In 2013 a student from Rhodes University wrote about the silenced reality of social exclusion at Rhodes University.
Siyanda Centwa's piece, was based on his experiences transitioning from Grahamstown East to life on Rhodes campus.
In 2013 a student from Rhodes University wrote about the silenced reality of social exclusion at Rhodes University.
Siyanda Centwa's piece, was based on his experiences transitioning from Grahamstown East to life on Rhodes campus.
Not a Place for Peasants, an article in the Grocott’s Mail series, Tales of a Divided City, highlighted issues of social stratification.
As fourth-year television students of Rhodes University, we used Centwa’s article as a platform to investigate the concept of a silence on class experiences in tertiary institutions.
This film project began as an investigation of how class differences are experienced by Rhodes students.
The university is considered by many Rhodes students to be a mainly middle-class space. Many students who come from other backgrounds feel an initial sense of marginalisation.
This contrast of experiences and levels of acceptance has led to a variety of social outcomes. These include bullying, isolation, or attempts to conform to a middle-class standard.
Centwa, the main subject of the film, is accompanied by his friend Daniel Motaung, to whom he refers in the article.
Motaung shares Centwa’s experiences and confirmed his experience of the institution as manifesting deep divisions.
Also interviewed is Rhodes student Aphile Sololo, who elaborates on the differences between the experiences of middle-class students, in contrast to those of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
One of the challenges in the creation of this film was sourcing students willing to share their stories on camera. As filmmakers, this reinforced our premise that people avoid talking about social divisions within the student body.
The documentary discusses social, financial, leadership and support systems present at the university, through experts and students.
Centwa’s piece originally appeared in the series “Tales of a Divided City”, edited by Director of the Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics, in the Department of Philosophy, Rhodes University, Pedro Tabensky. As series editor, Tabensky helped Centwa document his experiences.
Tabensky explains the need for pieces like Centwa’s to address voids in journalism and society.
These voids are often expressed on social media platforms through the use of anonymity.
New Media expert Jude Mathurine describes this phenomenon as the “spiral of silence”.
This is evident in the use by marginalised students of pages like Rhodes Confessions to air observations and otherwise unspoken-of encounters.
Students facing such realities are advised to seek assistance from available support systems, including financial aid.
Terryl McCarthy and Qondakele Sompondo from the Rhodes Alumni offices have continuous fundraising efforts like that of the Give5 campaign and the Annual Fund.
Luyanda Bheyile of the Rhodes financial office explains how this money is distributed and allocated through loans and bursaries for disadvantaged students.
According to Bheyile, the need for financial assistance is not exclusive to disadvantaged students, but also a frustrating problem for middle-class students.
“They can’t get financial aid because they are not needy enough, and they can’t get a loan from the banks because the banks say they don’t earn enough to be able to get a study loan for the duration of three or four years at university,” says Bheyile.
In the university setting, students are provided with student leadership committees in residences.
These are supervised by resident wardens, sub-wardens and house committees.
Although they are trained to assist students in all aspects of life, there are certain areas which they are still struggling to address.
Rhodes leadership explain their own house dynamics and how the integration of students within residences remains one of the biggest challenges they face.
This film was created in the hope of making viewers aware of the unspoken divisions within the student body.
It aims to encourage conversation concerning these issues, in order for them to be confronted in the same way as other social issues such as race and gender.
