Pat Kayongo

A New Dog

“What are you doing now?”

Sabelo asked Zoleka as she was taking a video of every part of their living room with her phone. He was growing tired of her ever-new discoveries and project ideas, and he didn’t know if he had the energy to stomach this new one. But she was too busy with what she was doing to even notice he had come into the room.

A World Offline

Loadshedding has hit South Africa in a bad way. Interruptions to electricity has disrupted businesses and resulted in unanticipated cost increases from those who have had to find alternative sources of electricity. 16 years ago, it was unimaginable that we would have some days with 11 and a half hours of no electricity on a regular basis. Personal and corporate routines were formed on the presupposition that there would be a constant and reliable supply of electricity. Yet now, if one’s area timetable ushers in darkness at 8pm, then for many it is an inconvenient early bedtime.

Software Developers vs ChatGPT & Friends

The machines are coming to steal our jobs. It took the jobs of the farm labourers and the factory workers, and in a twist of irony, it’s now taking the jobs of those who developed its predecessors – the software developers. At least that’s what many alarmist headlines are saying now. But is it true?

Martyr

Crouched behind a thicket, Mirundi tried to catch his breath. He quickly lifted his hand from the floor to catch the sweat that had started dripping from his forehead. His hand was shaking uncontrollably, jerked back and forth by the fear of getting caught again. Mukaajanga, the chief executioner, had sent his men into the forest to find Mirundi who had escaped the fatal march to Busega for execution by decapitation and fire.

Online Communication & Social Hierarchy

There are a plethora of ways to communicate online, both with people you know, and people you’ve never met. But something the makers of these tools fail to mould to, is the social hierarchy and human structures in which they are used. There are three examples that come to mind.

Stimela

23 June 1898. Mqanduli, Tembuland.

“But who’s going to teach our sons to become men?”

Familiar Spirits

The eerie cold breeze from Fourways Memorial Park cemetery slips into Daudi’s open window during the fourth watch of the night. The blue radiance of the moon and the stars fill in for the lights darkened by stage 5 loadshedding. As the nighttime creatures prepare for their retreat from the incoming day, the familiar spirits plan for Daudi’s encroaching alarm clock.

Super Apps vs WhatsApp

Over the last little while, there has been this rise in Super Apps, these apps that attempt to be multi-functional “mobile malls”. In South Africa, Vodacom has released VodaPay where one can “enter” multiple stores to shop their products. Nedbank has Avo where one can also shop for products, except they are categorised by the type of product instead of by the shop. Even Snapscan, the payment app, has diversified and has started offering more products such as prepaid electricity and payments of entertainment events.

Use Local Technology Services

On 18 September 2022, the Competition Tribunal of South Africa ordered that bank accounts of the Sekunjalo Group of Companies should remain open after closure by some banks, and imminent closure by others. The reason the various banks were closing the accounts of Sekunjalo was because of reputational risk associated to findings of a commission, which implicated them in wrongdoing with the Public Investment Corporation.

Park Games

As the shedding of the luck-bean tree forms coral carpets on the grass below; as the birds begin their morning song earlier into the fourth watch of the night, calling the sun to come out to play; as new flowering greens shoot out of chronic brown branches; urban nature dances to the joyous drumbeat of spring.