Dear Learn and Teach,
I was deeply moved by the story of Ishmael Ramotchibe that appeared in Learn and Teach no3.1990, "Black like Mandela." I fully support what Ishmael wrote on his overall: "I am proud to be black like Mandela". This is mainly because Mr Mandela is a man of integrity. I am against the allegations made by Ishmael's factory manager, and I would like to put it clearly that those who act like him are regarded as puppets. It is high time that the manager realises that politics is a way of life and no one can run away from it. The manager is unjustified to compare Mr Mandela with Barend Strydom. Strydom has mercilessly murdered innocent people. Who did Mr Mandela kill? Viva Nelson Mandela! I love you FW De Klerk!
Elizabeth Motlhaga
BOPHUTHATSWANA
Dear Learn & Teach,
I am a regular reader of your magazine and would like you to help me overcome my problem. On the 4th of October I took a shirt and two pairs of trousers for dry cleaning at Nicks Dry Cleaners in Aiberton. When I went to collect them i found the shirt missing. I told them that the shirt cost R100-00 so I was told to supply them with a slip proving the cost. Happily within two days I supplied them with such a duplicate, Since then I have visited them several times but I never received the money. The only thing they can say to me is that they'll sign a a cheque for me but they don't say when. So I'm no longer prepared to go and ask for my shirt from them because one day they are going to kill me as they know when I am dead they'll never have to pay my R100-00. Please help me with what to do. My slip number is: PX 26735 and their phone number is: 869-1753.
Phanuel
SOUTHHILLS
Dear Phanuel, Thank you for your Setter. We spoke to Mr Nick Zaradoukas, the owner of this
company. He was was very rude and refused to investigate your claim for us. We suggest that you take Mr Zaradoukas to the Small Claims Court. To do this, you must write him a letter
giving him al! the information about your shirt, including the branch you took your clothes to. You must say that this is a letter of demand and put the amount of money you are demanding.
Say that you will wait two weeks before sending him a court summons. Send the letter by registered post and keep a photocopy. If he does not send you the money after two weeks, you must go to the Small Claims Court Commissioner, with your letter, all your siips and so on, and ask the Commissioner to send Mr Zaradoukas a court summons. The phone number of the Small Claims Court in Germiston (there isn't one in Alberton) is (011) 51-8531. The address for Nick's Dry Cleaners is: PO Box 1256, Alberton
Dear Learn & Teach,
I am writing this letter to complain about a taxi driver. I caught the taxi from Elandsfontein to Dunswart which costs R1-20. We were four on a seat so these three comrades gave me R1-20 each and I took a R10-00 note and gave it to the driver. He was supposed to give me R5-20 change. Instead of doing that he refused to give me my money and said that I can go to the
nearest police station and lay a charge. I took the address of that taxi: KJ Mokoto, 307 Jukudu Street, Vosloorus. I want the people to be aware of that taxi so please publish this letter.
Cheated Passenger
DAVEYTON
Dear Cheated Passenger, Thank you for your letter. We are sorry to hear of your bad treatment by this taxi driver and we are sending a copy of your letter to SABTA. As the only recognised Taxi Association in SouthAfrica they will take action on behalf of passengers even if the taxi is owned by someone who is not a member of SABTA. SABTA urges all members of the public who feel that they have been badly treated by taxi drivers to write to them. The address is:
SABTA
PO Box 269
Pretoria
0001
Phone:(012)325-1570
Dear Learn & Teach,
I had an accident on the 22 August 1987 while I was jogging. The matter was reported the following day by the driver of the car at Orlando Police Station. I waited 2 years to go to court but I heard nothing. When I went to the police station to ask what had happened they told me to wait
until I am called to court. My case number is CR 909-08-88 and I am still waiting to hear from the police. I sincerely hope you will help me in solving this matter.
Vuyi Thipanyane
ORLANDO
Dear Vuyi, Thank you for your letter. We are sorry to hear about your accident. We contacted the Orlando Police Station and they told us your case has been withdrawn. We spoke to the Public
Prosecutor's Office to find out why the case had been withdrawn. They said that your statement about the accident was not clear enough and because there were no witnesses they decided to withdraw the case. They should have contacted you to let you know what was happening. What they are going to do now is ask you to come in and make another statement and then they will re-
open the case. If they do not contact you or if you are not happy with what they decide, please speak to the people at Legal Aid for some assistance. Their address is:
Legal Aid Bureau
5th Floor York House
46 Kerk Street
Johannesburg
Phone:(011)834-8561
Dear Learn & Teach,
Thank you very much for your magazine which teaches us so much. I really like it. I am a 17 year old girl and I want to correspond with pen-pals of 16 to 30 years old. I like music and sport.
Lydia lyambo
PO Box 84
WALVIS BAY
9190
Dear Learn & Teach,
Please help me to overcome this problem. I got a leaflet from a company called Masiza Motors in Anerley which asks you to send money to buy a kombi. But I don't know where the company is and there is no telephone number. As soon as you find them I will send the deposit but I am afraid to send the money first.
Joseph Choma
STEELPOORT
Dear Joseph, Thank you for your letter. You are right to not want to send the money without
finding out about the company. We were unable to find out anything about this company and so we advise you not to send them any money. As you know, there are many "scam" companies who
promise things and then never deliver. This company may be one of those. If you want to buy a kombi, it is better to buy through a known car dealer and get finance from a bank. At least then if
something goes wrong, you know who you are dealing with and you have legal rights to protect you.
Dear Learn & Teach,
I work at Western Platinum mine in Rustenburg. The problem is that we need someone to come and speak to the General Manager JB MacFarlane. We have a lot of complaints but he won't listen to us. The first thing is the wages we get — they are very little. The second thing is the bad food we have to eat and the third thing is the dirty hostels we live in. The whites also hit us at work especially at number 4 shaft. Please ask our leaders to come and help us.
Oppressed Worker
MARIKANE
Dear Oppressed Worker, Thank you for your letter. We are very sad to hear of the conditions you have to work under. We spoke to Titi Mthenjane at the NUM offices in Rustenburg and he said that they are trying to negotiate with management at Western Platinum but they are having a
lot of difficulty. He wants you to please come and see him at the NUM offices about your complaints as they need to know about these things. It does not matter if you are a member of NUM or not. Their address is:
NUM Regional Office
1st Floor Moscow Plaza Room 108
Loop Street
Rustenburg
Phone:(0142)971874
Hours: 8:30 — 5:00 Monday to Friday
Dear Learn and Teach,
I want to express my view on the use of condoms or contraception. I am a member of the Holy Catholic Church and according to the laws of this Church contraception is banned, no matter what the situation is. Sex is a gift from God to man and it must only be used between married couples to express their love for each other. The significance of sex is to produce a new life.
I am a regular reader of Learn & Teach and to publish or advertise contraception and ways or guides to prevent producing life is in conflict with God. We must educate our people that sex abuse or misuse is a sin. Therefore we must fight against abortion and contraception simply because it is a sin.
Elridge Davids
CRADOCK
Dear Eiridge, Thank you for your letter. We think that you are talking about the article we
published on AIDS and the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. We understand that for many Catholics the use of contraception is sinful. But not all Catholics are against using
condoms to stop AIDS. As an educational magazine, we feel that it is our responsibility to tell our readers of the dangers of sex without protection. We cannot pretend that AIDS does not exist and ignore the threat it poses to every sexually active person. We do not feel that by publishing an
article on Aids we are telling people to lead "loose" lives — instead, we are being realistic about a very real problem that people need to be informed about, especially because the government is
not doing much in the way of educating people. We hope that you continue to enjoy Learn & Teach!
Dear Learn & Teach,
I was very pleased to read your magazine. It was very interesting and educating for us — the oppressed South Africans. I once bought the Learn & Teach no. 4 entitled "Joe Slovo Speaks".
It was very interesting to read about this man, his policies and the whole history of him. I am not prepared to miss any issues from now on. I want to be a staunch supporter of this magazine henceforth. Last but not least I would like you to furnish me with the address of the nearest branch of the ANC for Daveyton and Benoni areas.
Freddy Mphuti
BENONI
Dear Freddy, Thank you for your letter and for your promises of support and words of praise. The name of the nearest ANC Recruiting Officer is Edmund Xindi and his address is: 10355 Inama Street, Daveyton.
Dear Learn and Teach,
Please publish these condolences to the supporters of the PAC and the family of president Mothopeng. Bra Mothopeng, we are greatly worried about your sudden death. We have been expecting more out of you. PAC supporters and family in general, let the soul of Bra Mothopeng be with you. Hamba kahle, Bra Mothopeng. Your efforts won't be forgotten.
Peter Mbuyiselo Shembele
BETHULIE
Dear Learn and Teach,
As one of the people involved in the meetings at Kommagas, I enjoyed your article in No.3 1989 on how the people of Kommagas are saying no to Eskom's nuclear plans in Namaqualand. But it is important to correct two mistakes in your article. Firstly, the incinerator planned for Namaqualand was not intended to burn the waste from Koeberg nuclear power station, but ail the poisonous chemical waste from ordinary factories. Instead, the deadly radio-active waste from Koeberg is buried in the ground at Vaalputs, close to the Namaqualand villages of Leliesfontein, Nourivier, Paulshoek and Rooifontein. Secondly, your article stated that nuclear power was "clean and efficient". This is not true. All stages of the nuclear power cycle are dirty, from mining of the uranium to getting rid of the nuclear waste. Even after the power station closes it will be radio-active for thousands of years and will have to be buried in concrete. Even if the nuclear waste is buried, it will last longer than its containers. The radio-activity will seep into
the ground and the water supply, affecting nearby farmers and animals. It has been found that the children of nuclear reprocessing plant workers get sick with leukaemia — a biood cancer —
passed on by their parents. And if there is a nuclear accident, as in Chernobyl in the Soviet Union, a huge area around the power station is radio-active and no food can be grown in the area. Many people were forced to leave the area, and some of those who stayed are now very ill.
We also know that the by-products of nuclear power can be used to make nuclear bombs. Is this why the South Africa regime wanted nuclear power so badly? Some think so. Nor is it efficient. In this country, electricity from Koeberg costs many more times to produce than electricity from coal. The billions of rand spent in nuclear power should rather go into research on other forms of energy such as sun-power, water-power, wind-power, wave-power and other forms that nature will keep on providing. To build more nuclear power stations, the risks are too big and the costs too high. A new South Africa should reject this dirty, dangerous and inefficient form of power production.
David Fig (not Fink!)
CAPE TOWN
Dear David, Thank you for your letter and the corrections you have made. We are sure that they will help to give our readers a better understanding of nuclear power. We would just like to say that we do mention many of the points you make in our article (page 27) and that in general,
our position in the article is against nuclear power. However, we agree with you that we should have done more to promote other — natural — forms of power production. Lastly, we apologise
sincerely for getting your name wrong!
Dear Learn & Teach,
I used to teach at a farm school in Colesberg but I resigned on the 10th May 1989 and they still owe me my salary from the 1st of May to the 10th, which they promised to send to me. Secondly they did not send me my pension fund money although I filled in the forms they sent me and I opened a savings account at the post office and have given them my account number as requested. Can you please help me find my money?
NM Ntoni
CAPE TOWN
Dear Miriam, Thank you for your letter. Mrs Berry at the DET Cape Region said that the problem with your pension money is that you don't have a Bank or Building Society account — a Post Office savings account is not the right type of account. She is going to send you a Z280 form to
fill in. You must also open a Bank or Building Society account and send the number, together with a stamp from the bank on your Z280 form — this is very important even though it doesn't ask for
this on the form. You must also put your salary reference number on the form. Send a letter with this form saying which school you taught at and how much money is owed to you, if you know. The phone number of the DET Cape Region has changed, it is now: (041)57-1868