The Big Issue

High quality, varied and entertaining content for readers across age, culture, religion, gender and other demographics. Stories include reporting on local and international happenings with a ‘bigger issue’ about an individual, and unusual news or events that impact us all. The Big Issue shares in-depth interviews with local and international celebrities, artists, change-makers and thought leaders. It also focuses on local people or organisations committed to making positive changes in society – intent on finding innovative ways to effect change.

The Big Issue SA

STREET, SOCIAL, ART AND BOOK SMART

SUPPORT OUR VENDORS • Please support our vendors who face the cold weather and dangerous traffic to generate a living. We appeal to you to donate towards our their wish lists below, enabling them to further their self-made opportunities. If there is any way you can make a dream come true, please reach out to us.

RE-ENGINEERING THE MASCULINITY CRISIS • “Encouraging vulnerability among Big Issue male vendors, enhancing their wellbeing, and that of others is vital for fostering better parenting skills”, says our social worker Tshepiso ‘Tshepi’ Nhemachena.

Prince William works with The Big Issue • Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge writes about why he took to the streets recently to sell The Big Issue, and why ending homelessness is a cause close to his heart.

What really happened when Prince William sold The Big Issue • When Prince William went out to the streets of London to sell The Big Issue with vendor Dave Martin, the news quickly went viral. Here’s the inside story on what really happened that day.

ALLEVIATING A THIRD-WORLD PROBLEM • Did you know that young SA schoolgirls miss up to two months of school every year, because they can’t afford sanitary products? The public, together with retail giant SPAR, have intervened.

What can you do with a ballpoint pen? • The Pen Art Competition kicks off in Africa and the Middle East this year with BIC Art Master Africa. Entrants stand to win prizes worth USD 2 000 (about R33 000).

HOW TO ENTER • Submissions close on 31 August 2022, so get drawing

little issue • WHO’S HAVING A PHOTO DAY ?

Past to present • Laura Jones interviews Christopher Clark, journalist and author of Clare: The Killing of a Gentle Activist, published by Tafelberg. When journalist Christopher stumbled upon Clare Stewart’s story, it would not let him go. A multimedia journalist and a documentary filmmaker covering underreported social issues, mainly across Southern Africa, his writing, films and photography have been commissioned by The Atlantic, BBC News, The Guardian, Harper’s Magazine, Reuters, VICE and The Washington Post.

Protecting youth • Are today’s kids and teens more mentally distressed than they used to be, and if so, why? What is it about the contemporary world that seems not well suited to our youth? Author and Clinical Psychologist, Jenny Perkel’s book Children in Mind (Wits University Press) tries to address these three important questions.

Straight talking • Haji Mohamed Dawjee is a South African columnist and author. She lives in Sea Point with her wife Rebecca Davis, their son Miles, and their landlord Sam(my) Davis Jr, the cat. Here’s the Thing is Haji’s second book, following Sorry, Not Sorry: Experiences of a Brown Woman in a White South Africa, (2018).

LAUGHING WITH KEV • When Comedian Kevin Fraser first uploaded his online videos – mostly zany spoofs of various characters tugging gently at the pained world of the average South African – his popularity exploded. Now he is travelling the world with his stand-up comedy.

Elvis is in the building • Director Baz Luhrmann’s long-awaited movie about Elvis is a dazzling take on the larger-than-life rock ‘n’ roller. Eliza Janssen spoke to the flamboyant...