This week — #StandUpSA march against rolling blackouts, virtual forum on the electricity crisis and talk on who killed Thulani Maseko

On Tuesday, 31 January, at 11am, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef), in partnership with Sanlam, is hosting a webinar about attacks on journalists, and the impacts these have on the journalism profession and the safety of reporters.

“The webinar will debate whether the attacks reflect a general decline of public trust in the media, and what role business and civil society [can] play to bolster the safety of journalists,” stated the event description. 

Speakers include Muthoki Mumo, sub-Saharan Africa representative at the Committee to Protect Journalists; Cebelihle Mbuyisa, 2022 Nat Nakasa award winner; Asanda Ngoasheng, Western Cape Sanef convener; and Glenda Daniels, media studies associate professor at Wits University.

For more information, contact [email protected].



On Tuesday at 3pm, the Land Portal Foundation will be hosting a webinar titled, “Uncovering Land Data Opportunities in Senegal”.

The Land Portal and Open Data Charter have been working with the Senegalese government to open up land data, in accordance with the Open Up Guide for Land Governance.

“The Open Up Guide is a practical guide for governments who are seeking to better collect, publish, and use land data for the public good. As Phase 1 of this project, the team has published the State of Land Information in Senegal (Soli) Report. Soli reports are research-driven analyses of the current state of land data that assess the available land information against open data standards,” according to the event description.

The webinar will explore the latest results from the Open Up Guide implementation pilot in Senegal.

Register here.

On Tuesday at 5pm, the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (Wiser) will be hosting a book discussion on Changing the Subject: Feminist and Queer Politics in Neoliberal India, by Srila Roy. 

“In Changing the Subject, Roy maps the rapidly transforming terrain of gender and sexual politics in India under the conditions of global neoliberalism,” according to the event description.

Roy, who is also a professor of sociology at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), will be in conversation with Shireen Hassim, Canada150 Research Chair in Gender and African Politics at Carleton University; Bridget Kenny, a professor of sociology at Wits University; and Pumla Gqola, professor of literary and cultural studies and the NMU-DSI-NRF SARChI Chair in African Feminist Imagination at Nelson Mandela University.

The discussion will take place in the Wiser seminar room on the sixth floor of the Richard Ward Building, East Campus, Wits University.





On Thursday, 2 February, civic movement #StandUpSA will be leading a march from Sunninghill Taxi Rank to Eskom’s Megawatt Park in Johannesburg, Gauteng. Participants will gather at 10am, with the march starting at 11am.

“StandUpSA is taking the fight for the reliable and affordable supply of electricity to the country’s sole power producer, Eskom. South Africans of different political, religious and cultural backgrounds have joined forces and will deliver a list of demands to Eskom’s management,” according to the event description.

The protesters’ demands include:

• The immediate uninterrupted supply of electricity to homes, hospitals, schools and businesses;


• The scrapping of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) electricity tariff increase;


• Weekly updates on the progress of maintenance at power stations; and


• A published plan, with deadlines, that will bring about the end of rolling blackouts.

Sadag rolling blackouts survey