Professional Documents
Culture Documents
It touched
me when
I saw how
little the
money was,
and how
hard it was
for him to
get it.
SRC Transport plans soon to be fnalised
Mitchell Shaun Parker
Te Rhodes University Student Representative Council
(SRC) is currently looking at a tender with Blunden to
implement a new transport system for students. Student
transport will be noticeably lacking from 2015 due to
legislation prohibiting the University from providing
the service itself without the appropriate insurance
and licensing.
Te proposed plan, which will cost just over R2.6 million
a year, aims to implement a system of fve buses that will
work around campus and throughout Grahamstown.
Tere will be added services, such as a cell phone
application that allows students to fnd their nearest
bus, included in the cost. Additionally, the service will
run throughout the academic year, thus ensuring that
postgraduates who do not leave for the vacation are not lef
without transport either.
Financing for this plan will come directly from students.
Roughly R300 extra a year will be included in the annual
fees structure in the same way that ResNet costs have been
included in student fees. Te SRC is in the process of getting
student buy-in for the project, but the clock is ticking as the
budgeting committee that will decide fees for next year sits
in October afer which it is too late for any new 2015 plans
to be implemented.
Tis plan had been tabled at Student Forum earlier in the
year and received mixed reviews. In her farewell to students
at the same Student Forum, former Dean of Students Dr
Vivian de Klerk said that it had been her mission to fnalise
plans for student transport while she was at Rhodes.
While she said she did not have many regrets about her
time at Rhodes, she did regret not being able to push for
plans for student transport to be set in stone.
Protocol not followed
in DoS changeover
After a spate of robberies in High Street this year, many students question
their saftey. Photo: KELLAN BOTHA
Legislation which prohibits Rhodes from providing a transport service has led to the SRC looking into the viability of a
tender with Blunden Shuttle tours. Photo: KELLAN BOTHA
- Admin for
Rhodes Confessions
News Features
6 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 3
Emily Corke
S
ince the resignation of former Dean of Students
(DoS) Dr Vivian de Klerk, Rhodes University has
seen a number of changes in the leadership of the in-
stitution. For one, the Director of Student Afairs division
has replaced the DoS division as of 1 July 2014, led by
Acting Director of Student Afairs Dr Colleen Vassiliou.
However, Te Oppidan Press has learned that the review of
the DoS division did not follow due and fair processes.
Registrar at Rhodes University Dr Stephen Fourie was
tasked with reviewing the DoS division, which happens at
the end of every change of leadership. Fourie was assisted by
Natalie Ripley, head of data management at Rhodes.
We reviewed it and made various recommendations,
most have which have been adopted, said Fourie. Te
major change is that there will be a Director of Student
Afairs and it will not be an academic position but a support
staf position.
Te review process requires a submission from the
division that is being reviewed. Te committee, including
members from the division being reviewed, put together a
report with recommendations for the future of the division.
According to de Klerk, this did not happen with the review
of the DoS position.
Myself and my division were completely bypassed, said
de Klerk. A full committee should have been drawn togeth-
er of the people who understand how the division works.
When de Klerk took the position of DoS eight years ago,
it was agreed then that the position would cease to exist
when de Klerk retired. De Klerk expressed her concern
about this decision over the years.
Te DoS who is appointed is a symbolic title that gives
the incumbent parity with other deans of faculties who are
all elected, said de Klerk.
According to de Klerk, a Director is on a lower level than
a Dean. De Klerk feared that this would incur a disjunction
between the students and the University.
It will turn into a case of us and them and their [academ-
ics and senior managements] understanding, and the voice
to explain student experiences and concerns will be a little
bit more distant in my humble opinion, said de Klerk.
As a retiring member of the Rhodes staf, de Klerk was
meant to receive an exit interview as part of research con-
ducted about the institutional culture at Rhodes. De Klerk
did not receive such an interview.
Tis is, according to de Klerk, a systemic issue in the
administration of Human Resources (HR) at Rhodes. She
felt that with a high turnover of staf and no real sense of the
institutional culture at Rhodes, HR is not operating as
it should.
Despite de Klerks concern that there will be big changes
within the DoS division, Fourie said this will not be the case.
Te change means little in terms of interaction with stu-
dents. It just means that the incumbent is freed from various
academic responsibilities such as involvement in Senate
Executive and the Deans Forum, said Fourie.
When asked about the allegations of due protocol not
being followed, Fourie said, I have no comment other than
to say that in being asked to conduct the review I was given
terms of reference for the review and I complied with them.
Fourie added that the recommendations in his review had
been approved by both Senate and Council.
While the position has changed, Vassiliou said that the
purpose of the division is to create a living and learning
student support system.
She added that the ofce of Student Afairs would be
an environment which is inclusive and is conducive to a
healthy lifestyle, personal growth, development and aca-
demic success for students.
Students can be assured that this ofce will remain the
voice of the students, said Vassiliou.
Protocol not followed
in DoS changeover
Myself and my
division were completely
bypassed. A full
committee should have
been drawn together of
the people who
understand how the
division works.
- Dr Vivian de Klerk,
former Dean of Students
Protocol was not followed when the Rhodes administration replaced the DoS position with Director of Student Afairs
in June. Photo: ASHLIEGH MEY
Celebrating the strength of
Rhodes women this August
Mila Kakaza
You strike a woman, you strike a rock. Tis saying has come to be
associated with the march by South African women to the Union
Building in Pretoria in 1956. It now represents the strength and courage
of women worthy of being celebrated on 9 August every year. As South
Africa celebrates Womens Month this August, Te Oppidan Press spoke
to some of the women who are making an impact in their industries.
Professor Tebello Nyokong
Distinguished Professor Tebello Nyokong arrived at Rhodes Uni-
versity in 1992. I wasnt expected to succeed, either as a woman or
a black person, said Nyokong. But it was just this challenge
of being a black woman in an oppressive society which
allowed her to make a success of her life. I wanted
to represent all women and black people to show
that colour or gender does not matter, she said.
Nyokong is well known for her LOreal Unesco
award for Women in Science. Nyokong added that
it helped carry her career further into Europe.
Nyokong regards Womens Month as being vital,
adding that recognition of women is important as they
can ofen be overlooked.
Professor Lynette Steenveld
Professor Lynette Steenveld was the only black person and woman at the
School of Journalism and Media Studies in the beginning of her career in the
1980s. It was not an easy position to occupy, she said.
At the beginning of her career at this institution, she
taught flm studies which focused on the relationship
between politics and the media. I taught courses
in African flm, gay and lesbian cinema and third
world cinema which helped to open up students to
a wider political environment, she said.
She is a founding member of the Womens
Academic Solidarity Association (WASA).
Lieketso Mohoto
A recent addition to the Rhodes University teaching staf, Lieketso Mohoto
is currently in her second year of being a junior drama lecturer.
Mohoto stated that her success as a performer, academic and live voice
artist has been driven by the enjoyment of her work and
colleagues. As the 2014 co-chair of WASA and with the
upcoming WASA event on 9 August 2014, Mohoto
said that Womens Month has developed a strong
signifcance in her life. My idea of womanhood
is becoming broader, Mohoto said, adding that a
month dedicated to women is a necessity for the
society we live in.
Dr Vashna Jagarnath
Dr Jagarnath, who is a lecturer in the Department of History, advocates the
need for awareness of a Womens Day which is free from
any form of prejudice. If Womens Day gets people to
think about the role of women in society, then that is
a good thing, she explained.
For Jagarnath, entering a classroom as a black
woman is one of the problems she encounters fre-
quently. I have to really convince the students that I
know what I am talking about, she said.
Jagarnath is also a public opinion writer for online
magazine Te Con as well as Te Daily Maverick in order to
take academia beyond the classroom with her writing so that it is accessible
and interesting.
Professor Chrissie Boughey
Professor Chrissie Boughey arrived in South Africa in
1988. I was a newcomer but I had dreams for the
future of the country, she said.
In 1999, Boughey was appointed as the Direc-
tor of the Academic Development Centre which
at the time looked only to support students. Along
with colleagues, Boughey believed that the institu-
tion had to undergo some changes in order to fulfll its
mandate. We looked at curriculum change and change in
teaching by developing the staf members capacity as teachers, she said.
Boughey added that she personally experienced the difculties of being a
working woman.
I wrote my PhD at the kitchen table because I had children, she said.
To Boughey, Womens Month is a time for celebration and acknowledg-
ment of all that women have achieved.
Israel-Palestine
4 Te Oppidan Press 6 August 2014
Actors in the Israel-Palestine confict
Campus talks on Gaza confict
Palestinian loss of land
1946 to 2000
Israeli land
Palestinian land
PALESTINE ISRAEL ISRAEL
Ramallah Ramallah Ramallah Ramallah
Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem
Bethlehem Bethlehem Bethlehem Bethlehem
Gaza Gaza Gaza Gaza
WEST BANK WEST BANK
GAZA GAZA
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv
1 2 3 4
1. Palestinian and Jewish
Land 1946
2. UN Partition plan 1947
3. 1949-1967
4. 2000
Timeline of
Events
Tarryn de Kock
T
he recent escalation in ten-
sions between Israel and Pal-
estine became a popular topic
of conversation on campus at the
start of this term. Te frst organised
discussion took place on Tursday
24 July at the Barratt lecture theatre,
and was titled Gaza Under Attack.
Rhodes has come under fre in the
past for having visible pro-Palestine
elements existing on campus among
staf and students, particularly
the Rhodes University Palestinian
Solidarity Forum (RUPSF) which
organises the annual Israeli Apartheid
Week. Te discontent has ofen been
located in perceived antagonism
towards Jewish students, a view held
and expressed by the South African
Jewish Report, a major national
Jewish-oriented newspaper. Tese
claims have been consistently denied
by both the institution and its pro-
Palestine community.
We have to recognise that this is
a crisis regarding human rights and
human life, stressed Professor Robert
van Niekerk from the Institute for
Social and Economic Research (ISER),
at the Gaza Under Attack discussion.
Van Niekerk and post-doctoral fellow
in the Politics department Dr Irene
Calis chaired the discussion, which
was focused on devising a strategy for
bringing attention to the crisis in the
Gaza Strip. Te current Israeli ofen-
sive was precipitated by the abduction
and killing of three Israeli teenagers in
the West Bank on 12 June.
Te problem is that symmetry
doesnt exist in this situation, and that
those on the Israeli side arent consid-
ering how they would respond if they
were in the Palestinian situation right
now, said Director of the Allan Gray
Centre for Leadership Ethics (AG-
CLE) Pedro Tabensky at the Existen-
tial Conversation held on 31 July.
Some participants in the conversa-
tion emphasised the fact that Israels
establishment as a state has a direct
correlation to its current behaviour,
and stressed the problematics of creat-
ing Israeli victimhood stemming from
events such as the Holocaust.
If you identify yourself as a victim,
everything you do is justifed, said
one participant. Calis, also present
at the conversation, argued against
the strict binary between good
and bad that is ofen deployed in
discussions of the confict, and in the
dehumanisation of the other side that
makes killing people systematically
a possibility.
Te magnitude of the factors in the
confict - including the discovery of
natural gas of the Gaza coast - raised
questions about the realistic scope of
the efect of international pressure,
though Calis stressed that the Israeli
state cared about its public and inter-
national opinion.
She also emphasised that the dis-
tinction needed to be made between
anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, to
avoid alienating the many Jewish
people who have also condemned the
assault on Gaza.
Lets agree that we can create a
common front around creating a
human rights culture, van Niekerk
said. Because of the symbolism of
the struggle against apartheid we are
seen globally as a society that upholds
certain values, and that is one of the
key reasons that we should come out
in support of the people of Palestine.
In response to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, a series of discussions have been
planned on Rhodes campus. Photo: RA-EESAH MOHAMED
Tarryn de Kock
ISLAMIC RESISTANCE MOVEMENT (HAMAS)
A radical Islamic organisation established during
the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising) in 1987.
Power base: Gaza Strip.
Has been criticised for being conservative,
antagonistic towards areas such as progressive
gender rights, but is said to support religious
tolerance within an Islamic state.
Refuses to recognise the Israeli state. Its covenant
calls for the destruction of Israel and the defeat
[of the] injustice of Palestines occupation.
Has been at the forefront of the current confict
with Israel. Current attacks on Israel are a result
of the violent Israeli clampdown on Gaza afer
the abduction of the three Israeli teenagers.
Hamas has refused to enter a long-term truce
until the border blockade of Gaza is lifed and
Gazans have access to the Rafah border crossing
into Egypt, a crucial point of trade and commu-
nication in the Arab world.
PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ORGANISATION
(PLO)
Founded in 1964.
Based in the West Bank, which is geographically
separated from Gaza.
Seen as more moderate than Hamas in its
dealings with Israel in the past, especially as it
accepted Israels right to exist in 1993.
Largest party in PLO coalition is Fatah, which
recently came out in condemnation of the at-
tacks on Gaza while militant groups attached to
the party joined Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in
their attacks on Israel.
Fatah and Hamas have had a tense and some-
times violent rivalry. However, both agreed to
form a unity government in April this year.
Hamas rejected the PLOs proposed ceasefre
with Israel during the current confict, casting
doubts on the ability of the unity government
to navigate the complex ideological diferences
between its major stakeholders.
LIKUD
Major right-wing party in Israel, formed in 1973.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu broke with
the partys hard-line stance on Israels territory
claim, suggesting the possibility of a Palestinian
state in 2009.
Likud put pressure on Netanyahu to avoid cease-
fres and continue Israels ofensive
against Hamas.
Some key members have also expressed dissat-
isfaction with the USAs ambivalent diplomatic
demands, warning that Israels right to defend
itself surpasses its relationship with the USA.
Tis also has implications for the Israeli electoral
race, with Netanyahu facing strong
opposition if the Gaza ofensive is not resolved
in Israels favour.
1948 May
Declaration of the new independ-
ent State of Israel by the newly
formed United Nations Organisa-
tion from the British Mandate
of Palestine.
1949 February-July
Israel concludes armistice agree-
ments with neighbouring countries
and further extends its borders
into Palestinian territory.
1959
Yasser Arafat forms
the Palestinian National Liberation
Movement (Fatah).
1964 February
Palestinian Liberation Organisa-
tion (PLO) formed in Cairo by
the Arab League. Te main goal of
PLO is the destruction of the State
of Israel and the establishment of
an independent Palestinian state.
1967 June
The Six Day War: Israeli forces
defeat a combined army of the
Arab League and their support-
ers, capturing the Sinai Peninsula
and Gaza Strip from Egypt, East
Jerusalem and the West Bank from
Jordan, and the Golan Heights
from Syria.
September: Eight Arab states
sign the Khartoum Resolution
declaring that they will not
recognise, negotiate or make peace
with Israel.
1969
Arafat made chairman of the PLO.
Fatah becomes the dominant force
in the PLO afer it joins in 1967.
1978
Te Camp David accords, mediat-
ed by the United States of America
(USA), results in a return of the
Sinai Peninsula to Egypt - the frst
peaceful recognition of Israel by an
Arab country.
1987- 1991
Te First Palestinian Intifada.
Violence, riots, general strikes, and
civil disobedience campaigns by
Palestinians spread across the West
Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces
respond with tear gas, plastic
bullets, and live ammunition. Tis
movement results in the creation
of groups such as Hamas operating
in favour of the Palestinian cause.
1992-1999
Despite negotiations in Madrid in
1991, attacks along the Gaza strip
continue. Te Israeli Defence Force
(IDF) implements operations such
as Grapes of Wrath, bombing Pal-
estinians and neighbouring Arab
countries. Palestinians retaliate
with suicide bomb attacks in Israel.
2000-2005
Te Second Palestinian Intifada,
resulting in the West Bank barrier
construction by Israel.
2005-Present
Post-Intifada Gaza confict.
Constant abductions, assassina-
tions and massacres spark waves of
increased violence between Israel
and Gaza, making any attempts at
negotiation seemingly futile.
2014 July 9
Operation Protective Edge: the
current Israeli ofensive against
Gaza, following increasing rocket
fre between the two.
Image: MADIEN VAN DER MERWE
Israel-Palestine
6 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 5
Judaism does not equal Zionism
Heather Dixon
Death toll (as of 31 July): Since the
start of the confict 1390 Palestin-
ians have been killed, and over
7000 injured.
Of the dead, 251 were children
and 50 elderly, while over 2 000
children and 250 elderly have been
wounded. Only 20-25% of those
killed in Gaza have been militants
about 140.
Gazas population density of
between 4000 and 5000 people per
square kilometre is almost double
that of New York and just less than
London, increasing the likelihood of
civilian casualties.
Israel has lost 56 Israeli Defense
Force soldiers and 3 civilians since
the beginning of the confict.
Rockets fred: 2 319 rockets have
been launched on Israel from Gaza.
Israeli rockets have struck 3 289
targets in Gaza.
Military expenditure: In 2013
Israels military expenditure was
the ffh highest amount per person
in the world. Its defence budget in
2012 was $15 billion (about R159
billion). In comparison, SA spent
about R130 billion on defence, po-
lice, and law courts in the same year.
Tere is a lack of conclusive infor-
mation on the military expenditure
of the diferent factions in Palestine,
although Qatar is believed to be the
main fnancier of Hamas, with head
of state Emir Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Tani pledging $400 mil-
lion to Hamas and the Gaza Strip
in 2012.
Economic impact: Te Gaza Strip
has sustained about $3 billion (over
R32 billion) in damages since the
beginning of the current confict.
Its annual Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) is about $1.8 billion
(R19 billion).
Israel has also sustained close to
$3 billion in damage, with $239 mil-
lion (R2.6 billion) being in damages
to factories and businesses. How-
ever, its GDP is $250 billion (R2.6
trillion), which may make rebuild-
ing in the future more feasible.
Mitchell Parker
Ndzalama Dumisa, Law student: Te Israeli
- Palestinian confict sees the death toll rise
constantly and civilians caught in the crossfre.
Recently a UN school was attacked in which at
least 16 children were killed. It is unforgivable
when innocent human lives are taken. A possi-
ble solution is a two-state solution in which the
outcome will see a state of Palestine alongside
the state of Israel.
Amirah Kolia, Economics student: Te global community needs to put
more pressure on Israel. Tis is absurd; Gaza is a slaughterhouse. People
need to be aware and not get desensitized. Children are being murdered
and in what world is that supposed to be tolerated? Free Palestine!
Danielle oNeill, Journalism student: I think there
is still too much apathy surrounding the confict in
Gaza. People need to realise that this is not a fght/
confict between Islam and Judaism, or Muslim and
Jewish, or Zionist and pro-Palestinian. Its human
against human. Te sooner we realise that we can no
longer blindly watch as the injustice of one human
against another plays out before our eyes, the closer
we come to realising that this is our problem too.
Solidarity events for Gaza crisis
Facts about the confict
What is your opinion on the Gaza crisis
and how do you think it will be resolved?
Tarryn de Kock
Since the beginning of the term,
the RUPSF has been engaging on
the issue of showing solidarity with
those afected by the current crisis
in Gaza. Te Gaza Under Attack
discussion was the frst in a series
of projects aimed to raise awareness
and institutional support for the
Palestinian cause.
Professor Robert van Niekerk from
ISER suggested that moves be made to
urge the South African government to
expel the Israeli ambassador, as well as
recall our own ambassador from Israel.
One way that we can put pressure on
Israel is to show that our government
is so unhappy with the situation in
Gaza that they are willing to withdraw
their diplomatic support and represen-
tation, he said. Tis is part of a greater
international movement to put pres-
sure on Israel to cease its operations
in occupied Palestine, spearheaded by
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanc-
tions (BDS) movement, which targets
business and political interests and has
had success in, for example, getting
major international companies to redi-
rect their operations away from Israel.
Tere are several ways to get in-
volved. A vigil will be held on Friday
8 August at 6.30pm on the Drostdy
Lawns, to commemorate the loss of
over 250 children since the beginning
of the confict. Staf and students are
invited to join in this show of solidarity
by attending the vigil, and by assisting
in writing the names of the children
killed in the confict on the plaques
that will be laid out during the vigil.
Tis can be done on Wednesday 6 and
Tursday 7 August from 1pm to 2pm
at the St Peters Campus lawns, outside
the Nelson Mandela dining hall, and at
the library wall.
Te BDS website contains a list of
products and companies that support
the Israeli state, and encourages people
to boycott products produced in Israel
or by Israeli companies. Te Palestin-
ian Solidarity Campaign has encour-
aged individuals to get their religious
organisations, civic groups and trade
unions to publically support the call to
end the violence in Gaza. Tere have
also been suggestions that people call
the Egyptian embassy in their country
to encourage Egypt to lif its border
blockade on Gaza and allow Palestin-
ians through Rafah.
What is most important alongside
these eforts, however, is the con-
tinuing dialogue around the issue of
human rights and the fundamental
right of all people to live. Conversa-
tions about identity, nationhood and
humanity will be crucial in building
support for an inherently human pur-
suit of the right to belong and be safe
in ones surrounds.
Kim Nyajeka
D
iscussions around the Israel-Palestine confict
ofen reference the religious confict between
some followers of Judaism and Islam in those
countries, but ofen Judaism as a religion is confated with
Zionism as a political movement. Tis can result in unfair
assumptions that, for example, all Jewish people support
the Israeli state, or that all Jewish people are also Zionists.
Judaism is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the
Jewish people. Zionism is not a religion or an abstract con-
cept but a secular political movement for the re-establish-
ment, development and protection of a Jewish nation. Jews
of this movement highlight that their people are indigenous
to the territory currently known as Israel.
Te Land of Israel (the Biblical promised land granted
to the children of Israel) is the notion evoked by Zionists
and founders of the State of Israel. Israels ruling Likud party
has its roots in revisionist Zionism which involves secular
right-wing elements of the movement - primarily concerned
with the territorial dispute and the maximisation of Israels
land claim.
Judaism and Zionism are thus not identical in nature.
Zionism is a secular campaign with its fundamental goals
being the political maintenance of a religious right to the
territory they believe to have been promised to them by
their faith. One cannot assume that all Jews are Zionist, and
in fact large numbers of Jewish people have protested Israels
role in the confict and spoken out against Zionism.
Te International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network has is-
sued several statements condemning the strikes on Gaza,
organising vigils and protesting the defacing of a mosque
in Toronto. Te organisations vision also clearly states that
[t]he State of Israels historic and ongoing ethnic cleansing
of the Palestinian people from their land contradicts and
betrays the long histories of Jewish participation in our own
and collective struggles for liberation.
Being Jewish is an accident of birth, like any other
imposed ethnic identity, said Rhodes alumnus Benjamin
Fogel. Many Zionists attack the Jewishness of any person of
Jewish descent who speaks on behalf of Palestinian human-
ity, labelling them as self-hating or deniers of the Holocaust.
Tis is pathetic bullying, he added
At the Gaza Under Attack discussion, Dr Irene Calis
argued that the link between anti-Zionism and anti-
Semitism be denaturalised. It is imperative to note the
distinction between Judaism and Zionism if we are to
prevent meaningful debates from turning into binary
opposing camps of not only pro-Palestine and pro-Israel,
but pro-Islam and pro-Zionism.
The recent Israeli attack on Gaza has sparked outrage and protests around the globe. Photo: RA-EESAH MOHAMED
Restrictions on Palestinian movements by Israel have been likened to
Apartheid in South Africa. Photo: RA-EESAH MOHAMED
One way that we can put
pressure on Israel is to
show that our government
is so unhappy with the
situation in Gaza that they
are willing to withdraw
their diplomatic support
and representation.
- Professor Robert van Niekerk
Opinion
6 Te Oppidan Press 6 August 2014
The Oppidan Press staf and contact details
Mitchell Shaun Parker
T
he Rhodes University Student
Representative Council (SRC)
is currently in the process of
fnding Councillors for the 2015 aca-
demic year and, as usual, questions
about the efcacy and importance of
the SRC should be raised.
Te Rhodes SRC should ideally be
at the helm of student governance
structures. Each SRC member sits
on diferent university committees to
ensure student representation at every
organisational level. Student leaders
from various groups report directly
to the SRC and it is through these
connections between students, their
representatives and the committees
they are on, that progress is supposed
to be made at higher levels of the
University, such as Senate and Council.
Te importance of their positions is
not to be underestimated.
Speaking to the relationship between
students, the SRC and the institution,
outgoing SRC Activism and Transfor-
mation Councillor Lindokuhle Zungu
noted: Te student body has trusted
the executive members of the SRC
to represent them and be as vocal as
possible with the limited seats that we
have on these university forums.
It seems the problem comes in with
engagement with the University at
higher levels. As issues progress up the
bureaucratic chain, student representa-
tion becomes weaker.
Where Student Forum is comprised
of only student voices, spaces like
faculty boards only feature a maximum
of three students.
Despite the fact that many of the
decisions being made are important
to the experience students have at the
university, it can be argued that there
is little drive from the University in en-
couraging student engagement. A clear
case of this was when the University
proposed a new Intellectual Property
policy in 2013.
Although this policy had distinct
ramifcations on the ownership of
academic work, the SRC was not made
aware of the proposed change until the
last moment.
What we need to be seeing as an
electorate body is a more hands-on
engagement with the SRC and the elec-
tions by students. Te apathy argument
notwithstanding, students only seem
to be interested in the people that lead
them in critically important spaces
when they either a) do something
scandalous or b) during the Grazzle
when the student body can attempt to
publicly embarrass them.
And more notably, this is not just an
issue that afects SRC elections. How
many residences can say that their
house committees work efectively?
Or is it more the case that people who
put their names forward wanted to be
present for Orientation Week?
Without thoughtfully elected leader-
ship, be it at the House Committee
level or in the SRC, an important link
in the chain from student body to
Council is broken and the positions
become hollow.
SRC elections an opportunity
for thoughtful voting
Bracken Lee-Rudolph
Te oldest newspapers date back to
17th century Europe, specifcally to
German publisher Johann Caro-
luss Relation aller Frnemmen und
gedenckwrdigen Historien in 1605,
when both sanitation and electricity
were but a myth. Four centuries later,
newspapers still exist, although there
have been some changes - primar-
ily that they are not all in German
or published by the Holy Roman
Empire.
However, print media is dying by
electrocution. Phones, tablets and
personal computers occupy the hands,
tables and bags of news readers world-
wide, while newspapers are more ofen
used to wrap fsh and chips or ensure
the safety of fragile objects in luggage.
Newspapers, and print in general,
are losing relevance to CPU-driven,
battery-powered alternatives. Cross-
words and Sudoku puzzles have be-
come Candy Crush and Angry Birds.
Letters to the editor have turned into
outraged tweets rife with typos and
grammatical errors.
Electronic devices provide a far
more engaging experience for readers,
such as interactive infographics and
comments sections where they can
express their disdain for everything
the writer holds dear. News can travel
faster like this: fuming readers share
their disgruntled rantings about a
story on their Facebook timelines, with
their respective devices Caps Lock
function active and an aggressively
provided accompanying link.
Yet another advantage of having
images composed of millions of tiny
pixels burnt directly into your retinas
by an excessively bright LED-backlit
screen that print cannot match.
However, nothing may have sealed
the fate of books and newspapers more
than the advent of the touchscreen.
To simulate manually turning pages,
without the ever-present threat of
potentially lethal papercuts, tablet
owners can swipe their screens for a
half-baked animation and a new page
of text. All for more than thrice the
price of your average book.
But there is plenty of hope for the
survival of print media. Newspapers
will always make better emergency
gif-wrapping material than a Samsung
or Asus tablet ever could, and ironic
Instagram shots of a book will always
be more convincing than a screenshot
from the PDF version of the same
title. And just think of how awkward
it would be if you tried to spread your
tablet just inside the front door in win-
ter to stop you leaving wet footprints
on the foor.
Print media is reaching its </end>
U
nder the apartheid regime, the vast majority of student news
organisations were unashamedly political. With every edition,
they would take heavy swings at the political status quo and
damn the repercussions that may follow.
Nowadays, student journalism exists in a very privileged space in the
media industry. While we may fret and bite our nails about whether we
will have enough money to print the next edition, we are never worried
about whether we will be closed for lack of proftability, and so we have
more freedom to explore sensitive issues.
As long as there are student journalists, there will be student news. We
dont have to answer to the whims of a hostile media industry to survive.
Unlike our colleagues at Wapad at North West University last year, we
dont have to worry about being shut down by the University for critiquing
the way that it works. Wapad dared to challenge dated traditional systems.
In this edition, we are going to make full use of the privilege to be a
political paper. We have two double-page spreads in a single 12 page edi-
tion - a frst in our history. Each of these deals with a profoundly political
issue.
Te frst is our best attempt to contextualise the extremely complicated
Israel-Palestine confict. While this issue may seem wildly removed from
our day-to-day lives here in South Africa, it should not be.We support the
argument that the Palestinian state exists in a system similar to apartheid.
We should also clarify that we, as an organisation, are not pro-Hamas or
pro-Israel, we are against the high civilian death toll.
Tis stance does not also necessarily refect the opinion of all our staf,
who are more than capable of articulating and defending their own views
on this. In light of this, we will be hosting a live-streamed debate on the
issue tonight on the OppiTV YouTube channel. We encourage you to take
a stance and make your opinion heard at this forum.
Our second spread is dedicated to the Silent Protest, a movement which
we have covered for years and which is an integral part of understanding
activism at Rhodes. Te terrifying statistics about rape in this country
make it an issue that no one should ignore. We encourage you to read it,
especially if you were not present at the protest last Friday.
Finally, it is third term. Tat means its SRC election time. As always, we
cover the elections vigorously, but the power ultimately lies in your hands.
A strong SRC means a strong student body. Choose well, exercise your
vote carefully and ensure a strong student politics for the year to come.
Its time that we, as a student body, did away with the far-too-ofen-used
stereotype of Rhodes being a depoliticised campus of apathetic students.
Editor: Amanda Xulu. Deputy Editor: Stuart Lewis. Executive
Consultant: Binwe Adebayo. Managing Editor: Sindisa Mfenqe.
Financial Manager: Lorna Sibanda. Advertising Managers: Chiedza
Guvava, Tariro Bhunu. Marketing Manager: Sarah Taylor. Community
Engagement Ofcer: Abigail Butcher. Online Editor: Chelsea Haith.
Assistant Online Editor: Liam Stout. News Features Editor: Emily
Corke. Assistant News Features Editor: Mila Kakaza. Politics Editor:
Tarryn de Kock. Assistant Politics Editor: Mitchell Parker. Opinion
Editor: Ben Rule. Arts & Entertainment Editor: Jenna Lillie. Assistant
Arts & Entertainment Editor: Matthew Field. Scitech Editor: Bracken
Lee-Rudolph. Environment Editor: Mikaela Erskog. Sports Editor:
Douglas Smith. Assistant Sports Editor: Kimara Singh. Chief Photo
Editor: Gabriella Fregona. Assistant Chief Photo Editor: Kellan Botha.
Chief Online Photo Editor: Alexa Sedgwick. Assistant Online Photo
Editor: Ivan Blai. Chief Sub-Editor: Kaitlin Cunningham. Chief Online
Sub-Editor: Melian Dott. Sub-Editors: Kate Jennings, Danica Kreusch,
Leila Stein, Jessica Trappe, Amy Wilkes. Chief Designer: Madien van
der Merwe. Assistant Chief Designer: Hannah McDonald. Junior
Designers: Alex Maggs, Amy-Jane Harkess, Sihle Mtshiselwa. External
Content Advisors: Tope Adebola, Ndapwa Alweendo, Lucy Holford-
Walker. OppiTV: Chief Editor: Natalie Austin. Content Editor: Vimbai
Midzi. Output Editor: Lilian Magari. Webcast Producer: Marc Davies.
Ombudsperson: Professor Anthea Garman.
Letters to the Editor: editor@oppidanpress.com
Advertising details: advertising@oppidanpress.com
www.oppidanpress.com
www.facebook.com/theoppidanpress
www.twitter.com/oppidanpress @oppidanpress
The Oppidan Press publishes letters which are bona fde expres-
sions of opinion provided that they are not clearly libellous, de-
famatory, racist or sexist. We publish anonymous letters, but as
an act of good faith on your part, we require your full name. We
reserve the right to shorten letters due to space constraints and
to edit them for grammatical inaccuracies. Letters that do not
make it into our print edition will be published on our website.
Environment
6 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 7
Mikaela Erskog
I
n light of the new proposal made in
response to the review of Rhodes Univer-
sitys old Environmental Policy, the Rhodes
Environmental Committee is looking to create
a more relevant and sustainable environmental
policy that will afect real change.
Te current Environmental Policy was created
in 1998 and has since become outdated. Safety,
Health and Environmental Ofcer Nikki Khly
explained that there was a need to develop a
more relevant environmental policy and reach
consensus on objectives and implementation of
the Policy.
In an efort to make the Policy more relevant
to the broader community, the Environmental
Committee has circulated the proposal to as
many relevant stakeholders as possible in order
to involve the diferent spheres of activity at the
university. Tis includes the Teaching and Learn-
ing Committee, Infrastructure, Operations and
Finance, Communications and Marketing, Com-
munity Engagement and the SRC.
In a letter addressed to the various
departments, Chair of the Environmental
Committee Professor Hugo Nel stated:
Environmental sustainability in concept, policy
and implementation spans various disciplines,
units, departments, support divisions, student
bodies and committees across the university,
comment from which is essential for the
new Policy to be acceptable to the wider
university community.
Te proposed Policy seems to be taking on
a more critical and holistic approach to how
Rhodes should engage with environmental issues.
Te old Policys opening declaration stated in two
lines that the University recognises that its use
of resources has an impact on the environment
and strives to meet internationally acceptable
standards. Te document goes on to briefy men-
tion areas of key interest, such as waste, water and
energy, partnerships with students and commu-
nities. It then expands into the history of the Tal-
loires Declaration (an international environmen-
tal agreement signed by a number of universities
from diferent countries) which the university
had signed. However, this declaration gives little
insight into the particularities of the implementa-
tion of environmental best practices.
Te proposed Policy, on the other hand, seems
to have shown a greater commitment to critical
engagement, as a line in the opening declaration
shows: Tis policy embraces a social-ecological
interpretation of sustainability where practices
and actions are viewed in terms of their beneft
with regard to protecting and improving the well-
being of interacting social elements including
quality of life, cultural, economic and political
concerns, and biophysical elements including
the natural and built environments.
Tis suggests a deeper commitment to far-
reaching environmental sustainability, especially
as the document goes so far as to defne the
concepts that they hope to realise.
Te proposed Policy is also showing a greater
degree of commitment to the South African
context (and therefore the immediate environ-
ment we fnd ourselves in) as one of its objectives
is to uphold national environmental legislation.
Whilst many critical environmentalists believe
that policy does not necessarily efect change,
Khly explained that this policy has consider-
ably more long term benefts. We are hoping to
draw stakeholders in, in part by alerting them to
the fact that short-term expenditure may have
long-term fnancial and environmental benefts
versus short-term savings which may have high
long-term fnancial and environmental costs,
she said.
Te Policy also articulates a much clearer
moral obligation to the broader environmental
and social community, and its detailed involve-
ment and call to particular stakeholders to play a
more meaningful role in environmental protec-
tion suggests critical steps in the right direction.
For more information on the proposed
environmental policy, visit http://www.ru.ac.za/
environment/policy.
RU Environmental Policy under review
Lili Barras-Hargan
Nearly three months afer the 2014
national elections and a couple of
days afer Rhodes University Envi-
ronmental Week, it seems an oppor-
tune time to assess how the elected
government is responding to matters
of the environment.
Afer the recent elections in May,
many are wondering if the environ-
mental policies of the African National
Congress (ANC) are in order despite
the fact that environmental concerns
barely made the agenda during its
campaign trail. In the ANCs 2014
manifesto for the elections, it stated,
Te pace of oil and gas exploration
including shale gas exploration by
the state and other players in
the industry will be intensifed as
part of the countrys efort to ensure
national self-sufciency and energy
security while promoting environmen-
tal sustainability.
Now, afer President Jacob Zumas
recent announcement of plans to begin
fracking in the Karoo, tensions have
risen and there is more concern about
what measures are being taken to
promote environmental sustainability.
Even if one puts aside the fracking-is-
inherently-bad-for-the-environment
argument for a moment, the proposed
activities still lack sufcient credibility
with regards to the ambiguity of the
economic benefts. Due to the uncer-
tainty surrounding fracking as an ener-
gy source, the promised environmental
sustainability (let alone the economic
benefts) has not been critically dealt
with, as the ANC has not elaborated
on just how they will be promoting
environmental sustainability.
Fracking is a relatively new, but con-
troversial, way of sourcing energy that
could reduce the pressure that we put
on coal reserves our primary source
of energy in South Africa. With its
promises of changing the way we look
at fossil fuels and the ANCs proposal
that it will promote environmental sus-
tainability, it seems a breakthrough in
energy production methods. However,
there are a number of negative efects
which can threaten not only those
residing close to the excavation site but
South Africa as a whole.
As it stands, the ANC is punting the
economic benefts of fracking. Zuma
touched on the issue of fracking in
his State of the Nation address; Te
development of petroleum, especially
shale gas, will be a game-changer for
the Karoo region and the South Afri-
can economy.
However, lecturer at Rhodes and
Agang representative Professor Philip
Machanick argued that the stated eco-
nomic beneft is vastly overblown and
the risk of destroying rural infrastruc-
ture is high. Add in climate change
concerns and it is the wrong solution
to the wrong problem.
In recent news, plans to begin exper-
imental fracking in the Karoo are be-
ing met with protests by the Treasure
Karoo Action Group (TKAG). A letter
written by TKAG and activist group
AfriForum has been hand-delivered
to Zuma. It asks for him to investigate
the poorly-researched fracking process
and open the topic for discussion with
the general public. We want to see
physical steps to halt the process. He is
the one that needs to put a stop to it,
said CEO of TKAG Jonathan Deal.
A strong issue associated with frack-
ing is its newness, which translates into
limited experience with the fracking
process. As such, the long-term efects
cannot be projected and could in fact
worsen the current state of our envi-
ronment. Additionally, the cocktail
of chemicals being inserted into
underground waters could potentially
poison groundwater. Tese poisoned
waters fow freely below the surface
and mean that vegetation, wildlife and
surface water bodies can be damaged
on an enormous scale. Furthermore, a
number of small earthquakes have oc-
curred near areas where fracking takes
place, which suggests that seismic
activity is afected by the process.
Although the governments expecta-
tions of sustainability through fracking
may seem misguided, they appear to
have some considerations to maintain
the state of the environment in the
long-run.
Te ANCs advocation for solar
and wind power schemes may prove
fruitful, but with little discussion on
how their current ventures can actu-
ally sustain a healthy environment
(which many believe big industry to be
incapable of), a more environmentally
sustainable South Africa is unlikely.
Government wants fracking while the environment is cracking
The development
of petroleum,
especially shale
gas, will be a
game-changer
for the Karoo
region and the
South African
economy.
Fingo Fest
does not only
beneft the
level of artists,
it benefts the
community.
- Bulelani Booi
Scitech
6 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 11
Heather Dixon and Bracken Lee-
Rudolph
W
ith the advent of smart-
phones and tablets, the
popularity of social
networks has skyrocketed with the
knock-on efect of academic com-
munication taking place on these
networks. Although social media has
ofen been criticised for being detri-
mental to productivity, many users are
fnding more practical applications to
suit an academic context.
Class Representative for Maths 1
and Physics 1 Jaclyn Stevens feels that
social media has had a signifcant ef-
fect on her classes. Stevens specifcally
emphasised that it has improved how
things are organised in her classes and
how students cope with work they do
not fully understand. Its quite helpful
to be able to get a hold of everyone es-
pecially in Maths, which is a pretty big
class and it provides a more relaxed
setting for students to ask questions
where they really struggle, she said.
Stevens groups have not been
without problems however; group
members can veer entirely of-topic
and Stevens even had to ban one user
for being needlessly infammatory.
Class Representative for Music 3 and
Instrumental Music Studies (IMS) Kay
Mosiane feels that social networking
has aided communication between
students and class representatives.
Its the frst thing everybody checks
when they wake up or before they
go to sleep, said Mosiane, who has
noticed a defnite increase in the use of
Facebook groups for classes since her
frst year.
Mosiane believes that Facebook
lends itself more to information shar-
ing than WhatsApp, which is better
suited for smaller groups such as her
vocal ensemble group. Students are
defnitely more comfortable using
Facebook. Its a platform for asking
questions or exchanging notes,
she said. However, Mosiane believes
that RUConnected and emails are
better suited for more formal com-
munication, including the sharing of
lecture slides.
My sense is that social media plays
a huge role in students lives, said
Journalism and Media Studies lecturer
Gillian Rennie.
She explained that students may
feel more comfortable sharing infor-
mation and interacting on Facebook,
as it is a platform that they are very
familiar with.
However, Rennie has her doubts
about Facebook and the quality of
communication on the platform.
Te reason I dislike Facebook is that
the quality of discourse is abysmal.
I think, because of its immediacy,
it helps ratchet up anxiety and panic
and that defnitely doesnt help
learning, she said.
While social networks may not have
the academic focus of systems like RU-
Connected, they certainly have their
uses. Whether the efect of platforms
like Facebook or WhatsApp is positive
on students is debated, but their use
in an academic context has increased
markedly and seems to be growing
consistently.
Social networking in an academic environment
Far from being used only traditionally, social media platforms such as Facebook are increasingly being used for aca-
demic purposes at schools and universities. Photo: BRONWYN PRETORIUS
-Kay Mosiane,
Class Representative
for Music 3
Its the
frst thing
everybody
checks when
they wake up or
before they go
to sleep
Sports
Rhodes Confessions
more than it seems
DoS review
questionable
Evolution of
Silent Protest
2 3 8
Kimara Singh
T
he Retief Renegades are set
to meet Titans in the Rho-
des Soccer Cup Final on 13
August 2014 afer both teams battled
their way through the semi-fnals to
secure an epic closing encounter.
Retief faced Joe Slovo in a challeng-
ing quarter-fnal match, which eventu-
ally swung in their favour late in the
frst half and ultimately booked their
place in the semi-fnal to face Hilltop.
Te semi-fnal started with Retief
leading by a goal to nil in the frst half
but they were rattled when Hilltop
scored two quick goals to take the lead
mid-way through the second half.
However, Retief refused to back
down and reaped the reward with a
late equaliser. Te game then went on
to penalties, which saw some heroics
from the Retief keeper Asaduma Sam
that won them a place in this years
Cup Final.
Retief s captain Tony Mampura
said that the team is ecstatic that their
hard work has paid of, especially
considering that they were the under-
dogs this season. We know its not
going to be easy playing against a team
of Titans calibre, but we believe that
we have the quality and the utmost
ability to emerge victorious in the
fnal, explained Mampura.
Titans faced KDFC in their quarter-
fnal in which emotions ran high as
the game went to a stressful penalty
shoot-out.
Te teams were stuck on level terms
afer the regular penalties. A sudden
death round was needed to end the
stalemate. Titans kept their nerve the
longest and eventually grabbed
the victory.
Titans then faced the skilful Abu
Dhabi side in their semi-fnal. Neither
side wanted to disappoint in this high
profle encounter and the game began
with an energetic tempo.
Titans kept the fow of the game go-
ing well in the frst few minutes of the
frst half, but were lef back-tracking
when Abu Dhabi got on the score
sheet. A spectacular strike by Titans
Januaris Mugazambi forced the game
to penalties.
Having won on penalties in the
quarter fnal, Titans hoped that their
experience from such situations would
get them through. In the end this
proved to be the case as they snatched
the victory from a disappointed Abu
Dhabi. Titans captain Mandla Nkondo
said, We played with the intention of
going into the Cup Final. It was a great
game and Abu Dhabi played with a lot
of heart. My team and I are ecstatic
about reaching the fnal.
Internal League and Referees Co-
ordinator Kudzi Nzombe said that the
Cup Final has been running according
to plan and that no hiccups have been
encountered to date.
Te best teams, based on perfor-
mance, collective hard work and a hint
of luck actually made it to the fnal,
Nzombe added.
Te two victors will go head-to-
head in the fnal and it will certainly be
a match not to miss. Both teams have
worked tirelessly to get into this posi-
tion and hope that they come out with
a coveted Cup Final win.
Retief to meet Titans in Cup Final
Womens netball
ups the ante
Gabi Bellairs-Lombard
During the June vacation the Rho-
des frst team womans netball took
part in the University Sports South
Africa (USSA) Netball Tourna-
ment in Port Elizabeth. Te team
placed fourth out of twelve teams
in the C division.
Captain Vuyolwethu Langa, a
BComm Accounting graduate of
Rhodes, has led the team since the
beginning of the year. Being captain
was no easy job, especially since it
was my frst time participating in a
USSA tournament, she said. Tere
were moments where I had to push
myself in order to keep everyone up
to speed.
Although they did not achieve
the frst place they hoped for, their
hard work certainly paid of as the
experience which they gained from
the tournament was a fundamental
learning curve for the team. Even
though the team struggled to cope
with playing in a USSA tournament
for the frst time, their inexperience
was counteracted by their determi-
nation and good preparation. Our
ftness really helped us, Langa said.
We trained hard and prepared well,
and we worked together as a team.
Te teams improved physical and
mental preparation for the tourna-
ment was emphasised by Chairper-
son Saphokazi Nxokweni. We were
well-trained and disciplined, and
this is something we lacked in the
past, said Nxokweni.
Part of the frustration surround-
ing their loss is due to a number
of challenging situations on the
day. Some opposing teams did not
arrive for matches, and the Rhodes
frst team sufered fatigue due to
playing extra games they had not
planned for. Tis meant that they
went up against challenging op-
ponents. I felt cheated in our fnal
game because of this, but overall we
worked well as a team, said member
Nosiseko Mtati.
Despite these frustrations, the
Rhodes ladies felt they did well to
fnish with the result they did, and
will use the experience as a stepping
stone to future success. Teir next
challenge will take place in Kimber-
ley from 8 to 10 August, where they
will compete against several other
clubs in the hope of achieving the
success they feel they deserve. We
have sat down and picked out our
weaknesses, and I feel confdent that
we can now move forward as a bet-
ter team, Nxokweni said.
The Rhodes frst team womens netball team came away with fourth place
out of twelve teams in the USSA Netball Tournement in June.
Photo: SUPPLIED
Our ftness
really helped
us. We
trained hard
and prepared
well, and
we worked
together as
a team
- Vuyolwethu
Langa, Rhodes
frst team womens
netball captain
Brandon Yates
Te annual University Sports South Africa (USSA) rugby
week was hosted by Rhodes University this year from 3
June to 4 July. Te tournament saw competition between
the likes of UCT, UJ, Tuks and Maties as well as Varsity
Shield and other university sides.
All 32 teams were divided into four pools based on last
years results. Pool A was made up of Varsity Cup sides,
while Pool B contained Varsity Shield teams and Rhodes.
Every pool had a contested fnal and ofered difering fates
for the winners and losers of each.
Due to the National Arts Festival taking over the Great
Field, the games had to be played on the far less glamorous
Prospect and Kings Fields. Some games had to be played on
St. Andrews Lower Field as well.
Tis did seem to be a result of poor planning on behalf of
the organisers of the festival. Despite this setback, the play-
ing surfaces were in excellent condition and did not hinder
the teams performances at all.
Rhodes was placed into Pool B which contained predomi-
nantly Varsity Shield teams. Tey came up against stalwarts
University of the Western Cape (UWC) and University of
Fort Hare (UFH).
Although they were narrowly defeated by UWC, it was
clear that their pre-festival preparations paid of when they
managed to pull up their socks two days later to produce a
win over UFH in a David versus Goliath scenario.
Rhodes certainly did not let their home fans down and
the future seems bright for the club with its Varsity Shield
ambitions. Many youngsters drafed into the team im-
pressed with their frst taste of this level of Varsity rugby
and structures are in place for the club to qualify for Varsity
Shield rugby at next years festival.
Rhodes University hosted a fantastic tournament and
provided local rugby supporters with an alternative to the
Arts Fest. Te teams provided fans with thrilling action that
made every day of play an enthralling spectacle.
Rhodes hosts highly successful USSA rugby week
Rhodes Universitys 1st XV played in a pool made up of Varsity Shield side at the recent USSA tournament.
Photo: NICK DAKIN