Wathint'aBafazi...

...waThint'iMbokodo. You strike a woman... you strike a rock. Striking is a popular thing these days. (How's that for an inappropriate link - no I'm not anti SA anti women's rights et cetera). I thought it was a minor thing that people do. You know... get off work for a few days, get paid more. But I have to stop and think when it affects me.

Firstly, the security guard strike. I was in Pick 'n Pay the other day and I admit, I am a generally suspicious person when out in Cape Town with the rest of the 'public'. Anyway. This dodgy looking person was following me with his hand in his jacket pocket. I even checked. I walked around the entire shop once. I was being followed. Mmm, I thought. Let's make my way to a security guard or something. Next thing I know. Dodginess following me whips a radio out of his pocket and tells 'control' something of importance. Didn't I feel like a noonoo. But it's funny that the security guards all look like criminals when they aren't dressed in their uniforms. I've formulated a(n... tricky one this) hypothesis. They are all criminals! Look at what they've been doing when they're out of work. They should all be fired and deported. How can you trust a security guard who thinks it's OK to throw someone off a train just because he doesn't support your cause to be paid more.

Becoming less political, slightly, I've always thought I should comment on the state of student governance at UCT. As you can see, a couple of people stopped reading my blog right there. That's right. The SRC is boring, and don't make a difference in anyone's life. Half way through the year and we're onto our third president. Here is the reason we're soon to a fourth.

Our SRC wants to be like SRC's of the past. They want to support something meaningful. They want to make a difference. They want to make a noise. The only problem is that the majority of the SRC don't understand much (in terms of anything) and they don't understand that they're working against themselves.

Example one: the challenging of the Vice-Chancellor because he said that work lost due to power failures will be made up by Easter Vac. The SRC held a mass meeting (I hear upwards of 10 people attended) to boycott lectures (?) and let the administration of this University know that we are not 'academic machines'. 'We will not work during Easter Vac'. Two points. We are academic machines. That's why we are here, and if the SRC had any academia associated with them (let's say brain matter), they would realise that 'by the Easter Vac' does not mean 'during the Easter Vac'.

Example two (my favourite): The Jammie Shuttle Drivers embarked upon a strike. The SRC asked: "Should we as a student movement towards furthering democracy show solidarity with the Jammie Driver Union". No you dimwits. We shouldn't. We are their employers. Let's see. WE pay THEM. THEY work for US. THEY go on strike (SRC figuratively trips up). WE support them. The SRC, who are constantly complaining about exorbitant fees now want us to give just that little more to the moron driving the bus because: he did the democratic thing and went on strike. I've found some before and after photos of the UCT SRC.

That's all for today. Hopefully I'll see you around sooner, rather than later. One exam down (it was a shocker), three to go.

OK, so I've spent half an hour trying to upload photos. I'll try again tomorrow, or maybe Monday. Or sometime. But the pics are really good. I promise.