South African journalist Debora Patta. Photo: Provided
Journalist Debora Patta is a familiar name in South Africa after more than 20 years in broadcast news. She has covered a variety of stories, including the trial of Oscar Pistorius and the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in Chibok. She talks justice and media to Wits Vuvuzela:
Given your experience in the media, how has the Oscar Pistorius trial being televised changed the face of open justice in South Africa?
What it’s done is it has allowed South Africans the opportunity to understand for themselves how the judicial system works. The interesting thing for me, I would get a lot of tweets from South Africans who didn’t understand the basics and would ask questions like: “Why is Barry Roux talking all the time”, “Why is there no jury system?” Perhaps because they have gained their understanding of legal processes from American television.
Has the Oscar trial set a high standard for what South Africans can expect out of our justice system?
The televising of the Oscar trial was very important because it gave South Africans an opportunity to see how justice can be done at its very best. Now bear in mind that is not the experience of the average South African. A lot of South Africans do not have the experience that Oscar Pistorius had with exceptionally paid and skilled advocates like Barry Roux defending him, the very best prosecutor put on the case. Every element of the case has been tested and re-tested and scrutinised over and over again. But this is the best case scenario and in a constitutional democracy as South Africa, this is the kind of judiciary that we should expect and South Africans should demand.
Debora, you covered the #BringBackOurGirls campaign in Nigeria. Do you think that is has received more media attention than the Oscar trial?
#BringBackOurGirls, in my opinion that is actually a far more important story. Because what it’s profiling is a situation that’s continued in Nigeria for many years now, it’s only gained international interest because of the number of girls that were abducted in April. Over 200 Chibok girls. That is why it gained traction in that sense but the story itself has been around for a long time and it’s actually to our shame as the media that we haven’t covered it more proficiently in the past. The hashtag itself garnered a lot of criticism, I think it was important because it focused worldwide attention via social media on the plight of the Chibok girls.
What has it been like working on the two most controversial events of 2014 and the international exposure that has followed?
I think the Oscar Pistorius case is not the most worthy journalistic story, let me put it like that, on some levels it’s a fairly tabloid story. At the end of the day it’s one rich white man’s quest for justice and we’ve spent an exorbitant amount of time covering it … Whether that’s right or wrong is another question.
Sunday morning epiphanies are always good for bargaining with your truths. Surely it has to do with the redemptive quality religion has attached to this day. Anyway, it feels as though the Sundays in my 20s are loaded with lessons thick and fast and not enough hot shoes, great sex and the no parents telling you what to do.
I am not sure how I believed I’d have life figured out in my 20s. Or myself. I am starting to believe it was a side effect of Oprah afternoons, Iyanla’s books and the quietness that refuses to settle in my head. All I know is I am not the only one with a minor OCD complex to tightly thread my life and feel an unwavering sense of control and certainty.
The business of living is never really “easy like a Sunday morning”.
The business of living is never really “easy like a Sunday morning”. Growing pains simply will not allow it. But a quick reflection reminded me that I am in the second semester of a postgrad degree I am passionate about. Life next year is promising to be pretty dandy. So really, what is up with the tightness in the centre of my chest? The quarter-life crisis of the modern day homo sapien is what’s happening. Anxiety is our biggest enemy and so is the pop psychology that is constantly urging us to “find ourselves”.
There is nothing wrong with waking up every morning interrogating your own existence, choosing the kind of life that is constantly asking the hard questions; attempting to find yourself at every trajectory life calls a lesson. It is necessary, in fact, it’s exactly the kind of living we ought to be doing. But goodness gracious, can we try a little tenderness? Tracee Ellis Ross said: “I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me.”
So why are we a generation saturated with so much angst? We are so uncomfortable with the necessary pauses. The moments when you don’t know, when you fail, when you make a mistake. We ride the highs too high and the lows too low – too much intensity, not enough patience. Of course the proverbial question of “who I am?” was never going to find a definition this soon. At the very most, my living has to open me up. Existential complexes can be really vain. But that’s mainly because the world has drilled an aspiration of perfect facades in our brains.
There are Sunday mornings where I miss Amy Winehouse. To me, she was every woman and every man. Her talent was condensed in her flawed humanness. She was authentic about how heavily she loved, how much pain she’d seen, the reality of finding who she was. All of this through the gift of lyrics. For me, Amy always sang the truths that I was sometimes embarrassed to think to myself. I don’t mean to romanticise her fall, but the grey-area person in me saw the light in the frailty of her druggie days. I think the more attractive thing was that she was unapologetic – when your mistakes are evident to the world, modesty can be pathetic.
I’m learning that audacity is a principle of survival. Sure, I don’t know it all and neither am I all that. But when peeling the layers of who you are – sometimes winging it as you go along is the only real way to fly.
The second semester has commenced, and it is time to recalibrate your sails into the desired direction.
The recent university rankings placing Wits at an impressive number 115 worldwide and the best in Africa will surely come as pleasant news to everyone. I propose a toast to excellence! Those already on the last lap of their undergraduate race cannot believe they have done it, but perhaps may also not believe their exciting campus life days are coming to an end. Well, the exciting news is that postgraduate studies guarantees cliff-edge, adrenalin-filled adventure that may be missing in the arguably gruesome undergraduate task.
When you zoom in to the constitution of postgraduate students at Wits, and in fact in most South African universities, you find that the ratio of white to black is staggering. Zoom further in among the black students, you find that many are foreign students. There are various reasons ranging from students being tied by the companies sponsoring their busaries to work immediately, to challenges at home, to simply not seeing the need to remain at school when you could be having the time of your life earning a salary as a reward for a hard-fought degree.
I have an interesting picture to paint of postgrad life that I would like you to pause and have a look at with the hope that it will inspire, motivate, and perhaps lure you into continuing your studies. Post graduate is more than just an effort to get a better salary – which may be true but not necessarily. It is also not a daunting experience where you search for a needle in a haystack without a magnet. Instead, it an opportunity to refine your ability to become independent, to enjoy university without assignment deadlines and sleepless nights studying for exams, and it is a time to discover yourself.
When I enrolled for MSc Engineering in February last year, I had no idea of what was to follow. I spent the first five months trying to find a good topic—not treated by other researchers but at the same time doable. When I eventually did, working closely with my supervisor, the rest was as exciting as bungee jumping. Within a few months I got to enjoy travelling to Stellenbosch in the Cape and to Glasgow in Scotland to present my research work. I got to tour not only Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland, but also tourist attractions in London and Old Trafford in Manchester—the home of my favourite club Manchester United!
If that was not enough, I got to discover myself. I have always considered myself a shy person of few words. But that soon was to change. I joined Toastmasters, an international organisation on public speaking and leadership. Before I knew it, I was the president of the Wits Business School Toastmasters Club. Not long after, I became the executive director for the Wits chapter of the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, an organisation on leadership and entrepreneurship with a focus on African youth. In the process I discovered that I enjoy public speaking, social entrepreneurship, and leadership.
Have you considered venturing into postgraduate studies? If you haven’t I hope these few paragraphs will give you a different perspective and encourage you to join the community of postgradus nerdus.
Ndlovu is the president of the Wits Business School Toastmasters Club.
PERMIT me to begin by telling you a little bit about my experience as a card-carrying Witsie. I met a lot of people around campus who left me with an “oh moment” when it comes to sex and how to find love.
I met students who have never been sexually intimate with another person, and they do not intend to do so until they get married (clapping once) while others have been sexually intimate, and they don’t see anything wrong with it.
I’ll tell you one thing that’s true of every single one of them. They all have this naughty smile when they speak about sex. But one friend who stand out for me is Lebogang (not her real name). She is one of the most reliable people I know. Lebogang’s life as a sexholic took off when she was 19 years old in her first year here at Wits. Her parents pay her tuition and give her a little pocket money but her pocket money couldn’t maintain her lifestyle, so she opted to date rich guys so that they can finance her. She always tell me that the guys refer to her as a “side dish”.
She resides in university residence. Her room is well-furnished; a few expensive art pictures are hanging on the wall, a 32-inch television sits on a small glass table. Most of her friends have become her unofficial maids by running around and doing errands for her. When she is not at campus, she is doing what she does best: attend high society parties or go on holiday somewhere in Bela Bela. Her boyfriends range from the very rich to the working corporates.
She got into this rich dating trade through a friend who was already established in the field. Lebogang claims she always wondered how her friend was able to live a good life. “I wondered if her parents were millionaires,” so Lebo said. She claims that her friend told her she only asked for tuition from her parents, so Lebo asked her to introduce her to her network and she did.
Lebo is now a fourth-year student. She hangs in Melrose and Sandtons biggest hotspots and she will never be caught drinking beer.
“I only take wines and liquor because I have to maintain my standards and make a good impression. The better the impression, the higher the chances of getting high-class boyfriends,” she said.
“Most of my friends thinks I have rich parents,” she confesses. “I feel guilty about lying to them.”
During the course of the day, she receives numerous phone calls scheduling appointments with her but she zeroed in on one guy who she said doesn’t stress her and gives her a lot of money. Lebo gets her boyfriends through trusted references and sometimes randomly picks a guy, especially from house parties or high society gatherings. She usually talks to them first and later decides if they can be trustworthy and harmless to give her digits.
Lebo almost shed a tear when I asked her about her family: “I have lived a double life for four years now and I pray to God that my family don’t find out soon because it would shatter them” she said.
Lebo goes to church every Sunday to thank God for protecting her and “to ask him to forgive my sins.” Lebo said she is HIV negative and hasn’t been raped or contracted any sexually transmitted diseases.
“Many people don’t make it this far in this suggerdaddy business. I’m grateful to God for that,” she said. Lebo might be a “side dish” for now but she has dreams of having a better life.
“People should know that I also have set goals for myself, this work is strictly business and not for intimate relationships,” she said.
Lebogang has big plans beyond varsity. She want to be a professional who analyses regional matters and tries to create solutions. “If I can work in a place like the African Union, it would be a huge chance to put my university education to use” she said.
Lebo has no regrets: “I don’t want to regret anything I’ve done because I joined this business with a clear conscience and regretting it would mean that I made a mistake.”
“Sometimes, I feel like I’ve lost my self-esteem and worry about my education but I always dust myself and get back on my feet,” said Lebo.
Mashego is a BA student in international relations
I was recently a victim of harassment by one of those incredibly annoying Twitter notifications informing you of a tweet, which has absolutely nothing to do with you, that so-and-so retweeted. Out of curiosity I viewed the tweet and, seeing that it was actually quite funny, I decided to visit this particular individual’s profile in the hope of finding tweets of a similar nature just in case I decided to follow them (not to steal their tweets and post them on Facebook as my own). I was flabbergasted when, after camping on this individual’s timeline,I realised that he was actually one of our lecturers.
I discovered several other lecturers with tweets of a similar nature, i.e. ”personal”, relatable and actually quite funny. Call me Fifty Shades of Late but this is something I only discovered recently. I knew that you could follow members of the Wits staff on Twitter but I always thought they had an online presence like an A-list celebrity, i.e. they don’t follow back, tweets are hardly ever personal and most of them are promotional or links to articles that involve them somehow.
Initially I thought it incredibly awkward for students to be interacting with their lecturers (and vice versa) on such a personal level on a social network because I felt it crossed certain boundaries Although (to my knowledge) there are no laws against this, it seemed to me like breaking one of those unwritten rules that exist silently but we are all aware of. And imagine finding yourself in a situation where you’ve failed a test and are seeking a re-mark from that particular lecturer and you have to hope and pretend your lecturer didn’t see you promoting #TurnDownForWhat at the devil’s hour days before your test.
After giving it much thought, I realised that it wasn’t entirely inappropriate that students and lecturers could interact on such a personal level using social media. I thought perhaps lecturers were indirectly reaching out to their students and showing them that they are actually really cool, normal people.
What I especially love about these informal online student/lecturer relationships is that they make lecturers seem a little more approachable, unlike in high school or primary school where you viewed your teachers as some sort of higher power and felt uncomfortable whenever you saw them doing normal people things outside the classroom, e.g. shopping. These relationships make us feel more comfortable around them and encourage more one-on-one consultations and student participation during lectures.
As a generation of prolific tweeters, whenever we have a school-related question we can just tweet it to our lecturers, as opposed to going to their offices (when are they ever really there?) or doing something as tedious as sending them an e-mail. The response is also almost immediate because, unless you are @Beyoncé, who doesn’t check or respond to their mentions? And information is quickly shared with and viewed by several of your classmates.
I am eternally grateful to our forward-thinking lecturers who avail themselves in such a way that makes them easier for us to reach out to and, who knows, perhaps one day students will have such a strong relationship with their lecturers on Twitter that we can just “slide” into their DMs and get useful information on what exactly is going to be in the next test or exam instead of studying 100% of the work and being asked only 5%. [Sigh] Such wishful thinking
Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of The Guardian, spoke at Wits University earlier today. Photo: Dinesh Balliah.
His newspaper is one of the top most-read online publications worldwide and this afternoon Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of The Guardian, described the South African media landscape as robust, diverse and “pretty free and inquiring.”
Rusbridger, who has been at the helm of the British publication for nearly twenty years, was speaking to a gathering of editors, senior journalists, media academics and students at Wits University about the Edward Snowden story. The Guardian broke the story of whistleblower Snowden, who is credited with exposing the extent of international surveillance, in 2013.
Rusbridger told the audience that the decision to publish the Snowden story was “a question of public interest”, even when the British government argued against the publication on the grounds of “national security.”
In facing some of the backlash against the paper’s decision to publish the Snowden story, Rusbridger said the support of the journalism community helped his organisation. “It is important as a community of journalism to stick together.”
Rusbridger explained that while there is obvious anxiety in South Africa regarding media freedom, especially in light of the secrecy bill (the protection of state information bill), if the media responds by cutting back on the news that sells papers then it is giving consumers an excuse not to buy the paper.
Mondli Makhanya, former editor-in-chief of The Sunday Times, asked Rusbridger about how to react to a government that is mobilising people against the media.
Rusbridger’s response was that “journalism lives in a different place from government … media has a new role to fight [which is] explaining ‘why’ they are publishing a story.” Ultimately that defence should be able to rest on a foundation of the public interest.
CORRECTION: The original article initially said that Mcebo Sisulu claimed to be the love child of Zwelakhe Sisulu and the sister of Swaziland’s “King Zwelathini”, when it should have said a “Swazi princess.” Wits Vuvuzela regrets the error which has been corrected.
Following a three-week investigation into the academic credentials as claimed by Wits Junction Res House Comm head, Mcebo Sisulu, he finally admits he has been lying about his identity and, in fact, is not a grandson of Walter Sisulu.
By Thabile Manala and Rofhiwa Madzena
NOT A SISULU: The head of the Wits Junction Residence house committee, has been calling himself Mcebo Olyate Sisulu and giving interviews to Wits campus media about his Sisulu family background. He now says his name is Mcebo Freedom Dlamini and he is not related to the Sisulu’s. Photo: Luca Kotton.
On May 7, as South Africans flocked to the polling booths, Wits Vuvuzela interviewed the head of the Wits Junction Residence house committee, Mcebo Olyate Sisulu, about his famous family’s political background and the influence it has had on his passion for politics and social change.
In the unpublished article titled: “‘Young Sisulu Buck True to Family Heritage”, Sisulu recounts his childhood memories of growing up in the Sisulu family home in Orlando West.
He talks about how the home was a refuge for the children of politicians in exile, comrades in prison and many others who were on the run from the police.
In the interview he said: “I love the ANC (African National Congress). When I was introduced to politics I was inducted into the ANC … I was born into it and the family, so everywhere I go I see black, gold and green.”
Degrees in actuarial science and nuclear physics
And while Wits Vuvuzela was keen to publish an article about a Witsie who was also the grandson of the great Walter Sisulu, it was the younger Sisulu’s claims that he was studying towards an undergraduate degree in politics and an honours degree in mathematical statistics that raised suspicions about his claims.
A quick look at Sisulu’s publicly available Facebook profile revealed that he claimed to hold another two degrees, one in actuarial science and another in nuclear physics.
Before publishing the article on election day, Wits Vuvuzela contacted Mcebo Sisulu to ask which of Walter Sisulu’s sons was his father.
“Zwelakhe,” he said.
But just a year ago, in an interview with VoWFM for the Your Campus, Your Story show, Mcebo Sisulu was featured as a cool kid on Wits campus due to his life as a Sisulu.
On that show, he said his father was Maxwell (Max) Sisulu, the brother of Zwelakhe.
Online research about the Sisulu family could not substantiate either of these claims.
Claims to be a lovechild of Zwelakhe Sisulu and a Swazi princess
Responding to a question about who the head of Junction Res house committee is, a source at Wits University told Wits Vuvuzela, “Mcebo Freedom Dlamini.”
So, our journalists went back to Mcebo Sisulu for clarity. Although reluctant to discuss his family history this time around, he eventually said he was the lovechild of Zwelakhe Sisulu and a Swazi princess.
Zwelakhe Sisulu, a former journalist and editor, died in 2012 at his home in Johannesburg at age 61.
Describing his birth as “controversial,” Mcebo said he was born in Mozambique and raised in Tanzania.
Prior to this though, he said he was raised in Orlando West and even mused about his life there.
“There would be 20 people sleeping in one room … my grandmother [Albertina Sisulu] would even take my food, and give it to other people,” he said.
“My family knows nothing of a Mcebo.” – Max Sisulu.
When Wits Vuvuzela spoke to people close to Mcebo Sisulu asking about his claims, each person responded by saying that he is a Sisulu but it is a sensitive story.
Reactions from members of the Sisulu family
Wits Vuvuzela made contact with a source close to the Sisulu family who spoke directly with Zwelakhe Sisulu’s widow, Zodwa, about Mcebo’s claims.
The source indicated that she herself did not know of any Mcebo Sisulu.
According to the source, Zodwa Sisulu said if Mcebo was indeed an offspring of one of the Sisulu’s, the family would have gladly welcomed him.
In a chance encounter a while later Wits Vuvuzela journalists had the opportunity to ask Max Sisulu, brother of the late Zwelakhe, about Mcebo Sisulu’s claims. Max Sisulu, a former speaker of parliament, said: “My family knows nothing of a Mcebo.” He added: “… Zwelakhe didn’t have a lovechild, so I don’t know.”
Personally recruited to study a “secret” degree
In two formal interviews with Wits Vuvuzela, Mcebo Sisulu maintained he was the son of Zwelakhe Sisulu and despite being a lovechild, his father and his grandparents (Walter and Albertina), loved and cared for him.
When questioned about his degrees and qualifications, Sisulu initially accused Wits Vuvuzela of “invading his Facebook” but then claimed he was personally recruited by the University of Pretoria to complete a degree in nuclear physics.
The degree, he added, was a “secret” one and so it would be difficult to verify its existence.
“We know each other and we know where we meet as a family.”
He also claimed on his Facebook profile that he was invited to speak at a Golden Key breakfast on the basis of his academic qualifications. Golden Key recognises academic achievers across the world through local chapters at universities.
According to a source who did not want to be named, and who organises events for the organisation, Sisulu was never a guest speaker at the breakfast nor any of the other events hosted by Golden Key at Wits.
Offers leads on other story if article is not published
During the interviews with Wits Vuvuzela, Mcebo Sisulu pleaded with the journalists to “drop” this story, saying he would face repercussions from the Sisulu family if the story were to be told. He also said it would attract negative publicity for his family.
During the investigation, Sisulu arrived unannounced, with two other students at the residence room of one of the Wits Vuvuzela journalists close to 11pm one evening, telling her to drop the story.
He offered leads on other stories if Wits Vuvuzela did not publish the article.
The journalist was shaken enough by the experience to report the incident to Wits Campus Control.
During one of these interviews, Mcebo Sisulu said: “I don’t want to cause public spats, it’s uncalled for. We know each other and we know where we meet as a family.”
“I introduce myself anyhow I feel like introducing myself … It has nothing to do with who I am.”
In the middle of last week, Mcebo Sisulu made contact with Wits Vuvuzela and arranged another meeting.
Clearly agitated, he announced at the meeting: “My name is Mcebo Freedom Dlamini. “That’s my stage name [Mcebo Sisulu]; that’s the name I decide to call myself when I’m excited.”
When asked about why he needed a “stage name,”, he said: “Where I’m from, when you like a leader you call yourself by that politician’s name. I’m a politician and I love politicians.”
“I introduce myself anyhow I feel like introducing myself … It has nothing to do with who I am,” he said.
Asked if he is the son of Zwelakhe Sisulu, he said, “No I am not.” Asked if he is indeed a Sisulu, Mcebo Dlamini said, “I’m not.”
Wits Vuvuzela spoke to Witsies right after they had cast their votes at the main campus voting station. If you are unable to view the full video, click here.
SPECIAL ENOUGH: Jermaine George and his guide dog Ygor are ‘able’ to participate in the elections.
A ‘special’ vote is not a privilege to a disgruntled blind student.
Jermaine George, BMus student, said he chose not to use the special vote provision for disabled people because he prefers to fit in with society instead of being kept apart.
George said his main grievance with the special vote provision is that “your vote is not completely confidential, you have to share it with whoever is helping you.”
George said that while the ANC succeeded in giving disabled people some form of independence, he added they also alienated and separated disabled people from society because there was not enough education to deal with disabled people.
“It’s easier to ignore disabled people than to interact with them,” he said. “They want to get us out of the way so that they can get to the rest of the people.”
George said that he understands the special provision when given to the elderly because of their lack of mobility. However the blind, the deaf and those in wheelchairs are not slowed in mobility or intellect.
Dr Anlia Pretorius, head of the Disability Unit at Wits University, said: “our students are very independent and geared up and can do this on their own”.
She said some political parties have reached out to the disabled, with the Democratic Alliance publishing their election manifesto in braille and sending it for distribution to the disability unit.
While George is not sure about who he is voting for and his decision will be based on infrastructure, education and the economy.
“With those three things, the rest will sort itself out,” George said.
George can often be seen on campus with his guide dog Ygor. He is regularly found producing music or song-writing at the disability unit’s computer centre.
“I just wanna compete on par with everyone,” he said.
SILENT WARS: The ANC, EFF and DA debate over whether democracy is delivering. Photo: Thabile Manala.
South Africa’s international image is not as competitive as it used to be because of the weak economy and corruption.
This was according to Thebe Ikalafeng, founder of Brand Leadership and Brand Africa. Ikalafeng was among the panel including Mmusi Maimane, Dali Mpofu and Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane at the BBC Africa Debate this afternoon discussing: Is Democracy Delivering?
Ikalafeng said while South Africa may be significantly better since 1994, it is not looking as good as “we” want it to. This is why Nigeria’s economy managed to surpass South Africa as the largest economy in Africa.
Ikalafeng said according to Foreign Policy magazine which measures countries that yield the highest returns from investors- South Africa ranked 41, compared to Botswana (2), Rwanda (5) and Ghana (10). “Around election time there is a tendency to look at individual issues [and] not things in totality,” he said.
Mpofu, Gauteng premier candidate of the Economic Freedom Fighters, said: “political freedom is meaningless without economic freedom”. He said that the EFF emphasises questions of land because there is no reason why Africa cannot feed itself possessing so many raw materials.
Maimane said the story of South Africa must be headlined by economic growth and employment. He referred to the leadership of the ruling party saying: “our trajectory as a nation is one of decline instead of upliftment.”
Mokonyane, who is ANC head of elections, defended the ruling party saying “Nelson Mandela would be proud today because the ANC has not deviated from its policies”. Mokonyane agreed positively to the question of whether the ANC has the moral weight to represent South Africa and said “[it is] not about ‘feeling’ but what we are doing”.
Vuyani Sam, an audience member, said the mentality of politicians promising the public things they cannot deliver to get votes needs to be challenged. “A nation as desperate as this is a danger to itself,” he said.
STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE: Ontiretse Phetlhu, a former UCT student, is struggling to adapt to the Joburg lifestyle and to support himself financially. Photo: Thabile Manala
Ontiretse Phetlhu is sometimes barely able to feed himself, lives in a shanty back room and struggles with life in Joburg, his new home. But he’s a Witsie, studying to be a teacher, and his story is typical of students who hail from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and who have to juggle academic commitments with long working hours to support themselves.
[pullquote]“I have already accepted that things may not go well … I haven’t established a formula, I haven’t found my ground at Wits.” [/pullquote]
Phetlhu is a former UCT (University of Cape Town), student who has moved to Joburg to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree. He was previously a NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) student and, with help from his mother, is supporting himself while paying back his loan.
While Phetlhu’s mother managed to pay the upfront registration fee from her savings this year, she is unable to finance his day-to-day living expenses. He previously lived in Randfontein with relatives and traveled to campus by train. But unreliable trains meant that Phetlhu was often late for morning classes.
He now rents a small room in Thokoza, but he is by no means self-sufficient and is barely able to survive because he is often without a cent in his pocket.
Both his parents have low-income jobs and are unable to assist him.
When Phetlhu appealed to the Wits accommodation office for assistance, he was told that without funding there is nothing they can do for him and that his points, (according to the university’s point system), did not qualify him for a place in res. No other options were available to him. He later turned to the SRC (Students Representatives Council) with no success. “I don’t find them helpful because their availability is questionable … these are urgent matters,” he says.
Toiletries and food packs available
Jabulile Mabuza, Campus Services Officer of the SRC, said the SRC has a limited budget. It is divided between helping the clubs and societies further their mandate to keep university life vibrant and the Humanitarian Awards used to help students. “The SRC prioritises a larger group of people who need funding to fill in the gaps than one person who needs complete funding”, said Mabuza. She encourages students to seek external funding.
Enid Schutte, a psychology lecturer at Wits, said students from a low socio-economic background are often under pressure to achieve. These students are sometimes the first in their families to make it to university and therefore “[their] anxiety levels are high”. Schutte said these students are able to get toiletry packs and food packs from the dean of students on a completely anonymous basis.
As a first time Joburger, Phetlhu also faces socio-cultural difficulties. He says: “I feel lost in this place, it’s quite sad because where I’m from, I had a support system.” The psychological burden of living in these conditions has affected his academic performance.
Phetlhu, once filled with optimism, now says: “I have already accepted that things may not go well … I haven’t established a formula, I haven’t found my ground at Wits “.
Many students who suffer from mental illnesses do not feel able to reach out for help because of the stigma attached to these health problems.
Wits Vuvuzela asked a number of Witsies for their feelings about mental health, in the light of the programme being run by Drama for Life (DFL) in conjunction with the CCDU. Their partnership, which has been running for five years, uses theatre as a tool for social engagement and justice.
This developed into the Human Rights and Social Justice Initiative for 2014, from March 17 to 21. This year, their focus is on mental health.
[pullquote]“You don’t ask for help because you think you are being dramatic and exaggerating your situation…it’s hard to ask for help because then you have to admit there’s a problem.”[/pullquote]
Most of the students approached agreed that it was difficult to talk about these issues. “I often keep things to myself and deal with things until I realise that I really can’t,” said Mukhodiwa Nwashe, 1st year Geology.
Danai Myezawa, 1st year BA, said: “You don’t ask for help because you think you are being dramatic and exaggerating your situation…it’s hard to ask for help because then you have to admit there’s a problem.”
A fear of being judged was another reason for not discussing mental health, according to Vukosi Penyani, 1st year Occupational Therapy. “And if you talk, you think you’ll be a burden.”
The challenge of the DFL project lies in representing the inner workings of someone’s mind as an outward expression of mental illness. Drama for Life has tried to show how mental illness affects the relationships people forge with each other.
Ayanda Khala, co-curator of the initiative, said people could often not recognise when sadness was not just situational, but had become depression. Students did not have the language to communicate their feelings accurately.
A friend who said they were having a “depressing” day was usually not taken seriously. The comment was not responded to with urgency. She added that young people lacked the language to say “I am not okay”. They failed to understand the language of someone who genuinely cried out for help.
Khala said it was not until an individual felt completely overwhelmed that they began to reach out.
“We respond to mental illness not to mental wellness. Students need to be exposed to the knowledge that they have a right to a healthy mind. We need to develop tools of resilience and ask ‘How do I cope on my feet?’”
Mental wellness had everything to do with how people took care of their physical wellbeing as well, she said. The healthier a student was, the more capable they felt to face life’s challenges. “The ability to voice your frustrations to a friend about a test you failed is an undermined act of self-care.”
Lift me up : Concrete Metaphors a production by Themba Mkhoma Picture: Evans Mathibe
Refiloe Lepere, Co-curator of the Initiative and Director of Heading Out, one of the performances run during the week, said students carried guilty feelings associated with mental illness because it was associated with weakness and not strength.
“Many people who suffer from mental illnesses believe they are inherently wrong, or have done something wrong. That it should be somebody else, not me.”
Lepere cited the example of Thamsanqa Jantjie, the “fake sign interpreter” at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service last year. As a nation, we missed the opportunity to talk about mental illness when Jantjie was found to be suffering from schizophrenia.
Lepere said she hoped this campaign could open the channels of communication to allow students to have an honest dialogue about mental illness. One should be able to say: “I have a meeting with my demons” and not see raised eyebrows. It should be possible to react to mental illness in the way we would to catching the flu.
If the stigma of mental illness could be replaced with more validation given to each others’ internal struggles, more people would come forward for help, she said.
Societal expectations and experiences can often place pressure on people’s relationships. With Valentine’s Day coming up we have asked individuals questions about their views on certain relationship dynamics especially when it comes to the most anticipated day of the year for some lovers, Valentines Day. Viewers shared their beliefs and Siyanda and Katlego talk about […]