by Rofhiwa Madzena | Apr 15, 2014 | News
WE SAY NO: ANCYL and SACP supporters gather outside the launch of the ‘Vote NO’ campaign in protest of it. Photo: Rofhiwa Madzena
The launch of a campaign calling for South Africans to spoil their vote in the upcoming national elections attracted a small protest from political parties at Wits today.
The Sidikiwe Vukani! [We are fed up! Wake up!] campaign, formed by African National Congress (ANC) stalwarts Ronnie Kasrils and Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was formally inaugurated at a small launch held at the campus in Braamfontein.
Joined by Wits senior lecturer Vishwas Satgar, the group were called ‘traitors’ by protesters who were kept outside of the launch venue by Campus Control security officers.
Satgar, a lecturer in International Relations, said he and the other former ANC members were accused of slander, of attacking on the democracy and treason.
He added that the criticism was expected: “We welcome this as it is in the spirit of [a] democratic debate”. He also said: “If you vote for the ANC you vote for the Guptas who are parasites in the country”.
[pullquote]“I think he undermines the intellectual capacity of South Africans.”[/pullquote]
WE’RE LISTENING: ANC veterans Ronnie Kasrils, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge and Vishwas Satgar listen to a question asked by a journalist about the new campaign. Photo: Rofhiwa Madzena
A statement released by the campaign read: “We want a just, fair and egalitarian society as promised society as promised in the freedom charter and clarified in The Constitution and the Bill of Rights.” The campaign calls on voters who are disgruntled with the ruling party to either spoil their vote or vote for a minority party.
Kasrils said the ANC cannot be reformed from the inside: “There is a need to speak up and not speak within the organisation.”
Kasrils was speaking inside the South West Engineering building at Wits while members of ANC, SACP (South African Communist Party), COPE, and Agang protested the launch from outside.
Secretary of the ANCYL (African National Congress Youth League), Yamkela Fanisi said “the issue of spoiling votes is not going to necessarily assist anyone, in fact, it’s not going to contribute to the development of this country … the idea of saying that people must spoil is recklessness and irresponsible of an old person like him [Ronnie Kasrils].”
Fanisi added: “I think he undermines the intellectual capacity of South Africans.”
Wits Vuvuzela spoke to political analyst Professor Daryl Glaser, head of the Politics Department at Wits, about the significance of the campaign in the run-up to the national elections on May 7.
Glaser said people are disillusioned with Zuma’s ANC and don’t really know where to put themselves or where to place their votes. He said the campaign more aimed at regular ANC voters. “Its aim is to try to punish or discipline the ANC into becoming the ANC that these campaigners want it to be.”
Glaser said he is sceptical about the effect of the campaign on the ANC and the impact will depend on which people spoil their votes at the polls.
The launch was attended by about 100 people with about 60 people protesting outside the venue.
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by Rofhiwa Madzena | Apr 11, 2014 | Lifestyle
Pictured from left to right: Justice Tom Cloete, Prof Anton Harber and winners Sam Sole, Steffans Brummer and Vinayak Vhardwaj at the 8th annual Taco Kuiper Awards. Photo: Nqobile Dludla
A team of amaBhungane journalists walked away with the 2014 Taco Kuiper award for investigative journalism at the Johannesburg Rand Club earlier today.
Stefaans Brümmer, Sam Sole and Vinayak Bhardwaj of the Mail & Guardian’s investigative centre were recognised for their efforts in sifting through more than 12 000 pages of documents resulting in “The Nkandla Files,” published last July.
The team’s investigations show the irregular escalation of costs related to security upgrades on the personal residence of President Jacob Zuma in Nkandla. The investigation is based on documents accessed through a PAIA application (Promotion of Access to Information Act).
[pullquote]“This was undoubtedly the story of the year, in fact of the last five years, and maybe the next five.”[/pullquote]
Professor Anton Harber, the convenor of the judging panel, and head of the Wits journalism department said: “This was undoubtedly the story of the year, in fact of the last five years, and maybe the next five. The presidential spokesperson said they were making a mountain out of a molehill, but in fact it was not them that were making a castle out of a kraal, or a palace out of a homestead, but they did reveal it. Few stories have had, and continue to have, such impact. It was work done by a formidable team.”
The runner-up spot was shared by teams from television show Carte Blanche and the Sunday Times for “Game of Geysers” (Joy Summer and Susan Comrie), and the “Dina Pule series” (Rob Rose, Mzilikazi wa Afrika and Stephan Hofstatter).
Guest speaker, Brant Houston, a Knight Fellow in Investigative Journalism, addressed guests before the awards were handed out. On the future of journalism, Houston said that “We are entering the golden age of journalism.” He attributed this to technological advances, quick communication, collaboration and networking and journalists working together.“This helps us to preserve our work and cover our backs. It helps us do what we love, which is truth-telling.”
This was the eighth installation of the annual awards in honour of the late journalist, Taco Kuiper, and carries a cash prize of R200 000 for the winner.
by Rofhiwa Madzena | Apr 11, 2014 | News
IN THE HOT SEATS: Mamphela Ramphele, Gwede Mantashe and Wilmot James prepare to debate in the Wits Great Hall last night.
Photo: Thabile Manala
by Rofhiwa Madzena and Thabile Manala
If last night’s election debate at Wits is anything to go by, this election period will be dominated by Nkandla-talk.
Wits University hosted the first in a series of pre-election debates together with eNCA and Independent newspapers just weeks before South Africans head to the polls. Last night’s panel included Agang’s Mamphela Ramphele, Wilmot James from the DA and the ANC’s Gwede Mantashe.
[pullquote] “Nkandla was not built with state money”[/pullquote]
“Nkandla was not built with state money,” declared Gwede Mantashe who went on the defensive after an audience member asked if the Nkandla saga ruined the image of the ruling party.
When asked to “be honest” about what the Nkandla report did to the image of the organisation, Mantashe evaded a direct answer and instead quoted from the report. Ramphele urged him to give a direct answer, saying, “the question asked is not about the report.”
In response, the crowd booed and shouted over Mantashe’s voice as he spoke.
Ramphele dominated the debate with a strong focus on the education policies of her fledgling party.
“Today’s education is good for those who can afford to go to schools where you pay”. Ramphele added that her party aimed to provide free quality education for all.
The DA admitted that race is still an issue in the country, but their focus is job creation. “It’s not about giving jobs to allies,” James said.
A panel of Wits experts, which included Wits VC, Professor Adam Habib and head of the politics department Professor Daniel Glaser also participated in the debate.
Next week the debate series will continue with Floyd Shivambu from the EFF, Lindiwe Mazibuko from the DA as well as the Fikile Mbalula from the ANC.
by Rofhiwa Madzena | Apr 11, 2014 | Lifestyle
Witsies are underwhelmed by the new colourful, flavoured condoms which will soon be free from the government.
This week Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi, announced the new condoms after a survey by the Human Sciences Research Council showed that condom use in South Africa had decreased.
The survey also showed that boys were starting to have sex at a younger age, young people were sleeping around more and becoming less knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS.
SAY “I DO”: Students think twice before doing the deed using Choice condoms. Government hopes this will change with the new condoms. Photo: Zelmarie Goosen
But the new condoms are unlikely to make any change to the sex habits of students, according to a number of Witsies approached by Wits Vuvuzela.
“Choice sucks and they [condoms] stink, so even if they make them colourful and add flavour to them, it won’t make a difference to me, I won’t use them,” according to Zama Mthunzi, 1st year BSc.
Aurelia Dako, 3rd year BA, said it was better to use bought condoms than the free condoms provided by government. “To me, the difference is that they [government condoms] are free. A person shouldn’t mind spending [money] for their health instead of getting them for free.”
Young women say they are sometimes reluctant to have sex using the free condoms, even going so far as to stop in the heat of the moment when their man pulls out a Choice condom.
On the other hand, one young woman said she would not spend money on condoms and that Choice condoms were better quality than those sold in shops.
Some of the men said they would not mind using the free condoms if they did not have enough money to buy their preferred brands. The price of condoms varies from R12 to R38 for a pack of three. The most popular brand among young people is Durex, according to the students approached.[pullquote] “Choice sucks and they [condoms] stink, so even if they make them colourful and add flavour to them, it won’t make a difference to me”[/pullquote]
Despite the different colours and the flavours, young people say they still prefer store-bought condoms because of the texture variations like studded, ribbed and ultra-thin, which students claim makes the sex more pleasurable.
Choice condoms are available in most campus toilets but, in his statement, the minister said students were not using them. Approached for comment, spokesperson to the minister, Joe Maila, said: “We suspect young people prefer fancier condoms so our department wants to make the Choice condoms more appealing, make them cool and funky.”
The department hoped the rolling out of new condoms would help control increased teenage pregnancy rates and HIV infections.
Maila said the department would use the same budget it was granted for the current condoms to produce the new ones. “Even if we use one cent more than our initial budget, this is an investment, we are preventing the spread of disease and creating productive, healthy members of society.”
Currently 23% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 are infected with HIV and only 14.5% of males between the same ages, according to the HSRC survey, quoted in Business Day. The infection rate among teenage girls between 15 and 19 is eight times higher.
The condoms will be distributed for free at South Africa’s universities and Further Education and Training (FET) colleges.
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by Rofhiwa Madzena | Mar 30, 2014 | Featured 1, News
MAKING IT THROUGH: Second-year BCom PPE, Brian Sibanda, a paraplegic, makes his way to class.
Photo: Luke Matthews
Disabled students at Wits still struggle on campus despite plans to make their lives easier.
Several departments at Wits are working to improve the experiences and learning conditions of disabled students but a more widespread approach is needed across the university.
Duncan Yates, psychologist and learning disabilities coordinator at the Wits Disability Unit (WDU) said that there needs to be more changes made to accommodate all disabled students. He added that there have been some improvements.
“In the library we have what is called IPals … these are cameras that take pictures of texts [from books] and recites the text for visually impaired students, so we’ve had to look at alternative formats for disabled students,” he said.
Yates said an organisation called the Disability Interest Group gets together to discuss the struggles of disabled people and look for solutions.
One of the initiatives which will be implemented is Access Maps. Yates explained that these are online maps where disabled students can find different, accessible routes to entrances, parking, and classes on the different campuses.
Responsibility lies with the whole university
“Another challenge at Wits is that the buildings are old and when they were built they didn’t make provisions for disabled students, so it’s hard to make the necessary adjustments,” he said.
Anlia Pretorius, head of the Wits Disability Unit, said: “The DU cannot be everywhere all the time, so the responsibility lies with the whole university.”
[pullquote align=”right”]”The challenge is that when you’re in a wheelchair you always have to take the long way”[/pullquote]
Pretorius said she knew of a blind student who once bumped into a pillar which had been placed in the middle of walk-way.
“She obviously didn’t know that it was put there so she walked into it and broke her tooth … We need to work together to create solutions and create more awareness about the different disabilities,” said Pretorius.
Wits Vuvuzela spoke to a student, who asked not to be named, who has a learning disability. Learning disabilities are often called the ‘silent disability’ as they cannot be physically seen by others.
“I didn’t understand why I was slow and why I struggled to keep up in class. After my June results I went to look for help, because I was scared I would fail. I received therapy and I was taught different learning styles like learning with shapes and colours like in pre-school,” the student said.
“The DU helped me be patient with myself and not be ashamed of my condition because people don’t understand it and judge you.”
Pretorius said there has been a good response from lecturers and students who want to learn to work with disabled students.
“It’s important for the Wits community to understand because these students don’t want to be labelled,” she said.
Accessibility and Advocacy office at Wits
Brian Sibanda, 2nd year BCom PPE, told Wits Vuvuzela that being in a wheelchair was a “challenge” at Wits.
“The challenge is that when you’re in a wheelchair you always have to take the long way. Another one is that when you’re new you don’t know your way around and most structures don’t accommodate the disabled.”
Yates said disabilities are sidelined and there needs to be universal designing of structures and facilities to accommodate everyone.
The university is in the process of staffing an accessibility and advocacy office. The office will look at what is needed to benefit the disabled throughout the university.
by Rofhiwa Madzena | Mar 24, 2014 | Featured 1, News
ITS A STRUGGLE: Kgothatso Mamabolo, 2nd year BSc struggles to secure his WiFi connection.
Photo: Luke Matthews
Wits students are finding the WiFi coverage on campus far from satisfactory – and are not likely to see an improvement for at least the rest of this year.
Internet accessibility and reliability has become an increasing issue as the growing cost of staying connected has led many students to rely heavily on campus WiFi. Computer staff at Wits recognise the problem, but “budget constraints” and the fact that the “budgetary cycle has passed this year”, mean improvements will not happen before next year.
Acting director of Computer and Network Services (CNS), Xolani Hadebe, said the department was in the process of completing a blueprint. This is “a plan which looks at what needs to be done at the university to improve the WiFi systems [and] get blanket coverage of the whole university”. The blueprint would also assess how much work needed to be done to improve WiFi on campus.
CNS understood the need for accessible WiFi, he added. “WiFi is mandatory”. Commenting on the availability of WiFi at different hotspots around campus, Naeem Vallee, 1st year MBBCh, said the best place to get strong WiFi signal was at the Matrix. “It’s pretty fast when you get it but it’s not always accessible. When it’s too slow I have to use my own mobile data which is inconveniencing.”
Nishal Dullabh, 1st year MBBCh, said he did not use the Wits WiFi often because of the difficult registration process. Other students reported using mobile data because the WiFi access points were few and far between. There was no accessibility in some of the lecture halls in Umthombo building, Senate House basement and the Oppenheimer Life Sciences building.
Princess Khumalo, 3rd year BA, said: “It’s a problem if you’re in class and you want to follow [the lecture] along with the slides [which are posted online for students]. It would help if they could just make the network more accessible in places that are underground.”
by Rofhiwa Madzena | Mar 19, 2014 | News
LEADING THE NATION: NUMSA supporters leading the charge against unemployment with sticks and loudspeakers on 19 March 2014 at Zoo Lake. Photo: Luke Matthews
Increasing youth unemployment was the key reason for a march that started at Johannesburg’s picturesque Zoo Lake earlier today.
The National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) went on strike today to highlight the high level of unemployment amongst youth in South Africa.
Numsa reported that youth unemployment in South Africa is the third-highest in the world and also said that every one in four people are unemployed in the county. The union added that 71 percent of all unemployed people in South Africa are between the ages of 15 to 29.
There were a number of protesters in EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters), t-shirts at the march along with miners and migrant workers. There were also a few protesters in ANC (African National Congress), t-shirts despite Numsa’s decision not to campaign for the ANC this year. The union said the ANC is an anti-working class party and they don’t provide enough jobs and services for people.
VIDEO: The marchers assembled at Zoo Lake in Johannesburg.
The Numsa protesters went from Zoo Lake to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) offices in Rosebank. The march was a peaceful one with singing and dancing during talks given by speakers.
by Rofhiwa Madzena | Mar 14, 2014 | Featured 1
DRAMA for Life (DFL) received eight Naledi Theatre Award nominations for two of its productions and one for a student who shined in her debut performance.
The Productions
Hayani and Through Positive Eyes were directed by Warren Nebe, the head of DFL. Nebe said a lot of hard work goes into producing work that is recognised by the prestigious theatre. He added “[there needs] to be a great deal of commitment and personal investment” to make the productions good.
Another element that makes the productions successful is that they deal with personal stories about real people.
Nebe said, “The challenge, then, is to be respectful to those who offer stories and present them in an honest and open way with integrity”.
Being nominated for the Naledi Theatre Awards has created many opportunities for DFL. Nebe said it’s easier to approach funders for productions and to improve on the “laboratory space for students to create art through performance”. He added that the department is taken more seriously in South Africa and internationally with this kind of recognition.
SHINING BRIGHT: Faith Busika, best newcomer nominee for the Naledi Theatre Awards, talks about the challenges with portraying true stories on stage.
Photo by: Rofhiwa Madzena
Best Newcomer
Faith Busika, a masters student at Wits, was nominated for best newcomer for her role in Through Positive Eyes. Busika enjoyed the aspect of being able to perform real stories of people, which she said is different from playing a created character. She said, “What made the performance good was its human context and the endless rehearsals where your every emotions were watched to make sure you’re authentic on stage”. She also said, “The production opened me up as an individual [and also] opened other doors to act in this genre”.
The Competition
The other productions that DFL was up against included mainstream productions which include some of the best actors and directors in South Africa. Other nominations include best ensemble, cutting edge production, best male performer, best musical score, and best new South African script.
The award ceremony will be on March 17 at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City.
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by Rofhiwa Madzena | Mar 7, 2014 | Featured 1
WITS HEALTH: Welcome Selepe (3rd Year LLB Student) leaves Campus Health after receiving treatment. Photo: Rofhiwa Madzena
by Rofhiwa Madzena and Ilanit Chernick
You can get the services of a doctor at Wits if you have R400 for a consultation. This is as much as private health care.
There is nothing that can be done about the high cost of a doctor at Campus Health, Wits Vuvuzela was told this week. The university does not pay for the services of a doctor; it merely pays for the four nurses.
The Wits Campus Health Centre serves many students daily with limited resources, according to head of Campus Health, Sister Yvonne Matimba
[pullquote align=”right”]“We are not coping and Wits doesn’t charge [students] for health so they can’t invest [in it].”[/pullquote]
Meanwhile, students are adversely affected by the expensive cost of medical care because many of them don’t have medical aid and are unable to afford a private practitioner. The students complain that R400 is too much for their pockets.
For R50 at Campus Health, students have access to a nurse who provides basic services. Some of these services are free and include testing for HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) but if it’s serious you can be referred to a public hospital where you can see a doctor for free.
Campus Health has inadequate resources, which prevents the hiring of an in-house doctor and only four nurses are available to deal with thousands of students every year – about 30 000. The doctor on campus is a private practitioner who only deals with students who can afford his services.
Education campus operates with one nurse who is at maximum capacity.
Matimba said, “We are not coping and Wits doesn’t charge [students] for health so they can’t invest [in it].”
She stated that a patient is treated in the clinic every 15 minutes and also clarified that the doctor on campus is not hired by Campus Health or the university. He simply rents the space.
Students who can’t afford to pay the nurses fee are still treated and it is charged to their student account, which is paid at the end of year.
She said that students can help deal with the influx by not playing pranks.
They often call for an emergency nurse on campus when there is no emergency. This disrupts the flow of services.
However, Campus Health is in the process of hiring an extra nurse to deal with the influx.
