eKasi dialogues in Zwide tavern influence change

With a desire to change the mindset of people in the township, Lunga General Jazz Café owner Lunga Magxaka has introduced fortnightly dialogues on Fridays.

The 52-year-old said Fridays had never been the same for his Zwide tavern since he introduced the dialogues in 2019, with both young and old coming to listen and engage with the guest speakers.

Magxaka said that in the 1980s people had hosted political meetings and held enriching dialogues in taverns, and that he had  wanted to reintroduce this.

Last Friday, Magaxaka invited ICT stakeholder Motse Mfuleni to speak about “building the next layer of leadership using 4IR (the fourth industrial revolution)”.

Speaking about leadership, Mfuleni said: “We need to manage this thing of being overpopulated with politics, and instead overpopulate ourselves with money matters, which speaks to the economy because we do not have economic power.”

Mfuleni said focusing on different leadership levels would be beneficial.

“My sense was that a discussion on 4IR for the audience was not a ‘now’ issue.

“Leadership, because it’s a practical issue facing our communities and organisations, was a more appropriate topic of discussion,” Mfuleni said.

Local tailor and business owner Thando Nondlwana, who attended the event, said business owners in the townships needed to adopt a “united we grow” mentality.

Nondlwana said black business owners could control pricing if they started buying products under one account.

He said that was where economic power started.