strike one

All lectures were cancelled today at the University due to an overpowering student strike. It started yesterday, but escalated today, and the group now, in addition to singing and marching, is breaking windows on campus and there are rumors of people being beat up.

I found out about all of this from my students this morning in the class that I teach. They were all on edge, and you could hear the marchers up the hill, singing loudly. Apparently, they don’t come down to the drama department often, firstly because it is a long way down a hill and climbing back up is a struggle, and because they are scared of the drama people. Good to know we have some inherent protection.

The strike is in reaction to issues of student housing. Students come to UKZN from all over South Africa, and so often the students from far away are not given housing, whereas students who live nearby, who could just commute, are given room in the dorms. So kids arrive here in Durban, bags in hand, and have nowhere to stay. So men have started patrolling the housing office, offering housing in exchange for sex to these poor girls. And what are these girls supposed to do? They have just arrived in a new city, have no friends, do not know anyone; it is late and they have nowhere to go. These men, university students, say they work with the SRC, which is some kind of student governance body, and promise that they can get residence for these girls. And sometimes the girls believe them. And their bodies are compromised. Weeks later, still no res.

And so, people are marching, demanding more computer labs, more residence for out of town students. I do not think the issue of sex for housing is really even on the table, but it is something that the girls in my class are very aware of.

And it is not like the grievances of the marchers are falling on deaf ears. Yes, we should house our out-of-towners before commuters. We should have more computer labs. But, as soon as you start breaking windows and forcing people out of their classes, then it goes too far. As soon as violence and intimidation enters the picture, we lose sight of the issues at stake.

I had to let my class go early, reminding them that they all have my phone number and to call me if they need help. Before we left, we decided to change the focus of our play, from violence against women into addressing some of the issues at stake here right now on campus. Instead of “a woman has a right to choose to stay at home and raise her kids” and “a woman should be independent and her own person” changing the text to, “I have a right to sleep with whoever I choose in order to get what I need” and “my demands should be listened to.”

Even now, I can hear the chants and drums of the protestors, halfway across campus. How long will this strike go on? Will the safety of the students be compromised? What will the outcomes of these actions be, will it make any difference?