South Africa: A country of anarchists!

28 September 2010

by Malaika Lesego Samora

Only three months ago, our country took centre stage in the eyes of the global community. We were able to host a mesmerizing spectacle that saw patriotism massifying and the spirit of ubuntu intensifying among a people who still to a large extent socialize and even watch sport separately.

In 2006, our own government descended upon European soil to avail itself for the hosting of an event that ended up costing taxpayers a whooping 24 billion Rands. And yet, three months later, our civil servants are reduced to looters by a government that claims to be unable to meet the demands of the underpaid and overworked teachers.

How does it happen that teachers, who are responsible for producing agents of positive change in our country, are being paid the meagre salaries that they are receiving? More than that, how does it happen that the very government that promised “a better life for all” is now the vehicle that drives the oppression of the working class?

The recent strike was a vivid picture of not just the state of our nation but also a glimpse of what tomorrow has in store for South Africa. True though it may be that it was a result of the government’s failure to deliver, it must also be highlighted that the strikers’ behaviour begs for critical dissection.

Teachers must strike for what they rightfully deserve. They must voice their grievances, for silence is the worst crime against humanity.  But, their actions must be condemned. For them to intimidate and brutalise students is a travesty. For them to disregard the urgency that students displayed (by forming study groups) is a travesty. For them to vandalise property and loot is a calamity worse than the government’s indifference because we, as the youth look up to them for guidance and see them as the voices of reason. Last year’s matric pass rate stood at a dismal 60.2%. With the strike postponed to a later date and tension still evident (especially in our townships), one can only pray that The Class of 2010 pull through and like a phoenix, rise from the systematically created ashes.

If they fail to, we must all take the blame because it is us, and not the apathetic government, who will deliver South Africa to the promised land of prosperity.
Aluta Continua!

*Malaika Lesego Samora Mahlatsi is an 18 year old first year student at the University of South Africa. She is studying towards a Bachelors of Arts degree with Sociology and Literature as her majors. She writes in her own capacity.

Tell us: How did the strike affect you and your child? Is this what the situation has come to, violence? Why are our children suffering through all of this? No school for days on end could only mean an even lower pass rate this year for matriculants! How can we change these odds?