, and search efforts are ongoing. The identities of the students have not been released, and the two survivors have requested privacy. NSRI spokespersons expressed their condolences and support to the student's family and friends. 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the missing man in this difficult time.' Authorities have urged the public to be cautious when swimming at unguarded beaches and to avoid swimming alone or during night hours when rescue resources are limited. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
