mediadesk

Short term statement of demands

28 October. By Charissa Shay

We as the students of Wits University recognize the historic importance of the struggle that has been waged across the country towards the goal of free education. Gathered at Solomon Mahlangu House in the 28th October 2015 noted that the impasse that has hindered the resumption of normal university activities must be attended to with immediacy. We therefore resolved on the following minimum conditions/demands that must be met. 

The Forgotten People

28 October. By Mpho Ndaba, @anthony_base1

When joining the Fees Must Fall movement, I did so because I believed that it stands for what is fundamentally entrenched in our constitution; among these rights is that of access to education and the right to fair working conditions. Year in and year out we hear of the increase in the number of protest actions being carried across the country, yet there exist nothing with regards to dealing with issues that are raised in these protests. One of the issues which have not been dealt with is that, relating to the conditions of employment in our Universities. the fact that, Cleaners and Gardeners are employed by contractors who act as middle-men leads to reduced salaries and inability to enjoy employment benefits, the same benefits that university staff members enjoy.

Ho a swabisa ho bona bongata ba batho ba sebeletsang mmuso wa ANC ba hloheha ho sireletsa ditokelo tsa basebetsi. Kajeno keile ka fumana monyetla wa ho botsa ba bang ba basebetsi ba nkileng qeto ya hoeba karolo batshehetsi ba baithuti ba  #FeesMustFall. Potso eo ke botsitseng ebile ena: Kehobaneng le nkile qeto ena, ebile ho jwang hoba mosebeletsi wa Univesiti ya Witwatersrand.

Karabo tseo ke ileng ka di fumana hotswa ho basebeletsi bana ebile tse utlwisang bohloko. Bana ba setjhaba sa rantsho ba ntse ba hatelletswe ka tsela e makatsang.

Ntate Thabiso* o araba ka hore onale bana ba babedi, emong wa bona dilemo di leshome le metso e-robedi (18). O amohela dikete tse pedi le makgolo a robong a diranata ka kgwedi (R2900,00), empa tjhelete ena, ekeke ya kgona ho anela dithloko tsa hae le lelapa la hae. O tsoha hoseng ka hora ya bone tsatsi le letsasti hotla mosebetsing. Ka nako tseding o iphumana a tlameha ho palama ditekesi hore a fihle mosebetsing. Ntate Thabiso o tswela pele ka hore mofuta wa mosebetsi oo a o etsang ke o sa tshireletsehang hohang,haholoholo hobane o sebetsa ka di khemikhale. O mpolelletse hore selemong sa 2013 o ile a tlameha ho iswa sepetlele nako e ekabang dikgwedi tse tharo. Taba kgolo ke hore ha aka a fumantshwa mokgolo wa hae hotswa bahiring ba hae.

Otswela pele ka hore, ha a tshwarwe jwalo ka basebetsi ba bang. O lebelletswe ho sebedisa heke e le ngwe feela, hape ha a dumellwa ho sebedisa tseding tsa dintlwana tsa boithuselo, le ha ele emong  wa batho pa di hlwekisang. Ha retla ho basebetsi ba hirilweng ke Wits, bana babona ba dumelwa hotla ithuta ntle le ho lefa, empa basebetsi ba sebeletsang batho ba kantle, di khamphani tsa bahlwekisi, ha a thole menyetla ena.

It is problematic that the department of labour has not taken the grievances of people who are employed by labour brokers and third parties. The fact that Mildred Oliphant has not done anything substantial to address these issues is concerning especially when you look at who gets impacted mostly (black people). Universities across South Africa cannot be left out in this conversation because they also have a great role to play with regards to ensuring that workers rights are protected.

Oka ikutlwela tseding tsa dintho tse basebetsi ba sekolo sa Wits ba buang ka tsona haholo mabapi le tsela eo ba tshwerweng ka yona mona.

Wits is on Fire!!!

28 October 2015. By: Mpho Ndaba, @anthony_base1

#WitsFire

There has been a lot going on on-campus, the rift between those who want to continue with the protest action and those who do not think so. The campus bookstore leased and being currently ran by Van schaik has been set on fire together with a truck owned by a constructor parked at the Jubilee residence. There were also live firer close architecture building and the Old Mutual Sports Hall. The campus police asserted that, they were alerted by a student who was on his way to the residence. The campus police have been trying to find those responsible for the fire while at the same time ensuring that, student’s lives are protected.

At Sunnyside residence, a number of students whose cars were at the Sunnyside parking raised concerns with regards to their own safety and that of their own vehicles. At this stage it is difficult to have a clearer picture of how these fires were carried or who is responsible. At this stage it is difficult to make understand as to who could be responsible for the fire. The damage on all these fires appears to be very minimal; however such observation will only be made legitimate once the damage is assessed.

There are a number of factors which need to be interrogated in this issue because it appears as though, the campus police did not follow certain legal protocols when arresting some of the students suspected of setting the fire, the first two who were arrested claim that, they were shouting “Mayishe” meaning that, it (the bookstore) should ban, the students claim that, they believe that, there exist a slave-master relationship between the university and the workers, they were therefore subsequently taken ii for questioning. The second person to be taken in is also a student whom according to the campus police, was chased and subsequently caught because he is alleged to have been running away from a crime scene. The campus police asserted that, he was caught outside the university premises. I also realised that, the campus police hand-cuffed the student. This according to some students could be viewed and unlawful because he was just being taken in for questioning and rather not being charged nor arrested.

One question I asked had more to do with the standard procedures which apply when there are incidents of such nature, what happens if the lives of the students are endangered, what happens in the case of fire, the reason it is legitimate to ask these questions is that, even when there was a bomb scare a couple of days ago, the campus police together and the university took time to respond, one could therefore argue that, the manner in which all these life threatening incidents are handled is extremely worrying.