About the album
Gwijo Squad together with support from Klipdrift, released five studio-recorded tracks on music streaming platforms – Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.

Klipdrift reached out to Gwijo Squad and offered to assist with putting together a number of tracks for the Gwijo Squad EP.
The efforts of the premium brandy brand were welcomed by the members and steps were taken to book a producer as well as a studio for a few days.

Win your share of R10,000

All you have to do in order to stand a chance to WIN is go onto your favourite music stream platform (Spotify, Apple music, YouTube music etc) and listen to the album.
Once you have heard all the songs, pick your favourite gwijo, screengrab it and head on over to Twitter.
Post the screengrab of your favourite gwijo, tag both @KlipdriftBrandy and @GwijoSquad, and use the hashtag #KlipdriftXGwijoSquad.

Terms and Conditions

• This competition runs from Tuesday 2 November to Monday 20 December 2021 on www.gwijosquad.co.za
• For a chance to participate, you will need to post a screengrab of your favourite gwijo from the Gwijo Squad EP, tag Klipdrift & Gwijo Squad using #KlipdriftXGwijoSquad.
• All entries will be checked and verified by the Gwijo Squad committee at their own discretion.
• The winners will be selected by the committee and the judge’s decision is final.
• Voting will take place from Tuesday 21 December. No other entries will be entertained after the cut-off time.
• The judge’s decision is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.
• The prize is not negotiable, and not transferrable.
• Entrants must be 18 years old or older to qualify.
• Gwijo Squad and Klipdrift will not be held liable for entries not received for any reason whatsoever, and will not be responsible for network connectivity or hardware issues experienced while participating.
• If a winner chosen does not comply, their entry will be disqualified, and a new winner will be randomly drawn.
• In the event that a winner cannot be successfully contacted, is ineligible to accept the prize, or contravenes the terms and conditions of this competition or of Klipdrift or Gwijo Squad, the prize will be forfeit.
• Gwijo Squad & Klipdrift reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice. Any changes to the competition will be notified to participants as soon as possible by the promoter.
• Employees of Klipdrift and their immediate family and friends, are not permitted to enter the competition.
• Gwijo Squad committee members and their immediate family and friends, are not permitted to enter the competition.
• By entering this competition, a participant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
• All queries can be sent to gwijosquad@gmail.com.

Good luck!

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Where can you find them?

Gwijo Squad together with support from Klipdrift, released five studio-recorded tracks on music streaming platforms – Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.

Klipdrift reached out to Gwijo Squad and offered to assist with putting together a number of tracks for the Gwijo Squad EP.
The efforts of the premium brandy brand were welcomed by the members and steps were taken to book a producer as well as a studio for a few days.

What to expect

The wonderful mixture of the voices brings the tracks to life and you feel that you can easily pump up the volume and sing-a-long.
The amagwijo featured on the EP are given a slight twist to suit the Gwijo Squad flare and energy but otherwise their are amagwijo that many have grown up singing and will continue singing.

The post Gwijo Squad releases an album appeared first on Gwijo Squad.

In Africa, netball is the biggest female participation sport. The sport has been seen huge growth on the continent over the years.
Cape Town will be the proud host city of 16 nations for the 10-day tournament.

Netball World Cup 2023, are you ready?

Gwijo Squad is a group of sports fanatics, young and old, who are connected by the love of igwijo – traditional South African singing that is synonymous with coming-of-age celebrations, weddings, struggle and liberation movements, as well as sports events. If you have ever attended a KwaZulu-Natal netball league match, you will recognise that igwijo is synonymous with the sport.
Spectators can be heard belting out Masambe Nono, in an effort to motivate their team, through song.
Gwijo Squad, intends to bring this unique flavour of spectatorship to the world stage, and plan to do this at the Netball World Cup in 2023, on home soil, in Cape Town!

“It is an exciting time for netball right now. Our sport is growing in popularity at an unprecedented rate throughout the world,” INF President, Honourable Molly Rhone said.

The preparations for the Netball World Cup are well-underway, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Being able to support the SPAR Proteas in the stands, has been a big goal for the Gwijo Squad, as netball is one of our key sports identified (together with rugby and cricket). But due to matches not being hosted in South Africa and the pandemic also getting in the way, we can finally cement the dates and work towards showing our full support to the ladies in green and gold,” says Nande Macingwane, Gwijo Squad committee member.

Planning has started

Gwijo Squad’s plans to attend the tournament in Cape Town have started. The supporters club which is filled with sports fanatics will head to Cape Town for four days to catch the ladies in action.
The members have set up a financial saving system to give themselves enough time to raise the funds needed to be comfortably accommodated in Cape Town.
There will also be fundraising drives put in place to help raise some funds as well as approaching potential brands for sponsorships.

Gwijo Squad can’t wait to be part of this amazing experience and tick it off your bucket list – Netball World Cup 2023, in Cape Town, be ready!

Book your spot TODAY and don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime trip.

The post Gwijo Squad prepares for Netball World Cup appeared first on Gwijo Squad.

“Violence against women is a persistent and universal problem occurring in every culture and social group. Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime – most often by someone she knows, including a member of her own family, an employer or a co-worker.
Violence against women has been called “the most pervasive yet least recognised human rights abuse in the world.” – extraction from What Is Gender-Based Violence?

Watch the ladies discussion

The panel consists of different and dynamic women from different professional backgrounds but that share a special passion which is to speak out against gender-based violence.
Each of the ladies has experienced and/or has someone close to them going through the pain of gender-based violence, share their insight and unpack what they think society should consider in finding solutions to gender-based violence.
We interrogate what and how men in South Africa are reacting to this pandemic.
A very interesting and solution-driven discussion.

Watch the men’s discussion

The purpose of our intervention was to create a safe space where men were asked to air their views and questions without fear of judgement and retribution as long as they came with an open mind to the views of others and the intention to learn and become more attuned to the understanding of how, we as men, can contribute to the weeding out of problematic behaviour in our own circles.
We gathered a group of men who were brave enough to be that vulnerable and we had the conversation so that we might contribute to the elucidation of other men in our circle of influence.
Indeed a lively debate was had with a number of pre-planned topics as well as many ideas that emanated from the discussion and had not been anticipated.
We trust that this will be received in the spirit in which it was embarked on and we eagerly anticipate the feedback, be it compliments or constructive criticism. Here is to incremental improvements toward a better and safer future for our country’s women.

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The results from our first quiz

Too much fun was had at the first online quiz.
Over 28 teams participated and it lasted just over 2 hours. It felt like we had gone out for the evening. The banter in the comments session was unmatched!

The quiz consisted of picture rounds, sports orientated questions, a special music round as well as the popular girl and boy school trivia round.
In the end, The Olympians took top honour and won the quiz by one point to The FE Males. The Hounds and the Teddy came in a close 3rd place.
Who will be victorious at our next online quiz?

A huge thank you to our special guests who participated in our first-ever online quiz: Makhaya Ntini, Babalwa Latsha, Zintle Ndawonde, Ricky Schroeder, Gcobani Bobo and Temba Bavuma. 

Another huge thank you to the Braai Army who got involved and co-posted the quiz on their platform.

How to get involved

The online quiz will be hosted on the Gwijo Squad YouTube channel, as opposed to it being hosted on the Facebook page. This will give those that don’t have a Facebook account to participate as well.
It’s as easy as going onto the Gwijo Squad YouTube channel and playing along.

You have a week to get your team ready, brush up on that general knowledge, and get ready to take on the current winning team, The Olympians.

Let’s beat the lockdown blues, and have fun with family and friends, with a glass of pineapple beer (or something) in hand.

The post The Great Gwijo Squad Online Quiz returns appeared first on Gwijo Squad.

Our Facebook live quiz will focus on general knowledge questions.

What to expect

You can expect to have tons of fun with your friends.
The quiz will be a great challenge for all levels and abilities. There will be sporting questions, identify the pictures and of course, a very special music round.
Brush up on your rugby, netball and cricket knowledge. There will also bonus trivia on South African girl and boy schools.

How to sign up

The quiz will be free for everyone who wants to participate and will be streamed on the Gwijo Squad Facebook page.
There will be a special score sheet supplied and only allocated team leaders, for each team, will be asked to submit it.

Score sheets will be available on the day of the quiz.

How do you form a team?

It’s super easy to form a team. All you have to do is gather your friends, start a Zoom meeting or Whatsapp call on the side, to discuss your answers as a team, but all tune onto the Facebook live stream.
It can be just yourself in a team, or you and the people you are in lockdown with at home as well. Make the right choice and get your team together sooner rather than later.
Teams will also get an opportunity to take a photo/screenshot of their team, and tweet it using #GwijoSquadOnlineQuiz 
What a vibe.

What is required?

Each team member is required to watch the live stream on Facebook to be able to hear the questions.
Absolutely no googling of answers is allowed. It just spoils the fun.

Let’s beat the lockdown blues and have fun as a family online, hopefully with a beer in hand (left hand).

The post The Gwijo Squad online quiz appeared first on Gwijo Squad.

Here are the latest updates

Proposed Annual General Meeting

An AGM had been proposed to be held during the months of March/April but due to the national lockdown, it will have to be postponed to another date in the year, when it is deemed safe by the government.

Gwijo Squad get-together/braai

The committee was looking forward to hosting a classic Gwijo Squad get-together, where the family welcomes any new members, and where all the members get a chance to catch up in Gwijo Squad style.
Unfortunately, the festivities had to be put on hold due to the outbreak.
But of course, entertainment vibes won’t be scratched off the list… The plans have been placed on ice and when the time is right, the plans will be thawed and the festivities will be enjoyed.

Our events for the rest of 2020

The cricket season of 2020 was a great vibe where the Gwijo Squad not only gained a few new members but it was the Gwijo Squad’s first meet-up for 2020.
Wanderers Stadium was our wonderful summer playground, as we cheered on the Proteas in the stands as they play against England and Australia.
Our football skills were tested against the Barmy Army in a friendly encounter at Pirates Sports Club.
The committee has been working behind-the-scenes (most of February and March), getting in contact with Netball SA and stadium management for the upcoming Springbok matches.
SparProteas netball matches have postponed to possibly later in the year due to the coronavirus.
Our planning to attend the Springbok matches will continue on the sideline, with stadium management and the likes.
We will keep everyone informed once we get the ticket greenlight.

We encourage all our members to stay safe and adhere to all the necessary precautions.

Siyani thanda nonke emakhaya.

The post Get the Gwijo Squad update appeared first on Gwijo Squad.

2020 and beyond

The All Blacks will be visiting the cradle of humankind and experiencing load shedding for the first time since they stole the game from us in Pretoria, and Gwijo Squad will be sure to remind them that we’re World Champions (venues and dates not released yet, but that’s never stopped us from planning and preparing), additionally Scotland and Georgia could provide us with a nice vocal warm-up (assuming that at least one of the 3 tests will be in Joburg or Pretoria).

More immediately, there is the small matter of a horde of warm beer-drinking vitamin D deficient delinquents traipsing around our country making a noise in our stadiums like this is their mother’s house. We can’t stand for such disrespect in our backyard. Everyone and I mean everyone, needs to stand up and defend our country’s honour by unleashing our full arsenal of amagwijo when we hold the fort at the Wanderers for the Test match and Pink Day.
For those who’ve not seen what’s been happening at the other stadiums, the English have come through in their masses and if we drag our feet in buying tickets we could find ourselves in the unthinkable position of being outnumbered in the Gwijo stronghold of the Bullring.
We can’t allow such a travesty. I, for one, cannot wait. The Wanderers is going to be a jump and I’m looking forward to showing the visitors what we’re made of.

A quick update on Gwijo Squad matters

2019 was certainly a watershed year for us, assisted in no small part by the fact that it was a World Cup year and Gwijo Squad had come to represent the changing face of South African rugby.
From the onset, the Gwijo Squad committee had resolved that we would use the platform that we’ve been given to impact the sporting environment on and off the field. To this end, we have set ambitious CSI goals that we are confident will be transformative for communities and individual young athletes in our target sports who need a leg-up to reach for their dreams. Over the year we had numerous activations in partnership with brands which has been instrumental in building our reserves.

As you all know, at present there is nobody on the committee who draws a salary or derives financial benefit in any way, and I would like to highlight and applaud this extraordinary selflessness from very busy people whose time and skills fetch a hefty price in the market. So to Nkosana Matyeshana, Naledi Mdyesha, Afika Selemani, Malibuye Cossie, Vuyisanani Mangisa, Qhayiya Linda, Chumaninande Mjajubana, Nondwe Maqubela, Mhlangenkululeko Siwisa, Mzwandile Riba, and Nqabomzi Matyeshana, on behalf of the greater Gwijo Squad community and indeed the sporting fraternity at large we thank you. Nangamso.
A special thanks to other Gwijists who have contributed massively as former committee members as well, Sijadu “CJ” Mzozoyana, Sipeto “Volo” Ganca, Phila Bitterhout, and Lusindiso “Loza” Dabula. Your contribution to laying the foundation on which Gwijo Squad is being built has been invaluable.
So, where to from here?
We’ve agonised about what the best structure would be for what we’re trying to achieve for Gwijo Squad (in a nutshell, maximising membership numbers while delivering maximum value to gwijists). We have made a lot of progress in this regard and have gotten valuable advice from other organisations on how best to model the Gwijo Squad going forward (shout out to the Barmy Army who have given us great insight in how they run their organising as well). We’re yet to bed these down as the committee has not met yet this year, but we’ll do so shortly and details of the way forward.

Setting goals

There are a few major goals that we want to achieve over the next 4 years, culminating in 2000 Gwijists going to France for the World Cup in 2023. This is a giant undertaking and, frankly, is the kind of massively ambitious goal that needs a dedicated project manager because the elements are so complicated and time-intensive. We’re already in the process of developing a detailed campaign around it with the assistance of financial consultants, Lifecheq. Please keep this in the back of your mind because, if we are to pull this off, were going to need a massive group effort from the entire Gwijo Squad.

On the subject of looking forward to 2023, South Africa were awarded the hosting of the next Netball World Cup in Cape Town. An exciting development indeed. Over the last 4 years, the Spar Proteas have rebuilt to being amongst the highest echelons of the sport and the journey to 2023 promises to be quite a ride, and we’re here for it.

Finances

As things stand, the Gwijo Squad reserves stand at R329,342 thanks to your effort in getting brands to back us and in then showing up to do what we do best. A special shout out to Klipdrift, MTN, Showmax, & DSTV. The key ingredient in maintaining momentum and steady growth is consistency and quality administration. At present, between the committee members, we’ve managed to divvy up responsibility but, as the squad grows in both number and ambition, it’ll become too large and involved for a bunch of part-timer volunteers to handle and we’ll need to employ people to run the squad on a day-to-day basis (I assure you, this will not be me ). I expect that we’ll only get there in 2021 but it’s an important development to start thinking about and planning for.

How about that final at the Sandton Convention Centre?

WOOOOOOOW! You guys are actually amazing. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I shed a tear or 15 in my wife’s arms after Makazole’s try because it was clear at that moment that the game was over and Siya was going to lift the trophy.
But it wasn’t simply the winning the brought me to tears, it was that it was happening with 1,200 South Africans in Sandton singing igwijo. We even had capped Springboks watching with us!!! People brought their parents, even. It was other-worldly what we pulled off and you can all be extremely proud of yourselves.
What an inspiring experience. It’s a high I’ll likely chase for the rest of my life.

There are probably things that I’ve overlooked and I’ll have to cover in a later update but this was mostly to say thank you for an unforgettable 2019, and I’ll see you all at the Wanderers.

The post 2020 vision and beyond | Newsletter #1 appeared first on Gwijo Squad.

It is imperative for us as the Gwijo Squad to continue holding ourselves to the highest standards in terms of ensuring that our group continues to be a place of sanctuary for all, especially the vulnerable such as women and children.
Security is a delicate condition-based largely on confidence in one’s environment to protect them. It is thus incumbent on us to have a high sensitivity to anything that could make the women and children of the Gwijo Squad feel uneasy.

As the Council, we have taken a decision to ask members with a dark cloud of accusations for gender-based violence in our midst to exit the Gwijo Squad until they can get a resolution of said accusations as the peace of mind of our Gwijists is paramount.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding and assistance in ensuring that Gwijo Squad remains a safe space for all.

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