Apart from the Jakes Gerwel Foundation’s accommodation programme for writers in Somerset-East, we also undertake the following projects annually:
- Blue Crane Book Project
- Jakes Gerwel Lecture
- Jakes Gerwel Discussion Series
- Who was Nojoli? A research project
Blue Crane Book Project
If you cannot read properly, you cannot learn. With insufficient school education, many children in our country still do not have equal opportunities. The results documented in the “2023 Reading Panel Background Report”, written by leading education economist Prof. Nic Spaull and released in February 2023, show South Africa regressing in the fundamental unit of education: literacy.
The report states that about 60% of children have not learned most of the letters of the alphabet by the end of grade 1. By the end of grade 2, over 30% still do not know all the letters of the alphabet. The report estimates that the share of grade 4 children who cannot read for meaning has increased to at least 82%, up from 78% recorded in 2016.
In response to the literacy crisis in our country, and in line with one of our goals to bridge the growing gap of inequality, the Jakes Gerwel Foundation is undertaking a project to reach more than 3 000 learners in the Foundation Phase of schools in the Blue Crane municipal area (including KwaNojoli, Pearston and Cookhouse) in the Eastern Cape.
We are delighted to expand our reading project in 2024 by employing 30 reading assistants (all previously unemployed) to support our children with the most severe reading disabilities at the schools. This is made possible with the support of the Greater Stellenbosch Trust and the Social Employment Fund.
To further support the reading assistants and the learners, the Foundation donates relevant books to the schools. The Foundation also partners with the Suidoosterfees in Cape Town to bring a lively and enjoyable theatre play to these learners, who are mostly isolated and not exposed to the magic of the arts.
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Jakes Gerwel Lecture
With this event, we celebrate Jakes Gerwel’s rich legacy and his encouragement of innovative thought and sincere participation in conversation. Each year, we invite high-profile speakers and writers to present the Jakes Gerwel Commemoration.
In 2024, this event was held at the Suidoosterfees as part of the series of discussions the Foundation annually offers at the festival. This year’s discussion focused on the upcoming 100th anniversary of Afrikaans as an official language, planned for 2025. While some eagerly anticipate the celebrations, others feel excluded, as generations of speakers who helped shape the language are being sidelined. Afrikaans was spoken long before it received official recognition. How old is the language exactly, and does it matter?
Click here to watch this robust discussion, and visit our YouTube channel for previous years’ events.
Jakes Gerwel Discussion Series
Jakes Gerwel played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Suidoosterfees. This is why the Foundation is a proud partner of this festival which pursues social cohesion in a united South African society. The Jakes Gerwel Foundation every year presents a series of book discussions at the festival which aims to bring writers and their readers closer to one another and to contribute to the South African discourse.
Who was Nojoli? A research project
Somerset East, the beloved town of Jakes Gerwel and Paulet House, was renamed KwaNojoli in March 2023. As with most town name changes, it has elicited mixed feelings. While some residents feel it is high time to celebrate Nojoli and the rich history of the AmaXhosa, others think it is a waste of money and confusing. What’s in a name, after all? But who was Nojoli, and why are this royal figure and her people so important in the history of this part of the Eastern Cape?
In collaboration with the KwaNojoli (Somerset East) Museum, and with the generous support of the National Heritage Council (NHC), the Jakes Gerwel Foundation is launching a research project on Nojoli this year. Mphuthumi Ntabeni, an award-winning author and native of the Eastern Cape with deep insight and knowledge of Xhosa history, is leading this project.
Through interviews with local residents and historians in the area, Ntabeni will gather research material that will eventually be presented to the public in an accessible and engaging manner. In this way, the Jakes Gerwel Foundation aims to shed light on our country’s largely unrecorded history.