Mirror Miglactic

By Phetane Rapetswane

The winds of change have been sweeping across Rhodes University, and most of these winds of change have often been met with stiff resistance. Some of these changes include a new SRC body, with all the top three members of the leading student body all coming from the radical political group Sasco. Changes also include the name change of the Union to the Bantu Steven Biko, Cradock House in Nelson Mandela Hall to Adelaide Tambo House, as well as the university launching aggressive anti-drinking campaigns. Although most of these changes, like all the change in the world have been met with hostility and anger, some people have embraced the new changes and accepted, while others remain bitter and opposed to change, but this however is life- just take a look at the uproar that a change in the format of the new facebook brought, you’d swear the end of the world was approaching or something.
This long winded lead brings me to the Rhodes name change debate, which is a topic always sure to raise heated arguments and opinions. The mere thought of Rhodes changing its name has snapped even the most chilled or drunk Rhodent into taking action, and signing petitions or joining Facebook groups, where they can reminisce about how good the name is and how expensive a name change is, and how silly all other name change alternatives would be. These people of course are of course normally white people, although a couple of Rich Blacks have in my opinion ignorantly joined the white people in standing up for what is a clearly unjust name, as Cecil John Rhodes was after all a brutal tyrant who murdered and plundered African people’s resources, in pursuit of his own self interest. In my opinion he is no different to Hitler, but it is strange how the mere mention of Hitler makes people like Rhodents(Rich whites) in particular put themselves on a moral pedestal and call the guy a tyrant with whom they will not associate themselves with, however they are happy to associate themselves with Rhodes. Why people have this attitude is beyond me, and smacks of double standards, unless of course people think a Jewish life is more valuable than that of an African and that the murdering of Africans was perfectly fine as they were not ‘civilised’ enough.
When Mandela brought peace to South Africa in 1994, black South Africans were promised change and any change that has been done to ‘Africanise’ South Africa like affirmative action or name changes have been met with uproar and protest as some white people feel we are ruining their ‘country’. As Professor Pityana said it is important to challenge this image of Rhodes being a little bubble of Affluence and incorporate it into the rest of or Rhini and make sure that no one feels left out or excluded due to the socially constructed image of Rhodes only being for whites and rich black coconuts.
Change is never easy to accept, especially when you are not in control of that change, but ignorance is no excuse for standing in the way of change, and the sooner people get of their pedestal’s and realise that this is Africa and that no African in their right mind would accept anything to do with Cecil Rhodes as prestigious, just as no German would associate Hitler with prestige the sooner things in not only Rhodes but whole county will change.

Here is a trackback of some of the ignorant statements made in defence of this tyrant
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37806285209

By: Asanda Maki

The time was 22:30 pm and I was at Fountain Laboratory to finish my Journalism assignment which was due before midnight. I was sitting and typing, put my head phones listening to some music. This lab is one of the labs usually filled by students’ not just students but those taking in route in Extend Studies. It is one of my favourite labs at Rhodes.

Apparently I heard daunting noises….shouting and swearing. It was a group of guys in which some of them I recognised sometimes in this lab. I was extremely shocked to see that these guys were DRUNK! Some of them were acting as if they are not while other you could tell that this one has had “some”. Well it was fine there was no one to stop them; I think the security guards didn’t see them entering the labs in the condition they were in, in order to chase them. They were so irritating because they caused high levels of nose in the whole labs…shouting. I saw other female student panicking because of this unstoppable noise. They packed their stuffs and left the lab.

It was when I saw one of them taking out a “nip of Limosin Brandy” while others were holding glasses of “beer”. The lab was smelling alcohol and a disgusting smell. I was so annoyed and irritated…..”Not that I was thirsty”…..my turn passed and I had a great experience…just that this brings the memory of an experience I had in the past weekend.

Things got out of hand when this guy poured the Limosin Brandy for his friend and guess what happened next…..he drunk the rest like he was drinking a juice or water not a spirited brandy and he couldn’t hold himself he was so excited! And shouting….Voetsek! to his friends. They tried to stop him but he was drunk and uncontrollable.

Even though I am afraid of a drunken person because he can do anything to get a fight …but I was just about to go and tell the guy to keep the noise levels down because we are doing academic work…a Campus Protection Unit guard walked in. He didn’t even ask what was happening rather he saw the situation by his own eyes. He went outside I assume he went to call on other guards to come. Apparently I saw his “drunken master’s” friends trying to escape, some pretended they were sober…the CPU caught the drunkard just when him and his friends were trying to escape outside the lab entrance. Then I heard some of his friends saying he is taken to the Campus Protection Unit offices.