play your part

Lauren Beukes is raising the profile of South Africa in circles not reached by the everyday. The science fiction writer has won the Kitschies Red Tentacle Award as well as the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award for Zoo City.

There are thematic links between Ian Gabriel's two films, Forgiveness and Four Corners. The latter is about family trying to get beyond the past to make a new life; the former deals with apartheid and the difficulty of reconciliation. Quintessentially South African, these stories are also universal.

Lauren Beukes is raising the profile of South Africa in circles not reached by the everyday. The science fiction writer from Cape Town has won the Kitschies Red Tentacle Award as well as the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award for Zoo City. Her latest novel, The Shining Girls, is also a bestseller.

Brand South Africa continues with its Play Your Part / Sowetan Dialogues, with the latest in the series set to take place in Johannesburg on 18 June, with a debate on whether South Africa's youth are creating a legacy for future generations.

We have achieved a lot over the last 20 years, the anti-apartheid veteran says, but the most important thing is that we have gained our dignity. "You can have all the wealth in the world, but if you have no dignity, you have nothing."

South Africans who are doing the country proud with their positive work will be highlighted in the Play Your Part TV series, created by Brand South Africa and aired on SABC 2.

As South Africa celebrates 20 years of democracy, a truly inspiring TV series titled Play Your Part debuts on SABC 2 on Sunday, 15 June.

The Blue Notes and the Brotherhood of Breath made music that broke political and social barriers; they made music that helped liberate the country. Music was the healing force of the universe, they believed. "The political disease… needed music to heal it."

A television series focuses on ordinary citizens who are doing extraordinary things to improve South Africa. The Play Your Part series will be flighted on SABC 2, recounting the inspiring stories of everyday heroes who go the extra mile for others.

Dr Vanessa Naidoo's passion for people and medicine has led to her leaving the comforts of home to provide much-needed medical care for vulnerable people in some of the world's most dangerous places.