/ 30 May 2002

When things fall apart

Something is wrong. The disruption of schools by the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), and its defiance of authorities, should not be happening. Cosas is, after all, a junior partner of the ruling party, and it enjoys political and financial support from the African National Congress. It is also considered an important player in the ANC policy-making procedures.

This relationship has been kept alive largely for reasons of political expediency — Cosas will deliver votes when the time comes. One would have thought that the kind of defiance in which Cosas is now engaged belonged to our apartheid past. Then, mass action was reserved for an intransigent regime aloof to people’s concerns.

The conduct of students at the University of the North is equally disturbing. It is a sad commentary that students have resorted to destroying property because they have been denied what they see as their right to go on a drinking spree. Under apartheid violence was imported by the regime into the universities. Today the source of destruction comes from within. That this occurs at the time when higher education is becoming increasingly inaccessible for many poor but academically deserving students is worrying. The fact that events at the University of the North are not isolated is indicative of a deterioration in the content of student politics and the extent to which a culture of entitlement has become entrenched.

The same line of argument can be extended to the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu). The union, an affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) — itself a partner of the ruling alliance — should be in the forefront of restoring the dignity of the teaching profession. Instead, it has — unwittingly — presented itself as the defender of mediocre teaching in schools. Surely, it should be able to find a better basis on which to engage the government and its officials? Chasing, haranguing and abusing officials from the government they helped into office is not what we expect from Sadtu. Did it not spend more than four months campaigning for the ANC to ensure its 1999 electoral victory?

Strangely, these developments take place at a time when we are led to believe that our people have enthusiastically embraced the notion of volunteerism. We are told that “our country has moved further forward towards a society free of poverty and underdevelopment” and that “we are making progress as a nation in addressing the social backlogs that we inherited from the apartheid past”.

If we are to believe that the country is experiencing “qualitative improvements in learning and teaching in our schools and the dramatic improvements in [matriculation] results, which show that the transformation process is starting to bear fruit”, why has this reality escaped Cosas or Sadtu? Or are there other realities? Or is it perhaps that there is lack of confidence in the ruling elite?

It would be easy to dismiss the conduct of Cosas, Sadtu and students at the University of the North as isolated events engendered by those bent on derailing and undermining a democratic government. After all, this was the argument made against the Treatment Action Campaign, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party when they challenged the idiocy of the ruling elite regarding HIV/Aids?

What seems more likely is that the explanation for the conduct of these education bodies lies in a deeper level of frustration that these protagonists are unable to articulate. And the origins of this lie in the past.

Then, the future held promise. We expected a government that would be responsive to the needs and concerns of its citizens; people would elect the leaders of their choice at national, provincial and local level; the rights of children would be restored, and children would concern themselves with issues that concern young people everywhere; pupils would cease to be comrades and would have access to good education; higher education would be provided to those who could benefit from it.

The promise found sublime expression in the Freedom Charter: the people shall govern; education shall be free, compulsory and equal for all children; higher education shall be open to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit; the aged, orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state; slums shall be abolished. It was a promise and future worth fighting for.

Accordingly, black people looked forward to the day when they would appoint an authentic leadership on the basis of merit. Black excellence would be paraded — if only to disprove the myth of black incompetence and inferiority. This commitment to excellence saw its inspirational expression when political prisoners transformed Robben Island into a form of a university. Elinor Sisulu in a recent paper captures this as follows: “For political prisoners there was nothing better than academic achievement to raise their morale and make them feel their prison years were not wasted. Education was a major preoccupation of the Robben Islanders at a collective and an individual level. Many prisoners arrived there with no tertiary education and left with one or more degrees to their name.”

That was then. That was before black people were told that loyalty to party bosses overrides merit and commitment to principles; before they were told that education does not matter; and before the present leadership declared that people are incompetent to elect their own provincial and local leaders. Ironically, apartheid was informed by the same line of reasoning. Couple this with a creeping arrogance and disdain for “the people”.

Civil society has had to resort to the courts to ensure that pensioners receive what is due to them. The Treatment Action Campaign had to embark on mass action to save the lives of those infected with HIV/Aids. Gone is the notion that “one lost life is one too many”. Corruption, incompetence, ineptitude mean that funds earmarked for poverty alleviation and provision of services lie unspent. A damning report by the Human Rights Commission finds that millions of children are “still being denied access to quality education because they came from poor communities” while government inefficiencies are ensuring they do not have even the most basic educational materials. The same report finds that poor budgeting and the inefficient use of resources is damaging the quality of health-care services. And none of the largely unqualified and incompetent political appointees have been fired. Does this not provide Cosas, Sadtu and unruly students with an excuse?

As long as the ruling elite turns a blind eye to incompetence and celebrates mediocrity, its officials will have no moral basis to demand competent performance from members of Sadtu. Also, as long as the government prioritises the comforts of its political appointees at the expense of human life, and remains immersed in corruption, its condemnation of students’ conduct will amount to nothing. Its message on volunteerism and creation of a new person will be undermined by the official kleptocracy. Loss of confidence and disillusionment in political leadership breeds such behaviour.