Grocott's Mail
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Saturday, May 24
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Grocott's Mail
    • NEWS
      • Courts & Crime
      • Features
      • Politics
      • People
      • Health & Well-being
    • SPORT
      • News
      • Results
      • Sports Diary
      • Club Contacts
      • Columns
      • Sport Galleries
      • Sport Videos
    • OPINION
      • Election Connection
      • Makana Voices
      • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
      • Newtown… Old Eyes
      • Incisive View
      • Your Say
    • ARTSLIFE
      • Cue
        • Cue Archives
      • Makana Sharp!
      • Visual Art
      • Literature
      • Food
      • Festivals
      • Community Arts
      • Going Places
    • OUR TOWN
      • What’s on
      • Spiritual
      • Emergency & Well-being
      • Covid-19
      • Safety
      • Civic
      • Municipality
      • Weather
      • Properties
        • Grahamstown Properties
      • Your Town, Our Town
    • OUTSIDE
      • Enviro News
      • Gardening
      • Farming
      • Science
      • Conservation
      • Motoring
      • Pets/Animals
    • ECONOMIX
      • Business News
      • Entrepreneurship
      • Personal Finance
    • EDUCATION
      • Education NEWS
      • Education OUR TOWN
      • Education INFO
    • EDITORIAL
    Grocott's Mail
    You are at:Home»Uncategorized»Nehawu post-strike debate
    Uncategorized

    Nehawu post-strike debate

    Grocott's MailBy Grocott's MailAugust 20, 2009No Comments3 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    A poorly attended, but lively debate about the recent Nehawu strike took place on Wednesday at the General Lecture Theatre at Rhodes.

    A poorly attended, but lively debate about the recent Nehawu strike took place on Wednesday at the General Lecture Theatre at Rhodes.

    The debilitating strike by support staff at Rhodes University might be over, but the bad blood will take a while to wash off.

    The discussion was organised by the Women’s Academic Solidarity Association (Wasa) and was attended by academic staff, students and some members of the National Education Health and Workers Union (Nehawu).

    Wasa’s Corinne Knowles said their organisation felt that the strike gave a one-sided picture and they decided to open a discussion between the affected parties. Organisers were disappointed however, that only 30 people attended the talk, and even fewer spoke up.

    According to Zakade Vena from Nehawu, a court interdict was responsible for the low attendance.

    “I am only here to listen and I cannot comment until the court interdict we have with Rhodes is resolved,” Vena said.

    Equity
    It was announced in the meeting that the vice chancellor earns four times more than lecturers, and far more than support staff. Rhodes Sociology professor Jimi Adesina said that though Rhodes’ residences are well maintained, the ones maintaining them are poorly paid.

    “The university talks about equity,” Adesina said, “but when Nehawu strike, they are called irrational and irresponsible and that dehumanises them."

    According to him the inequity will always exist if one person earns R50 000 per month and 10% of that is given to the rest. Nehawu did not only strike for money, Adesina said, but also to be valued as human beings.

    Rhodes Journalism professor Lynette Steenveld said that Rhodes is not only to blame and that people should bear in mind that we have a capitalist government whose control of the economy skews the debate about wages.

    Racism
    Knowles also said that the issue of racism is alive at Rhodes. She reiterated this by pointing to the fact that “during Inter-Varsity a lecturer was called a nigger”.

    According to some students, there is a permanent wall between black and white people at Rhodes.

    “Some students don’t understand what it means to be black,” announced one student, while another said the university often ignores the existence of racism.

    Students also expressed empathy towards Nehawu members and proposed that a memorandum of their support should be sent out to the workers.
     

    Previous ArticleTop art and wine for local auction
    Next Article University hunts for ‘racist students’
    Grocott's Mail

      Comments are closed.

      Code of Ethics and Conduct
      GROCOTT’S SUBSCRIPTION
      RMR
      Listen to RMR


      Humans of Makhanda

      Humans of Makhanda

      Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

      © 2025 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.