A PROTEST march paid off for children at Mayibuye High School in Mpumalanga when the education department gave them what they wanted – chairs.
The pupils marched about 12km to the Sikhulile circuit offices in Kanyamazane near Nelspruit last Thursday and demanded 405 chairs. On Monday, 217 chairs were delivered to the school in Daantjie tribal trust and on Tuesday, another 100 were dropped off. The remaining 88 will be delivered shortly.
“The only way to put pressure on government is to embark on marches and mass action,” said spokesman for the children, Fana Masina, on Wednesday.
“We’re very happy because the government responded sooner than we expected,” he added.
The pupils set a deadline for Friday but didn’t expect anything to happen. They were surprised when the first consignment of chairs arrived on Monday.
“This is the only language the government officials understand, especially those from the previous governments, because they’re used to making empty promises,” Masina added. District Manager, Dr Gojagoja Shube, said the department got the chairs from schools that had a surplus.
Schoolteacher Musa Lubede was also delighted with chairs, saying several requests had been made to the department over the past few years. “The school furniture got lost when the community borrowed it for functions like funerals, birthday parties, contests and even at school sports events,” he explained. He said the teachers and parents were now supporting Operation Mazibuye (Bring Back) launched by the Congress of South African Students.
The operation aims to recover all school property either borrowed or stolen. Dr Shube urged the community to report when they saw school furniture in anyone’s home. Textbooks should also be reported because last year’s Grade 12 pupils failed to return their books, he added.
— African Eye News Service, June 9, 2000.