DieMATIE SEWE-EN-SEWENTIGSTE JAARGANG | NO 4
Die ander kant van die 7 taaldebat
Nuwe sekuriteitsmaatskappy vir die Universiteit 2 Stellenbosch
Visiting hours contested GIZELLEDE GÖTZ
T
he topic of inequality regarding visiting hours at men’s residences and female ‘s residences has led to the PK (prim committee) forming a task team to propose a new policy to Stellenbosch University (SU). The University’s rules regarding visiting hours in residences differ depending on whether the residence is a men’s, women’s or mixed-gender residence. The rules state that men are allowed in the rooms of female residences only on Saturdays and Sundays between 19:00 and 23:15. Men are also allowed to visit in approved lounges during the week until 23:30 and until 00:45 on Fridays. Taking this in to account, most female residences on campus are transgressing the University’s official rules, since they are following their own set of rules which do not comply with the university’s. The rule for visitors in male residences and mixed residences allow two visitors per resident. These visitors are allowed in resident’s rooms from Monday to Thursday and Sunday from 07:30 to 01:00. On Fridays and Saturdays these visitors are allowed to stay until 02:00. Nelrine Beyers, prim of Lydia, stated that everyone in the student community agrees that the University’s policy is very unequal and outdated and does not reflect the values of SU. “The unhappiness about the policy is mainly about the fact that the University has made no attempt to change the blatant unequal policy,”
WOENSDAG 14 MAART 2018 | GR ATIS
she said. According to Cindi Pretorius, prim of Minerva, the PK has a task team whose main goal is to gather information on the current visiting hours and the SU policy. “Their aim is to follow the right channels and propose a new policy,” she said. Riana Engelbrecht, ResEd Manager at the Centre for Student Communities, and Pieter Kloppers, Director of Student Communities, stated that the existing rules in different communities is both a product of history and the expectations of the role players in the different student communities. “Any existing rules are a reflection of the weighing up of the different expectations and interests like it was seen at a certain point. It is naturally so that the expectations can change over time and that there can be new ways of thinking about the existing rules and norms. The weighing up takes all the values of the environment into consideration at the same time,” Engelbrecht and Kloppers said. “The solution that the question refers to can be initiated in different ways. A petition can be such a starting point.” A petition led by Harmonie stated that the University’s policy is “regressive” and “sexist”. According to Monica du Toit, Head of the Transformation Office and the newly appointed residence head of Monica, the principle of taking part in decisions that affects you is a very healthy one. “I think with any rule it is a good thing to revise it and to look at who is affected by it, are the affected people
taking part in it and is it still relevant.” “The problem with a rule that was instated in the past is that people are quick to say that it must go, but they need to talk about it and think about the fact that there might be parts of the rule that is functional although it might be sexist,” said Du Toit. Monica residence will have a critical engagement about the feeling of inequality created by the University’s policies. “I don’t believe that all women will agree about the policy, I don’t believe all people are affected in the same way and I don’t think the pros and cons have been debated enough,” said Du Toit. The petition that was set up by Harmonie residence said that the University’s policy restricts the freedom of women in the residences. The petition appeals for the university to implement a universal policy that is fair and equal and that residences will be allowed to use their “own discretion when determining visiting hours and the allowance of sleep overs,” and that the visiting hours “reflect the sentiment that the students in residences are adults” and that the policy implemented “reflects the image of an equal and nondiscriminatory university”. “What is more difficult in the process, is for the communities to clearly articulate what it is that they want for their environment,” added Engelbrecht and Kloppers. There was a PK meeting last night where the matter of the inequality of visiting hours were discussed, but at the time of print the PK meeting was not yet concluded.
Wolvaardt staan uit in vrouekrieket 10
Varsity Cup disrupted ANNERINE SNYMAN
The seventh round of the Varsity Cup competition was interrupted by protesters storming the field whilst throwing chairs, which forced an end to the match. The players were led off the field. Maties faced Madibaz (NMU) on Monday evening at the NMU Stadium. According to The HeraldLIVE the disruption happened after protesters allegedly tried to invade one of the VIP boxes where the Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids was sitting. One of the protesters reportedly grabbed the microphone and said that black players were not being fairly represented after shouting “Viva Viva”. Marisa Calvert, head of PR for Varsity Sports, said that Varsity Cup adheres to the quota regulations that have been set out by the South African Rugby Union (SARU). The match was stopped eight minutes into the second half, whilst Maties was on the attack and in the lead, 0–19. The Varsity Cup organisers released a statement about the incident and explained that, in accordance with the rules, Maties was declared the winner when the game was stopped, because they were in the lead. Duister Bosman, CEO of Varsity Cup, explained in the statement that they consider this as an “isolated incident”, that is being addressed by the Nelson Mandela University (NMU). “We also want to emphasise that security measures at all FNB Varsity Cup matches are of paramount importance,” said Bosman. The protests were reportedly led by South African Students Congress
(SASCO) students at NMU. SASCO leaders from NMU could not be reached for comment. Maxwell Mlangeni, chairperson of SASCO Stellenbosch, said that what is happening at NMU is specific to their context and not a reflection of the organisation as a whole. “Generally SASCO students are well behaved,” explained Mlangeni. When asked whether the SASCO Stellenbosch students share the same sentiments as their NMU counterparts, he said that he couldn’t say, because the situations aren’t the same. He said that it was an “institutional thing”. “We can’t say that it was only SASCO members, they were NMU students,” said Mlangeni. According to information that Mlangeni received, the protests were not planned beforehand, but were triggered by alleged racism. However, according to Niel Oelofse, Maties Rugby captain, they were warned before the match that protests could take place. Oelofse said that only he and the management knew, because they did not want to disrupt the players’ focus, since it was such an important match. “[When the protest broke out], the first thing on my mind was the impact it would have. We only needed one more log point to cement a home final,” explained Oelofse. He added that he felt frustrated and angered. “This is something you wish you did not have to experience.” Maties has already cemented a home semi-final, but since they have a bye in round eight, it gives other teams, such as North-West University (NWU) who is second on the log a chance to catch up. Maties is still at the top of the log, with 31 points. They will be facing
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