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Helen Joseph

Durban Street Names
Helen Joseph Road was formerly Davenport Road, Glenwood. Helen Joseph was a South African anti-apartheid activist, born on 8 April 1905 in Sussex, England and died 25 December 1992. EARLY YEARS She graduated from King’s College, in 1927 and soon after that, she left for India. She worked as a teacherat a school for girls…
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Bertha Mkhize

Durban Street Names
Bertha Mkhize, formerly Victoria Street. Bertha lived in Victoria Street where she ran a clothing factory in from the 1930’s to the 1960’s.  Nhlumba Bertha Mkhize was one of the first people to lead the struggle for women’s rights in South Africa. She was also one of the first black women in Natal to have…
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Dorothy Nyembe

Durban Street Names
Today I am profiling Dorothy Nyembe, formerly Gardiner Street. This woman was a force to be reckoned with!   Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe, known as “Mam D”, was born on 31 December 1931, near Dundee in northern KwaZulu-Natal, and she died in Umlazi on 17 December 1998. Dorothy attended mission schools until grade 11, and at the…
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Lilian Ngoyi

Durban Street Names
This post was originally posted on Mother’s Day, when I wanted to share the story of a powerful mother, a fearless leader and a global adventurer who was a force to be reckoned with – Lilian Ngoyi. Lilian Ngoyi Road was formerly Windermere Road. Lilian Ngoyi Mother. Widow. First female elected to office in the main…
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Adelaide Tambo

Durban Street Names
Introducing Adelaide Tambo, whose name is now given to the former Kensington Drive in Durban North. Adelaide Frances Tambo was born on 18 July 1929 at the Top Location, Vereeniging, in the Vaal Triangle. Ma Thambo, as she was affectionately known, died on 31 January 2007 at her Hyde Park home in Johannesburg at the age…
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Why I Love My Stomach Rolls

Rookie Mom
Last week at yoga, I was effectively forced to stare at pools of sweat gathering in my stomach rolls. The pose had me sitting down, folded over, head hanging into my lap, looking at my belly. I don’t what this yoga pose is actually called. Probably Folded Moon or Curled Up Squirrel or something like…
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Say Something

Rookie Mom
I have big feet. Like, size 8 big feet. I seldom paint my toenails bright colours because there is just SO MUCH surface area. On a normal woman, pink toenails look sweet and summery. On me, it looks like I spilled paint on my feet. I call them Roadmaps.Because of the veins, you know? This,…
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How To Be A Better Parent All The Time At Everything

Rookie Mom
Dear Parent, You’re probably thirty-something. You probably have a child or two under the age of four. You never knew you could feel SO MUCH LOVE, but you also never knew it was going to be THIS HARD. There are moments of sheer delight, but they’re often separated by long, mundane hours that range from…
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Rookie Mom: A Pretty Ordinary Day

Rookie Mom
4.00am – “MAMA! I’m awake! Look, it’s a morning! What’s today?” We’ll never go out of style – T.S Stumbling out of bed, I switch on the kettle. One bottle of rooibos tea with honey, one bottle of formula, one cup of green tea. The boys and I lie on the couch sipping on our…
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How To Stop Being An Angry South African

Uncategorized
I’m grumpy. Today, I just feel grumpy. Why, Jess? I’m so interested in your life that I really need to know why you are grumpy. Fine, Internet, fine. Here is why I’m grumpy. 1) I’m grumpy because of the State of The Nation chaos of last night. Policemen arresting peaceful protesters, the opposition parties being evicted…
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