STORIFY: Student protests sweep the country’s campuses
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Gender violence awareness march not silenced by a tiny turnout
SILENT PROTEST: The Girls Only Club at South Point Residence spread gender violence awareness in the streets of Braamfontein. Photo by: Lutho Mtongana
You could count the number of protestors on both hands but nothing would stop the small turnout from spreading their message about gender-based violence in Braamfontein yesterday.
The Girls Only Club, based at Southpoint residence, arranged a protest but only 10 people, including some men, participated by carrying bright pink posters and walking in silence.
The group marched from their residence in Melle Street along the streets of Braamies where women have been targeted many times by criminals.
The aim of the march was to send out the message that “women are not vulnerable, women are not weak”, as written on one of the posters carried by the marchers.
Yet another one of the posters read, “I am nobody’s punching bag”. On the street the group was stopped at various times by curious onlookers who asked for more information or posters.
Victor Karamba, a male gender activist who participated in the event said, “This is a good initiative because we still have a lot to do in terms of awareness and the issue of gender because we know that violence is a big issue among our society and I think this is something we have to do every day”.
Natasha Manyuku, one of the participants, believed that the, “purpose of the event was to get the message out” and she thinks they did, even though they expected a bigger turnout.
Selebano said, “Numbers don’t always mean success but the message that we send out and people stopping to ask questions, people getting the pamphlets, I think it was successful and I am very happy with the responses”.
“I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve, maybe not in a big scale but part of what we wanted to do was done”, Selebano added.
Apart from holding a silent march, The Girls Only Club provides a space for young girls to talk about their issues in all spheres of life throughout the year.
Initially, when the club started in 2011, the aim was to only focus on gender violence and since then, it has grown and changed with the need of females needing a safe space to talk about their problems.
SCIENCE INSIDE: The science and psychology of protest action and the platinum strikes
During the first 90 days of 2014, South Africa experienced nearly 3000 protest actions, more than 30 a day, involving nearly one million people.
Protests and strike action are characteristic of a democratic South Africa, for better or for worse. In this show we look at the facts around protests in SA, and we look at the role of crowd psychology. And in light of recent unrest in the platinum belt, we look at platinum as a commodity.
The Science Inside, the show that goes inside the science of major news events, is produced by Paul McNally, Anina Mumm, DJ Keyez and Lutfiyah Suliman for The Wits Radio Academy.
Tune in live to VowFM every Monday at 6pm.
If the full podcast does not load automatically, please click here.
Israel independence celebrated while Palestinian supporters protest
Camels, jumping castles and free falafels were all part of the unusual 66th Israel Independence Day celebrations at Wits yesterday.
But while some Witsies crossed the library lawns on the back of a camel, the Wits Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) held a film screening to protest the celebrations.
The film based on the life of “terrorist” fighter Leila Khaled was used as a means of showing the desperation of the Palestinian people who are fighting for their independence.
While the film was being screened, some members of the Wits PSC protested on the library lawns alongside the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJUS) who celebrated Israel’s independence.
Several protesters said Israel had blood on its hands because the state was created “through the blood of Palestinians.”
Members of the Wits PSC insisted that while the film focused on violent means of protest, the PSC itself believed in a non-violent approach to the dispute between the two nations. Aaliyah Mohammed, a member of the PSC, says the committee fights by calling for sanctions and boycotts on Israeli academic, cultural and sport activities.
Another committee member, Muhammed Ismail Bulbulia added: “Until the very end, I would fight for what I believe in provided I’m justified in fighting for it.”
Both the protest and the celebrations were conducted next to each other but no incidents were reported.
Texas Ranger starves over Nkandla
Warren Chalklen in his protest against corruption in Nkandla from Texas, USA.
Photo: Provided
Former Witsie Warren Chalklen embarked on a twenty-four hour hunger strike that ended yesterday, in a peaceful protest against corruption by South African leaders.
The former Witsie and many other supporters of the cause were “protesting against the alleged Nkandla corruption and to protect the dignity of all South Africans” according to Chalklen. The strike began on Wednesday in Texas, from 7am to 7am the following morning.
The protest comes a week after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s release of the Nkandla report that accused President Jacob Zuma of unfairly benefitting from security upgrades to his private residence in Nkandla. The President is yet to respond to the report.
[pullquote]“How else can I voice my disgust at this situation than to ally with the poor who will go hungry as a result of this?”[/pullquote]Zuma now has less than a week to respond to the prosecutors report claiming that he should return a portion of the money used on his Nkandla home.
Chalklen believes that if ordinary citizens can go for a full day without food and have the discipline to voluntarily starve, by the same logic, South African leaders can discipline themselves to reduce spending for personal gain.
Chalklen’s final signage as he concludes his twenty-four hour protest on Thursday morning. Photo: Provided
When asked why he chose to do a hunger strike as his form of protest, Chalklen responded: “This is a moral issue that requires a moral response …Through peaceful protest we show them that we will not stand for this impunity.”
Chalklen said his aim with the hunger strike was to stimulate discussion and encourage people to build a better South Africa. “The principle of the matter in my context, how else can I voice my disgust at this situation than to ally with the poor who will go hungry as a result of this?”
Many of his social media peers supported his plight by liking and sharing his posts. However, some criticised Chalken, questioning his rationale in not waiting until after Madonsela’s deadline and then to strike if he did not get answers.
“The aim of the strike is not to gain support, the aim is to use our energies to send a message that each citizen has the power to utilise their democratic freedoms to hold leaders accountable. There is never a good time to act. Corruption happened, powerful people are unaccountable, individuals feel hopeless, and we need, in the short term, something to give people purpose, hope and a sense that they matter. It is likely this will not conquer anything, but that’s not the point nor purpose.”
Chalklen, a South African, graduated from the University of Witwatersrand with a Bachelor of Education where he also received the Jack Hutton Memorial Award. He has since graduated as a Master in Public Service and Administration (MPSA), at a university in Texas, where he currently resides.
No sign of love for ‘deaf’ play
I’M INNOCENT: the choreographer and lead actress of the play ‘Speak Sign Love’ Amy de Wet says they are being wrongly accused by the deaf community.
Photo: Percy Matshoba
THE Wits deaf community are up in arms over a new play they say ignores their culture and violates their values.The community has accused the producers of Speak Sign Love, a play about the romantic relationship between a deaf woman and a hearing man, of refusing to cast a deaf person in the leading role.
Amy de Wet, the co-creator of the play, said Speak Sign Love aimed to raise awareness about the communication barriers between the deaf and hearing.
She defended the casting of the play and said “circumstances, logistics and deadlines” did not allow for the production to cast a deaf actor. De Wet herself was ultimately cast in the lead role of a deaf woman.
Chelsea van der Merwe was a co-creator of the play but left the production in protest because she believed the play misrepresented the deaf. She said she proposed deaf actors who could be auditioned for roles but was turned down.
“We had initially cast deaf members and they later cast an all hearing cast,” van der Merwe said.
[pullquote]“Deaf people are capable of speaking for themselves … the deaf community had historically been represented by people who did not understand deaf culture.”[/pullquote]Dr Michiko Kaneko, head of the Wits South African Sign Language (SASL) department, said the production was inconsiderate to the deaf community as they did not involve deaf people in the play.
“Deaf people are capable of speaking for themselves” she said. Kaneko said that the deaf community had historically been represented by people who did not understand deaf culture. She said hearing people should not portray deaf characters.
“It’s the same thing as a white person representing a black person,” Kaneko said.
Members of the Wits community have been expressing their anger over the production, particularly on social media.
“That is unfair that deaf people never get a chance to perform in theatre. Hearing people always achieve things and we as deaf people are neglected. We feel used for our language,” said Dalene Maasdorp, a member of the Wits deaf community.
“I feel like they are only mocking our language.”
De Wet defended herself from the complaints and said the Wits deaf community was angry because they had wanted a platform for deaf students to participate in. She said that the production made efforts to find a deaf actor but was not successful.
“The accusations on our social networks are false,” de Wet said.
Some members of the deaf community took to defacing posters promoting Speak Sign Love with stickers criticising the production.
“This production is strongly OPPOSED by staff and students at Wits SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE department as it is in contradiction of the values and principles of the Deaf community,” read the stickers.
Kaneko said that while the claims on the stickers were true—the production is not endorsed by her department—the stickers were not sanctioned by Wits SASL.
De Wet said she had approached the SASL department concerning the stickers on their posters. She said the people who put the stickers on their posters had not yet been found, however, she was not on a “witch hunt” for the perpetrators.
Kaneko said that while Speak Sign Love said it had consulted deaf people, their production accreditation did not support this claim.
De Wet said that she was not an expert on deaf culture but had taken a course in sign language and did research prior to creating the play.
De Wet said she had published on the production’s Facebook page that she was open to discuss the deaf community’s concerns but had not received a response. She said it was “ironic” that the deaf community was accusing the production of misrepresenting their culture before the play had even been launched.
“There has been a lot of accusations and a lot of problems but no one has ever seen the show,” de Wet said.
R2K calls for an end to police brutality
HUMAN RIGHTS: An R2K rally against police brutality in SA earlier today. Photo: Roxanne Joseph
Human Rights Day saw the Right to Know Campaign (R2K) hand over a memorandum calling for an end to police brutality in Joburg, earlier today.
The protest was held in an effort to express outrage at increasing police brutality and the growing attacks on the right to protest, according to R2K staff members.
“No one dies at a protest until the police arrive,” was just one of the slogans displayed on placards by protestors.
Cardboard coffins were lined up right outside the entrance to the Johannesburg Central Police Station, commemorating those who have died from police brutality during protests. Among those remembered were the 36 miners who were killed by police at Marikana in 2012.
Cardboard coffins lined the entrance to the Joburg Central Police Station. Photo: Roxanne Joseph
The station commander, Chester Spies, received and signed the memorandum from R2K staff members and responded by saying he was “very happy to see a peaceful, law-abiding protest” take place on such an important day in South African legacy.
In a statement issued by the organisation just over a week ago they said “the police killings of protestors around the country are a symptom of the growing attacks on the right to protest in South Africa, fuelled by the militarisation of the police and criminalisation of protest”.
Station Commander, Chester Spies signs the R2K memorandum. Photo: Roxanne Joseph
A number of other organisations and NGOs joined the protest, including the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Democratic Left Front (DLF) and Awethu.
“Protest is our only weapon. We will continue to protest because we know no other way,” were the parting words from R2K members.
The R2K campaign was launched in 2010, in response to the Protection of State Information Bill (Secrecy Bill) and has, over the years, broadened its scope to a range of related issues.
Students prevented from registering over NSFAS protest
Four of the 27 University of Johannesburg students arrested for protesting over financial aid have been prevented from registering for classes this year.
Last month, the students, dubbed the “UJ27” were arrested for protesting against a shortage of funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NFSAS).
[pullquote align=”right”] “The university would not let the four unregistered students onto the campus without an official escort.”[/pullquote]The students were arrested and released with a warning after they appeared in the Newlands Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg. Twenty of the students were then suspended by UJ. Among the 20 students were the chairperson and secretary of the UJ SA Students Congress (Sasco).
Prevented from registering
Last Friday, the suspended students won a court order forcing the university to allow them to register. However, four were still prevented from registering on Monday.
Shira’h Jeenah, chairperson of UJ Sasco and one of the four students prevented from registering told Wits Vuvuzela the university would not let the four unregistered students onto the campus without an official escort.
However, on Monday when the students came to register the security escort had not been provided by UJ Campus Protection and so the students could not register.
“The university has said that we are not allowed on campus if we do not have classes,” said Jeenah. He added that the students have had to submit their timetables into campus protection so they may be escorted to their classes and off campus.
“We’re only allowed to be on campus 15 minutes before class and 15 minutes after,” said Jeenah.
However, according to Jeenah, the university has also accused UJ Sasco of violating the court order because the students were picketing when the court order was presented to the university administration.
The verdict awaits
On Monday afternoon the unregistered students were outside the Kingsway campus in Auckland Park waiting to hear if their attorney was able to reach an agreement with the university to allow them to register.
[pullquote] “They [UJ] should be celebrating that their students are raising critical matters”[/pullquote]Wits Vuvuzela contacted the university for comment but has not yet received a response.
Tebogo Thotela, deputy-secretary of Sasco Gauteng, criticised the suspension of the students and the charges they are facing.
“They [UJ] should be celebrating that their students are raising critical matters”, said Thotela.
Students left financially desperate
The suspension of the UJ students was part of a spate of nationwide protests against the lack of funds from NSFAS that had left many students financially desperate and unable to continue with their studies.
In addition to UJ, the government fund had come under fire from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the Durban University of Technology (DUT), and UJ for being unable to meet the financial requirements of the universities.
Thotela said that NSFAS was in arrears of R200-million with UJ and a national shortage of R 2-billion. While Higher Education minister Blade Nzimande subsequently committed R1-billion to the fund, this may not be enough to cover the financial shortages between the universities and NSFAS.
[pullquote align=”right”]”The fund is struggling of keeping up with the needs of South African students.”[/pullquote]Wits NFSAS continues to fund students
Amidst all the protests at other universities, Wits’ NSFAS office has continued to provide students with their financial grants. Thotela said that unlike TUT and UJ, only 15% of registered Wits students rely on the government fund.
Although NSFAS received an extra R 100-million to their fund which increased it from the previous year’s total of R 8. 2-billion, the fund is struggling of keeping up with the needs of South African students.
Thotela said that the issue lies in the inevitable increase in the intake of students each year. “We’re seeing kids from a working class background coming to university and the fees are increasing as well.”
RELATED ARTICLES:
- Mail and Guardian Online. Your struggle is my pride my son. February 2014.
- Wits Vuvuzela. SRC wants free education for worthy students. March 18, 2011
Right2Know campaign gets loud
Protesters sang out against the proposed ‘Secrecy Bill’ outside of Luthuli House. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Right2Know campaign members protested outside Albert Luthuli House today against President Jacob Zuma signing the Secrecy Bill.
About 10 protesters dressed in their red and black Right2Know campaign shirts, held banners and posters that shot down the Protection of State Information Bill which President Zuma has yet to sign.[pullquote align=”right”]This is a bad bill for South Africa, send it back to parliament and scrap it![/pullquote]
Dan McKinley, Right2Know spokesperson outlined the reason for the protest. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
“It is there on his desk. We ask you Zuma to listen to the people and do away with the Secrecy Bill!” said Dale McKinley, spokesperson for Right2Know in Gauteng.
He said the bill would bring South Africa down and take the country back to the oppressive apartheid-type regime which censored media and whistle blowers.
“This is a bad bill for South Africa, send it back to parliament and scrap it!” he added.
Whistle blowers in a crisis
McKinley said there is the crisis of whistle blowers who are “dying out, being stopped, fired and killed” for exposing corruption. One banner read: “Exposing corruption is not a crime”.
“Do the right thing and pass legislation which protects whistle blowers in the country”, said McKinley, appealing to Zuma who visits Luthuli House on Mondays.
Protesters wore masks to conceal their identities in fear of being victimised if identified. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Right2Know (R2K) celebrated their third anniversary last week. They have been campaigning against the Secrecy Bill since 2010, persistently challenging the government’s decisions around this Bill.
National Key Points act
McKinley said Right2Know also opposes the National Key Points act which conceals expenditure like in the case of Nkandla.
The protest was supposed to be carried out in front of Luthuli House but members were told today the ANC headquarters is a National Key Point and cannot be protested in front of.
“That is why we aren’t standing on the other side of the road. Today we were told Luthuli House is a National Key Point,” said McKinley.
They stood across the road on the corner of President and Sauer Street.
Siphiwe Segodi lead the small crowd that had gathered in song and dance. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Protesters danced and repeated chants, singing: “Down with the Secrecy Bill. Down! Down!”; “Down with Zuma. Down! Down!”; “Forward with Right2Know. Forward! Forward!”
Some of them wore white masks to cover their faces. A woman who led the singing said: “You must hide yourself. The baboons in there will see us!” – referring to members of parliament inside Luthuli House.
Devereaux Morkle from the South African Press Association said to one of her colleagues: “I would also wear a mask if I was taking part in this protest.”
The Spy Bill
The campaign also opposes the government’s intentions of adopting the Spy Bill which could threaten the privacy of citizens via cell phone tapping.
“We demand good governance”; “Power to the people and not the Secrecy Bill” and “Defend our whistle blowers” were some of the phrases painted on signs held by the protesters.
Wits Twitter War: DASO vs SRC
Strike season never ended
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
IFP is no laughing matter, SABC
IPF members march to the SABC stations in Auckland Park in protest of ‘bias and anit-IFP broadcasting’, September 14.
By Jay CabozAround 1500 supporters, mainly from the Inkhatha Freedom Party (IFP), blocked traffic as they made their way to the South African Broadcasting Station (SABC) in a mass protest for fairness from the public broadcaster.
Mungosuthu Buthelezi, head of the IFP, led the large gathering of supporters through Johannesburg CBD to the entrance of the SABC Studios in Auckland Park on Friday September 14.
The IFP leader noted that this was “a matter which goes to the heart of how the citizens of this country can freely make up their own minds as to whom they wish to govern them”.
“South Africans must demand of their public broadcaster that they be treated with respect and not force-fed and manipulated with political propaganda.”
Supporters sported bottles, knobkerries and shields as they made their way along Enoch Sontonga Avenue alongside the University of the Witwatersrand.
One supporter said they were marching to express their outrage that Julius Malema had been banned by the SABC. Another said the media only chose to report their (IFP) actions when they ‘made noise with the ANC’ so they were making some.
Buthelezi addressed the crowd and said that bias within the SABC was not surprising.
“Since 1994, the ANC in Parliament has hand-picked every SABC board member, and the ANC has had the final say in the appointment of all executive officers of the SABC. Thus political interference has been built into the system and ruthlessly exploited by the ANC-alliance.”
“For years, the IFP has continuously engaged the SABC over its anti-IFP coverage and the way in which opposition parties are not fairly represented on all of the public broadcaster’s radio and television channels. This year, for example, two of the IFP’s three major events – its Freedom Day and Women’s Day rally – did not receive TV coverage at all. This is coupled with anti-IFP programmes that have been aired, such as The Bang Bang Club.”
A memorandum was handed over to by the IFP outside the SABC station in Auckland Park without incident.
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