Given the ongoing issue of sexual harassment at Wits, Wits Vuvuzela spoke to male students about the way in which the issue has been covered given that all allegations have stemmed from female students against male lecturers.
By Jay Caboz
IN THE Wits Vuvuzela newsroom, for whatever reason, there is a collective sigh from the journalists when the sounds of hundreds of marchers begin their chanting near Mary Fitzgerald Square.
When there is strike in Johannesburg, I can almost guarantee you a journalist will know about it.
There is nothing quite like a strike. You never know when someone is going to start throwing rubble. You never know if a journalist is going to be attacked. You never know if Julius Malema is going to rock up.
As someone who may not have such tentative ears, you might think to yourself, “Oh what? Another strike today?” Before you simply move on and forget about it.
How is it that we as South Africans are so used to the idea that striking is normal? I think, most importantly, we as a nation are becoming very nonchalant about the seriousness of the reasons people protest. We dismiss it, thinking that the strike will never go beyond affecting our traffic route.
But more and more, strike season is becoming strike year. According to Wikipedia, South Africa has one of the highest rates of public protest in the world. If you look back over 2012, we have seen some of the most violent protests in our democratic history. Who could forget the Marikana strike? And, in the Western Cape alone, 179 violent strikes were reported last year. I dread to think of the amount of service delivery strikes that occurred in Gauteng over the same period.
Is it your problem if farm workers down in the Western Cape are paid R69 a day? And should you care if a small township in the middle of who-knows-where has any public toilets? What about youth wage subsidies? What about our own Wits lecturers and staff protesting about low wages?
But, suddenly, it is your problem when you have to pay e-tolls.
Stop and think for a minute. Why are people so angry that they have to take to the streets on a regular basis to have their demands heard? I want you to ask yourself, “how many stories have I heard about strikes and how many of them have been resolved?”
The way things are going, striking is only going to get worse. So maybe it’s time we stopped and listened to the anger in those chants and realised that these protests affect more than just the people willing to stand up. It affects all South Africans in one way or another.
jaycaboz@witsvuvuzela.com
THE most common theme that stuck with me through all the dazzling and rather well-attended events in celebration of women during Women’s month has been that women should stop pulling each other down and begin to nurture a culture of support.
Yes! We all do it subconsciously…hate on that girl who got a higher mark than you on a test, the one who’s looking a li’l extra phly today wearing that top you loved when paging through this month’s Cosmo, oh! And let’s not forget how we envy that girl who looks like she’s finally found a good man and they are building a healthy relationship together.
Just last week, a young lady tried to commit suicide on campus. Did any of us ladies ask ourselves why she thought it better to jump off a bridge rather than seek solace from another woman?
The truth is, you, or maybe a friend or a family member of yours has probably faced the challenges she felt she couldn’t live beyond.
If we were more welcoming as women then maybe, just maybe, the need for a month in celebration of women would diminish as we celebrate each other every other day.
Some of the talks given by prominent women, who were honoured guests at these events, were uninspiring. I felt something real was lacking. I think that’s the element that keeps us from understanding each other and reaching out to one another as women. The point here is not about the whole world loving you, but it’s definitely about us pulling one another up as women.
I look forward to the day when women can meet at a luncheon and none of those who attended have to breathe a sigh of relief as they walk out because the eyes of judgement and sizing-up are finally off them. The day when we can celebrate each other, advise each other, pray for one another and take joy in knowing that we can approach other women for help.
So, as the month of August came to an end this week, I feel more self-empowered in the acknowledgement of how I have pulled other women down in the past and the steps I will now take in ensuring that I look to help, rather than judge, and compliment, rather than scornfully envy, my fellow sisters.
We Should Be Writing podcast