Dear Learn and Teach My name is Simon. I want to save my money. But I have a problem. I went to one of the building societies to open an account. They told me that I need R200 to open an account. My problem is that my salary is less than R200. I get R174,12 per month. But I want to save money because I have a family. Please tell me what to do. Simon Nzama KILLARNEY
Thank you very much for your letter. At some banks you can open an account if you have R50. Please come and visit us and we will talk about it. -editor
Dear Learn and Teach I send my greetings to everyone at Learn and Teach. I say, keep on writing us good stories. I will be very happy if you help me with my problem. I want to know where I can buy a Cosatu T-shirt. Please help me. Andries S. Mahlangu MODDERFONTEIN
Thank you very much for your letter. We are very happy to hear that you like our stories.You can buy a Cosatu T-shirt at this address: P.O. Box 1019, Johannesburg, 2000. Or you can write to the T-shirt Co-op, P.O. Box 10109, Dalbridge, Natal, 4014. These people are workers who lost their jobs last year. They started a co-operative, making T-shirts and selling them.They will be very happy if you buy one from them. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I am a secretary of a new table-tennis club in Tembisa. My club and I were very happy with the story of Cheryl Roberts, the Sacos 1985 Sportsperson of the Year. We will be very happy if you give us her address. Lucky Ngwane TEMBISA
Thank you very much for your letter. We are very happy to hear that you have just formed a club. Right now we do not know where Cheryl is. We think she is in Cape Town, studying. But you can write to the chairperson of the South African Table Tennis Board (SATTB), Dr I Vawda, 33 Scotia Terrace, Red Hill, Durban, 4001 .Or you can phone him at (031) 838-553. We wish you and your club good luck in your games. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach Greetings to all the readers of Learn and Teach. I love your magazine very much. Please my friends, help me find my mother. Her name is Selinah Kgomu. If anyone knows where she is, please tell her that her son, Mokete Sebula, is looking for her. Or write to me at this address: Box 176, Masha, Venda or Box 60,Mashau, Venda. Mokete Sebula MASHAU
Thank you very much for your letter, Mokete. We hope the readers will help you find your mother. Good luck. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I am interested in music. I will be very happy if you can help me with my problem. Please give me the addresses of the following musicians: Stimela and Chicco. I want to meet them because I want to be a singer. Maybe they will make my dream come true. David Houston. OLIFANTSFONTEIN
Here are the addresses of the musicians you wanted. For Stimela the address is: Gallo GRC, P.O. Box 2445, Johannesburg, 2000. They also handle Harari, Steve Kekana and Sipho “Hot Stix” Mabuse. You can write to Chicco at the following address: Dephone Records, 6th Floor, Halland House, 17 Loveday Street, Johannesburg, 2001. You can also write to the following groups at the same address: Midnight Express, Pat Shange, Via Soweto and Groovy Guy. We wish you good luck. Maybe one day you will sing our praises. We hope that all the other music lovers are going to find these addresses useful. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I work for a company called I.B.E. in Krugersdorp. My problem is that we do not work straight hours. We are supposed to start work at seven in the morning and finish at half past four in the afternoon. But we work until the work is finished.The other thing is that we are paid R200 per month. We do not know how much we get per hour. Also we are not paid for overtime. We do not know how much is deducted from our salaries.One of my fellow workers was fired without notice. He only got R100 plus his R200 salary. The boss said the R100 is notice pay. I think the boss cheated him. So I decided to stay at home because I wanted to see what they would do to me. Up to now nothing has happened. I am still at home. Maybe they have already fired me. Please help me with this problem because everybody at work is suffering. Never Moyo KAGISO
Thank you very much for your letter, Never. The law says that workers must not work more than 46 hours per week. The law also says that you must get overtime pay but you must not work more than 10 hours overtime per week. It also says that you must not work more than 3 hours per day overtime. The law says that if you are fired, your boss must give you a letter telling you that you are fired. But he also has to give you ” notice pay”. We think that you must go to your nearest advice office. They will help you. Your nearest advice office is in 3381 Temba Drive, Kagiso. Or you can phone them at the following number: 699-1016. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach Please help me. l am at a computer school in Braamfontein. The name of the school is the Computer Academy. When I first went to this school, they said the course takes four months to complete. But now I have been there for more than a year. They say I must go until I pass my exams. And they say that I must keep on paying them. I have already paid them more than R900-00. I am not the only one who is suffering. Some of the students are from poor families. They do not have the money to pay for their studies when they fail. Most of them leave the Academy with nothing – no certificate and no money. Mr Ntlhekoa KATLHEHONG
Thank you for your letter, Mr Nthlekoa. Before we write to the Computer Academy, we need more information. We need to know;(i) did you read the contract you signed before you started the course? (ii) do you have a copy of the contract? If you have it please send us a copy of it. (iii) did you pass any exams? We hope to hear from you soon. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I hope that you are going to help me with my problems.My first problem is that I do not understand Afrikaans. I read Afrikaans books but I do not understand one word. My second problem is that I find my homework difficult, especially Mathematics. What can I do? Rose Johnnyboy Matjeke TSHIAWELO
Thank you very much for your letter, Rose. We are sorry to hear that Afrikaans and Mathematics are giving you problems. The Education Support Programme helps people who have problems with their studies. They run classes on Saturday mornings. Their address is 1st Floor.Dunwell House, 35 Jorissen Street, Braamfontein, 2017. Or you can phone them at 339-2476.We are sure they will help you. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I have a problem. My problem is that on the 20th of October 1984, I applied for a reference book. But I have still not received it. I do not know what to do. Please help me. Samuel Thulani Ndaba JOHANNESBURG
Thank you very much for your letter. Right now we do not know So,maybe it is better to wait for a weeks. P.W. Botha says he is going to stop passes. So, maybe you should wait and see what he does. Keep your duplicate for the meantime. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I am looking for work. I want to know if you can give me a job. I worked as a salesman in a garage before. I needed money to pay for my school fees and to help my parents. Both my parents are not working. I hope you will help me. Gold Ramokokojane Mofokeng KAGISO
Thank you very much for your letter. We are very sorry to say that we have enough people at Learn and Teach. Right now a lot of unemployed people are coming together and making their own work.They work with organisations such as the Industrial Aid Society. You can write to them at P.O. Box 261119, Excom , 2023. But if anybody know of a job for Gold, his address is: 1606 Khutsa Street, Kagiso, 1744. Gold, we wish you the best of luck in everything you do. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach My name is Buffel Mokoena and I am seventeen years old. I am in Standard 5 this year. I want friends from other countries. I like reading, listening to music and watching television. People who want to be my friends can write to me in English. I hope to hear from pen friends soon. Buffel Mokoena LYDENBURG
Thank you for your letter. We were very surprised to get letters from your whole class. But because Learn and Teach is for adults, So we have given some of your letters to * Upbeat’ magazine. It is a magazine written for young people. If you want to know more about this magazine, their address is P.O.Box11350, Johannesburg, 2000. People who want to write to Buffel and his friends can write to him at the following address: Phakama Primary School, P.O. Box 584, Lydenburg, 1120. We hope that you and your friends at school find pen-pals. Good luck. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach Greetings to all the readers and the staff of Learn and Teach. I am a student at Tembisa High School. I want you to write *Nkosi Sikelela iAfrica’ in Shona. Also write the following sentences in Shona: (a) What do you want? (b) Where do you come from? (c) What is your name and surname? (d) Where are you going? (e) Are you going to school? (f) father, mother, daughter. I know a few words in Shona. I know “Pambiri ne chimurenga” which means *Forward with the struggle’. I like *Nkosi Sikelela iAfrika’ because it brings people together. I will be very happy if you do a story on Robert Sobukwe and John ‘Langalibalele’ Dube. Godfrey Mhlongo TEMBISA
Thank you for your letter, Godfrey. We are very sorry we do not know Shona. But you can write to our friends in Zimbabwe. They have a magazine just like Learn and Teach. The name of their magazine is Read On. We are sure they know all the answers to your questions.Their address is P.O. Box 8516, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe. We hope to do stories on Sobukwe and Dube very soon. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I have a problem. I hope you can help me. I had an accident when I was thirteen years old. I was working on Jonkerspruit farm in Standerton. While we were grinding mealies for the cattle, my arm was caught in the machine. I lost my left arm and my left eye. The owner of the farm refused to pay me out. He said I was too young. Can you help me? The owner of the farm has moved. His address is now: A.J. Venter, P.O. Box 15, Eshowe 3815. Phone 0354 42941 No Name STANDERTON
Dear friend, We want to help you but we need to know more. We need to know your name, what hospital you went to, if you have spoken to A.J. Venter. Please send us this information or better still, come and see us. We will ask our lawyer to help you. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I am happy to hear that you help people with problems. I will be happier if you help me. I want to know why students stay away from school. We are fighting for our country. But if they give it to us, who is going to rule. Nobody wants to be under an uneducated leader. Derrick Khumalo NTOKOZWENI
Dear Derrick, Thank you for your letter. We like to know what our readers think. Students say that they are fighting the D.E.T. now so that schools can be better. But maybe a student can answer your question best. -editor
Dear Learn and Teach Greetings to all the readers and staff of Learn and Teach. I like this beautiful magazine so much. I call it “The Voice of Africa.” I was very sad when I read no. 1 of 1986. There are beautiful pictures on pages 20 and 21. But I think you forgot to write the story. Please tell me who the people in the pictures are. Boyce Mbatsha COOKHOUSE
Dear Boyce, Thank you for the letter. We did not forget to write the story. We are sorry to say that there was no story. But here are the names of the people in the picture from left to right. Sol Plaatjies — writer and ANC leader, Msizi Dube — ANC leader, Albert Luthuli, ANC president and Nobel Prize winner, Lillian Ngoyi — women’s leader. At the bottom there is a picture of Oliver Tambo. We hope that you are now happy. -editor.
Dear Learn and Teach I will be very happy if you tell me where I can train to get a *blasting certificate’. Right now I am working at Rustenburg Platinum Mines in Swartklip. I hope that you will help me. Tumo Abram Molaodi SWARTKLIP
Thank you very much for your letter. A law called the Mines and Works Act says only white miners can get a blasting certificate. But the law may change soon. The National Union of Mineworkers is fighting to change the law.But right now, we are sorry to say, you cannot get a blasting certificate. -editor.