Achievements all around

Dear reader,

Pop the champagne!

Yesterday, we pressed “send” on the email to the printers, which contained our magazine. After almost two months of being completely consumed by the Stellenbosch Media Forum annual project, the BAHons class of 2025 can finally rest. This rest must be understood in the context of the environment that we have been operating in – there is currently a camping mattress and a blanket in the newsroom. They have not been sitting idle. We have been simultaneously producing a sort-of magazine and a website to host our articles, and now we look towards 8 October for the launch event. Be sure to mark Friday, 10 October, in your calendar for newsletter purposes. 

It has been confirmed that this was the last group task that we would have to complete this year, which is an incredible relief (no offense to my dear classmates). However, this comes with the knowledge that we only have three weeks of class left. This is a very strange thing to accept. The passage of time is universally feared, and that is no different in the journalism honours class. With classes ending comes the assessment period, and then in-depth (thesis) submissions, and then internships. Internships lead to employment, which leads to the worst condition of all: becoming a taxpayer. 

Other exciting things have also been taking place in the journalism department. Our department chair, Herman Wasserman, recently released his debut poetry collection, Waterman. Amongst his many accomplishments, poet can now be added to the list. In an interview with AJ Opperman for Die Burger, Wasserman describes the collection as “’n tipe van ’n terugblik, maar hopelik ook een op die toekoms (a kind of reflection, but hopefully also one on the future)”. The book launch took place yesterday at Exclusive Books in the V&A Waterfront, according to their Instagram, and the collection is also available at Stellenbosch Books.

For this very special edition of the newsletter, with it being the first since our news cycles have ended, it will be dedicated to showcasing the very impressive photographic endeavours of our class this year. This is also timed perfectly in line with our upcoming photography portfolio due date.

Anke Spies, newsletter editor.

Pre-season action: the Maties cricket team played an internal game in the lead up to the upcoming cricket season
By Casey-Lee Anthony

A mother elephant and her calf in the Pilansberg National Park / One of the many coffee stops along the Whale Coast Route going from Gordon’s Bay to Pringle Bay.
By Annemieke Thomaidis

A Karoo Gridled Lizard (Karusasaurus polyzonous) in Springbok, Northern Cape.
By Danielle Schaafsma

Boom
By Kobus Erasmus

Shahida bint Ismail, a local cupping therapist, hosted a market from the front yard of her home in Stellenbosch on 24 May. She told SMF News that the goal is for her market to be “big but affordable”.
By Reid Donson

A calf in the Overberg.
By Anke Spies

/

/