Mboweni on Biko
Leave Caster alone
SRC report card
Student abduction story
page 3
page 8
page 10 + 11
page 18
22 September 2009 · Volume 68, Number 11 · 021 650 3543 · varsitynewspaper@gmail.com · www.varsitynewspaper.co.za
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BRIAN MULLER FOR the 35 hopeful Student Representative Council (SRC) candidates, weeks of blood, sweat and tears ended on 28 August as Voting Week came to a close. The 7456 cast votes were counted on Saturday 29 August and released in the early hours of Sunday morning. With no objections logged, and all minimum SRC Constitutional requirements met, Jerome September, Chief Electoral Officer, declared the votes final on 1 September and
the top 15 candidates duly elected to the 2009/10 SRC. The Constituting Meeting, chaired by the existing SRC President, Chris Ryall, was held on 4 September and saw the 15 newly elected SRC members being allocated their respective portfolios by an anonymous, internal vote. The incoming SRC will take office on 1 November
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2
NEWS
Kidnapped student’s ordeal LIAM KRUGER ON MONDAY, 24 August, Jeffrey Webster, a 24-year-old student enrolled in UCT’s Creative Writing Masters programme, was abducted and held captive overnight in the Senator Park district. Webster’s absence was first noticed by his roommates around 4:30am the next day. His parents, growing concerned after a suspicious number of credit card withdrawals and strained phone calls asking for more money to be transferred to his account, called the police. Around 10pm the following evening, a specialised police task force, following a lead, stormed a flat – an apparent drug
den – in which Webster was being held at knifepoint and gunpoint; Webster was rescued, alive and mostly unharmed. Webster had earlier been at The Shack, a bar in Zonnebloem, and had ostensibly been abducted in the course of the evening in Keroom Street, near the flat in which he was held captive. Six unnamed individuals have been arrested in relation to the abduction, two of whom remain in custody. For Jeffrey’s personal account turn to page 18
From the president’s RIÀFH Tonbara Ekiyor chats to Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh about his upcoming SRC Presidency Could you provide us with a sequencing of what you intend to accomplish as SRC president? My main focus will be on igniting a new spirit of student civic engagement, which will see UCT students contributing to issues of greater societal change and marking out our generation in history. This will manifest itself in three key ways: making a lasting contribution to our surrounding communities, Cape Town, South Africa and Africa; making UCT a symbol for environmental progress; and building formal relationships with other SRCs in the Western Cape. Also, the unification of disparate political constituencies within the student body is going to be one of the first orders of business. We want to dispel the myth that Independents, DASO and SASCO cannot sit effectively in a cooperative body. In your manifesto, you said that “we need an SRC that rises above the boundaries that separate us”. Do you agree with sentiments expressed by members of F.U.C.T that the SRC to date has not been representative of the student body? By ‘rising above the boundaries that separate us,’ I meant understanding that often, that which separates us as a student body, race, culture, class or political affiliation, hinders us unnecessarily from uniting under a common vision. With a landmark independent-run SRC this year, I think this could be the first time an SRC has the opportunity to get buy-in from students of many diverse perspectives. In my view, what F.U.C.T was saying was that there is a difference between a body that claims to represent students and one that actually does represent them. This is correct; however, where I differ with them is that I don’t think the entire SRC model needs to be scrapped - this would probably be worse for student representation than what we currently have. I just think that we need to make it work better. Do you feel the outgoing administration accomplished most of what they set out to do? Chris [Ryall] and his team have done a good job. To name what I think are their best achievements according to their strategic objectives, Chris himself took charge of growing financial assistance funds which were particularly successful this year. Shannon [Bernhardt] did particularly well to grow the
development agencies and ensure that they took their rightful place as a hub for civic engagement at UCT, and Sara [Reith] did an amazing job with residences and ensured that over-allocation was brought down from 13% to 5%. So they worked incredibly hard at balancing many of the initial and developing challenges laid out for them. They were, on the other hand, not as bold with their mandate as they could have been. The 2009 core attempted in many ways to go no further than maintaining the status quo. Several people have questioned your success in the elections, saying that it is as a result of your fame in the entertainment industry — what do you say to that? All the people who ran in this election have success stories and my involvement in the entertainment industry is just one of the many academic, business and technological achievements of the candidates who ran this year. My campaign team succeeded because of the face-to-face drive on which we embarked throughout this university. I must also note that it is somehow patronising to the student body at large to infer that they would vote for somebody based on anything other than what they are able to deliver. As much as you want to win votes, you want to base that on having something to say and I think the students of UCT voted based on this being an election about them, not the popularity of the candidates. There is a talk on the seventh floor that because of your family ties to the ANC, you were able to lobby members of SASCO, and, as a result, gained the majority you needed to get appointed. Any comments on that? I think the ‘family tie’ you refer to is that my father is Dali Mpofu. I do not intend on hiding that. It may be possible that since he was an activist in the struggle against Apartheid, detained several times in his student years and a member of the ANC, that SASCO had respect for him and thus indirectly me, but I don’t think that that was the real reason that they sided with the six independents. I think the reason was bigger than me or my family, it was a decision based on what kind of SRC the two SASCO candidates wanted to be a part of. For the full interview see www.varsitynewspaper.co.za
VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
SRC Executive 2010: A ‘pseudoindependent alliance’? TONBARA EKIYOR ON FRIDAY 4 September, the top 15 elected SRC candidates and observers met behind closed doors, under the chairmanship of current SRC President Chris Ryall, to appoint the elected candidates into various positions. The allocation process, which, according to most of those present, lasted for most of the afternoon, proceeded smoothly with few interruptions, which Ryall swiftly called to order. The positions were called out, various parties put forward their candidates and the independents who intended to vie for the given appointments declared themselves. DASO’s Tara Dales, Londeka Mkhize of SASCO, and independent candidate Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh were the contenders for the presidency.
Two SASCO candidates backed the independents, giving MpofuWalsh, who had previously garnered the support of the six other independents, the eight vote majority he needed to secure the presidency. Of the 15 positions available, seven are executive positions five of which are now occupied by independents. This gives the independents a majority in the SRC executive, a feat which fourth-year LLB student Nerisha Besasar said she is “all for. It is pointless having a partisan SRC when the university is [mostly] independent,” said Besasar. In an interview with VARSITY, when asked why they sided with the independents, SASCO candidate Sumaya Hendricks said: “SASCO members voted in alliance with what they felt was what the student body wanted.” Students like third-year law student Juliana
Costa, who voted for Dales agreed, stating that “at the end of the day the SRC [should] appoint the best person for the job regardless of partisan commitment.” However, DASO has released a statement concerning what they deemed the “pseudoindependent alliance” (see page 4 for full statement), questioning the political independence of MpofuWalsh. Mpofu-Walsh has deferred his comments on this until he receives further information. Nevertheless, DASO presidential hopeful Tara Dales, who was appointed to Media and Communications, commented that, “Despite the fact that the under-representation [of DASO] is disappointing given the experience and expertise of certain DASO candidates, they are committed to working as a team and doing the best job in their respective portfolios.”
Is policing really the solution? OLIVIA WALTON WHAT is the role of policing in South Africa? This was the question posed by the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and the History and Current Affairs (HCA) society to a panel of speakers last Thursday. The panel included Angy Peter, SJC Khayelitsha Co-ordinator; Andrew Brown, an advocate, police reservist and author; and Shaun Tait, an expert on crime in South Africa. The aim of the discussion was to look at the role of the police in South Africa, and to assess whether or not more policing will combat the country’s crime rates. Peter, who lives in the RR Section of Khayelitsha, and experiences crime “on a daily basis,” was critical of the police force, describing them as confused and ineffective. “How can I know my rights? The policeman, he doesn’t know, or she doesn’t know — so how can I know?” said Peter. Peter stated that the police ‘end up arresting the kids, not the real gangsters.’ She noted that the community had lost its trust in the police because when the police are called they say “we don’t have enough vans, there aren’t access roads, fences. What can they do?” ‘It is difficult to live in
Khayelitsha and call yourself a South African,’ Peter said. Brown, who has been a reservist at Mowbray and Langa police stations for 10 years, drew on his own experience as a policeman and advocate. He noted that “crime has changed,’ and that ‘policing in the Southern Suburbs cannot be compared to policing on the Flats.’ When asked why areas such as Rondebosch are over-policed, while areas such as Khayelitsha are under-policed, Brown indicated it was ‘political.’ ‘Crime that happens in the Southern Suburbs will get into the newspapers, into parliament, [and] cause an outcry. In the townships, no one cares. [The suburbs] is where the shoe pinches for the politicians, so that is where policing happens,’ said Brown. Brown stressed the need for trust between communities and the police to be rebuilt, stating that ‘the only way to do this is through good policing. That is about good leadership from the top down.’ When asked about Section 49, which deals with the right of a police officer to shoot at a criminal, he said ‘for me it says enough, it does enough.’ Section 49, which gives a police officer the right to use force, even lethal force, when they or someone near them is in danger, has been criticised as weak.
Tait agreed with Brown and Peter on the issue of trust, stating that ‘as long as that is breaking down, we can’t make progress.’ Currently working with the Criminal Justice Initiative on safety projects in communities such as Elsies River, Tait also agreed on the importance of the police. ‘There’s huge investment in policing and it’s at the front line of our efforts against crime,’ he said, but added that ‘we must move beyond the knee-jerk response that police will solve everything.’ Tait and Brown agreed that policing can only solve certain types of crime. ‘There’s a lawlessness that has crept into the way we see our country and ourselves. The police force can’t change that,’ said Brown. Tait agreed, adding that ‘when policing is not by consent, police retreat from that space and policing becomes disrupted, violent and inefficient.’ Peter, citing her own experience of crime and the police force, agreed. ‘The only thing the police enjoy is if you ask for a stamp. How can you trust them?’ she said. ‘They don’t want to work with the ordinary people. To me, out of ten policemen, only one policeman is committed to working with ordinary people.’
HEARD, NEVER SEEN - The South African police force seems to patrol every place where a crime is not happening.
Varsity
3
NEWS
Photo courtesy of daylife.com
Mboweni waxes on SA economy Green residences
MODEST TITO?- The Governor of the Reserve Bank was unsure why he was invited to deliver the Steve Biko memorial lecture. He mused that UCT was “lowering the standard” of speakers when compared to previous speakers like Trevor Manuel, Zakes Mda, Nelson Mandela, Njabulo Ndebele, Ngugi Wa’ Thiongo and Mamphela Ramphele. BRIAN MULLER
Photo courtesy of SLSJ
CELEBRATING its 10th anniversary, UCT’s annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture was held in Jameson Hall on Thursday 10 September, and featured guest speaker Tito Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. The 10th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture took place on 10 September, with this year’s guest of honour, Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni, following in the foot steps of Thabo Mbeki,
Nelson Mandela, Chinua Achebe, and Zakes Mda to commemorate the death of anti-apartheid martyr Bantu Stephen Biko. Biko died at the age of 30 from brain damage after being severely beaten while in police custody at Pretoria Central Prison in 1977. After introductory speeches from SRC Secretary-General Portia Gama, UCT Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price, and CEO of the Steve Biko Foundation, Nkosinathi Biko, Mboweni provided the audience with a summary of some of the pivotal developments in South
Africa’s macroeconomic history since its democratisation in 1994. Notable topics included wage settlements, the “fairly contained” pace of inflation, increasing unemployment, xenophobia, increased Gross Domestic Product, improved international relations, and increased national income. Mboweni also noted that the global recession is one of the country’s latest and largest problem areas, as “it is eroding some of the achievements we have made in stabilising the economy, broadening economic participation, and improving the living conditions of many South Africans.” After being highly involved within the African National Congress (ANC) and representing South Africa both locally and abroad, Mboweni joined the South African Reserve Bank in July 1998 as Advisor to the Governor. Mboweni previously served in numerous ANC positions, including Chairperson of the National Executive Committee’s Economic Transformation Committee, and Head of the ANC’s Policy Department. In 1999 he was appointed Reserve Bank Governor, and in 2000 was appointed Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of South Africa. Mboweni’s term in office ends in November.
GERDA VON BENECKE
initiative is to create awareness among kitchen staff members on energy matters and in that way contribute to financial well-being. The winning team will receive shopping vouchers for the entire kitchen staff. “This competition highlights the fact that Fedics has always come to the party,” says Goldberg. During GCI’s upcoming Green Week, a food waste drive will be launched in catering residences. GCI will place a bin next to the tray return shelves, and students will be asked to empty their leftovers into the bin. At the end of each meal, the amount of food will be weighed. At the end of each day, a graph at the entrance to these dining halls, indicating the weight of the amount of food wasted, will be updated. The aim of this interactive experiment is for students to visually see how much food is wasted daily in UCT kitchens. Bombi Mavundza, second-year BA student from Baxter Residence, comments on the recycling in residences, “Sure, people still throw the wrong things into the wrong bins, but I think people are getting more used to it now.” A number of smaller projects will also be running in residences during Green Week, aimed at raising awareness and increasing participation in all green matters within residences.
RECYCLING in residences is showing progress, according to detailed statistics released to Green Campus Initiative (GCI) by Wasteman. Between April and June in (self-catering) Tier 2 residences, the amount of collected recyclable waste increased, while the amount of non-recyclables being collected decreased. In Tier 1 residences, the amount of recyclables exceeded that of the non-recyclables collected, though still lagging slightly behind the headway made in Tier 2 residences. Although Tier 3 residences make up a small part of the residence group, the amount of recyclables collected also exceeded that of the non-recyclables. According to Terence Goldberg, member of the GCI residence committee, “the recycling in self-catering residences is going very smoothly at the moment.” Multiple projects have been launched to create awareness in residences concerning green matters. Fedics, the catering company operating in UCT residences, has launched an environmentally friendly initiative, in which their staff members will participate in an energy saving competition. The staff will be challenged to design a poster explaining how they would go about saving electricity and reducing electricity costs in residence kitchens. The aim of the
SLSJ legal seminar OLIVIA WALTON THIS year’s Students for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ) Seminar, held during the September vacation, centred around three themes: Students for Law and Social Justice, Law and Equality, and History and Mobilisation. Attended by roughly 200 students from UCT, the University of the Western Cape, Stellenbosch University, the University of KwaZulu Natal, Fort Hare, Rhodes University, the University of the North West and the University of the Free State, the seminar hosted speakers such as Judge Edwin Cameron, Zackie Achmat and Geoff Budlender.
The key aim of the seminar was to ‘understand the ways in which the Constitution can be used as an instrument in addressing issues of inequality while recognising and confronting the challenges and limitations imposed on this objective’. Speakers dealt with topics such as ‘Mapping Inequality in South Africa’, ‘Tackling Political and Corporate Giants’ and ‘Land and Social Justice in Zimbabwe.’ Emma Webber, a final year UCT Law student and the Chairperson of the SLSJ Seminar Committee, stated that in running the seminar, “SLSJ hopes to stimulate the growth of young lawyers and leaders in South Africa that are
committed to furthering human rights, social justice and social transformation.” “I think it was an incredibly valuable experience. Students were able to hear the views of, and interact with, some of the top legal minds in the country,” said Webber. Tessa Harris, a second year law student at UCT, agreed: “I was impressed by the organisation and the high profile speakers. I had a great time.”
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SLSJ BRAINSTORMING - Students enjoy the informal setting of the SLSJ seminar which grappled with issues regarding the Constitution as a means to redressing inequality.
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4
OPINIONS
Concern over Israeli actions AS I sat quietly at dinner with a plate full of soapy rice and stringy meat cubes swirling around inside my mouth, I began to grow sick at what I was hearing. Recently, I had the dubious privilege of acting as a receptacle for second-hand information. I had asked what a friend of mine had done in her time away from her studies the previous night. She told me that she accompanied her friend to some convention on the Middle East - of course I already knew what she was talking about. She explained, in mimed seriousness, how Israel has been abusing the memory of the Holocaust for far too long now – I forced a grin that might compel her to elaborate. She told me that Israel has been using the stigma of those catastrophic days as a tool to vilify into submission anyone who opposed her foreign relations. Lastly, she informed me that people who criticise Israel are invariably labelled ‘antiSemitic’. When I inquired as to what exactly Israel was guilty of, I received a response so abjectly
vague and hostile, I felt as if I had transgressed by merely asking the question. I quickly changed the subject to avoid any more of the confusion that had already begun to rot this misguided girl’s mind. What I wanted to know is: why? Why did she decide to hop on the ‘boycott Israel’ bandwagon and how could such an intelligent person be so easily duped, or rather, persuaded? It should come as no surprise, however; every place I pass on Upper Campus is littered with boycott stickers and groovy posters that advertise an ‘insight’ into the Palestine-Israel dispute. The most disturbing thing about this entire predicament is that people aren’t really interested in researching the topic any further than what some ‘professor’ or ‘witness’ has to say. It’s pure laziness and wilful naivety to believe everything you hear. I would know, because I would’ve been right there with those other students chanting ‘down with Israel’ or ‘Israel needs to change’, if I hadn’t taken the initiative to take into account what the other side was
saying. After I realised that the standpoints I’d firmly held for many years were in fact flawed, hollow attempts to seem clever, I started searching deeper than what CNN or Mr Pundit says. I’m better for it because I can appreciate each side’s claims and ideas. Sadly, it feels as if by writing this article, I’m only propagating the myths that students actually believe about Israel. So it’s loselose, no matter what one says. I just hope that in the future, students and those who share an interest in Middle Eastern affairs might actually try to decipher more than what their eyes and ears tell them. In the words of John F. Kennedy, ‘The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Do not shelve the other half of the truth, because the greatest ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about.’ Right? Matthew Alves
DASO statement on SRC 2010 DASO strongly condemns the manner in which the SRC portfolio allocation process was carried out last term. The constituting meeting saw six ‘independents’ align with the two SASCO candidates in order to secure six out of the seven Executive positions, whilst the seven DASO candidates have been relegated to portfolios deemed ‘unimportant’ by the ruling pseudo-independent alliance. This has undermined the student voice in several ways. Firstly, the students voted seven DASO candidates onto the SRC and yet DASO is grossly underrepresented in the leadership of the 2010 SRC. Secondly, the ‘independents’ that have taken control of the SRC are not independent at all. The PresidentElect, Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, is a member of the ANC Youth
League branch executive. How can he claim to be politically independent when he has obvious ties to the ANC? By doing so he has tricked the electorate, as many of the students that voted for him did so in the belief that they were voting for a true independent. Finally, in order to keep their alliance together, the ruling ‘independents’ have compromised the incoming SRC by allocating portfolios based on personal loyalties rather than on the individual members’ specific competencies. The current Vice President of the SRC has been given the Day House portfolio even though he has never been in a day house; the Academic portfolio has been given to a first year that has never served on a Faculty Council and the Vice President-Internal position has
been given to someone who has had little or no involvement in the work of UCT’s development agencies, even though they will be his key area of focus next year. Clearly, the ruling alliance cares less about delivery and more about power. The seven DASO candidates do not see this result as a loss. DASO has never run for the SRC merely to gain ‘powerful’ positions. Our candidates just want to get the job done and ensure that the students of UCT are properly represented. Tara, Shannon, Zama, Erik, Jarvis, Richard and Michell will work hard to ensure that the 2010 SRC serves the students of UCT. After all, that’s what the SRC should really be about. DASO UCT Executive Committee
‘Claremon... Whyynbeg’ TAMARYN SUTHERLAND ALL of us car-less residence students who have strolled on down to Rondebosch Main in search of some nearby shopping, have heard this poorly enunciated cry emanating from a squawking mini-bus taxi screeching past us. Most of us just ignore it, fearing that if we make eye contact we will be sucked into the hip-hop pumping van and end up naked in Athlone. Some more streetwise students understand the greasy holler to be a destination but decline the offer of a ride. Then there are the real troopers who jump into these death-wagons and drive off into the polluted sunset, only to come back a few hours later weighed down with shopping bags from Cavendish. Now the question posed is, how do they get from A to B without losing their ability to see? As it turns out, taking a ride in one of these rickety steeds is far less life-threatening than
your conservative upbringing advocates. The slurred call comes from a usually goldtoothed pirate-looking man, who sits in awkward angles at the taxi door, trying to fill his already overloaded vehicle with as many paying customers as “...They might be vicious to drive alongside, but once you’re in the van one feels an uncanny sense of ease...” his slow-puncture tyres will allow for. All you have to do to secure a spot in one of these passion vans is to stick out your hand and one should stop within 30 seconds.A trip from Rosebank to Cavendish is R5. From Rosebank to the City is R6,50.
These street pirates may grate your eardrums with their incessant hooting and make you soil your undies if you drive behind them, but they work long hours; from about 6am to about 8pm, all in the name of capitalism. They might be vicious to drive alongside, but once you’re in the van one feels an uncanny sense of ease, because no-one is going to mess with a foaming, eye-patched taxi driver. And contrary to most licensed parents, the chances of you getting stabbed in the eye for your cellphone or wallet are slim - they are just trying to make a living. However, that does not give you free reign to parade your Blackberry around the slightly-rusted vehicle. So next time you feel a bit of cabin-fever coming on and you need some adventure, don’t make Rondebosch your final destination. Take a taxi to Cavendish, or go even deeper into the ghetto, all the way to ‘Whyyynbeg!’
VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
Editorial Results are in, and the incumbents are on their way out. The new heads of student organisations have now been elected and are steadying themselves for the year ahead. From the SRC’s new president Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh to Shawco’s Yumna Moosa and the Athletic club’s Kathleen Fennemore, campus is brimming with the energy of reinvigorated leadership. It is at this time of change that we are able to look back and, in hindsight, gauge how those around us performed, and how we ourselves performed. Of most relevance to the student body is the performance of the 2008/2009 SRC. We have devoted the centre spread to our own evaluation of how the members of this year’s SRC carried out their duties. It just wouldn’t feel like university if we weren’t graded for everything we did. The results were promising, but have left room for improvement – a task that will have to be taken up with vigour and passion by the incoming SRC. Unfortunately, the new team is already wallowing in a menacing cloud of anger and discontent after a rather controversial constituting meeting, where the DASO majority was maginalised to the ‘less important’ non-executive portfolios by an independent/SASCO alliance. These supposedly insignificant portfolios include, amongst others; Transformation, Health, Safety and Security, Academics and Sports. It is interesting that these positions, whose duties carry huge significance for the students, have been given this ‘trivial’ tag. A label used by members across the political field. Either way, there is division and it needs to be dealt with before the seeds sown at the constituting meeting grow into something more vicious than mere individual dissatisfaction. We don’t have to come to university on Thursday. Why? Because it is a public holiday, more specifically, it is Heritage Day. The government prescribes that the day should be filled with events that ‘are a powerful agent for promulgating a South African identity, fostering reconciliation and promoting the notion that variety is a national asset as opposed to igniting conflict.’ The incoming SRC would do well to remember this, as we all would. Not just on Thursday, but all year round. This is my final edition as Editor of the newspaper. It has been an interesting year to say the least. I have had a colourful array of experiences, from being threatened with bodily harm by some clown who thinks that he and his gun matter, to receiving praise for trying to make a difference. The paper has a bright future; the new team has a lot to offer and possess plenty of the aforementioned energy. Get involved. See you on the other side, Seamus
newsgathering next newsgathering Wednesday 23 September 2009, meridian LS2C
2009 collective editor Seamus Duggan deputy editor Zerene Haddad chief sub editor Maciek Dubla sub editors Cayleigh Bright, Jackie Zvoutete, Jonas Kane, Louise Ferreira dtp editor Wei Mao dtp assistant Tiisetso Mngomezulu operations manager Tina Swigelaar images Simone Millward photographers Marco Balducci, Zakareeya Pandey, Jade van Blerk, Ghia du Plessis, Bianca Kramer news Brian Muller news team Olivia Walton, Tonbara Ekiyor, Sarah Jackson opinions Tatenda Goredema features Remy Ngamije & Tara Leverton sport Daniel Freund & Dominic Verwey finance & advertising team Megan Lyons & Desmond Manyatshe marketing & brand manager John-Ross Hugo, Mathabatha Sexwale, Celeste Adonis IT manager Irfaan M Imamdin website manager Yue Mao staff writers Kerryn Warren, Moss Matheolane, Tiffany Mugo, Calvin Scholtz, Gugulethu Hlekwayo, Tariq Desai, Liam Kruger, Nyasha Kadandara, Nkosiyati Khumalo, Gerda von Benecke, Sentlenyana Machaba external contributors Berndt Hanweg, Boniswa Mdebeku, Dylan Thomas, Martin Mendelsohn tel 021 650 3543 fax 021 650 2904 email varsitynewspaper@gmail.com website www.varsitynewspaper.co.za location 5th Floor, Steve Biko Student Union Building, Upper Campus advertising email Megan Lyons on megan@meganlyons.co.za or fax her on 021 650 2904. Rates and other information available upon request.
disclaimer The VARSITY Opinions section is a vehicle for expression on any topic by members of the University or other interested parties. The opinions within this section are not necessarily those of the VARSITY Collective. The Opinions Editor reserves the right to edit or shorten letters. Letters should include the name and telephone number of the writer, and must be received by 5pm on the Wednesday before publication. They should not exceed 350 words, and will not be published under a pseudonym, or anonymously.
Parking wars drives on GOSIA PODGORSKA
IT’S manic and the bane of most students’ lives. It’s caused more complaining by UCT people than I ever thought possible. My burning question is: why is no one doing anything about this major frustration? For some reason or other, in my two years at UCT, I haven’t seen it on top of any SRC’s agendas, or heard anyone speak about trying to make a plan to fix the issue (except that April Fool’s joke about turning NSLT into a parkade – sigh). In fact, most mornings (particularly those arctic winter AMs) are spent debating with my roommate whether we should even bother trying to find a lone spot somewhere on Upper Campus. We try in vain, and always resort to parking somewhere on Lower, from where we catch Jammies to Upper. Sure, catching Jammies may not be that inconvenient, but the petrol consumption of buses sure isn’t doing anything good for the environment. What I can’t wrap my head around is the fact that the lack of parking at UCT is not a new problem. The most problematic piece in this whole puzzle is that it’s become a standard at UCT to know that between the hours of 9am – 2pm, you can dream on if you wish to find a parking spot without having to wait an hour beforehand. Complaining has become obsolete and those pink A5 pieces of paper flapping on our car windows, awaiting us after a heavy day, are just part of the norm. There have always been too many students with too
little space to fit. Yes, Cape Town has a parking problem in general - well done, town planner, on that one - but it’s really time to install some sort of practical system. It would be sublime to have the peace of mind of knowing that in the morning you will find a place to leave your nifty little vehicle safely on the University’s grounds, and not have to abandon it along some busy highway near the President’s House (and then face a 30 minute walk to the lecture hall). I know that other varsities around South Africa have an “area parking” system, where each faculty has an allocated parkade (such as Commerce students are given their own spot in Parkade A and Humanities students another spot in Parkade B). Another option would be to only sell as many parking discs to students as there are available bays. That could be unfair, but paying R650 bucks and not having a guaranteed spot isn’t really acceptable either. Ultimately, a great plan would be if an ingenious student could work out a counter which automatically clocked in taken spots, and a display board set up upon entering the Upper Campus grounds. The board could have automatic electronic labels such as “Sports Centre: 12” open spots and “P17: 1”. Otherwise, my awe-inspiring plan is to complain. Yup. I once heard that UCT doesn’t want to build more parking because it will disrupt the aesthetics of the University grounds. Hmm, and the hundreds of cars parked on grass mounds or along the streets don’t? Case
PARKING - Looking for a spot is the bane of most student’s existence. in point, complaining should be approved. Students need to bring up their unwarranted negative experiences and irate feelings and channel them all the way to the traffic department and administration at UCT. Maybe if these administrations get a thousand e-mails and letters demanding parkades, or at least a system of organised parking, they will have to do something about it. Extortion? Nah, it’s our right. And if that doesn’t work, then ladies, put on your gumboots and guys grab your pitchforks – we will declare war on parking and win. Oh yes, we will.
One small voice
WOMEN’S suffrage has been a major issue over the last century. I hope that nowadays we are closer to the idea that women have equal rights to men, but what has changed in the meantime? Our approach to gender equality has been marred by conservative ideas; feminists were labelled as radicals and so the idea of feminism being a bad thing gained currency in my mind. I was influenced by society’s attitudes, and being a passive spectator, I accepted this view. However, we are still far away from equality, which is something that feminists continually strive towards. Feminism is akin to the struggle against racism, and today’s society is still racist. Perhaps not in the same way that it was 15 years ago, but that does not mean that we should stop aiming for equality, or view people who go against society’s norms as fundamentalists or radicals. I recently sat down and had a conversation with a feminist, which is not something I choose to do everyday. Why, I reasoned, should I talk to a radical fundamentalist who won’t listen to reason? Then I realised that I was the one who was being a fundamentalist, supporting my values without allowing them to be challenged by someone from an opposing camp. After talking to her for a while, I decided that my perceptions had changed. I had learned something important about why I considered feminists to be radicals. More than that, I realised that my preconception was a misconception.
My point is not about feminism, or racism, but about the idea that our unchallenged ideas about different groups of people in society are often wrong. Everyday we encounter people who have views that appear radical when compared to our own, and most of the time we let we sit down and openly challenge them, using reason,
then perhaps we may realise that not all of them are as radical as we thought. I challenge every conservative to go and sit down with the next communist you meet and try to understand their point of view, not argue for the sake of arguing, but challenge them and challenge yourself with their views. Photo courtesy of thetragicallyunhip.files.wordpress.com
MARTIN MENDELSOHN
BRA BURNING - there might be more to radical feminists than meets the eye
Photo courtesy of lh4.ggpht.com
5
OPINIONS
6
OPINIONS
VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
In need of asylum? Toilet ‘humour’ comes down to that question of race. White people should stop playing the perpetual victims and accept that crime isn’t a racial issue, it’s a national one. Jacob Zuma made crime his number one priority upon being elected president and instead of petty squabbling about who is suffering the most it is surely better to ensure, as a whole, that he lives up to his promise to decrease crime. United we just might achieve something, divided we have already failed. A province in Indonesia recently passed a law legalising the stoning of adulterers and the lashing of homosexuals. In Darfur, 500 people per day die of starvation and disease. If our collective situation is on par with the circumstances of people living in these countries and worthy of refugee status, then surely it is not the well-off white minority, but the vulnerable and exposed black majority that deserves it.
REFUGEES WITHOUT BORDERS - Anything is possible in Canada.
ADAM LIFSHITZ
Courtesy of farm4.static.flickr.com
MOST emigrants will list their main reason for leaving the country as crime. We all know that it’s a major issue facing South Africans and most of us have been affected by it in some way or another. Despite this, I was still shocked to hear that Canada has issued refugee status to white South African, and former Cape Town resident, Brandon Huntley. I’m not trying to downplay his horrific experiences – he was allegedly attacked seven times and stabbed three – but I still can’t quite wrap my head around the situation. Huntley felt that, as a white person living in Mowbray, he was mercilessly terrorised and assaulted because of his skin. I’m a white person living in Mowbray. Do I also get to skip the drawn-out visa process and apply immediately to be a Canadian refugee, saving me many arduous trips down to Home Affairs? Crime is not, as many white, privileged folk like to argue, targeted exclusively at white, privileged folk. In fact, it is the people who can afford the dogs, electric fencing and alarm systems that are actually the safest in this country. Out of the 50 murders, 350 rapes and 40 carjackings that reportedly happen in South Africa in a single day, most happen in the townships and it is the poorer black people who bear the brunt of the statistics. Of course a portion of these crimes are racially motivated, but for every white person who is beaten up and called a “settler” there is more than likely a black person who has also been assaulted for the colour of his skin. Lest we forget: it has not even been a year since students at the University of the Free State were charged with videotaping black workers who were forced to take part in degrading acts. I wonder
how Mr Huntley would respond, knowing that when my family and I were held up at gunpoint a few years ago at a restaurant, it was not only us, but also the black patrons and waiters who were the victims of theft and abuse that day. The media love to broadcast stories of horrific homicides that take place in leafy suburbs, but the daily murders and rapes that occur in the townships are not as newsworthy. Whatever the true reason behind the alarmingly high crime rate in this country, be it the consequence of history or the current social climate, to assume that white people fall victim more often then black people is blatantly untrue, not to mention dangerous. I don’t often back statements made by the ANC, but I have to agree that it is decisions like that of the Canadian government that perpetuate racism. Almost every issue in South Africa, from education to Caster Semenya,
Courtesy of investigation.discovery.com
SARAH JACKSON
TOILET GRAFFITI - This time they got it right. NOW, being a male student, this article is sourced only from my experience in the male bathrooms, thus if there are any female writers who would like to vouch for theirs, please do so. If you find yourself in any toilet cubicle on campus, you’ll notice these strange writings on the walls. Due to your now underlying interest, you’ll make a closer inspection of these, only to discover an excessive amount of sad and ridiculously unjustified opinions. Words of racism, gender and sexual discrimination, political initiatives and inappropriate drawings can be found scattered all over in these morbid, broken-down and overly polluted cubicles. Rest assured, each expression comes with a decent amount of space for comments (at least they encourage discussion).
My problem and my initiative for writing this piece is this: if you have some problem with a race other than your own, homosexuality, apartheid or your own personal agenda of reversing it, the toilet cubicles are not the place to express it, never mind discuss it. I highly doubt that anyone in the process of urination, and at certain times defecation, would be interested in your views on Obama’s presidency. Don’t get me wrong; if you have an opinion, by all means go ahead and express it. Yet running to the bathrooms and writing it on the wall in the knowledge that your opinion is probably far too derogatory to be expressed elsewhere, well, that’s just plain sad, and moreover ineffective.
Fear of the ‘r’ word is ignorance
Remy Ngamije shows how claiming ignorance and racism amounts to the same thing Ignorance, despite all appearances, is alive and kicking, and yes, it is rife here in UCT. This is not one of those urban myths that you hear about in bedtime stories; it is not the monster hiding under the beds. It is the ink in a pen of some lecturer with a pronounceable surname hovering over the script that belongs to some unpronounceable surname (Hmmm...I think a 50% will do. If I fail her, they will come after me claiming ignorance...), and it is there in all the disgusted little looks you give when you see one of them dating those “skinny, carroteating girls” (Hayibo! Apparently now he is too good for us). Yes, ignorance is alive here in UCT; we are all just concealing it in our own little ways. As a foreign exchange student, and a person who has lived in quite a few countries, I confess that I have never felt dark (I use this word just so that we can all be comfortable reading this article. Black seems to imply that I am from Limpopo and uneducated... ignorance is a crime...) until I landed in the “Rainbow Nation”. Whether it was the customs officer looking at my Rwandan passport six times over just to make sure it was genuine (I want to say “xenophobia” but District 9 seems
to have beaten me to it) or some pony-tailed bouncer at an unnamed club in Claremont just being “overly frisky” (I mean seriously now! What could I be hiding in my cornrows?), ignorance is more pronounced here than in other places that I have been to. What is actually shocking is the way that nobody wants to come out and talk about it. Ignorance is widespread, it comes in many shapes and sizes (I am tempted to say colours as well, but I don’t want to offend anyone with this article). When people speak about ignorance, they are always eager to confront the big things, the ones that cannot be fixed in our lifetimes or those that have no effect at all. What people ignore are the small things, the minute traces of ignorance that show in everyday behaviour. Acknowledging these small things could go a long way to solving many of the bigger problems that the country as a whole faces. You could start by pronouncing an unpronounceable name correctly, or not placing too much emphasis on the differences between vanilla, caramel and chocolate ice-cream; they are merely flavours, not different dishes, and everyone has a sweet tooth, so let them indulge it without prejudice.
The bad thing is that we pass off all these small things as necessary evils, things that must be done, things that we have to
deal with. That is just ignorant. Or maybe I am wrong. Maybe ignorance is bliss. Images courtesy of www.flickr.com
THERE is a word in South Africa that has many people hot under the collar. It is quite uncomfortable; I lie, it is very uncomfortable and its use will have people divided into two main groups: those with unpronounceable surnames and those with pronounceable surnames. The use of this word will automatically get rid of the kaleidoscope of colours that paints a “Rainbow Nation” and leave you with two very stark shades on the South African canvas. Those with unpronounceable surnames will automatically jump up and ask you to bring them their machine guns while those with pronounceable surnames will just look at the “okes” next to them, feeling a bit uncomfortable that this word is being used, “I mean come on okes, it has been what...fifteen years?” Racism. There, the word is out. (Pause for dancing, toyi-toying and amandla-ing and other awkward, sheepish looking-around at “okes”.) The use of the word seems to make people unnecessarily uncomfortable, so for the sake of making it easier for everyone to read and digest this article, I will replace it with something a little more palatable...ignorance...how is that? Cool, let us proceed.
WHAT CAME FIRST? RACISM OR IGNORANCE? - The others were jealous of Chicky’s tan.
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OPINIONS
THE 2010 SRC has been elected and the portfolio allocation process is complete. Congratulations to the President-Elect, Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, and the rest of his team. The 2009 SRC wishes you every success for your term of office. With little over a month to go until we hand over to the incoming team, it is pleasing to see some of our long term projects finally producing tangible results. Earlier in the year I reported that the SRC had been advocating for a 24 hour emergency ambulance service for UCT. After a lengthy negotiation process, an agreement was signed between UCT and ‘ER24’ last week. ER24 will now provide a rapid response service to all UCT campuses and any student will be able to call the ER24 number (084 124) to get 24 hour medical assistance. The 24 hour study venue that the SRC has been working on all year has also finally been approved. Menzies 12 has been designated as the new study venue. All that remains is to find the funding required to install a proper access control system for the venue.
We have also been advocating for the establishment of a permanent off-campus accommodation office that will be responsible for sourcing and advertising affordable student accommodation close to UCT. This proposal originally came from the SRC after it became clear that residence over allocation was denying many deserving students the chance to study at UCT. Management recently approved our proposal, and the Department of Student Affairs has already begun the process of formally establishing the service. The 2009 SRC also promised to fight the exorbitant prices charged by most of the food vendors on campus. After many failed attempts to address this issue, we achieved a breakthrough last week with the Executive Director of Properties and Services agreeing that in future, students will be represented whenever contracts are signed with food vendors. This will give future SRCs the power to ensure that monopolies are not allowed to exist on campus, which will certainly help bring food prices down. We have also arranged a meeting with all
campus food vendors to express the grievances of students and to demand a change to current pricing practices. Finally, the SRC fought hard against the proposed fee increases for 2010. We achieved a certain degree of success in this regard – instead of the 14.75% increase that was proposed for all commerce students, management agreed to a 11.25% increase. Health Science students were also going to face an increase of 14.75%, but this has also been decreased to 11.25%. For EBE students, the proposed 12.75% increase has been decreased to 12.25%. We are not satisfied with these figures, and will be protesting the 2010 fee increase tomorrow. Join us at on Jammie Plaza at 13h00 as we march to the Vice Chancellor’s office to hand over a memorandum of discontent. The student voice must not be ignored on this issue. Hope to see you all at the protest tomorrow. Chris
Rainbow Nation paraphernalia for sale ZERENE HADDAD
Photo courtesy of img.brajeshwar.com
I RECENTLY attended a conference entitled, “Ethical leadership: the promise and the practice.” To be honest, I wasn’t that thrilled when I received my information pack. Based on the theme alone, I predicted long drawn-out sessions which would resemble a check-list of Mandelaesque characteristics, interrupted by tepid tea breaks every now and then. Lucky for me, neither the tea nor the topics were that bad. One of the more interesting issues was the question of Ubuntu, and how to translate it from a notion that is hovering somewhere around us into a reality. The guest-speaker presented Ubuntu as this polar opposite to all things “western,” which I take particular issue with. Granted, a lot of western influences have not been the best thing to happen to us, but Ubuntu should not be watered down to a mere opposite of the supposed evils of western culture. That is not only insulting to the spirit of Ubuntu, but it means that we’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Ubuntu, as a philosophy, did not suddenly spring into existence at the same time as western culture did. (And what exactly is this vague “western culture” that people seem to be harping on about in any case?)
Basically, the gist of the talk was that Ubuntu can’t exist within the framework of a westernoriented society. The more the talk went on, the further away from reality Ubuntu drifted, becoming a distantly vague idea, which ironically, is what the reality of it is. It has become an increasingly flouted concept that is not only commonly misconstrued, but at risk of becoming utterly meaningless due to its “Tutufication”. Not to say that Tutu cannot use the term or encourage us to live by it, but one of the effects has been that Ubuntu has been commodified by politicians, businessmen, clergy etc. They use it as a cheap way of window-dressing themselves as keepers of the Rainbow Nation. What’s more, depending on whom you ask, the definition of Ubuntu changes slightly from person to person. Some people believe it is something that belongs only in the home-place, whilst others are trying to find ways to incorporate it into a traditionally westernoriented business environment. Who really decides where we should adhere to the Ubuntu philosophy and where we shouldn’t? Another thing that bothers me is that many non-South Africans feel excluded from the notion of “Ubuntu,” which, from my
understanding of it, goes directly against the grain. This in turn raises the question of whether Ubuntu is uniquely South African? Yes, perhaps the actual word is, but surely the belief and practice of it is not. There are many cultures and communities across the world that live their lives according to these same principles, which just happen to have a different name. Whilst I may think that Ubuntu is a wonderful philosophy, I balk at the thought that if I were to be fully committed to it, I may have to give up certain individual needs and ambitions I have for the greater good. Perhaps it’s that “western” influence again, but I happen to like having personal aims. I’m all for improving the community, but I don’t see how I’ll be much use to anyone if I’m a dejected, frustrated member of the community who’s likely to end up resenting those very people I’m supposed to be helping. Caught in a catch-22 situation, all I can come up with is that until someone clearly defines Ubuntu as a way of living that is reflective of the reality of our times, and doesn’t try to marginalise someone else’s lifestyle, it’s really just going to remain airy fairy, with the occasional person invoking it as an accessory as and when it suits them - and that’s a damn pity.
SARAH KOOPMAN IT’S because I am stuck in the middle. I’m an average, coloured, middle class student with no political affiliations. That is the only reason that I can find for not being drawn into the heated, messy playing field that is the political agenda at UCT. There is no political niche for me at UCT, where a non-politically aligned student body is subjected to party politics and disagreements. I am stuck in the no man’s land between two extremes, making it difficult to look beyond the petty political mud-slinging and attempt to find practical solutions to real problems. Being involved in the political commotion that has been UCT recently, I have witnessed this first hand. Frustrated, I cannot help but feel that people are being difficult deliberately. We are dealing with an Apartheid legacy, but we need to stop dwelling on the legacy itself; attempting to claim what we believe is owed to us from the spoils. Similarly, we cannot solely rely on institutions such as Affirmative Action and Employment Equity and expect them to bring about instant solutions. We are 15 years into Democracy with centuries of inequality behind us. Sweeping through leadership and management structures replacing existing employees with those who fit the structural requirements, regardless of qualification or experience, is not going to solve anything. The belief that higher education
is conspiratorially withheld from people of colour is equally as hazardous. This was the historic norm, but we have moved beyond that and need to become practical. Tertiary institutions have academic entrance requirements because, without this base, students are unlikely to cope with course expectations. But we cannot deal with this historical fallout at the end of high school where it is too late. We must go back, review the schooling system itself and implement structures that produce school-leavers who are able to secure some basic form of tertiary education. We also need to be realistic about propositions being made. While I completely understand the need for inclusive higher education, I am painfully aware that resources are limited and flooding the tertiary system will be to the detriment of everyone in it, not just those who were there first. In an environment where tertiary education is such a scarce commodity, it cannot be to the academic, economic or political advancement of our country to take the little that there is and reduce it to next-to nothing. We cannot be motivated by fear and a victim mentality; we need to leave these perceptions behind us. Before we can do anything else, we need to see each other as people, not as black or white. We need to formulate our own ideas before pushing those of a party, proving that we are deserving of our place on this campus that we worked so hard to achieve.
Fickle be thy name TATENDA GOREDEMA RECENT media attention praising Pieter De Villiers on his triumph in New Zealand with the Springboks raised a familiar repugnant feeling in my chest. I was disgusted not by the Springboks victory or ‘Div’s’ success in the Tri-Nations; rather I was upset by the fickle nature of the media. Not too long ago they demonised and made fun of him and prayed for his failure and eventual downfall. Now that he has achieved and succeeded, they all want to pat his back and act as if they were on the frontlines supporting him when things were not going so well. As a hard-core realist, I’m not surprised with media and their sudden change of heart on Div, rather I was surprised by the frequency with which this type of thing happens. The same thing happened recently with Michael Jackson, before he died they classified him a freak and speculated about his affinity for young men and satirised his many plastic surgery procedures. After he died, they all hailed him as a hero who should be remembered for the good rather than the bad they used frequently to help sell their salacious and disgusting magazines and newspapers. Edward Kennedy recently underwent the same media clean up when they chose to publicise his amazing record in the senate and American public life rather than the tragic accident that occurred in 1969 in Chappaquiddick. It seems to me like journalism and the media today is something of a concubine trade, with the story that attracts the most buys being valued over hard, investigative journalism. Perhaps this mirrors the society we live in, where people are more obsessed with Gossip Girl and E! Entertainment channel as opposed to serious
Photo courtesy of dailymail.co.uk
SRC COLUMN
No middle ground
GOOD OLE DIV- One of the media’s many targets issues and news channels. Perhaps the society we live in reflects the general low class of journalism we now see in daily papers and television broadcasts. I think I would be liable to legal action if I mentioned specific people or publications, but one Sunday paper in particular has reached gutter proportions and never fails to upset me. Have we really become air heads like Paris Hilton, who are satisfied with mediocrity and news pieces that really are just opinion pieces? Whilst studying at the best university in Africa, I would hope not. The only people who can keep the tabloids and media houses that dabble in sensationalism are the educated people, people who can critically question things and assess the veracity of different news stories. Thus, to sit on your laurels and enjoy substandard media is comparable to watching someone get murdered; whether you will admit or not, the former is just as big a crime as the latter. Denigrated media is leading the charge in murdering our moral fiber, and it must be stopped at all costs.
8
OPINIONS
Leave Caster alone
Reasonable Doubt
ADAM RANG
Point of information TATENDA GOREDEMA THE SRC 2010 constituting meeting took place a few weeks ago and provided those who attended with something to talk about over the vacation period. The meeting took place late on a cold Friday, the weather conditions outside matching those inside the Biko building as a drama of deceit and doublecrossing played out. I have never been a fan of political organisations and am opposed to their existence on campus, so the meeting was somewhat enjoyable to watch as independents took key portfolios in next year’s SRC. However, the double-dealing and treachery that emerged from the meeting are worrying traits that cannot be ignored. The only reason SRC President Chris Ryall would have felt comfortable enough to convene the constituting meeting, according to sources, would be if he was certain he had secured an independent to vote in alliance with the incoming DASO candidates in order to secure key positions. As it turns out, Mr Ryall and his DASO cohorts were apparently double-crossed at the meeting, as one of the independents who had gone into alliance with DASO decided in the meeting to vote with his fellow independents and SASCO candidates. The first vote was for the position of Vice President-Internal, which was contested by Wandile Mamba and Zamantungwa Khumalo. Mamba duly won and from then on it was a DASO routing. Some have stated in the aftermath of what happened that student politics are dirty and in need of cleaning up. I agree wholly with this statement because student politics in its original form has nothing to
do with the self-interest and duplicity I witnessed on that Friday. What I saw had nothing to do with student politics; it was a sickening demonstration of what some people perceive student politics to be about. Clearly there is a belief amongst some that an SRC has to be ideologically driven and reflective of what parent national political parties stand for. DASO is representative of the DA, and as such is perceived as trying to impose a sort of centre-right white liberalism on the SRC. SASCO is associated with the ANCYL and the ANC and is seen as trying to bring a socialist tilt to the SRC. Whether these perceptions are fair or unfair is irrelevant. The SRC is not a political organisation and should never be treated as such. If DASO had carried the independents they needed in the meeting to secure key portfolios, then independents would have been on the receiving end of what DASO got. Whichever way you look at it, self-interest is currently the endgame of student politics at this institution and the only losers in the game are you and me. My view is that student political organisations are the root of this evil that annually rears its ugly head. Certain people are obsessed with the idea that the SRC is a place to help develop their CV and further the fortunes of their political organisations. The SRC is not, in fact, the place for that; it is a body solely established to protect ordinary students’ interests. To speak of the actions I witnessed at that meeting is not to say that I am naïve or have a fantastical view of the world and how things should be done; my intention is to inform you, the ordinary student, about what sort of body
VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
you can expect to deal with next year. The nature of the constituting meeting suggests to me that the SRC will be divided into two camps next year, the unhappy and supposedly disenfranchised DASO camp with one executive position on the SRC, and the more powerful and currently happy independents with SASCO support. Whether or not the independents will be able to get along throughout the year remains to be seen, and the SASCO candidates are along for the ride as long as DASO does not have much of a say. Sounds more like national politics, doesn’t it? This is why I maintain that the only way for future SRCs to be wholly representative and focused on the task of taking students’ concerns to administrators, is to reform the electoral process and to bar political organisations from running in SRC elections. As I have stated at every opportunity, I have low regard for political organisations on campus and believe them to be an adolescent waste of time. In my view the allocation of portfolios should be done according to the number of votes for each candidate; otherwise the ordinary student’s role is marginalised in the subsequent constituting meetings, which do not take into account the amount of votes garnered per candidate. And the constituting meeting that takes place after results are official should be announced by the IEC rather than the president of the SRC, who actually tagged it “my meeting” on that solemn Friday. Perhaps if these measures are undertaken and implemented, we can quote Plato when he said, “Joy was in those days but to live.”
I WOULD like to join the chorus of support for Caster Semenya that has erupted across South Africa. The human rights abuse suffered by this woman is inexcusable, because no one on this planet has the right to broadcast somebody else’s personal medical details. The scumbags who leaked the story claimed that it was in the public interest. In actual fact, five athletes this year alone have received the potentially traumatic news that they can not be classed as women in the context of sport, but they have been allowed to quietly retire with their right to privacy respected. This is not an article about Caster. Instead, I would like to voice my disgust at the slimy politicians, who have hijacked Caster to further their own interests and sow division in this country. First off the starting block were Winnie Mandela and Julius Malema, whose sporting credentials are somewhat suspect, to say the least. Instead of allowing Caster to speak for herself in her own time like the strong woman that she is, they thrust themselves into the limelight while Caster was dragged around looking deeply uncomfortable. Malema asked, “Where are the white people to welcome Caster home?” Here’s your answer; they weren’t there because you didn’t invite them. The people that swarmed Caster and turned her homecoming into a political rally were bussed to the event by the ANC. Unfortunately, Semenya’s own mother got in on the act by saying that the treatment of Semenya was due to white people not wanting to see a black person do better than them. No. It’s not. It’s due to an incompetent ASA, a mercenary within IAAF who leaked the story and an insensitive news outlet that broke the story. Still, the ANC Youth League decided to elaborate by claiming that the treatment of Caster was a “coordinated racist attack,” because hermaphrodites “do not exist in the world of sanity.” Now I know what you’re
thinking; the ANC Youth League aren’t the sharpest crayons in the box. Sure, their expert psychological advice on the trauma of rape victims was questionable, their attempts to write press releases often result in nonsensical ramblings, and their ability to tell a “fake American accent” from one that is partially British due to exile needs improvement. Even a stopped clock must be right twice a day. If what they are saying is true, then that means even my own Gender Studies lecturer is in on this conspiracy. For years, she has been brainwashing us into believing that intersexuality (the less offensive term for a hermaphrodite) is a reality on a surprisingly large scale. I guess I found it so easy to believe because it was backed up by case studies, as well as academics in every gender department in the world. We better go tell the antiapartheid activist Sally Gross, who is also intersexed, that we’re onto her and her lifelong plan to discredit an 800-metre runner. One minister even went as far as to say that there would be a “third world war” if Caster was excluded. Considering the world just watched underweight South African troops storming Pretoria, I don’t think anyone will be running to the bomb shelters. Let’s hope that Caster receives the real support that she needs and that she is aware that the whole country is behind her. I strongly encourage those that want to believe that white people are somehow to blame for this incident to switch on their radios and listen to the diverse voices that are expressing their disgust for how Caster was treated each and every day. In the meantime, the African Gender Institute here at UCT offers fantastic courses that add greatly to our understanding of complex gender issues, such as intersexuality. I’d encourage everyone to take a course as an elective at the very least. As for Malema, if he would like to add the completion of Introduction to Gender studies to his already impressive G in woodwork, I would be more than willing to sponsor his studies if it meant slightly less bullshit coming out of his mouth.
LIAM KRUGER
SO, A couple of weeks ago Disney bought Marvel Comics. In many respects it’s not that big of a deal. Marvel – which publishes Spider-Man, X-Men and the like – has been hopping from one owner to another over the past couple of years, and if anything, this move mimics Time Warner’s acquisition of DC, Marvel’s primary competitor in comic publication. This is just a slightly more visible repercussion of an economic climate that likes producing monolithic companies like Google, Microsoft and Disney – which could be distantly worrying, if you’re not a fan of monopolies, but otherwise shouldn’t affect your day-to-day all that much. So should you care? If you’d like to lose your virginity before your late twenties, I urge you not to, because in many respects this is the sort of thing that matters most to the comic-book clique. That said, given the way that the entertainment industry has hinged itself in recent years on those oh-
so-recognisable Übermenschen, with their spandex and their chiselled jaw-lines, we should probably be considering the possibility of Wolverine and the Jonas Brothers coming soon to a theatre near you. Well, within limits. Disney bought Pixar, too, and that’s been a pretty lucrative, non-interfering purchase for both parties – Disney takes a “hands off” approach to most of Pixar’s management, meaning there isn’t any major creative restriction. Disney likes this, because that keeps Pixar’s audiences happy, and gives Disney the rights to sell you Toy Story toys, video games and cup holders out of every mercantile orifice. We can only assume that the same will hold true of Marvel, which has established its characters in a number of different media – to do otherwise would risk the loss of Marvel’s primary audience, in which case Disney will have just wasted four billion dollars (not that they can’t afford it, even with low first-quarter profits). Another concern that some have raised
Courtesy of www.desinformado.com
Bitten by a radioactive trademark
DISNEY AND MARVEL - Corporate romance, they grow up so fast about censorship – that most family-friendly Mickey Mouse fans are unlikely to approve of a dude who has knives coming out of his fists – is almost frivolous, bearing in mind that Disney also produced Kill Bill.
What the purchase does mean, however, is that Marvel Studios now has the resources to produce almost all of their films directly, without having to go through middlemen like Sony and Lionsgate. To illustrate the
difference: Iron Man was a Marvel Studios production; Spiderman 3 was Sony’s abortion. We should, therefore, see some fairly decent Marvel blockbusters being rolled out in the years to come – and Disney’s connections to Pixar (The Incredibles) and Spielberg offer some interesting prospects. That said, all we’re likely to see in the immediate future is greater use of Disney’s international merchandising powers to extend the Marvel characters and their trademarks. Where some troubles may occur is in the character rights that Marvel signed over some years ago to the likes of Sony – namely, that Sony retains the rights to make so-called films starring the XMen, Spiderman and the Fantastic Four in perpetuity, so long as they keep making them. Whether or not that agreement is worth the paper it’s printed on when put against Disney’s legal team remains to be seen and – barring the release of Hannah Montana vs The Incredible Hulk – may be the most interesting consequence of the deal that has so far emerged.
9
FEATURES
Our history through the things we made or found LOUISE FERREIRA
Money
Money has been making the world go round for the last 100 000 years or so (well, back then it was shells and red ochre, but you get the point). Eventually, trade came to include precious metals, but since dragging bars of gold around on market day wasn’t particularly practical, some genius developed coins. Paper currency evolved as representative money, where the piece of paper didn’t have any intrinsic value but was a receipt (i.e. proof) of a reserve commodity. This is different from today’s system of fiat money, where the cash itself carries value.
AGRICULTURE
Booze
The development of telecommunication, and the telephone in particular, has had a massive impact on society - it is impossible to imagine a world without it. Who the actual inventor of the telephone is is a matter of some dispute, with both Antonio Meucci and Elisha Gray laying claim to it, and Thomas Edison also making a contribution. However, the patent was awarded to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.
Alcohol has existed since 10 000 BC. Initially, fermented beverages were considered a nutritional staple before the invention of bread; later, it was also used for religious purposes, with many cultures worshipping deities associated with alcohol. Naturally, it didn’t take them long to discover its recreational possibilities – or the effects of over-indulgence.
Agriculture began to develop in what is now the Middle-East around 9 500 BC, presumably after hunter-gatherers became fed up with running after their food. The first crops to be cultivated in this area, called the Levant, were wheat, barley, lentils, chickpeas, peas, flax and, something called bitter vetch (sounds like a woman scorned). Over several centuries, this choice expanded to include oranges, dates, mangoes and cotton. Farming developed independently in China, with rice and millet, and in parts of the Americas, which gave us corn and potatoes.
Flush toilet Choo!
The flush toilet – not to mention the rest of modern plumbing – is probably the invention for which I am most grateful. It actually existed millennia ago, in the Indus Valley, Crete and Rome, but when the Roman Empire fell the technology disappeared. I am convinced that this was what caused the Dark Ages. In 1596 Sir John Harington invented a new version and installed one for Elizabeth I, but she disliked the noise. Alexander Cummings invented the S-bend, which prevents air rising up from the sewer, in 1775, and in 1819, Albert Giblin was awarded a patent for the siphon discharge system. Thomas Crapper, who is often mistakenly considered the inventor of the flush toilet, actually owned a plumbing company that used Giblin’s design. Incidentally, the word “crap” was already in use by the time Crapper was born, which must have led to interesting advertising opportunities. This is why the modern city is able to exist – imagine living in a metropolis with three or four million people and no plumbing.
The phone bill
Choo!
The steam engine had a massive impact on society, leading to the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s - as well as unemployment, as many labourers were replaced by machines. Steam power was already known in Roman Egypt in the first century, but inventors only started utilising it a millennium and a half later. Several low-pressure engines were developed in the 1700s, but it was with James Watt’s separate condenser in 1774 that things really started happening, eventually leading to the invention of the high-pressure engine and the steam locomotive. Images courtesy of www.flickr.com, www.photobuket.com, Masterfile.
Click! Click!...Snap! Snap! Joseph Niépce took the first photograph in 1814; unfortunately, it wasn’t permanent. Together with Louis Daguerre he developed the first practical method of photography, called the daguerreotype, in 1836. It made use of a copper plate; film was only invented in 1885 by George Eastman, who manufactured paper film before using celluloid from 1889. The name of his camera? The Kodak.
SEX...WITH THE LIGHTS ON! Edison was a very busy fellow.Alot of experimenting with electricity had gone on in the 18th and 19th centuries, but his invention of the first commercially practical electric light bulb in 1879 could probably be seen as a symbol of the modern use of electricity. Although there were several versions of incandescent lamps before Tommy came along, his simply worked much better.
10
SRC REPORT CARD SRC PRESIDENT CHRIS RYALL
Chris deferred some of his studies this year in order to fulfill the role of President in the best way that he could. He sought to increase awareness on campus of the SRC’s activities and to improve the communication between students and their representatives and he sought to increase participation in key policy debates involving student issues. Through some of the interviews conducted with his SRC colleagues and some of the people he worked with throughout the year, it is clear that there are many positives to be drawn out of Chris’s work. He dealt with the early loss of three of the elected SRC members who moved on to other institutions and worked with the group who had to handle the portfolios that were vacant. He implemented a centralised system which meant that SRC members were expected to report their goals/targets to him at the beginning of each month and followed up to assess progress with those targets. Every member we spoke to complimented Chris on his knowledge of his colleague’s goals and his willingness to assist where able to complete tasks. He was praised on his ‘high emotional intelligence and control’ and his ability to cool acrimonious situations. A common criticism of his leadership however was that he centralised power and failed to sometimes give necessary importance to non-executive members of the body who at times felt marginalised. He was also criticized by his colleagues on sometimes appearing to make the SRC about his own personal goals and vision. One member criticized him for taking a DASO party line on a few occasions.
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ACADEMIC CHAIR DYLAN VAN VUUREN As Academic Chair of the 2008/2009 SRC, Dylan Van Vuuren’s top three objectives were to improve the Academic Exclusions policy and procedures, to improve Academic Environment and Facilities and to address issues of Transformation. His work on the Academic Exclusions procedure has produced significant results, including improved Early Warning Systems for students facing possible academic exclusion, which includes developing support systems for these students. On the issue of improved academic facilities, Dylan has arranged for a 24 hour study venue to be set up for the upcoming exam period. He improved communication between the SRC and the Faculty Councils, was the first Academic Chair to meet with all the faculty deans, and saw to it that the Faculty Scholarships criteria were amended such that there is now more faculty discretion in the allocation of funds. This allows for more scholarships to be available without watering down the criteria. Previously, much of the money available was not being allocated as the criteria was too rigid. Many of Dylan’s objectives are still ongoing, and he hopes that they will be continued by the new SRC. His downfalls? ‘I get very emotional,’ he said, ‘But I have great ideas and I can do them.’ According to another SRC member, Dylan was one of the ‘the people who have done incredible jobs’. A member of the 2009/2010 SRC commented that ‘Dylan’s done brilliantly this year’.
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TREASURER - AHMED BHANA
Being in charge of the SRC purse strings is quite a responsibility when all’s said and done. Alas, Ahmed seems to have gotten by with the bare minimum this year. Asides from establishing a SRC bank account with Chris to streamline the petty cash process, there isn’t much else going for him. Fellow SRC members described him as being one of the ‘weak links’ this year and wasting the potential of his portfolio by ‘not developing it enough.’ He said that he spent his time doing the ‘nitty-gritty’ daily things, but he didn’t elaborate further than that. There was some confusion amongst SRC members over an incident involving lost receipts, but Ahmed reported that it was the fault of UCT Treasury and it was ‘just one of those ad hoc things that happens’. When critiquing himself, Ahmed said that he wished he’d enabled ‘more student enterprises’ on campus, but that this was also inhibited by various UCT policies. He is hoping to secure more than R140 000 for the Bail Out Fund by 31 October, but was unable to give any concrete figure of how much is in the fund at the moment.
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VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
VICE PRESIDENT Her young age and lack of experience in relation to the EXTERNAL - AMANDA other candidates put Amanda at a slight disadvantage. She tried to tried to learn the ropes and find her way in her first NGWENYA few months of being on the SRC. However, she cottoned-on
70%
quickly and had many successes this year including a voters registration drive which encouraged UCT students to take part in the April national elections through organising transport to polling stations and a series of political debates, which included speakers from each major political party. Amanda also successfully liaised with other universities, most notably the University of Potchestroom and the University of Namibia in an attempt to create a forum where mutual issues can be discussed by various SRCs. Rated highly by her fellow SRC members, Amanda battled with lack of support especially with regards to Africa Day, which she was forced to organise on her own when the relevant stakeholders did not participate in the event. However, she was criticised by people in the international student’s forum who felt ‘failed by the SRC’ particularly in regards to the lack of communication between the two organisations. International post-graduate students felt neglected and Amanda was criticized for seeing Zimbabwe as a ‘charity case.’ What Amada lacked in experience she made up for in work ethic and commitment and while some of her projects were not realised, she potentially laid the ground work for the next vice president external to see to completion.
SECRETARY GENERAL & DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL - PORTIA GAMA The Secretary General is supposedly the backbone of the SRC, bearing this in mind, it seems as if Portia was born to be SG. She received rave reviews from her fellow SRC members who insisted that ‘quite frankly the SRC wouldn’t work without her.’ In addition to her ordinary SG duties, Portia took on the role of Deputy SG when the SRC chose not to replace members they’d lost at the beginning of the year. Although some students were sceptical, raising the question: ‘How can you deputise yourself?’ Apparently, Portia can. She has fulfilled the duties that were required from both portfolios, been at all SRC events, attended meetings on behalf of other SRC members if they were unable to, ‘made an extra effort with all members of the SRC’, acted in a strong advisory role on matters of policy and the best avenues to pursue, championed women’s rights and women leadership on campus and has been heavily involved in the Admissions Review Task Team, just to mention a few. Furthermore, Portia learnt how to deal with the political tensions fairly early on, and whilst she may not be a politician per se, she successfully survived Org report sessions and general hackling at Student Assembly. A few objectives that she has yet to complete are the Alumni Leadership Circle that is set for October and the amendment to the gatherings policy. In her own words, Portia says that the ‘year went better than expected’ and she is satisfied with what she has managed to achieve. A negative aspect of SG is that it is a job that involves spending a lot of time in meetings with UCT Management and little time for interaction with students.
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TRANSFORMATION & HEALTH - MZWA KWEYAMA Mzwa initially only held the Transformation portolio, and took on Health when the SRC co-opted earlier in the year. According to members of the SRC executive, Mzwa was ‘thrown into the deep end and took a little while to find his feet’, at times he ‘required a lot of support from senior members’. There were a few internal disciplinary matters, failure to attend functions and meetings that he was required to be at, but he seems to have gotten the hang of it eventually. However, that being said, everyone recognised his passion for transformation and has credited Mzwa with being extremely innovative, especially with regards to his involvement with the Disabilities Unit. His efforts there include having the Disabilities Unit moved to the ground floor and new software for the PCs , all of which elicited a comment from a member of Senate that ‘this is the first time that the SRC has taken disabilities as a serious transformation issue.’ He also administered the Transformation Focus Fortnight event. On the Health front, the biggest success is undeniably securing a 24hour ambulance service for UCT which is being finalised at the moment. There was also a TB and swine flu awareness drive and he liaised with Student Wellness when students brought their concerns to him. His enthusiasm was commendable, he just needed a little more effort when it came to execution.
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SPORTS - MICHELLE DAVY As the 2008/2009 SRC Sports Co-ordinator, Michelle Davy’s key aims were to ‘streamline’ the SRC’s sports policy and UCT sports in general, to improve the communication and work between the SRC and the Student Sports Union (SSU) and to improve the continuity and structures of the sports societies and committees. Michelle noted that she ‘didn’t get any handover from [her] predecessor’ and thus took some time to find her feet: ‘the sports sector doesn’t have a vision, doesn’t have a mission’. This was something she aimed to improve, and has put together a working group to form ‘a mission that everyone can look to’. She noted that much of what she has achieved will come to fruition in the next year or so. One such issue is that of funding: ‘sports funding is hugely inefficient’, Michelle commented, which is ‘a huge barrier to participation and through that transformation’. Michelle does not feel that she has fully achieved her stated objectives. ‘I was thrown in the deep end from the word go and was naïve about how far down I was,’ she said, adding, ‘I could’ve had a far better participation at sports events such as the Disability Sports Day. There could’ve been a lot more help I could’ve offered’. She saw herself as a weak link on this year’s SRC, an opinion shared by some of the other SRC members.
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Varsity RESIDENCES - SARA REITH
As Residence Coordinator, Sara Reith’s responsibilities included representing the issues that affect students in residence to management; facilitating programs that benefited residence students; co-chairing the residence council; assisting Student Housing and Residence Life with the implementation of their programmes as they pertain to residence students; and, to address the concerns and grievances of residence students. Earlier this year, Reith was heavily involved in finding accommodation solutions for crisis students. The housing over-allocation process was compounded when Groote Schuur Hospital, owner of Rochester residence, reclaimed 70 rooms originally allocated to UCT students. According to sub-wardens in various residences, Reith was particularly exceptional in this role, and was in contact with students and residences almost daily in an effort to make sure every student was comfortably placed. According to Reith, she and the SRC achieved their goal to foster stronger relationships with residence students by being visibly active in O-Week activities, conducting food surveys in the residences and introducing Vula forums and complaints and suggestions books. Additionally, Reith absorbed the Safety and Security aspect of the Health, Safety and Security portfolio. The council member occupying this portfolio acts as a liaison between CPS, risk management services, the safety and health department, properties and services and the students. Under Reith’s guidance, a safety campaign was initiated, and reports reflected that after this campaign, crime dropped in the residences by 27%. Reith admitted that while progress had been made in the HSS portfolio, this was not one of her strong points. Criticisms of Reith suggested that she might have taken the suggestions of the residences sub-council into greater consideration; but overall, her hard-working and passionate nature, her personal investment, and her commitment in the face of demanding academics and personal loss earned the respect and praise of many of her colleagues.
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SOCIETIES COORDINATOR - TREVOR MCARTHUR After the SRC suffered the blows of having quite a few candidates leave at the beginning of the year, Trevor had the unenviable position of being one of the only SASCO members on the SRC. Described by his fellow SRC members as ‘providing an important dynamic’ to the SRC as he brought different views to the council, and stuck, very vocally in many cases to his opinions, political and otherwise. Almost all of his objectives that he set out at the beginning of the year were achieved; most notably successfully raising R100 000 during O-week and ensuring an effective handover and induction process that was overseen by the society’s council. While some society heads felt that it was a ‘thrill’ to work with him due to his ‘incredible team dynamics’ and ability to help the societies put aside their differences and contrary opinions and work together, other societies said that there had been a certain level of confusion at the beginning of the year when details for a society got lost and the issue was not followed up by the SRC. Additionally, a few of his objectives, such as having a second O-week where societies present on plaza for a second time, are possibly not particularly realistic and may end up creating more stress for the societies involved.
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MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS AND DAYHOUSES - NEVENA KOSTIC The success of the media and communications portfolio is usually judged on the visibility and student awareness of SRC events and initiatives. Based on this criterion, Nevena generally did a good job. She organised a comprehensive Freshers guide that was widely praised and full of useful information for first year students. She managed the production and design of a multitude of SRC posters and assisted her colleagues when they needed an initiative publicised on campus, her most recent bit of work being helping with the ‘Anti-Student Apathy Police’ campaign. She was described by Dylan Van Vuuren as, ‘reliable, trustworthy and really good at what she does.’ She is credited with resurrecting the SRC website which had been dormant for a prolonged period of time. She oversaw the road show initiative that the SRC undertook and worked to improve SRC recognition and awareness on campus. She was criticized on her inability to show enough initiative, whilst she did the work that was asked of her on time and diligently, she did not venture outside the constraints of her SRC box enough and the day houses portfolio she held jointly with Anton Taylor was apparently not run well and insufficiently dealt with.
SRC Report Card 2009 VICE PRESIDENT INTERNAL - SHANNON BERNHARDT
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SRC REPORT CARD
Shannon’s shining achievement this year is still currently in the finalizing processes but is by no means less spectacular: the Recognition Policy. The Recognition Policy will place student leadership roles and involvements on your academic transcript thereby hopefully increasing involvement in Student Governance roles. However, not all Shannon’s work this year was as easily handled: both Varsity Newspaper’s ‘ I dislike Americans’ Editorial and the SAX Appeal religious saga pressured him with the question of censoring the Development Agencies and making them ultimately accountable for their actions. Regarding the Development Agencies, Shannon ensured that their rights were being upheld and they were receiving the best possible resources from the University. This includes new computers for all Development Agencies, offices for Ubunye and the improvement and enhanced involvement of the Development Agencies SubCouncil. Jennifer Van Heerden, Chairperson of Ubunye, commented that ‘He is an absolute pleasure to work with: he is a patient, creative and intelligent leader who works incredibly hard to ensure that his constituency receives all the support we require.’ After the decision not to co-opt Shannon stepped in to pick up the Student Services portfolio which includes library services, Jammie Shuttles and ICTS. The Jammies were improved through the success of the Jammie Shuttle survey, but Group Wise continues to be a problem for UCT students.
60% ENTERNAINMENT & FUNDRAISING - ANTON TAYLOR
73% ‘I believe that entertainment is a very powerful tool for bringing people together’ claimed Anton when asked about his portfolio. His achievements this year include both raising over R250 000 – almost double what was raised last year recovering an outstanding R70 000 from last year which was never collected, restarting 6 x 7’s, increasing the SRC’s visibility and involvement at UCT events as well as initiating ‘combodeals’ with companies whereby they are discounted for booking a non-sound event during the week in conjunction with a Jammie Thursday time-slot. This allows more space for student groups to get their message across during Thursdays. Access for student groups, however, led to one of Anton’s greatest criticisms: he believes that ‘religious and political groups are divisive as opposed to unifying, as they appeal to only one group of people’ and shouldn’t be allowed space on Plaza. Anton came under fire from students, academics and religious leaders and, after being voted against by his fellow SRC members, was forced to revise the Student Plaza Application Form. After Ayanda was excluded from UCT and the decision was made not to co-opt, Anton and Nevena picked up the Dayhouses portfolio. With no handover or clear objectives they had to start from scratch, creating a Dayhouses Committee, building relations with Ikhaya and the Disability Dayhouse. In conjunction with Mzwa, they have implemented plans for the Disability Dayhouse to be moved to a ground floor location and Ikhaya to be enlarged but members of the Dayhouses Committee are unhappy and feel ‘let down’ by the lack of action.
Go to varsitynewspaper.co.za and rate the SRC members for yourself.
12
FEATURES
NYASHA KADANDARA WE CAN feel their presence, but we don’t see them; they are as much a part of UCT as we are, yet they go under the radar, unnoticed. They clean up after us like our mothers did when we were young: they cook for us and do our dishes. They go about making sure that we have a comfy student life ,and yet their presence still seems insignificant. Meet Ma’Sbube and Joe, your average workers at UCT. Ma’Sbube is a cleaning lady who works for Super Care; she’s responsible for cleaning one of the levels in the library. Joe is a cook who works for Fedics in the residences. Ma’Sbube lives in Philippi and Joe lives in Khayelitsha: it takes about an hour and thirty minutes for them to get to work everyday for their eight-hour shifts. Between the two of them, they have 19 years of experience working at UCT. Ma’Sbube loves working at UCT; she enjoys what other people - most of whom probably pity her - would consider to be a very degrading job. She left school after grade four, because in her time educating the female child was not considered a priority. Being around the students has helped her improve her knowledge of English, and for that she is grateful. The students give her so much respect and are pleasant, such that she would never want to leave her job here. Considering her lack of education, Ma’Sbube has had it good. On the other hand, Joe, who works in a residence kitchen, feels indifferent about his job after all, he has one, and with the unemployment rate at 38% who
is he to complain? The students are okay, most are friendly, you get the odd rude guy who wants more food, but Joe won’t take any notice of it because he has other issues to worry about. He doesn’t like the management style under which he works, and he needs better protective clothing. What he hates most is the weekend shift, which is from 7am to 9pm, but he knows that things will never change. He believes that wages should be revised upwards, but will have to wait patiently while the remuneration department reviews their request. Many of the workers at UCT have a story similar to that of Ma’Sbube and Joe. They have little or no education, and life has been hard – but they consider themselves lucky to have their jobs, when so many people don’t. The students make it a warm environment in which to be, and when they compare themselves to others working at different institutions they really appreciate their jobs. They work hard for their money, and they try not to complain unless it is necessary. They contribute to our student life just as much as administration and lecturers do. They consider themselves fortunate, yet we consider their jobs humble and thankless. Indeed, they are thankless – I have seen people give standing ovations for lecturers but no one ever really says thanks to the Jammie drivers, the cooks, or the cleaners who sweep the Jammie steps just in time for Meridian.
Hey, look-a-here MOSS MATHEOLANE I HAVE lived in Cape Town for four years now, and the one thing that has always made me feel rather ecstatic about being in this city is its visual culture, vis-a-vis the unique Art Deco-inspired buildings, the many art galleries, and various street insignia of graffiti-laden walls. You will notice that I’m purposely not talking about the mountain or ocean views, as I find these things far too natural to invoke personal interest. What I’m talking about are the manmade sights that give Cape Town its wonderful eccentricity. Don’t get me wrong, for I’ve lived in Gauteng as well, and I’m afraid it would be a travesty to compare the experiences of its cities with those of Cape Town, and since I find myself in the throes of emotive language, I must employ restraint. Visual culture is a beautiful thing. It gives one insight into places and people in the most unconventional way. It’s like looking through a semiotic lens tinted in azure; no black and white - not even gray. Notably, many people aren’t aware of their surroundings; it’s all a backdrop to the various mundane activities that keep them busy. But if you take the moment to pause and look around, you may be surprised by the effect that some parts of your environment have on you. Take the road coming from the
Waterfront and Sea Point areas, for example. You know, the one that was supposed to originally lead to the N2 exit, but instead ends in mid-air. There is an interesting tale behind this little piece of town planning irony. The short version is that the people behind its construction concluded the plans for it and started building, before bothering to make the necessary verifications to ensure that there would be no obstacles. Suffice it to say, there was an obstacle. Recently, and in a different matter altogether, the city street artists, as they like to call themselves, made an uproar over the proposed bill dealing with the “tagging” (graffiti) of public and private property. A Facebook group was created which lamented the killing of their creative outlet by “insensitive laws”. Now, I will be the first to admit that some of their arguments had validity, but others were, to say the least, simply pointless, if not childish. One of the proposals made by the bill’s originators was to create a public space to allow the street artists to reign free, but anyone who knows anything about graffiti will tell you that if you give a graffiti artist a blank canvas, he or she is likely to ignore it and will end up tagging your wall. The one thing that has always intrigued me about Cape Town, though, is the lack of young people at art-related events, and specifically art exhibitions and galleries. In such a vibrant city,
you would expect an interest in and even knowledge of all things arty, but I suppose that’s what I get for imposing expectations. Of course, this is not to say that no young people in Cape Town have any interest in art; fashion and graphic design are the rave of the creative industry this side of the country. But they fall into the more contemporary category of the arts, and not the traditional. It is for this reason that we have graffiti. The story behind this form of expression goes back to the 1970s, when artists and critics alike began seeing it as a unique form of urban expression. It has always been a rebellious craft, even after being absorbed into the commercial art market following the success of artists like Jean Michel Basquiat. For the most part, much of the graffiti that I have seen reminds me of a melancholic rendition of Thelonius Monk’s Ugly Beauty. However, what I wish these street artists and many other young people in Cape Town would do, is to let the curiosity that so often accompanies their experiences of the world lead them into a gallery, a museum or even a walk in the city without the sole mission of getting from point A to point B. There may be nothing new under the sun, but sometimes the reason for that is that we are not looking, and are all too ready to give into what Sartre coined the “spirit of seriousness”.
URBAN CANVAS - The Cape Town streets present a vibrant canvas for urban art. Look around and see how many unrecognised artists you can find. Photos by Remy Ngamije
www.outsidesupply.com
All in a day’s work…
VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
Indeed, it is a hard knock life – but after all, they have a job, right?
Are UCT Libraries meeting your needs?
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13
FEATURES
It’s just a boy-girl thing
Out in Africa, out of pocket
I THINK that I am a woman. The reason I sound uncertain is because the criteria for womanhood is largely undefined. Should I wear a dress or paint my face with liquid that has a Yardley label plastered to its side? Should I be bashful and carry myself gracefully? Or does it all come down to what’s between my legs? Questions surrounding the notion of gender have never been met with simple answers. Whether we realise it or not, gender is an issue we encounter and interact with on a daily basis. Most of us take for granted what the concept actually means, not realising that it is, in fact, far more complex and sensitive than the binary of “male” and “female”. This really is a mammoth topic, and arguably one that can never be fully understood. Discussions about gender and everything related to it could fill an entire encyclopaedia: intersexuality, masculinity, femininity, heteronormativity, intersectionality - the list is endless. At the core of these discussions, however, is the debate concerning the important distinction between “sex” and “gender”. Many people assume that “sex” and “gender” are one and the same, and constitute a causal relationship. In layman’s terms, if one is born with male sexual organs, one is gendered as male, and vice versa. Leading academics and researchers in the field of gender studies disagree, arguing that the two concepts should be separated. In this sense, “sex” is defined in terms of biology, with reference to sexual organs, hormone levels and physical make-up. Gender, on the other hand, is understood in terms of social constructs. What this means is that one’s gender is influenced not by biology, but by one’s social and cultural contexts. The debates surrounding the differences between these two concepts were brought into the public forum during the recent controversy surrounding the South African teenage athlete, Caster Semenya. Her unexpected victory at the 2009 IAAF World Championships shot her into the limelight and simultaneously triggered the resultant witch hunt to establish her sex. While the latest press releases announce that Semenya is an hermaphrodite (someone born with both male and female sexual organs), what is perhaps of greater interest is the fact that she considers herself to be gendered as a woman. Regardless of her genitalia, hormones and
physical build, Semenya was raised within a social context which related to her as a female. While to many, including the editors of YOU magazine, her external appearance may not conform with rigid and prescriptive notions of femininity, being a woman is all Semenya knows, and therefore, being a woman is who Semenya is. This brings us back to what it means to be a woman, or even a man for that matter. There’s no doubt that several generalised characteristics exist for each, and it is against these characteristics that most people measure themselves. What springs to mind when the words “feminine” and “masculine” are mentioned? I am somewhat ashamed to admit that when I hear the word feminine, an image of a demure, delicate, soft-spoken “lady” is constructed unconsciously in my mind. While I loathe the fact that this is my first response, is it really that surprising considering we live in an environment in which we are constantly bombarded with gender stereotypes? “Real” women bear children, are sensitive, and stylish; “real” men are rugged, powerful, and have lots of muscles…not so? These stereotypes have become naturalised in most societies and are powerful enough to exclude many people from assuming their preferred gender. Researchers and academics go on to explain another important difference between “sex” and
“gender”. While both can be understood in terms of a spectrum, as opposed to a definitive polarity, gendering is a process and a journey, if you like. We live, we grow, we experience, we are influenced, and all the while we continue to become gendered. This process of becoming gendered happens within a much larger multidimensional context. Class, race, age, geographical region, culture, religion, tradition, and many other factors all play an integral role in shaping the face of one’s gender. To illustrate this point, simply think about the stark differences between the masculinities and femininities within an American context, as opposed to those existing within rural communities in Africa. It is for this reason that universal notions of “male-ness” and “female-ness” are deemed inappropriate and unrealistic. I still think that I am a woman. While I choose not to wear makeup, rarely wear dresses, am hardly graceful and am outspoken to say the least, the femininity I exude is unique and undefined. The beauty of gender is that it does not discriminate. Whether you are XX, XY or something in between, gendering allows for interpretations which transcend the science lab. What does it mean to be a “real” man or a “real” woman? You decide.
CONNECTED - This is a man’s world...that would mean nothing... www.qcc.nsw.gov.com.jpeg
MARCHÉ ARENDS
I WONDER why film festivals have to follow hard on one another’s heels. No festivals for months, and then suddenly you have Out in Africa, TriContinental and the Irish fest practically on top of each other. This makes life difficult for the cinema-loving student, since we do have to work and most of us are on a fairly tight budget: these festivals are not free - oh no. Out in Africa, for example was R36 a ticket, loyalty concessions do not apply. I realise that it also costs a lot of money to bring these films to local audiences, but why can’t there at least be a student discount? Rant over. Last week was the first time that I attended Out in Africa (the gay and lesbian festival) and it was an extremely interesting experience (it was also informative in ways I’d rather not reveal). High on my list was XXY, a highly acclaimed Argentinean film that was initially banned by the Film and Publications Board, which just goes to show that the FPB are idiots. Set in a remote village on the Uruguyan coast, the story focuses on 15-year-old Alex, who is intersex (the term “hermaphrodite” is apparently rarely used nowadays). Her parents, Suli and Kraken, feel that she should eventually be allowed to choose her own gender, although she is currently living as a female. However, feeling that a decision is imminent, Suli has invited a plastic surgeon to advise them. He
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LOUISE FERREIRA
and his wife bring with them their son Álvaro, who is a few years older than Alex. A multifaceted exploration of sexuality follows. The film is exquisitely made and brilliantly cast. The desolate beauty of the setting serves to emphasise Alex’s physical and emotional isolation; a decision her parents made to protect her, but which cannot be a permanent solution. Actress Inés Efron is outstanding in the role of Alex, successfully portraying the complex feelings that a teenager would face in what must be the most bewildering of all identity crises: what gender am I? How would anyone feel if they’re unable to answer this most basic of questions? The film looks at the complete lack of understanding and gross insensitivity with which situations like these are often handled (the Caster Semenya saga is a case in point); a violent incident on the beach is particularly upsetting. The emotional effects of sexual prejudice are casually exemplified in a heartrending conversation between Álvaro and his father. On a more positive note, the film also illustrates the healing influence of love and emotional support. What I find truly tragic is the fact that utter drivel such as, say, Dance Flick will be shown on every cinema circuit in the country for weeks on end, while movie-lovers have to wait for festivals to see exceptional and highly important films like XXY. Something is definitely wrong here.
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14
FEATURES
VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
District 9: by us, about us, for us LOUISE FERREIRA GENERALLY, skop, skiet en donner movies aren’t my thing. If there’s gore, I avoid it. If there are aliens, I run like hell. Despite all of this, I was curious to see District 9, and walked out of the theatre very impressed - somewhat shaken, and with an urgent desire to see a romantic comedy, but nevertheless impressed. It’s refreshing to see a South African film that’s wellmade, not Leon Schuster-slapstick, not solely concerned with apartheid and/or Aids, and that hasn’t been hijacked by the Hollywood pulp machine. The documentary/ newscast-style presentation was an inspired touch; it led to some hilarious moments and made the story seem very real. It’s this last point, I think, that makes the movie so brilliant: everything feels realistic (insofar as extraterrestrials in Jozi can be realistic), as if events actually would have unfolded in this way. It is certainly plausible that the former government would have moved aliens to this type of area, that secret medical experiments would have been performed, that human rights groups would have kept a close watch, that there would be muti killings, and that weapons and drugs (well, cat food) would be involved. It seems obvious that South Africans would call somebody a “prawn”, and
REMY NGAMIJE FILMS about and based on the African continent have been around for a long time. They are nothing new; they are made by Western directors, produced by American companies, often have a foreign lead with a small sprinkling of African actors here and there just to keep us happy - and they generally make South Africans look like idiots. This is not to say that films like Lord of War and Blood Diamond are not good or do not address issues that are pertinent on the African continent, such as war and corruption. This argument merely stems from the fact that in all movies that are
that the grizzled leader of the special forces team would be a guy called Kobus. In fact, the characterisations and the reactions to events were so familiar to me as a Saffa that very little actually surprised me. I appreciated the fact that the viewer becomes sympathetic towards the prawns rather than the humans, with whom we would naturally side. This is good story-telling technique. There has been a lot of debate about the historical context of the film. The title and the basic plot are obviously analogous to District Six and the forced removals of the 1960s, and the way the aliens are kept apart from humans harks back to the apartheid years (although, frankly, if a group of unknown beings arrived here I would want them as far away from me as possible). There are also references to last year’s xenophobic attacks – I found it very ironic that one bystander says, “Maybe if they were from another country, but they’re not even from the same planet!” However, I didn’t get the impression that the film was intended to “send a message”. There’s no need: apartheid has long been abolished, people realise that the District Six removals were atrocious, the xenophobia sparked international outrage. It seems, rather, that these events were used as an analogy because they make for a damn good storyline, one that South Africans will recognise.
made in Africa for Western audiences, there is the general feeling that this is not how “we” would do things, were we given the chance to portray ourselves. Sure, Leonardo DiCaprio is a talented actor, but he’s just not one of us, know what I mean? This is perhaps why, when you hear about District 9, you might be a bit sceptical about it. It might sound like just another film, just another Tsotsi or Jerusalema that will be lapped up by the media, given the “it’s African, you’re African, therefore, you must like it” slogan, perhaps given an Oscar or two just to keep us here on the continent smiling and waving,
It also means that there was a lot of material ready to be used: just think of what the former government did, and change it to apply to aliens. Apparently, there have been some complaints about the characterisation of the Nigerians as drug dealers and warlords, as well as one of the muti scenes where their leader eats an alien arm in an attempt to ingest its power. Fair enough, this can’t be applied to all Nigerians, but if the filmmakers wish to portray a common South African misconception, I think it is quite appropriate. One thing that did bother me a bit was the gratuitous swearing. Most people are not that foulmouthed; they could have cut about half the f-words without sacrificing realism or shock value. Local swearwords are not the only way to distinguish a non-English character in an English-language movie; Wikus’ heavy Afrikaans accent was quite sufficient. However, kudos to the filmmakers who had enough sense to realise that South African actors should play South African characters. Now I just have to brace myself for Matt Damon in the role of Francois Pienaar… DISTURBING - District 9 touches the most sensitive issues that are prevalent in South African society.
and then filed under a category of films in history that can only be called, “Well, you have that one don’t you? Now be happy.” District 9 is different. It has an all-South African cast, it was directed by a South African, it has South African slang, it has South African issues and it will make every South African person that little bit more insecure about the country and each other as a whole. If ever there was a film worthy of being called “African” or by that popular phrase, “by us, for us” then District 9 is it. There is no way to review District 9 without revealing the storyline; aliens arrive on Earth, hover above Johannesburg and become stranded on the planet as their ship awaits repair. This is no temporary setback like the one that occurs in The Day the Earth Stood Still or Independence Day. This is a problem that lasts twenty long years, during which the aliens infiltrate South African society, interacting with the people and causing the many problems that South Africa and the African continent as a whole experience on a day-to-day basis: xenophobia, government corruption, apathy, and discrimination on the basis of race and gender, to name only a few. As a result of their prolonged detainment on Earth, the South African government decides to round up all the aliens into a camp called District 9 (sound familiar? If you know your South African history, then you will see the link between this and District Six). Therein starts the drama of the film, and its brilliance. The segregation of the aliens from the rest of humanity will make anyone in the world, and South Africans in particular, think of any racial injustice that has been suffered in the world. Whether it is the Nazi concentration camps of the Second World War or the apartheid era of South African history, the Berlin Wall, or even the wall that keeps many Palestinians imprisoned in their own country, District 9 shows how we as human
beings are quick to put that which is perceived to be different away from our social circles, in small walled areas where we are free to do with them as we wish. Perhaps the best way that District 9 makes the African connection is the way that it makes the foreign aliens signifiers of injustice. The aliens are ugly. They are violent. They are everything that is not human and do not be shocked if somewhere along the film’s duration, you find yourself agreeing with some of the most twisted things that are done to them. No fear - it’s all part of being human. We all like seeing someone being victimised...especially when that someone is not one of us. But the real disturbing question behind District 9 is the lack of identity that the screenwriters deny the aliens. Who are they? They could be anyone...and do not feel surprised if you seem to think that the aliens just might be you. As a film, District 9 achieves what many films of its genre do not achieve; it manages to blend the otherworldly with the problems that exist right outside your doorstep, the little black problem you employ in your house to do your laundry for meagre pay, or the small coloured
issue of drug abuse, the white dilemma of exploitation... small things. But it explores these issues on a larger scale that transcends the boundaries of the African continent. District 9 is a film for any country in the world, a fact that has been proven by its worldwide success. A fact that is reassuring, showing that it is not only Africa that has dark pasts, grim presents and uncertain futures to confront. Yes, it has special effects, but it is the shacks in the film that stop you from blinking. Yes, it has funny accents that belong to those barefooted people from Benoni, but the humour ceases when the same “funny” accent is used to evict people from their houses, when it laughs at something being tortured. It has some Siphos and Vusis in it too, and it makes them insecure about the muti that they practice and challenges their cultural beliefs. Across the board, it shows you your own reflection. Don’t be shocked if you don’t like what it is that you are seeing. A South African film for the continent and the world; District 9 can only be explained in three South African words, “Yoh! Yoh, yoh.”
DEFINITELY NOT HUMAN - District 9 uses the prawn-like aliens to show how we as human beings discriminate on a visual basis.
Conveniently located in the leafy suburb of Claremont, the hub of the Southern Suburbs
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16 The definition of rap Night School FEATURES
VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
“If I could be a rapper...I would be Jay-Z. If I could be a rap album, I would be The Piet Smedy and Cayleigh Bright go Pussyfooting Blueprint III.” Remy Ngamije reviews the most leaked album, and the most anticipated around Ivy League, the newest hangout in Long rap album from Jay-Z to date.
Street.
JAY-Z’s latest offering was the most leaked album in the world way before its 11 September release, but even that does not seem to have impeded its march to the top of the Billboard charts. Loaded with 15 songs abounding with Jay-Z’s typical slick metaphors, trademark flowing style, and allround “definition of swag”, The Blueprint III is the most co-ordinated rap album the world has ever seen. When, and not if, the album reaches number one, Jay-Z will become the second-most successful chart artist ever, with 11 number one albums, surpassing even Elvis Presley’s record. Only The Beatles, with 19 number ones, will be ahead of the rap legend. Anyone who has listened to a rap album before will notice that there is a general trend that is followed: 11 songs, an intro and an outro, and perhaps three or four skits somewhere in between. If you are lucky enough to find two
hit songs on one album, it will be a miracle. But if two hit songs is all it takes to have a number one album, what does 15 mean? “Death of Auto-tune”, “Empire State of Mind”, “A Star is Born”, “Already Home”, “Young Forever”, “Reminder”, “Hate” the list goes on. It’s shocking that you can find so many good songs on just one album. But in retrospect, that is what one would expect from someone who, across the board, is regarded as the most talented rap artist the world has ever seen. His tenth studio album is a study in creativity, featuring the newest upcoming stars, such as Drake, Kid Cudi and Mr Hudson. The usual rap stars appear for cameo scenes, Kanye West being the most notable out of all of them, but you are left in no doubt about whose album you are listening to: this is Jay-Z’s world, and it is captured on a fifteen-track ensemble that cannot be beaten.
There’s something for everyone; you want that club feel? Put on “Off That”, featuring Drake, a young rapper seen as the next big thing. Wanna make love? Crank up “Venus vs Mars”. Want to feel like you’re from New York? Toss “Empire State of Mind” on the playlist and feel like a Yankee. If you have’nt bought an original album in the past ten years, now is the time to do so. LISTEN & LEARN - Jay-Z is the headmaster of the old school.
What’s the word, Cowboy Mouth CAYLEIGH BRIGHT FRANK Zappa once said that rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read. I have my doubts about my writing abilities, and I can’t be absolutely sure that all of you can read, but I can say for certain that The Mechanicals can act.
After their lengthy and successful British Lines Tour, the group seems energised to present another production that’s polished from front of house, to sex-sells press images, to the performance itself. Nicholas Pauling gives a suitably subdued portrayal of a conflicted musician, while Tinarie Van Wyk treats her character - a fragile personality and a bold performer - with the delicacy the part needs.
Achingly intimate moments make Cowboy Mouth’s audience feel uncomfortable in the best possible sense, wondering whether it’s their privilege or misfortune to watch the ins and outs of the couple’s complex love-hate relationship. Cowboy Mouth will be at the Intimate Theatre until October 4th at 20:00 from Tuesdays to Sundays and tickets are R70 for students.
The Lost Symbol revealed
Calvin Scholtz spends a weekend in bed, exploring Dan Brown’s latest successful Robert Langdon thriller THE release of Dan Brown’s fifth and latest novel, The Lost Symbol, is without a doubt the biggest thing to happen in the publishing world of late, if not ever. The book now holds the record for the largest initial print run in history at around 6.5 million copies, and that’s just in hardcover. Even in the midst of a global economic recession, booksellers are banking on people forking out between R200 to R300 to get their hands on this title. So, why all the fuss? The answer: The Da Vinci Code. In 2003, Dan Brown became a household name overnight when this crime/thriller was a controversial runaway hit. The book made certain claims about Jesus, albeit under the guise of fiction, and sales were certainly given a boost when the Vatican urged people not to read it. Today, it is the best-selling paperback in history, as well as a less-successful film starring Tom Hanks. Following shortly after the success of The Da Vinci Code, Brown’s publishers expected a sequel within the year. He assured them that he was working on one, and that it would be entitled The Solomon Key. One year turned into two, which then turned into three, and it is only now, six years later, that the book has finally appeared, rechristened as The Lost Symbol. The build-up to its release, furthermore, involved a carefully designed advertising campaign. The big day was set for 15 September, which publishers
glibly called “Dan Brown Day”. Publishers shifted the release of other titles accordingly, to avoid being overshadowed by it. The book’s cover was also only recently revealed, along with small details about the plot. The movie rights had been sold months before publication. On 14 September, an entire building in Cape Town, and buses in Johannesburg, bore images of the book’s cover.
Now that the book is finally in bookstores everywhere, the question is: Does it live up to expectations? The short answer is yes, as long as you were expecting a Dan Brown novel. However, I don’t think we should anticipate a Da Vinci Code-like furore over it. The story takes place over a 12-hour period, and begins when
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is invited by his mentor, Peter Solomon, to give a lecture in Washington, D.C. Langdon is also asked to bring with him a small package that Solomon entrusted to him years ago. However, upon his arrival at the Capitol building, he receives a call from a man who claims to have Solomon in his power and will kill him unless Langdon helps him find the location of the Ancient Mysteries, artifacts that, legends say, are guarded by the Freemasons and which can reveal the secrets of history, religion and even life itself. As with Brown’s previous Robert Langdon novels, there is a heroine and a ruthless killer, there are maps to follow and riddles to solve, there are secret societies and conspiracy theories, and there are refreshing looks at art and philosophy, as well as a few major plot twists. All controversy aside, I suspect that Brown is so popular because he is a skilled and entertaining thriller writer: he draws you into a story, and keeps you turning the pages. The Lost Symbol, while having strong historical and religious aspects to it, is perhaps the most forward-looking and spiritual book of the Robert Langdon trilogy: Brown explores various topics of esoteric knowledge, including “the intention experiment” and the 2012 Mayan prophecies, and also seeks to harmonise this with science and technology. It’s an interesting message that he ultimately delivers, and one I think that needs to be heard.
THE capable team behind Wadda has brought the ’Mont to Long with Ivy League, which lives up to the preppy connotations of its name. Riding on the back of the Purple Turtle, Ivy League is something of a contradiction: Claremont club kids meet the artier crowd that usually graces Long Street, all in a club that feels alarmingly stylish for either of the aforementioned scenes. While the inside is decorated in pretty standard club style, the preppy, athletic theme is carried through with trophy cases filled with, yes, trophies, mixed up with bottles of premium alcohol. It’s the balcony area, though, that offers something a little different: Pale canopies and original features of a decidedly retro building give the venue the bored sophistication that pretentious clubs tend to lack. On an evening dedicated to showing off the club to press, the free drinks flowed in the form of cocktails created using the dubiously named energy drink, Pussy. What was described as a “chilled networking event” proceeded in true Cape Town style, with everyone networking with the people they knew, then making lots of new friends after realising that this would help them to get more Pussy, faster. The event presented the “who’s who” and “who’s that” of Cape Town’s social scene, and the turn-out was good. But the fact of the matter is that filling a club
that operates in direct competition with Tiger Tiger on Thursday night is a challenge that isn’t for anyone who doesn’t have a good degree of stupidity or faith in their venture. We’re not complaining, by the way, about having space to move and welcome drinks that kept welcoming us for a good three hours. Those who couldn’t handle their Pussy opted for the cheapest Jack and lime in town. At sixteen rand each, we challenge you to find more bourbon for your buck at any place other than Cadiz on Loop – but that’s another story entirely. The bartenders deserve a mention – they were friendly and more than happy to hang on to the collection of gift bags to which we’d helped ourselves. This was press night, and so the club probably can’t be entirely accurately judged, but what we saw, we liked. The overall verdict? While not in a league entirely of its own, Long Street’s newest offering has grown on us, so make the effort to travel to the other side of the mountain and the same might just happen to you. Wednesday nights are Student Nights at Ivy League: It’s R6 a brand until twelve. Also worth checking out are Friday’s Bucket Nights and Saturday’s Hello Piggy special – that’s free drinks from eight until ten, with entrance costing R40 until ten and R30 after that.
UP, up and away ZERENE HADDAD SINCE watching Up I’ve been trying to understand why we are still watching movies in 2D. Perhaps I’m overly enthusiastic because it was my first time watching a 3D movie, but I was quite literally blown away (this is a funny pun if you bear in mind that Up has a lot of helium balloons in it). It’s unusual for an animation to have you sniffling into your popcorn within the first ten minutes, only to be followed by desperate attempts to keep your legs crossed so you don’t laugh a puddle into your pants. I could hint at all the funny one- “SQUIRREL!”liners but then that would be me giving away the story, and I really hate it when reviews do that. So, I shall attempt to give you a vague idea about it… Although it is predominantly an all “man-male” cast of characters, the movie actually revolves around two female characters: Ellie and Kevin (yes, Kevin). The rest of the cast consists of a rambling house, a slightly podgy boy, old men, dogs, an odd bird and thousands of helium balloons. Did I mention the lurking threat of the squirrel? If you are after an adventure, Up is it: zimmer frame fight scenes, World War One shootouts and wilderness explorer techniques. Moreover, the superior gadgetry is enough to rival any Bond movie - come on people, not even Bond gets a floating house! Up doesn’t have any underthe-porch humour (this, again, will make sense when you go watch it) and it successfully
manages to resurrect the “knock knock” joke, so don’t worry about the kids being subjected to subliminal sexual references. It’s almost as if the movie is a dream directly translated onto the screen, relying heavily on its visual stimulus. Its technical features are incredible, yet at the same time simple - a montage here and there, and the director certainly knows how to use silences to their full effect. But it really is the dialogue that makes it all worth your while, along with some priceless facial expressions - humans and animals alike. I’ve found it very hard to do this review because all I really have to say is, “Go watch it. Now.”
CONE OF SHAME- Do yourself a favour and avoid being a social outcast like Dug (yes, it is spelled that way). Make sure you see the 3D version of Up!
Varsity
17
FEATURES
More than my (dis)ablities
AS SOUTH Africans we are coached to see and treat everyone as equal. Blatant discrimination is no longer tolerated and rarely experienced on fine campuses like UCT. A politically correct student body is cultivated into constantly saying the right thing at the right time. We are sensitive. We are respectful. We stand up for the cause of the weak and the disabled. And without realising it, we are actually found wanting. I freeze up and stumble over my words - frantically trying not to say the wrong thing. Michelle Botha, chairperson of the Disabled Students Movement at UCT, is a third-year student with degenerative eyesight. Michelle says, “It’s just ignorance. People are too sensitive. They don’t want to ask. We’re fine if you want to ask.” And so, like a greenhorn feeling her way around an unknown world, I start asking. UCT offers great services to students with disabilities. The Abigail Mlotchwa Dayhouse for students with disabilities, housed on the fourth floor of the Steve Biko Building, provides a space for disabled students to socialise and interact. Michelle calls the dayhouse “a great place to relax and network”. Disability service computer labs, a fleet of Jammie Shuttles modified to fit the needs of disabled staff and students, a hoist for disabled students in Jameson Hall and a wheelchair access map of Upper Campus are some of the services offered by UCT. Personal assistance forms a big part of the aim of the disability unit, as the department is fully aware of students having individual needs. According to Mrs
Reinette Popplestone, manager of UCT disability services, a lot of problems remain a reality, as UCT is not fully accessible. But when people come to ask for help, they usually succeed in finding answers together. Michelle reiterates this view, as she describes UCT’s
ignorance. It demands more than being sensitive, or respectful, or saying the right thing. It’s about engagement - not only with the issue, but with the actual people Mrs Popplestone talks about the phenomenon of the “supercrip” mentality. Sermons
“brave heroes overcoming their circumstances”. What this subtly communicates, is that what people with disabilities need to do in order to be ordinary, is be extraordinary. Michelle speaks out of her own experience in saying that yes, mostly she does feel pressure to +OCIG EQWTVGU[ QH YYY ƀKEMT EQO
GERDA VON BENECKE
MORE THAN MY SHORTCOMINGS - When all is said and done, disabled people are just that, people. In the picture, Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorius continues to prove that handicaps are no more than a mental barrier to what can be achieved by the human spirit. support for disabled students as “probably one of the best systems”. What needs to be stressed is the fact that, among many of the false socialised assumptions, the grouping of the words “weak” and “disabled” should be revised and edited. Information and knowledge is the key to eradicating
Sharpshooter
BY CHE MAURITZ
and motivational books are filled with heroic stories of disabled people doing all sorts of weird and wonderful things, like singlehandedly sailing across the Pacific Ocean, or being hoisted with a helicopter all the way to the top of Kilimanjaro. The media usually picks up on these stories, describing these individuals as
perform, especially as someone with a disability that achieved getting into university. “I guess it’s rooting for the underdog... you want to see them sail,” says Michelle. It is important to note at what intensity people with disabilities are pressurised into performing and succeeding so as to show the world how “special”
they “really” are. While these issues might seem too strange or over-analysed to get one’s head around, it remains a good starting point to becoming more openminded. The radical idea of society being the problem, instead of the disability, is exactly what is needed to offer the best hope for both practical improvements for the disabled as well as contributions to the positive sense of disability identity. For this reason it is important to point towards the good intentions of leaders such as the 2008/9 SRC member for transformation, Mzwah Kweyama. During his term he chose to focus on the issue of disability by arranging, for example, the training of SRC members on matters of disability. The student community should be encouraged to truly engage with the issue in all fields of study, in the organisation of all student events and within all student organisations. We are, after all, the future architects, filmmakers and policy-makers of South Africa. Most importantly, it is up to the entire student community to look up, look at each other, look at the wheelchair - and talk about the “wrong thing” with the right intention. This, according to Mrs. Popplestone, is part of the ultimate goal of “making the extra-ordinary ordinary”. * For those students interested in reading more, check out the Disability Unit Resource Centre on the fourth floor of the Steve Biko Student Union Building for a wealth of literature on current discourses within the field.
The illusion of safety on campus NYASHA KADANDARA
HOW safe do you feel on campus? Do you ever worry that you could potentially be attacked, or robbed of something rather precious? For the average student, the answer to these questions is usually, “Well I feel pretty safe, it’s not like someone’s going jump me in the hallway…” It’s interesting to see that so many of us seem oblivious of our surroundings, and assume that there is no way that we could ever be in harm’s way. But have you ever considered that as you read this you could be sitting next to a criminal, a thief or an assailant, or that you, the reader, could even be one of the abovementioned? Sorry to make you feel uncomfortable about the person you’re sitting next to, but you actually aren’t as safe you would have liked to believe. Some of you have had the unfortunate experience of being victims of crime; sometimes these situations have been completely unavoidable, and sometimes we draw attention to ourselves - reporting a crime to CPS moments later. In the event that you are the victim of a crime, there is a high possibility that you live in residence, it’s first semester, and your laptop is a sitting duck. The
highest occurrences of crime at UCT happen in residences, either when you just popped into the dining hall, just got into the shower or just went to get notes from the guy down the corridor. The crimes take place most frequently during the first half of the year, and in the last four years, March has had the highest number of reported incidences. When the thief gets their two-second opportunity, anything that’s worth their while is up for grabs – your laptop, camera, wallet, jewellery, or textbook; you name it, they’ll take it, if it’s good for money. Petty theft has no preferences. The library during study leave is a playground for anyone with sticky fingers - as students, we’re so stressed and overwhelmed by exams that we tend to leave our stuff unattended , not realising until it’s too late that we’re missing a phone, laptop, or – the worst-case scenario – the notes for your next exam. Now the million dollar question: Who is committing all these crimes? Like I said before, it’s the guy sitting next to you, or the girl sitting in the row below you. It could even be you. We suffer from student-onstudent crime. Of course, there are non-UCT people who amble onto University property and violate our rights of ownership, but, sadly, it is usually someone you know,
and this why it is so hard to catch perpetrators – because they are among us. It’s not that hard to commit a crime on an unsuspecting UCT student. While there are cameras all over campus - 278 to be exact - these cameras are used mainly to identify trespassers, and as a method of reviewing crime scenes. In the moment that you are being robbed or attacked, and are in too much shock to scream for help, the chances of CPS officers running round the corner and screaming, “Stop!” are very slim, and even if a CPS officer was nearby, he would be just as defenceless. This is not to say that CPS are futile agents on campus – their very presence on Main Road and around campus acts as a deterrence to criminals, and they help you relax a bit more when you’re walking home from a late night in the Comm Labs. Arming CPS agents could result in some serious misuse of weapons, so we’re all probably better off if they’re unarmed. All of which leads us to the conclusion that safety really is an illusion of sorts. You could not care, and live freely and somewhat carelessly, or you could be a victim of fear and paranoia. Either way, it would probably pay to watch your back from time to time.
18 Abducted: 18 hours in Senator Park FEATURES
JEFFREY WEBSTER DISTRICT 9: the part with the Nigerians. That’s what it was like. They wanted to eat my arm, suck out all that alien magic. A student alone on Long at 4am – my favourite playground – and, under my cultivated bohemian attire, unpresumptuous face, my moisturised white skin, the alien life blood must flow; veins of liquid gold. There were things, besides a few bank cards, a few digital figures, that I lost. Things I have learned. But let us skip to the meat. Why was I there in the first place? Here’s the scandal: I was looking for a joint; a conical, dagga-filled drug snack about the size of a cigarette. I was there because I had had a bad day, and, as you can easily infer, because I am not a regular drug user (evidently this is not the best method of acquisition). I wanted to buy a joint and take it to my flat to smoke, listen to some nostalgic ‘lost-generation’ pity music, something like Nirvana or Wilco. The meat: second course. I never got my joint; instead, during the negotiation phase, I was accosted by three men and taken to a small flat somewhere among the peopled haze of iniquity known as Senator Park, where the ravenous microvillus sway deep inside the belly of the beast. Kidnapper A showed me his knife. I said, hyperventilating, ‘come on guys, you don’t need to do this’. He said, ‘do you think we’re fucking around. Let me see your wallet.’ So it began. I was taken to the bathroom. No toilet-paper, no toilet-seat (no shower curtain or loo-roll i-pod docking-station either). The place was thick with supremely dauntless cockroaches. There I was robbed of my wallet’s contents, and I gave away the pin codes for my two cards without hesitation, multiple times (they
didn’t have a pen). When I tried to lie – about my home address and whether I had a sister - they could tell. There were five or six guys at this point, some lean, some built; they were aggressive and threatening. The knife was flashed when they didn’t believe me. I told them that the one account was empty (it was the 25th); the other had a daily withdrawal limit. Anyway I spent the remainder of the dark hours there. For most of the time someone was in there watching or drilling me (not as in Hostel, but for information). I was mildly terrified but kept my head. I tried to explain how I was harmless (this they knew) and how I would remain harmless to them especially if they let me go now (this they couldn’t chance). I asked them about themselves, some even chatted back although as if under duress. We even had a tame political debate (‘do you hate the murungus?’). One guy said, ‘why you don’t look after your brothers? When they come to you like this’, he pretended to beg. I told him that I did. That I tried at least. That it wasn’t fair; the state of things. This I believe. The world over. Kidnapper B filled me with hate because he was cruel and malicious. I remember thinking, ‘From what type of world do people come, that can make them like this?’. He was my tormenting sentry: he told me to sit when I was standing, to stand when I was sitting; told me they would let me go and also that he couldn’t let me leave there alive, unless there was a miracle and I made him rich. He said, ‘don’t make me angry. You are not the first, not the second, not the third’. He said, ‘I will kill you like this’, and snapped his fingers. I believed kidnapper B. His eyes were cold. I remember thinking, if I get out of this, I am coming back for you, for retribution, like the wronged stray from a Japanese vengeance film. I was filled with the hatred that froths out of you
SAFE AND SOUND - After 18 hours, Jeffrey Webster is brave enough to recount his tale. when you think of someone raping your sister or your mother. For someone so unreasonably cruel, needlessly inhumane. I called my father at 6am from someone else’s phone with my SIM inside. Kidnapper A found the contact under ‘Dad’, pressed dial, held the phone to my mouth and listened in. I was to pretend that everything was fine and that I just needed some money, but famously the call came in ‘unnaturally early’ for a nocturnal student and my father became suspicious. He sensed something too, from my voice, and I said incongruous things like, ‘see you later’. In the morning they allowed me to sit in the lounge and eat, although I did not know the sun had risen. I ate and drank Castle along with them. I encountered fifteen or so different people in that flat; some girls, one of whom was beaten while I was there and her screams made me
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VOLUME 68 NUMBER 11
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afraid because I had never heard anyone so urgently desperate to be somewhere else. They were animal cries and I cringed, shrill and hoarse, head between knees on a bed where two people were sleeping. After a few hours I refused to eat and refused to speak because I would have them know I was not complicit in their crime. Kidnapper B forced me to eat KFC bought with my card, fetched with my car. As the day wore on I became convinced of two things. The first was that I needed to get out of there. The second was that I could not. Often times, watching Tarentino, Guy Ritchie or the like, you imagine yourself capable of pulling some Jason Bourne, Kevin McCallister (Google it) adrenaline fuelled wonder stunt, some Krav Maga incapacitation; punch down a wall or claw out an eye or some such. Well the truth is it hadn’t quite come to that. I considered the big knife in the kitchen for the reverse hostage grab. I considered the super run-away. I even attempted to judo chop the one guy in the throat, but I ran into problems when the nerves from my brain refused to fire. Truth is, it was all a bad idea, I knew it then and I know it now. So my escape plan: I stood up and walked into the room where everybody was and said, ‘I’m leaving now. Give me my keys.’ I turned and started to walk – keyless - and they all urged me to sit down and Kidnapper B told me to ‘just try it.’ I slumped against the wall and they argued, pointed, and after they shouted for a while, one of the girls started to cry. I said, ‘let me go now and we’ll forget all about this. Because they will soon realise I am missing.’ One thing I lost: a belief in myself, that such heroism comes easily. I don’t want to trivialise the most atrocious episode of the last century, but I could visualise and partially understand how some of the victims of WWII could line up to be shot over the pits they had just dug. Again, it really is nothing like that, but there was something I experienced that no one should: hopelessness. Many more small things happened. There were more phone calls. My mom cleverly said, straight out of Hallmark crime flick, ‘if something is wrong say you are fine’. That was a tense moment because Kidnapper A had his ear to the phone and I said, ‘No, I’m fine’ but he didn’t pick up on the scheme. I dissuaded them from calling and demanding a R10 000 ransom. I knew if they knew that my parents knew, they
would speed things up, maybe act rashly. People came and went. Loud music. Drugs everywhere. It was little over 18 hours – less than the time period required before reporting a missing person – that the cops bust in. About twelve of them, armed and Kevlar clad. I think we were all equally surprised, the occupants and I – one guy apparently jumped out of the window (the flat was quite high up). I can’t describe the feeling of relief. It was the unprecedented rarity of a miracle, because I knew it either had to end this way (which I was convinced was impossible), or another way; who knows how long I could have been in there. As the inspector said afterwards, ‘people disappear in Senator Park all the time, consider yourself a survivor’. It was my alien powers that rescued me. My incredible friends and siblings who were straight out of CSI: Cape Town (someone should really do that show). My ever vigilant parents who went to the ends of the earth to protect their grown-up child. The remarkable police task force. The suspicious bank that played their role. The media. Someone indignant on the inside (that is how they found me – don’t tell). And something I learned: that I am stronger than I thought in other ways. I never undermined my beliefs and materialised a god to beseech. When Kidnapper B scrolled through my phone contacts and said, ‘Which one is your sister, I want to get her’, I told him no, and decided then that there are things I would have suffered gravely to protect. And the moral of the story. One of the police said afterwards, ‘you were at the right place, at the wrong time.’ He meant, three times distilled, that I had every right to be where I was, that criminals violate our rights and that I can regret what happened but I am not to blame. I believe this. I don’t think (like you might) that I was naïve to be where I was. It is the wrong word. I think rather unduly hopeful. I had a hopeful trust in the people of this country, of all people, that surely there was some inviolable sense of humanity that, if we communed with openness and kindness, would not be shattered. Why would it? Do we not all want happiness and camaraderie? It makes me sad to think of the world that makes people have to live in that way, and sure we all harbour malice just as we harbour good, but now its force is proven to me. The damage comes in the form of nightmares, hyper-vigilance; clinging to walls in public places, searching each dark face I see for signs of Kidnapper B even though my rationality, my conscious thoughts, tells me it is unjustified. I am very grateful, to everyone involved (the good guys of course), thankful that this has probably been blown out of proportion the way it ended. I love this country, the people, foreign nationals. I believe most of us live well in this country - the stereotypes: paranoid whites, the ambitious and rightly hopeful blacks – we live well despite what you might think. I think we have a future, we have a present; history has seen worse. We have the opportunity to treat each other well. Continue to love and care for each other, but beware certain individuals. I think I have learned that people must prove their trustworthiness, before any is to be given. Thank you to my family and friends, the police and the UCT community.
19 South African sport in great shape Varsity
SPORTS
Edward Sellier discusses SA sporting successes in recent times and just why we are on top of the world IT’S certainly a great time to be a South African sports fan. We have every reason to feel bullish. Our rugby, cricket, and football teams have never been stronger and there is a widespread aura of optimism across our nation as we approach 2010. The Springboks’ success in Australasia completed a memorable season for the men in green. After an emphatic series win against the British and Irish Lions, critics felt the Bokke would not have the mental or physical strength to see out a competitive Tri-Nations campaign. They must be eating their words now – I’ve never witnessed a team having to dig that deep to win. The bloody face of captain marvel John Smit told the entire story of a team battered and exhausted, yet victorious. If
the side continues to build as it has done with the superb blend of youth and experience for the 2011 World Cup (and, of course, if the All Blacks draw the French again), then the final berth is assured. The Proteas head into the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy top of the test and ODI rankings. With the fast pitches at home best suited to the Protea’s swashbuckling style of play, and with no obvious weaknesses in an extremely settled side, it would have to go down as a major disappointment should we not clinch the trophy. There is an intriguing summer ahead, which includes the visit of a buoyant, Ashes-winning England side – they will certainly pose a threat after ousting their old enemy. For the Proteas, it’s one thing to
BRUCE BAIGRIE
The scrum is almost always under pressure, with John Smit often buckling in his new position. With the new laws increasing the potential of the scrum, it becomes a problem the brains trust cannot ignore. The solution is not simple, with John Smit being instrumental to the Springboks success and Bismark du Plessis being arguably the best hooker in the world. De Villiers will have to make a difficult call, or else risk problems against the powerful packs of the North. Their tendency to lose intensity in the final 20 is a concern. Jean de Villiers and Francois Steyn’s departure for Europe leaves a massive hole in an unsettled back division. De Villiers’ ability and experience will be missed as well as his partnership with Jaques Fourie. Steyn’s incredible boot or “Rocket Launcher” as his captain calls it, showed it’s massive potential last Saturday and his departure is all the more concerning. At fullback the Boks are limited, with Ruan Pienaar looking weary in the position and the backup player Zane Kirchner lacking test experience. Kirchner is the obvious option, with Pienaar clearly not up for the position, and Jacobs or Olivier not being willing to take over from de Villiers. Whatever happens, the Boks will be weaker for it. With a tough end of year ahead of them, including France and Ireland, the Boks cannot afford to lose intensity. By all means they must enjoy being at the top, but they must be willing to play every minute of every game defending it, because that is what it will take.
have become the best team in the world; it’s an altogether different challenge to maintain that. Many of my media contemporaries have voiced concerns about Bafana Bafana’s recent results. However, I see it as a process of evolution of an increasingly disciplined outfit under Joel Santana. Who would ever have conceived, when South Africa was announced as the 2010 host, that two years later we would narrowly lose to Brazil in a major semi-final? Who would have thought that Bafana could be competitive in the Allianz Arena against a superb German side? The foundations have been laid with a successful Confederations Cup campaign, but it’s now about consolidation, and with a little bit of luck there’s no reason why
Bafana can’t make the knock-out phase on next year’s grand stage. Let’s be realistic: we are starting to be competitive with the big guns, which means, in a game as unpredictable as football, that we have every chance of success.
DAN FREUND
Jong continues to churn out industrious performances in the midfield, while the excellent Stephen Ireland’s performances this season have only added to his growing reputation. The key element for City and Spurs, though, will be developing the winning attitude that is so prevalent at the top clubs. It is impossible to maintain a high standard of play throughout the year, so the real key to success is winning ugly.
UCT sports On campus, the rugby season is drawing to a close with the IKEY Tigers recording a recent convincing victory against Villagers before narrowly losing to Hamilton. I strongly urge all students to head down to the Green Mile this coming Friday from 18:30 to witness the final game of the season with the Tigers, Eagles, Ish Dramat and Trojans all in action against our old foe, Maties. Let’s create a cauldron of noise as the men in stripes aim to cap off a
fantastic season in style. I could not be more excited about what lies ahead for us, both as a nation and as a university, on the sports front. I believe that the enthusiasm that surrounds our national sports extends to encourage excellence at UCT. I appeal to the students to immerse themselves in every sporting opportunity that presents itself, both as participants and supporters. With a busy summer of cricket, water-polo, athletics, tennis, golf, basketball and surfing to name a few, it will be our pleasure as the VARSITY sports section to illustrate the passion that sport provides for our campus. We intend to raise as much awareness as possible about the scores of sporting accolades and achievements of UCT’s teams and individuals.
Boks champions at last Premier league drama continues SATURDAY capped what has been one of the most successful years in Springbok history. After dropping off the top spot in 2008, Peter de Villiers’ Boks have become the first SA team to beat both the British and Irish Lions and win the Tri-Nations in the same year. They are also the only team to have beaten the All-Blacks three times in a row, including a victory in the Waikato Fortress. De Villiers and his assistants now have an impressive record of 77%, the highest since post-isolation after Kristie’s magical 100%. After the World Cup, many believed the Springboks had been lucky in their fixtures draw and that their victory there did not translate into World dominance. That bogey has been put to rest in emphatic fashion and the Boks now cruise ahead of New Zealand and Australia in the rankings. Our team has added a new dimension and confident aura into their game. They now dominate the breakdown, an area where they have always struggled. The blend of senior veterans and young talents is perfect, with the likes of Brussouw and Steyn making great impressions in their debut seasons. The tactical kicking has come on in leaps and bounds and remains the best in the world, while their backline has looked incredibly dangerous on occasions. As South Africans we should enjoy every minute of being at the top because, rest assured, every team will now throw everything against us. There are also still disquieting areas in this team.
THE ENGLISH football season has been underway for over a month and thus far the excitement associated with the league has not been unfounded. Particularly noticeable in the opening salvos of this season has been the increased prominence of Spurs, City and Aston Villa. Though both City and Spurs suffered losses at the weekend, I expect their prominence will not wane over the season, and that both have a very real chance of finishing in the top four. Spurs started the season off in fine style with a win over Liverpool at home, and have not looked back since. Harry Redknapp’s squad appears extremely strong this time round with a wealth of variety in attack coupled with the formidable partnership of Modric and Wilson Palacios in the midfield. Palacios, in particular has had a storming start; his ability to break down dangerous opposition attacks has been desperately needed at the Lane for a while. Manchester City were unlucky on Sunday to lose their derby match. City came from behind three times in what was surely one of the most exciting Manchester derbies of all time. However, in the 96th minute Michael Owen popped up in the box to grab the winner and ensure a furious response from Mark Hughes. Local feuds aside, this City team does look the real deal. Their forward line attacks with purpose and no shortage of creativity. Nigel De
“...Off the pitch there have already been some quite unsettling scenes...” The unglamorous 1-0 away at Stoke in midweek is worth as much as a high-profile win against Chelsea. Of the usual suspects, Chelsea have started the best with a perfect 6 from 6 return. Carlo Ancelotti has seemingly settled easily into life in West London and the Blues look as though they may be the most serious title contenders this year. They will face a stern test next month though when they face host Liverpool. It was this fixture last year that saw the end of their 86 game unbeaten streak at home. Off the pitch there have already been some quite incredible scenes.
Emmanuel Adebayor’s run in with Arsenal fans was one such moment. The lunacy of Adebayor’s celebration is clear but the criticism he received, in my opinion, was unjustified. Adebayor received consistent abuse from the Arsenal fans throughout the match, why should he not be allowed to throw it back at them? This abuse was not refined to his move to City, as he clearly took constant criticism from Gunners’ fans throughout last season as well. Fans cannot expect to dish it out for ages and then get overly sensitive when it comes back round. Other off the pitch distractions include the resumption of the West-Ham/Millwall feud in rather acrimonious fashion. English football took a trip back to the dark days of the 80’s as the streets outside Upton Park were turned into a miniature warzone. Large-scale pitch invasions by the West Ham fans also contributed to the overall nastiness of the atmosphere. The scenes in East London prompted much debate over whether the English game was returning slowly as a centre for hooliganism. This seems to me to be highly unlikely, rather it seems that the highly volatile nature of relationship between the two clubs, partnered with a late kick off and a small away fan allocation were the root causes of this unfortunate night. I would be extremely surprised if we see trouble of this nature in the game any time soon.
Engineers Work in Australia OZ work / study in 2010? Great opportunities for recent Engineering graduates from UCT to get 18 months visa for skilled jobs in demand in Australia. Call Noeleen Gilchrist from teleo-immigration.com at 083 556 9500
LUCY MILLS, CASSIE CLARK & MARI HUAGAA UCT Masters graduate (Social Anthropology) Cassie Clark and Masters students Lucy Mills and Mari Haugaa (Development Studies and Gender Studies) recently joined their complementary research backgrounds to form a Research Collective, specialising in Sport, Development and Gender. Having played football together for the UCT women’s team for the past two years they share a desire to promote female participation in football and are dedicated to improving the status of women within the sport in South Africa. These inspirational women are making us of their privileged educational status and proving that academic research can be applied practically to contribute to achieving positive social change. Last month they were awarded a research commission by an organisation called Gender Links, based in Johannesburg, to contribute to a comprehensive study on issues relating to Gender and the 2010 World Cup that the organisation is conducting. Cassie, Lucy, and Mari have chosen to focus specifically on female coaches, referees and administrators in football structures in Cape Town to understand what socio-economic opportunities are available to women as a result of the World Cup coming to South Africa, and to generate input from women of influence about how to increase female opportunities and participation in football for 2010 and beyond. Lucy argues that ‘there is a disjuncture between official governmental, FIFA and other organisational discourse on the societal benefits that the World Cup is perceived to bring,
Photo by Lucy Mill
2010 World Cup and gender research
ON THE GROW - Much like women’s football in the world, UCT Woman’s Football is exponentially growing in popularity and attracting the masses. and the lived experiences of those people on the ground’. The three further highlight that World Cup discourses mask how women in particular are benefiting and playing a role in the World Cup, if any. If the World Cup’s legacy is to reach out to South Africa’s underprivileged populations then women’s voices are vital in guiding how best this can be done since women constitute a majority of the underprivileged. Similarly, as Cassie points out, ‘if the government is genuine
about using sport as a means to achieving equitable development, then women must not only be primary targets of sport-related programmes, but they must also be included in planning, decisionmaking and implementation stages too’. This research aims to incorporate the views of women already working in football structures in order to gain a genderinclusive perspective of how to maximise the socio-economic benefits and create a lasting legacy of the World Cup. Up until now,
discussion in relation to women and the World Cup has been largely either about ways in which women are at risk, for example via sex-trafficking and prostitution, or about ways in which female entrepreneurs may benefit as the tourism sector prospers. Mari points out that ‘due to the focus on male football participants, females are often forgotten or included in peripheral roles, but what is missing is a serious consideration of the role of women in football throughout South Africa’.
The research has a qualitative focus, consisting of extensive interviews and focus groups. Representatives from organisations such as Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), FIFA, the City of Cape Town, the World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the South African Football Association (SAFA) have given insights and information on what their organisation is saying and doing in relation to Gender and 2010. But the most significant part of the research is the voices of female coaches, referees and administrators from female football clubs, nongovernmental organisations and community-based organisations. These structures are part of Cape Town’s women’s football network that is determined to grow despite numerous day-to-day challenges. Cassie, Lucy and Mari are continuing their research until midSeptember. Their endeavour to enhance football at the grassroots does not stop there, however. Cassie is pursuing her PhD at the University of Johannesburg in Sport Science; Lucy is completing her thesis on grassroots football development whilst working for the sport for development organisation Grassroot Soccer; and Mari is completing her thesis on elite female footballers, while working for the sports development organisation SCORE. If anyone is interested in learning more about any of their research projects or work, or would like to comment, make suggestions or contribute, please email lucycmills@yahoo.co.uk or sms 0789036373.
DOMINIC VERWEY As our time draws nearer, we wait in anticipation for what is arguably the biggest sporting event in our history to come to this nation: the FIFA World Cup 2010. With matches occurring in stadiums country-wide, this tournament promises not only to be diverse in its participants, but there is also great diversity amongst the host cities. However, one stadium in particular that catches the attention of all who are observing is the Greenpoint Stadium. Cape Town continues to wait anxiously for the completion of the stadium– preferably it should have been completed before the Confederations Cup held earlier this year- so as to test the functionality of our fortress. This may have been a slightly optimistic wish seeing as a more pressing issue is whether it will be completed by the time the World Cup arrives on our doorstep next year. And will it be done? The answer is yes. Not for any other reason than it just has to be. Going to the Greenpoint Stadium, while in its current primitive state, is an eye-opening
experience. Nothing but rubble and potential meets you on entering the arena, but the main structure and competent planning of the stadium leaves nothing to be desired. It says to us, and those looking in on South Africa, that we are able to compete on the international level – something we have been craving to do for some time. The 60,000seater stadium is larger than many European football homes, proving to the world our determination to compete at the level of the overseas powerhouses. Additional features include the restructuring of the entire Greenpoint zone into a football-crazed mega domicile. Surrounding training pitches as well as an all new roof cover system unique to this stadium are being constructed to ensure an atmosphere worth living in. A question to be answered is whether the competition being hosted in South Africa will be as vibrant as or even more captivating than the ones held in Europe. I say that there is no such thing as the tournament held here being better or worse than ones in Europe, or being more or less vibrant than previous competitions, but rather that it will be an experience
totally different to what the world expects: a unique opportunity to flaunt our culture and showcase our pride of what we have in store for those foreign to our home. We, new to this type of honourable opportunity, will revel in the privilege we have been given – and this will be enough to make it apparent to visiting countries that we take our football seriously. A time for growth is upon us, and growing requires a team
Varsity, the official student newspaper since 1942, is committed to the principles of equality and democracy
Photo by Remy Ngamije
Enthusiasn, the building block of our stadium