Opinion Letter From The Editor
Chloe Jansen Where do I even begin! I am so overwhelmed by the enthusiasm that the IRAWA POST has received in the last few months. I first joined the IRAWA team in my first year, in 2011, as a journalist and then as lifestyle editor. Since having been part of the media on campus, my passion has grown.
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Confess Yourself Of late South African social media is pushing its agenda, as it should be, claiming the rights to freedom of expression as the voice of many a South African citizen. Whilst social media wields its freedom fists so are university students in their bid to have themselves heard on social media channels, finding the need to express the explicit details of their bedhopping adventures, scandalous secrets, humouress anecdotes and rather offensive opinions on student confession pages such as, UFS “Confessions” Facebook page. “Confessions” pages, independent digital pages that are developed on Facebook for the use of individuals to make anonymous wallposts in a collective public webspace, have become a global and national trend.
The role of student media is underestimated on a tertiary The contention arises howlevel. We have a major reever between the blurred sponsibility at the newspaper, digital lines of an individuand we promise that our term al’s right to freedom of exwill be spent serving you to our fullest capability. But, we need your help. We need you, as our sources, to use us as a platform. We (the IRAWA POST team) are placed here The weekend of the 21st for your disposal. of September saw the UFS Bloemfontein campus host I’ve been here for the past some of the Free State’s three years and I’m still brightest school learners; deshocked at how much Bloem- baters from schools all over fontein is different to my the province gathered at the hometown in the Cape. Ev- CRS Auditorium as our stuery time I visit home I feel dents took a well deserved further from the place that break, to battle for a title, a I used to be so close to, be- provincial ranking and ulcause of the social awareness timately, the opportunity to and unique intellect that stu- speak on behalf of the Free dents have here. State at nationals. The Free State Schools DeWe talk, constantly. We are bating Board has been traintwenty-something’s who ing debaters since it branched congregate for a drink and off from the UFS Debating have conversations surround- Society in 2008, yet has ing important social issues. caused a notable inflow of I have a friend, who is your already seasoned and skilled typical student, very much a social butterfly (to put it mildly), who is working at Students at WSU getting car guards employed on a full-time bases and for them to be recognised as of- Students filled the streets of ficial employees. the Walter Sisulu University roaring with chants, with an How many young people aim to redeem what they were do you know who take it being deprived. In an effort to upon themselves to ensure disperse the crowd, the police that those in their commu- fired rubber bullets and arnity receive full rights, and rested several students from pay checks at the end of the the crowd. This clash took month? place after the students were told to vacate the university My plea to you is to continue grounds following a labour to have meaningful conversa- dispute that had been going tions, continue to help those on for weeks on end. around you to grow; the aftermath is that you will grow The students had one detremendously, too. mand, which was to go back to their classes and learn. “We We are well on our way to are tired of waking up every being well-rounded stu- morning and going back to bed dents at an internationally in the evening without doing a acclaimed institution; keep thing” said Loyiso Nyembezi, at it, Kovsies. The IRAWA a third year Human Resource POST is behind you! Development student at the institution. Classes have since commenced. However, an
pression and the responsibility to not infringe on another individual’s rights, cue oh so familiar politically correct terms. The last time I read a “confessions” page someone had told a girl to “hang herself on her problems,” I discovered that in general people like expressing their hates in particular I found nasty comments about “yellowbones” and pages full of “# we see you” which made me feel like our campus is filled with unknown spies and stalkers. This impression made me support Rudi Buy’s comment when he answered Volksblad in an interview over the shutting down of the page, “We have seen from other universities that these types of pages do not express the positive values and beliefs that we know our students have. We encourage our students to talk about the grievances in a positive way such as the Student Representative Council and other committees. We really want
By Laura-Jane Watkins to encourage our students to use such an initiative in the right way,” explains Buys. Here is where I can completely agree with the points of reason which Professor Jansen kindly dispatched to all students via a generic UFS email. Firstly he asks that you consider the close relationship you have with your educational institution, your own personal reputation and the effect that discretisation to your institution directly discredits you. He further highlights that as an individual you will be held liable in your personal capacity for any comments or confessions that amount to the unlawful action of defamation, racism or prejudice which can have severe consequences such as emotionally injuring another individual or placing your own future professional career in jeopardy. Comment from Media Law expert, Emma Sandleir:
FS Schools Debating Prevalent At The UFS debaters to enter our own debating society upon enrolling to the UFS. Chairperson of the Board, Matthew Moles claims this system is proving to be successful, “It’s exciting to see the continuity of knowledge when our debaters grow into coaches and raise the next generation, fostering development of both our debaters and those of the UFS.” Debates ranged from the negative impact of Google to rejecting equality. The level of knowledge these learners are expected to have considering that they’re not able to use any electronic devices to
do research in their one hour preparations, is immense. Fortunately, they proved to be prepared, showing off their extensive knowledge of economics, philosophy and political ideologies; knowledge that would sometime have us wondering if these learners are in fact students. Eventually Grey College beat Saint Andrew’s Bloemfontein in the grand final, with Saint Andrew’s Welkom beating Welkom High School in the junior final. The best speaker of the competition was Tshiamo Malatji from Saint Andrew’s Bloemfontein; a grade 9 learner who elected to speak in the senior
stranded on the streets era where students should be empirical in their respective institutions, the recent occurrences at the Walter Sisulu University put the centrality of their students into question. The main goal that universities should be striving for is for excellence in all areas of activity. The cultivation of these qualities should be at the heart of every institution, and whenever students are chased away from a place of learning, it is impossible to overlook the manner in which academic activity was abandoned. The delayed intervention from higher of education officials raised further questions. Are the educational interests of the students not a priority? Ngobe Lali, Walter Sisulu
“The High Court has had to grapple with issues of social media on only a handful of occasions, most notably last year when Judge Satchwell granted an interdict to the Dutch Re¬formed Church against the creator of a website who had allowed users to post inflam-matory material about the church. The court's finding was effectively that the creator of the profile is responsible for all content on that page re¬gardless of who wrote it. The court held that the creator of a Facebook page is akin to an individual who makes a notice board available to the public and has an obligation to take down unlawful postings "much as a newspaper takes responsibility for the content of its pages". What this means is that while the individual confessors can be held accountable for their confessions, the administrators of the confessions pages can also be held accountable”.
By Richard Chemaly division though he is still a junior. South African debating has become exceptionally competitive over the last few years; only this year South Africa was crowned Eurasian Champion. The SA team has travelled around the world making huge waves at various tournaments. Many of the debaters thus aspire to make the SA team. The previous Free State speaker to make it was Stephanie van der Mey in 2009. Moles is adamant we’re going to penetrate the SA team again, “This is our year to get our kids in there!”
by Sindy Qwabe
University SRC president condemned officials for turning a blind eye to the intensity of the situation. No engagement in teaching and learning had taken place in over a month South Africa in general is a country where change causes outrage. How then, can the detriment of education, a vital tool in instigating change, be made light of in this way? Learning is every young person’s right more so, if they are willing to equip themselves with the skills required for improving our society. As Nelson Mandela said, education is the most powerful weapon with which you can influence the world. No student should be turned away when they have a desire to learn.
IRAWA Post subscribes to the South African Press Code. If we do not live up to the code, contact Gerben van Niekerk 082 850 6538 or vannierkga@.ac.za. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way or form without the written permission from the publisher. Senior Editorial Staff Editor-in-Chief - Chloe Jansen News Editor - Karabo Moiloa Deputy News Editor - Valentino Ndaba Sport Editor - Sam Styrax Lifestyle Editor - Zenobe Fredricks Arts & Culture Editor Tango Ntwasa Sub- Editor Vuyisile Kubeka Assistant Layout Palesa Morei IRAWA Post is a product of the Student Media Lab A division of Student Life and Leadership