y o u r a s a s c o o p ! issue 02 | Fourth quarter 2014

For the purposes of strengthen-ing internal communications, the Communications Unit brings this second ASA Internal Newsletter to the ASA family. In case you missed it, this newsletter will be published quarterly and will serve as a plat-form to “inform, entertain and most important forge a spirit of “togetherness” among staff mem-bers and management”. The feed-back received from all of you about our first issue has encouraged and stimulated the editorial team.

In this second edition, the “Dec-

ember holiday” edition, we reflect on

the past year and take a brief look at

how different religions and cultures

celebrate this time of year. The

write-up by Suzanne Kasala gives us

a glimpse into her life as she reflects

on her transition from the Congo

villages where she was raised by her

grandfather to her sudden move to an

urban existence in South Africa. We

also profile the best performing team

with the most issued rulings for the

quarter and we review our activities

for the quarter.

The editorial team appreciates

your input; this is after all OUR

newsletter. Everyone is invited to

submit ideas for stories or discussions

for the next issue. We look forward to

all your contributions. Please send your

articles and discussion points to the

editor: mpumi@asasa.org.za

We hope you enjoy the newsletter

and find it rewarding. Remember not

to do anything you wouldn’t like to see

on camera. We wish everyone a jolly

festive season!

Editor in chief: Mpumi Mda

Editor’s note

02

on A Good noteEnding oFF thE yEarDecember celebrations by different religions

December time is a time for fond reminiscences and of relaxing with loved ones before the year is put to bed. This time of the year, although intensely commercialised, still holds a special place in many hearts. It is a time to appreciate, indulge and connect with one another. All around the world December is regarded as special even though it might be celebrated differently.

December is a busy month; from its

beginning till its end there are special days and

holy days observed by various religions for

various reasons. On the 5th, the 10th day of

the fi rst month on the Islamic calendar Ashura

is observed. The feast of St. Nicholas, which is

based on reverence for the fourth-century

bishop of Myra, whose reputation for piety may

have inspired the legend of Santa Claus falls on

the 6th. On the 8th Buddhists observe Bodhi

Day, recalling that Siddhartha Gautama vowed to

sit under a tree and only rise once enlightened?

This day is also observed by Roman Catholics

as the feast of the Immaculate Conception,

believing that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was

born without sin.

From the 20th the winter solstice, the shortest day also known as Yule is celebrated by many groups such as Zoro-

astrians, Wiccans and other pagan groups in the Northern Hemisphere. At about this

time the Jewish festival of Hanuk-kah begins and continues for seven more nights. It is a remembrance of an effort to restore the Temple in Jerusalem after a period of desecra-tion, where only enough oil to light the temple lamp for one day was found, but the fl ame burned for eight.

On the 25th Christians celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. The following day is observed by Zoroastrians for the death of the prophet Zarathushtra, whose teachings include concepts that life is a struggle between good and evil. On this day Kwanzaa, a

weeklong, modern African-American and pan-African celebration of family, community and culture begins. Another noteworthy celebration is Krismas, which is a secular holiday that celebrates most of the elements of Christmas except for

its religious overtones. This holiday leans closer to the Santa Claus traditions, and as such, allows everyone to participate without confl icting religious views.

In all these celebrations it’s easy to fi nd common concepts of community,

faith, nurturing, sharing and most important love, which just goes to show that humanity is connected. Even though diversity is

beautiful, it can cause confl ict when people begin to feel that their traditions are being diluted by globalisation and integration of various cultures and religions. Perhaps the most popular grievance is that Christians are overwhelmingly accommodated whilst other religions are not given enough attention. Non-religious people object that their children are exposed to many religious messages at this time of year. Religious or not, most people agree that the commercialisation of the “festive season” can be a tad too much, but then who can deny that being swept up in the festive season is worth all the extras.

By mpumi mda

off the record | fourth QuArter 2014

PuBLication cRedits

editor: Mpumi Mdasub-editor: Faith rikhotso contributions: gabisile nene; suzanne Kasala; Phumzile Mhlango and clinton chettyemail: info@asasa.org.zaphotography: asaimages courtesy: thinkstock.comdesign and layout: isikhova Publishing & communications

the Advertising standards Authorityphysical address: willow Burnside island offi ce Park (Entrance off athole) jan smuts avenue, craighall Park, Po Box 415555 craighall 2024email: info@asasa.org.zaWebsite: www.asasa.org.za

all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be produced, adapted, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording

or otherwise without the prior written permission of asa.

the views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the publishers or its agents. while every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents, neither the owners nor the publishers can be held responsible for any omissions, errors, or for any misfortune, injury or damages which may arise therefrom. the same conditions apply to any advertising in the publication.

Our environment is an important element of who we are and it forms part of our identity. It makes sense that relocation is often met with resistance, without even realizing that it is as consistent as change. I had to accept change at a very young age. At first it was stressful and it brought confusion in my life, moving or relocat-ing is not only limited to the body, but it also affects the way we conduct our day to day life.

Going back to my childhood memories; de-parting from a man who loved, adored and pro-tected me was the hardest thing. Nothing can ever erase the pain and heartache, the trauma and memories are still vivid. My grandfather was a man with a heart of gold. I was the apple of his eye and because of him I know what it means to be loved. My grandfather loved me so much that he never allowed anyone to lay a hand on me when I was growing up; the rule was that I was not to be smacked no matter what. I used to call him “Papa Jean” and people used to refer to him as my “meil-leurami” (French for best friend). I remember my Papa Jean in a very special way. He wasn’t selfish; he was a cheerful giver and a man of his word.

Papa Jean used to take me on his motorbike whenever he had time and all the best food was to be given to me before anyone else could eat. I recall being so naughty once that my grandmother spanked me. What followed was a disaster because when I saw Papa Jean come from a distance and heard the sound of his motorbike I started crying so loudly that he didn’t care what I had done. He almost killed my grandmother, a fact of which my grandmother regularly reminds me. It sounds just like fiction, but this was a reality.

I had embraced relocating at a very young age, as I would visit my aunt and cousins for a while when Papa Jean was away. This was because I was not really going far away from my Papa Jean and I knew that he’d fetch me in a while. One morning a stranger arrived and sat for a long talk with my grandfather. I was looking at them from a distance and when the man left my grandfather called me and the two of us sat under our mango tree the way we used to sit to eat together. I saw tears in his eyes as he looked at me and told me

that the next day I would be travelling to the city (Johannesburg) to stay with my parents.

I was happy as I had heard so much about the city. The next morning the stranger came and my grandfather told me that he was my fa-ther’s friend and he’d be taking me to Johannes-burg. That’s when I realised my grandfather was my pillar of strength. I was 13 years old when my grandfather said goodbye, I began to cry bitterly, and fear overtook me. My long journey began sadly to see the city that my best friend had told me about. He had told me that I was going to a beautiful place where I would see big buildings, cars and have electricity. Ironically, my grandfa-ther was considered one of the wealthiest men back in the village of the DRC Congo because he owned a motorbike, a few bicycles and had a proper house, and not just a hut.

This journey was heart wrenching, but be-cause I trusted Papa Jean so much I continued and in my heart I knew he would look for me one day. I spent so many days on the road and stayed in different houses before arriving at my parent’s home. Eventually when I arrived in South Africa and my parents fetched me I was so confused and annoyed. It was difficult and I could not un-derstand any of the languages and was exposed to so many things I had never seen before like traffic lights, lots of cars on the roads, television and the list goes on. After a while I adjusted and got used to all the “fancy luxury” lifestyle and started school.

One never knows what change may bring, and over-coming tough periods has positive effects on our lives. Living in South Africa brought many new opportunities and improvements in my life. I am grateful to my parents now that I am an adult, for the decision to relocate me. In the long run it has had a positive impact on my life. Thanks to that decision I am more flexible and open-minded. I now understand cultural dif-ferences and appreciate diversity, and truly, South African’s are very friendly.

What fascinates me about other cultures are the everyday norms although some have

become obvious, they differ from those of my own culture. I have picked up the “Ubuntu” spirit. Speaking from my own experience here in South Africa people are goodhearted and they share food with others unlike back home. At my work place I eat with my colleague or sometimes they even give me food which they had kept for me. If I was in the DRC I would have thrown it away when no one was looking, as we are brought up with all the scary stories about witchcraft and that if someone wants to hurt you or destroy your family it will be through food. When I first moved to South Africa, it shocked me when I saw people sharing lunch or eating a meal together. Now that I understand what “ubuntu” means I find it normal and I am doing it too!

I have even become more South African than Congolese, so much so that I have a green South African ID book and I am a licenced driver. How I wish my Papa Jean had lived to see what I’ve become. He would have been so proud. Unfortu-nately God took him before I could enjoy sharing my new life with him. I had so many plans for him. I remember telling my dad that with my first salary I would buy my Papa Jean a big tin of milk and all the other fancy things he loved. A few days before I got

paid I received the bad news that he was gone. What tore me apart was that I

was hoping to see him and had so much planned just for the two of us. He might be gone physically but he lives in me, the foundation he laid in me to be kind, giving, car-

ing and compassionate. I know he’s smiling in heaven.

This year I will be celebrating my first Christmas as a South African

citizen. Because I love this country I took the decision to lose my Congolese citizenship owing to the DRC’s policy against dual citizenship. Even if it were otherwise, I would not want to

have both I would definitely want to remain South African.If I had to tell my Papa Jean

something interesting it would be that he taught me to eat avocado with sugar, while in South Africa it’s eaten with salt. I’ve actually stuck to his recipe; salt won’t take over my taste buds. Besides that I’m very happy here and local is lekker, my life is better here than it could have been in my country of birth.

03

thE journEy to suZAnne By suzanne Kasala

off the record | fourth QuArter 2014

04

Earlier this year, the assessors and assistants formed two teams headed by the assessors. The purpose of this was to speed up the administrative aspect of the assessment and shorten delays. Suzanne and I (Faith) joined Team Phumzile while Elizabeth and Gabi joined the newly appointed assessor - Clinton.

At one of our meetings, our manager – Leon suggested that we should raise the stakes and that the target for ‘fi les resolved’ in a month per team should change from 80% to 90%, earning each team a well-deserved quota day. A quota day basically means that we get a day off – any day of our choosing. Naturally, after hearing the words “quota day”, we all agreed to the challenge with enthusiastic nods. Needless to say, the task was not as easy as we thought!

The two teams shared a total of 1105 fi les this year. The split leaving Team Phumzile with 595 fi les received and Team Clinton with 510. Between January and October, Team Clinton nailed the 90% target four times and Team Phumzile eight times. This saw Team Phumzile ultimately winning the overall challenge, being the team that frequently

reached the target and in three consecutive months resolving a 100% of the fi les received!

In Team Phumzile, Suzanne and I are assistants and Phumzile is the assessor. It is at this level that the validity of a complaint is checked. Phumzile checks that all relevant complainants’ details are enclosed. The grounds of the complaint and the copy of the advertisement are also checked, among other things. Suzanne and I are responsible for sending out correspondence; following up and typing letters – known to us as “specs”. Finally, we update the database, which will later reveal the stats that are the reason for this article.

When asked what the secret to team

Phumzile’s success was, Phumzile said “…working hard and loving your work”. Suzanne said that it was a race we ran and unfor tunately, there can be only one winner. While the three of us really enjoyed being par t of Team Phumzile, we all think it would not be such a bad idea to shuffle teams around next year.

Well done to all of us - both Team Phumzile and Team Clinton worked really hard and for a new assessor, Clinton you sure are on top of your game. On that note, is it true that you use google to translate your Afrikaans complaints to English, word for word? Ja neh! If that isn’t dedication, I don’t know what is!

By Faith riKhotso

tEaM PhuMZiLE Wins 90% tARGet chAllenGe!

If you again start believing, dreaming, and pursuing what God put in your heart, He will make a way where you cannot see one. He will connect you to the right people and will open doors no man can shut. What God spoke over your life, what He promised you in the night, whispered in your spirit, the hidden dream, He will bring to pass.... By Phumzile Mhlongo

words oF Motivation By stAff MeMBeRs

havE a lAuGh!

comic credit: cyanide and happiness @ explosm.net

off the record | fourth QuArter 2014

05

LEon’s cornEr: Reflections on peRceptions

2014 saw more “disgruntled” consum-ers, “prejudiced” advertisers, and ASA-SA’s Dispute Resolution Unit acting as referee. It fascinates me that this unit, my unit, is so busy trying to relate to the respective parties’ arguments that their own views are sometimes overshadowed by “hypotheticals”, and “what if” discus-sions over perspectives and perceptions. After all, to the viewer, the complain-ant, or the advertiser, their perception is their reality.

Being part of the grand directorate mechanisms for some time now, not a year goes by without learning something new

about the human phenomenon called “opin-

ion”. It’s the inherent beauty of what we do;

we get to wave not only our own

opinions about, but also those

of the parties to the disputes

we adjudicate. Outsiders might

perceive this as being confron-

tational, because hierarchies are

abandoned, egos are left at the

door, and everybody is allowed to

opine at our “tribal councils”. Those of us

who actually work here appreciate not only the beauty, but the necessity of being able to challenge perceptions. After all, it’s at the core of what we do.

To my team, my colleagues, my “fren-emies” THANK YOU for having the

courage to voice disagreement and debate perceptions. Without your willingness to do so we could not proclaim the successes of our di-versity. I hope to always work with

people who are not afraid to have their views challenged or their percep-

tions altered, and I promise not to fire you … unless you disagree with me ;-)

On a non-confidential basis and observance of principles of transparency, taking into ac-count public confidence in the disclosure of very important information, sourced intelli-gently, leading to an improved internal com-munication strategy in terms of excellent and magnificent world class service delivery, I an-nounce that the Head attended EASA’s Octo-ber 2014 Board meeting in Instanbul, Turkey, for the first time.

In other news: the blank shooter is back money and/ or blood-sucking (whichever comes first) Herbex in an attempt to hlasela-a-

amafutha on his bike-riding threatening to take us to court again, this is unnecessarily heavily boring and tiring.

I circulated an internal memo during the course of this month in an attempt to unparliamentarily realign our operations to normal during this trying time towards the end-of-year-closure and I believe all protocol has been observed after such an entertaining assessment wave.

Wishing you all a merry Christmas and prosperous New-year.

right said fRed

On 13 November 2014, mom Nancy’s daughter, Gugu, was involved in a tragic car accident in Mpumalanga (Nelspruit). The accident left her with fractured ribs and a broken leg. Yesterday she got discharged from hospital and is now recuperating at home. On behalf of everyone at the ASA; we would like to wish her a speedy recovery.

gEt wELL soon!

We would like to officially welcome Lulu

to our ASA family as her probation is

officially over. We hope to have you with

us for a very long time!

asa MovErs And shAkeRs

Aren’t you glad that exams are over?

Now comes the dreadful wait for results.

Congratulations to those of you who have

already received results and did well. UNISA

students are expected to have all their results

by 19 December 2014, while students from

other institutions are expecting their results

at varying dates. Good luck to everyone and

a huge ‘THANK YOU’ to the ASA for granting

each one of us an opportunity to study!

ExaMs arE finAlly oveR!

By Fred maKgato

By leon groBler

off the record | fourth QuArter 2014

King Price Insurance “the cheaper way to go in terms of vehicle insurance”. Perhaps the brightly red colour branding comes at a cost.

We received a complaint against a King Price Insurance billboard. The complainant’s concern was the bright red colour of the billboard and that it was situated in full view of his child’s room. According to the complainant the colour red affects a human’s brain at a sub-conscience level and is overwhelming for young children. The complainant went on to say that the bright red billboard would have a negative psychological impact on his child and would have a negative impact on his school work.

While the colour red might be associated with negativity such as anger, violence and blood,

red is quite a widely used colour, so to ask for a billboard to be removed on the basis that it uses the colour red is a little peculiar. It seems that the complainant was literally seeing red when the billboard was erected outside his property.

So on that note, I guess it’s safe to say that this complaint takes the crown as the weirdest complaint of the quarter!!!

06

A huge Congratulations to Farzana

Omar who is the winner of the nameless

competition for coming up with the

name “Off the record – Your ASA scoop”

which will be the offi cial name for the

newsletter. Farzana walks away with a

Sorbet voucher valued at R500. We

would like to extend a big thank you to

everyone who entered the competition,

who knew that the ASA was harbouring

such creative minds? Most of the voters

said they liked more than one name,

making the voting even harder for them.

A big thank you to the voters, you all

made the experience fun and you took

the competition so seriously, which we

absolutely appreciated!

coMPEtition WinneR!!!

Congratulations to Stephan on being a new

father for the second time… but to a baby

girl this time. We hope you enjoyed the baby

shower, and we are all looking forward to

meeting her. We hope baby bear is not giving

you too many sleepless nights’ daddy bear!

stEPhan’s neW BABy!

FunniEst/wEirdEst coMPLaints oF thE QuartEr

By clinton chetty

the fun in WhAt We do

asa wEnt to goLd rEEF city on thE 5th oF sEPtEMBEr to celeBRAte spRinG

Judging from the facial expressions it looks like Cheryl was the only one who had fun while the others

were… well, tortured!

off the record | fourth QuArter 2014