Amandla! Student Strike

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I just wanted to do a quick update about a student strike on campus yesterday- it was a peaceful protest about accomodations at the University. Mainly the students were unhappy with the amount of students (supposedly 140) that were promised housing, paid their fees, and were not given housing. The students were demanding that certain University owned private residences, as well as rooms that had been allocated but never given, to be opened to these students. Also the students were demanding that construnction on new housing begin immediately on all campuses instead of in 'phases' as is the current plan.

The strike was not unanimous and, in fact, I went to my first class without knowing why I heard yelling on the other side of campus. My first class only had 4 students in it (but, to be fair, it was a 7:45 call on PostModernism, so Im not so sure the strike was the reason) and I went to check out the strike after my class.

Luckily I had a few hours open and was able to hang and see what was going on. There was alot of singing and chanting, with a few core organizers speaking about the issues on a bullhorn. The two groups with banners were the Progressive Youth Alliance and the Young Communists of South Africa. Many people few ANC flags/banners (the African National Congress is the leading political party and the organization responsible for bringing the end to Apartheid- for more information read Mandelas biography).

The crowd chanted the classic zulu protest call-and-response "Amandla" : "Awethu!"

The group brought the protest across campus to the housing office and handed a list of demands and in a few hours the University responded and the strike disbanded.

If you are interested, here are the two news bulletin posts that were emailed to all students by the University during the day:

"18 February 2008
On Monday morning, 18 February 2008, approximately 140 students engaged in a peaceful protest on the Pietermaritzburg campus to highlight what they regarded as insufficient accommodation in University residences.

After negotiations, 66 students are being allocated accommodation at a privately-run residence in town (25 rooms) and in residences on campus where places that were allocated but not taken up have been released (41 rooms). Some students will also be sharing accommodation.

It was also agreed that further accommodation would be located by the end of the first week of March 2008. Of the 140 students on the list presented to the Department of Student Housing, it would appear that only 56 students had actually applied for accommodation for 2008.

The protest is over and the University is committed to ensuring that the matter is resolved timeously and effectively.

Professor Dasarath Chetty
Pro-Vice-Chancellor(Corporate Relations)"

#2
"On Monday morning, 18 February 2008, approximately 120 students engaged in a peaceful protest on the Pietermaritzburg campus to highlight what they regard as insufficient student accommodation. The students marched to Student Housing to hand over a memorandum detailing their grievances. A delegation of six students has met with Ms Vasanthie Naidoo, Director: Student Housing, Reverend James Ngomane, Deputy Dean: Students, Pietermartizburg Campus and Ms Rose Yende, Deputy Director: Student Housing, Pietermaritzburg Campus.

The memorandum contains a list of grievances relating to insufficient student accommodation. These demands include the Department of Student Housing immediately leasing accommodation for students on the waiting list and the building of all new residences simultaneously across the campuses, rather than the phased process that has been planned.

Issued by Corporate Relations"

I borrowed someones camera to grab the photos, I could not bear standing in a crowd of protesters without a camera.

Amandla,
mark

ps. for anyone who is interested enough to repeat the phrase- the 'dl' in the end of amandla is not the sound you normally would think. When 'dl' appear next to each other in Zulu, it is a sound that we dont have in english. the best possible way for me to describe it in words is the sound you would make if you had a speach impediment and too much saliva and were trying to make a soft j sound. please, DO try this at home. if possible, record it and send it to me.

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Photos

Songs of Protest
I wish I could tell you what the songs were about but they were all in Zulu and I didn't get a chance to ask anyone.