Volume 36 Number 07 - University of the Witwatersrand

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Bloemfontein bovcotts:Cosas-bashingDuring the recent unrest inBloemfontein township schoolsWhite Mohapi, administrativesecretary of CosasNational. was shot. He narrowlyescaped serious injury.Boycotts at two schools wereinitiated in solidarity with elevenstudents who were expelled onthe grounds of age limits. TheEducation Department selectivelyrefused to re-register l8 yearoldsfor Std 8 and 20 year-oldsfor Matric.A Cosas spokesman claimedthat the reason for the expulsionwas politically motivated as theexpelled students were all involvedin Cosas, a body representingSouth African schoolstudents.Parental attempts to take legalaction as well as a meetingbetween a delegation of studentsand the principal werc unsuccessful.The delegates reportedback at a mass meeung atwhich White Mohapi was invitedto speak. Sources claim thataround this time a police reservistlooking for White Mohapi openedfire and shot him. Detailsaround the issue have beenextremely vague.fltrrr resn ecnoesAll around the country blackschool students are voicinggrievances against BantuEducation, led by the Congressof South African Students(Cosas).This report is from Sc.rpuNational:Students have challenged theage-limit laws. overcrowd ing,bans on Student RepresentativeCouncils, authoritarian headmasters,unfair punishment andassaults. dismissals of teachersand sexual harassment of femalestudents.. In Port Elizabeth a 5 000strong boycott won the readmissionof students. The studentshad the backing of parents, tradeunions and community organisationsin the Crisis in EducationCommittee.. At Minerva High in Alexandranear Johannesburg boycottingstudents won the right tol.orm an SRC.a A resolution was passed torecognise the SRC and theinspector promised them anoffice and equipment.o Numerous allegations ol studentsbeing whipped with sjamboksand hit with fists have alsocome to light. In the face of theseassaults - some of them brutal-- students are demandins fairtreat nrent.l'he issuc ol'se.xual harassmentbv teachers is also being takenA two-day pupil boycott wasinitiated and a demand was rnadefor the resignation of tne principaland chairman of the schoolcommittee.On Tuesday, April 10, classeswere suspended. The RegionalDirector of Education in Bloemfonteintold The Sowetanthat'lnview of these and other demandsmade by the pupils, the schoolcommittee was left with nooption but to close the schoolgates.'Students say that their protestshave resulted in a campaign ofharassment in the area.Police harassment has includoforced declarations fromparents that their children would'not get involved in politics',a threats from the Departmentof Education and Training thatCosas members would not beallowed into schools,o threats of immediate expulsionif students gave support tostudents from other schools.Students have returned torschool.White Mohapi was detainedon Thursday, and, according tosources, he has not yet beenreleased or charged.^t)r'r,/tJl /oschools are contlnuing a boycottagainst the transfer of a popularteacher, Matthew Goniwe, byeducation authorities. They arealso demanding the recognitionof SRCs.Prominent educationist andhead of the National EducationUnion of South Africa, CurtisNkondo, said he did not exoectthe schools situation to improve.He said the present dissatisfactionfelt by black students ismore widespread than the grievdnceswhich led to the 1976uprising and the l?60 schoolsboycotts.New foodsA number of new projects areto be undertaken by WitsCatering Division.Amongst these are projects forestablishing a bakery andbutchery in the newly acquiredcampus. Milner Park.Another project undergoinginvestigation is the feasability ofa sweet shop adjacent to thelower canteen. A number ofstudents have requested that oneshould be built. However cateringexplained the financial dilTicultiesof this project. Thepossibility of SRC involvementwas suggested.The establishment of a bakeryand butchery. would assist inholding down catering pnces.Another issue which studentsCarsM|.NS'rs,w:i$l.u'*t sides olthspace onThis photograph illustrates the evehpresent parkinat Wits.ach one teach oneYou may have seen theposters on campus, sdvertizinga new tutoring schemein Alexandra township.What's it all about?Cosas (the Congress of SouthAfrican Students, which representsblack high school students)has approached variousgroups on campus with the ideaof obtaining help to reduce thepresent crisis in black education.This would be done in the form ofa tutoring scheme in Alexandratownship on Saturday morningsor alternative Saturday mornings.As the extensive school boycottsof this year indicate,dissatisfaction and anger withinferior Bantu education iswidespread. Student grievancesinclude the lack of textbooks,classrooms and schools; a lack ofqualified teachers; complaintsabout corporal punishment andthe new age-limits law. Inaddition, students wish to electtheir own SRCs in place of theprefect bodies which are normallyplaced there by the schooladministration.The main objective of thescheme is to assist scholars inStandard 8, 9 and l0 on anextracurricular basis, thus partiallytaking the burden offunderstaffed schools, and runningparallel to what teachingthere is.Tuition will be needed in thefollowing subjects: English, Afrikaans, Physics, Geography,History, Accountancy, Maths,Biology, Economics. Businessalready signed up; tlme-tabsyllabi and textbook buyinghbeen organized. Premisesbeing negotiated. The projecjust about ready to begin.In fact, the groundwork olproject is well under way. Sstudents from Wits signed uthe tutoring table, some of wlwant to tutor more thansubject. Last week they wenttour of Alex, in order to gafuller understanding ofmaterial conditions in whiclpeople (and the students) of,live.After the tour there w:workshop, at which two nbers of Neusa (National Ication Union of South Afspoke respectively on the cri:education, and then on prtial problems in teachinlproblems of authoritanaand paternalism, which cacountered by democraticparticipatory teaching metlSubject-specific workshopstill to be held. These aiproviding tutors witb an ustanding of how to best htheir specitic subjects irteaching situatron.It's not too late to stilljoPeople who wish to tutor oorganize the scheme, can sitheir names on the 'TutScheme List' at the mainoffice, or can contact LFok, Heather Barclay,Rex or Karen Lat.ar (646-.The Cosas-Azaso-Nusasproject provides a co:opportunity for students to
Nusas turns 60 in 1984, and tocelebrate, Nusas camPusesaround the countrY are Planningspecial birthday celebrations.to students at universitY in SouthAfrica at the moment.Ceotl tsudlender, an attorncYat the Legat Resources Centre.and head of I-ONS (Friends trl'Nusas) spoke next. He said thatFONS would throrv the fullA Nusas 60th BirthdaY HighProfile Committee was launched weight of its supPort behind thelast Monday. The commtttee celebrations, and describedconsists o1'the President and Nusas' turning 60 as a 'trulYVice-President ol the SRC. the remarkable feat' and one whicheditors of Wits Stuclent and the lerv other organizations in theheads of the various clubs and country had achieved.societies on campus.Finally. Professor PhitiPThe committee was launched Tobias, a past Nusas Presidentat a cocktail party held in the and presentlY head of th€ SenateStudents U nion Building on at Wits, spoke, saYing that NusasMonday. April 30. Thc oPening should 'never bow its head to theaddresses were by Kate PhiliP, inevitable'. and that it shouldNusas President, and Brendan continue to fight until aPartheidBarry, S RC President, who was eradicated from Southwelcomed committee members African universities.and thanked them for their Of special significance was theparticipation in the celebrations. nresence at the cocktail Partl ofThey were followed bY Dr b. Beyers Naud€, HonorarYDavid Webster, a lecturer in the President of Nusas since 1977DeDartment of Social Anthropoiogy'atWits, who spoke about as well as Helen JosePh. a long-and currentll'a banned Person.the positive role Nusas had time supporter of Nusasplayed, not only in serving the Kate Philip described Drneeds of students directlY' but Naudi: as a constant source ofalso in constantlY directing academicsto instill progressive con-said she rvoutd be honoured ifsheinspiration to Nusas. She alsotent in their course, in order to could describe M rs JosePh as'themake the courses more relevant mother of Nusas'.Make your markThe Million Signature cam'paign is going well all aroundthe country. Thousands ofsignatures have been collectedin the Border region'andthere is strong organizationaround the campaign in theEastern Cape. In the WesternCape, a similer blitz tookplace on the Cape Flats inMarch where 2 000 activistscollected l0 000 signatures in3 hours.Out of every ten PeoPleapproached, an average of eightsigned, showing the wide range ofsupport for the UDF and itscampaign againsthe new constitutionand the Koornhof Bills.Very few PeoPle suPPorted theLabour PartY, the ColouredManagement Committees or theforthcoming coloured elections'There were a number ofRecord Rag YearRag made R220 000 this Year.The gross income was in theregion of R290 000, and moremon€y is still coming in.R I 27000 came from Wits Witssales. a nett profit of Rl20 000.Tfi6 iest conies from actitivtiessuch as the Procession, theL^^-r-.r T\flrmmies and Debs.reasons whY certain PeoPle didnot sign. FirstlY, in the workingclass areas, some PeoPle wereilliterate and were unwilling tosign a form theY could not read'Secondly, manY women saidtheir husbands could sign andthat the person collecting thesisnatures would have to comebick later. Related to this was thefact that some men, as heads ofthe family. felt theY signed onbehalf of the whole familY.Thirdly, there was a fear of thepolice and matters of a Politicalnature, and some PeoPle wereafraid that their names would befound on the signature form andused against them.Fourthly, in some areas Peopleknew little about the new constltutionand there was a lack ofresponse to the signature campargn.which, according to Craig Bond,the new chairperson of Rag, ispaid for by sPonsors. An aPPealiras also gone out to ProminentJohannesburg businessmen aPpealingfor funds, in lieu of thosenot collected on the rained outRag Day. A health aPPeal hasalso been lauched.'l'dlike to congratulatelebrationsA friendlv huddle: Brendan Barry SRC president, KatePhilip,Nirscs president and Beyers Naud6, honorary Nusaspresident.Canteen costs climbThe gargantuan canteenprices continue to eat away atstudents' Pockets.The SRC has initiated aninvestigation into the issue, as aresult of the widespread dissatisfactionamong students regardingcatering services on campus.The SRC has held informald iscussions with the cateringdivision and has called on theuniversity administration to:o restructure the catering servicedivision to ensure that competitiveprices are offered;o to provide for increased studentrepresentation on Pricefixingcommittees;. to explore the oPtion ofreplacing the single catering unitwith smaller franchises;o to make available copies of allfinancial statements Pertainingto the catering division.The administration Pointedout that although catering serviceswere a non-profit organisation,it was necessary to chargeprices that would enable it to beself-financing. lf catering uassubsidised it would be at theexpense of teaching. research orsome other area, owing to limitedfinances.-the administration also claimsthat no valid comparison can bemade between suPermarketprices and those of the canteens.Supermarkets buy in significantlylarger amounts. Mr Brinkworth,head of Catering, thoughtit unjustifiable to comPare theprices, as large chain retailers didnot list GST charges.Supermarkets are able toobtain these items at contractrates because of volume olturnover and in the case of milkwere able to sell it as a 'lossleader'.The administratron acceptsthat the catering division isoverstaffed and that labour costsHowerer. it is inpolicy to pay its employeereasonable salaries. Labour cosaccounted for 30Va of grosturnover. lt was the opinion cthe Administration that it wa'unethical'to dismiss lonpserving and competent staff iorder to save money. The cateing division employed 202 peopand these staff members coulnot be 'laid-off during slacperiods. Staff were, however, rtemployed whenever possible.To provide for greater repreentation on price-fixing conmittees it was agreed that stldents have increased and effetive representation on the AHoc Committee of CentrCatering Services. The cormittee would. in future, methree or four times a year.The option of leasing ocatering services to Priv,caterers was also considertHowever. concern was expressthat outside suppliers wot'cream olf the profitable sidecampus catering. The ProJfrom the coffee shop helpedsubsidise the main meal servi?rLOUnSerllnlrecrultmenaprogramm(The Counselling and CareerrUnit organises an annuaGraduate Recruitment Programme which takes Place irAugust.Ihis lear a scrie: ol seminat'Theentitled World at Work'wrbe presented where graduatrwill havc a chance to meet anquestion people currentlY worling in such fields as bankininsurance. public relations etc.A rvorkshop is also of'fered tjob seeking skills. Contact tl
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Volume 36 Number 07 - University of the Witwatersrand

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