The struggle with unemployment is bigger than what meets the eye. It destroys a person within. It takes away humanity and leaves an individual with a range of anger. It is the creator and founder of many criminals and drug lords.
Currently, in South Africa unemployment is at its peak and the government does not seem to be making an effort to handle the situation except by making empty promises. Like the speech by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Opening of Jobs Summit in 2008 “In the National Development Plan, we said we aim to reduce unemployment to at least 6% by 2030” however unemployment rate keeps on fluctuating. Instead, unemployed individuals are being given R350 monthly. However, the R350 is not much of an assistant as it gets finished mostly on toiletries. As a job hunter, you need to have transport fare monthly as you go out to hand curriculum vitae (CV) once or twice a month. The R350 cannot cover toiletries, food, transport fare, printing, and photocopying of CVs and documents.
Unemployment taints the importance of education as there are many unemployed graduates out there. The rate of unemployed graduates in South Africa aged 15-24 years decreased from 40.3% to 32.6% in quarter 1 of 2022 while it increased by 6.9% to 22.4% for those aged 25-34 years. And those who have less than a matric have an unemployment rate of 51.5%. South Africa is among the highest both in Africa and the world as it has a 32% of unemployment rate. Those who are illiterate or rather did not go to universities or colleges always mock graduates by saying “You wasted your time and money for nothing because you are unemployed just like us without degrees or diplomas. We all wake up to sit in the sun all day long.” According to World Economic Forum South Africa, the unemployment rate is expected to hit 35.6% in 2030 due to slow economic growth and stringent labour laws.
A recent graduate by the name of Siyakha Mzondi, when asked whether he is looking forward to being called a graduate in South Africa said: “Although there is a high unemployment rate on graduates I am looking forward to being one because it is much easier to job hunt when you qualify compared to when you only have matric.” While on the other hand, a graduate that did not want to be mentioned said she once looked forward to graduating and holding a valid qualification. However, she never imagined how things turned out. She has been job hunting for years with no luck. Sometimes she does get internships and they do not pay her enough money to cover her expenses. She said, “Studying until you graduate is an achievement worthy to be celebrated but it also brings pain and sorrow especially when you see those with connections getting proper jobs while you sitting at home with your qualification.”
The more unemployment increases it also increase depression rate. Several people are depressed due to being not able to provide for themselves and some people do not even have a person that helps them with basic needs, they only have themselves to look out to. Unemployment leads to depression. Depression is a mental disorder that affects your moods and causes a loss of interest in things you used to love and enjoy. Depression is caused by stressful events. However, someone can become depressed due to their personality like having low self-esteem or being overly self-critical. A depressed person can experience changes in sleep patterns, loss of appetite, fatigue, lack of concentration, and weight changes. Depression sometimes leads to suicidal thoughts
Unemployment is a serial killer. It has the power of making people feel like failures. We can make education fashionable all we want but if the rate of unemployment still goes up unattended too we are all wasting our time. Connections have more power than qualifications and not everyone is highly connected. Some grew up in rural areas with no connection the only hope is education which is slowly losing its value.
As we all have a right to education, I also believe we have a right to access good-paying jobs!
Happiness can turn into sadness while tears of joy turn into tears of heartbreak. The phrase that says we do not know what tomorrow holds should be taken into consideration in each day of our lives. On the 5th of March 2020, when the first case of Covid-19 was recorded in South Africa we never thought it will turn our lives upside down. I am one of the covid-19 pandemic victims. The Covid-19 pandemic became a thorn in my life. It took me from a rising heroine to zero.
As someone who grew up in rural areas, I had a vision of how my graduation day would be like. I wanted my family to travel the 8hour drive from Ntabankulu to Port Elizabeth to celebrate my success with me, but the Covid-19 pandemic had other plans. I did not graduate nor have virtual graduation, I received my certificate through a courier. In 2020, I was finally done with school I looked forward to being in the workplace and make money to provide for my family. I got a job offer that did not last long because covid-19 became part of us. Lockdown was introduced and companies had to close. Unfortunately, the company runs out of funds and there was no hope for it to reopen again. I lost my job and became part of the South African youth unemployment rate which is currently at 32.6% according to Stats SA. It’s been a year and a couple of months since the first case of the Coronavirus in South Africa and we are slowly approaching 3rd wave. So, it’s clear that covid-19 will always be part of us we only need to plan our lives around it. Covid-19 became a thorn that will never be taken out.
NB: THIS PIECE IS FROM THE ARCHIVES…A WELL-WRITTEN PIECE ABOUT HOW COVID AFFECTED/STILL AFFECTS OTHER PEOPLE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN DUE COURSE
When growing up as a Xhosa man there are things you are
taught you cannot share. There is a certain way that you are expected to
behave. This has led to a lot of Xhosa men believing that sharing their
feelings or crying makes them weak. Our forefathers have instilled the practice
that a man that shares his life experiences does not deserve to be a man and is
referred to as ‘ibhetye-bhetye’ which means to be soft.
In 2018 Mafa Bavuma
published his first book entitled ‘Born for This’ which he Co-authored with
former ENCA journalist and SABC head of parliamentary news, Vuyani Green. He
says the title of the book was inspired by the fact that he finally fulfilled
his dream as he grew up longing to be on the radio, “I always stayed glued
on the radio every time after school and even kept on recording songs from
it.” said Bavuma. However, being on the radio is not the only reason he
wrote a book, but he wrote it to inspire a young man who grew up in a rural
town.
When growing up in an
African family you are expected to go to school and do a typical profession
that is not regarded by them as a hobby. Parents, especially growing up in a
big family, expect you to study to become a doctor, nurse or teacher. Growing
in a family of eight children, Mafa disregarded all the societal and family
norms, he went with his childhood passion, getting into radio.
Mafa started his radio
career at Kingfisher community radio station. In 2008 he left Kingfisher and
started working at Tru FM and later in the same year he joined Umhlobo Wenene.
He is currently doing a morning show at Umhlobo Wenene FM.
The highlights of his radio career are, in 2012/13 he was
nominated in the MTN awards, in 2014 he was an Eastern Cape nominee in the
Vodacom Journalism Award as well as being nominated to attend the UN’s Annual
General Assembly in New York.
George Meko who has known Mafa Bavuma for almost nine years
says he never thought that Mafa Bavuma would write a book. He kept the book
writing decision as a secret between him and his co-author. Although the book
came as a shock to Meko he believes that Bavuma independently collected his
thoughts during his teenage years and when Vuyani Green gives him a chance to
tell the world his life story he easily conveyed the information over to him to
put it in a language of a book. It is a book that takes people to his
background and lifestyle, “the book can lead you to moments where you
burst to laughter, a moment where you find yourself crying or feeling
pity.” says Meko.
In his book, he included how he was molested by his cousin. Being molested is not an easy thing to talk about whether you are a male or female. It takes bravery to be able to talk about such things. When Mafa opens up about such a traumatic experience he does not only help himself to recover from trauma, but he also encourages another young man out there who have experienced the same thing but scared to talk thinking that he will be judged or made fun of but him sharing the experience has paved a way for other people who are looking up to him. Mafa says it doesn’t matter what situation you come from, it shouldn’t stumble your dreams even if the road seems tough because everyone has a dream even Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko had dreams. “Wherever you come from you can never stop dreaming,” says Bavuma.
Bavuma started from the bottom but one of the things that he
teaches people is that giving up is never an option, in every storm, you come
across stay firm. He proved that by continuing with writing his book although
he lost his mother in the middle of book writing. “In the middle of the
book there was a long break because I was still mourning for my mother,”
he said. Although his mother passed on, half of the book story is from her
since she died after an interview with her was conducted. Regardless of this,
his friend George believes that if both of his parents were still alive, they
would have had more of their perspective of the challenges he faced when he
grew up but unfortunately, they are no more.
Born for This might be his first book, but it is not his last. Bavuma is still determined to write another book because he believes he is still young and there will be more to share with other people as he grows up. On his first book he has gained a lot of encouragement and positive feedback from people, many people are impressed because his book speaks for those who are scared to speak out, it makes people understand their situation even better as they realize that even people who are well known have had their ups and downs but they did not give up, they strived to better their lives. However, when people ask him why he wrote a book at such young age, he simply responds to that question by saying “I do not know what tomorrow holds for me and I do not know how long I am going to live.” Mafa believes that ‘every day of your life there is a story to tell.’ His book encourages everyone that never use your background as an excuse of not achieving your dreams, stay in your lane and use what you have to get what you need.
The increasing number of crimes at and around NMU makes students’ accommodations prime crime targets. Break-ins in student accommodations have become a norm and these break-ins contribute to students’ poor academic success. Find a summary of this article in chapter three of the main article and other related articles.
Broken door glass on one of the NMU off-campus accommodations. Photo cred: Lona Gebu
To have a university in your town is every community’s dream since universities uplift the name of a town and change its economic value. According to Universities UK, universities are important centers for their local areas, boosting employment. Also, their social and cultural influence places them right at the heart of the community. Having a university in your neighborhood is beneficial because it cut tertiary costs and as a parent who want to take your child to university you do not have to pay student accommodation, you only need to organize transport fare and sometimes he can even walk to campus. However, not everyone gets to experience the benefits of leaving next to a university since to some parents it is a nightmare. When the university is nearby, the crime rate increases.
Talking to Mr. Machingura, a resident from Sydenham in Port Elizabeth, said Sydenham used to be a quiet and safe place to live before it had several student accommodations. Students brought a vibe to that place which made it a target for criminals. In the middle of the night, students roam around the street drunk and singing their lungs out, which makes it easier for thieves to break in without being noticed as they can track the students’ whereabouts.
The growing demand for tertiary
education worldwide has overtaken the capacity of institutions of higher
learning to cope. Twenty years ago, 80% of the total global student population
was accommodated
in residences, today with the dramatic increase of learners heading to university,
this figure has dropped to less than 20%. Although universities have their own
on-campus accommodations, they cannot accommodate all those students who are
admitted every year. Hence, they saw a need for off-campus accredited
accommodations. Off-campus accredited accommodations also operate based on
university safety and security regulations policy and everything that those
off-campus accommodations have should be almost like what on-campus
accommodations have, in terms of services and infrastructure.
With the coming high demand for student accommodations, many citizens have developed the idea of changing their rooms and houses to accommodate students. It came as a business opportunity that resulted in their areas such as Summerstrand, Humewood, and surrounding areas targets of crime.
The technology devices that students have, to help them with their studies such as laptops and cell phones seem to make them prime targets. Student rooms are targeted almost every day, and students do not feel safe whether they are on or off campus. “I don’t feel safe being around campus and even being at the residence due to all these incidents happening in our university. As students we want the university to ensure that the SAPS is patrolling the whole day so that we could at least feel safe,” Sinoxolo Ntlabathi.
The way students dress and present themselves makes people assume that they have money. When they meet people who they last saw before starting at universities, those people will make comments such as they are looking good, clearly, NSFAS pays well.
National Students Financial Aid Scheme gives students money, for meals and also some of the things that are needed at university. The NSFAS money has made them as well as the communities they live in crime targets. Although on, on-campus accommodations there’s hardly a report about break-ins, off-campus accommodations, and private houses are targeted by criminals. Even on South African crime statistics those towns or cities with universities are taking turns staying on position one on crimes such as theft, break-ins, and robberies.
Towns or suburbs that have many students’ accommodations face lots of break-ins such as Humewood and Summerstrand.
One of Nelson Mandela University students Samkelisiwe* who once stayed in an off-campus accommodation in Sydenham said, there was a break-in on her accommodation that time more than two times. In all incidents, it was believed that the perpetrators jumped over the wall and no student was injured in all incidents.
According to Samkelisiwe, in the first incident thieves did not take any student belongings, they took a television and one of the things that go with surveillance cameras and all students were inside their rooms although some of them heard what was happening outside.
On the second time, thieves held a lady at gunpoint, while she was in a corridor from the bathroom at night and took her phone. And on the third time, they went inside a male student’s room, took his laptop and a cell phone, and some electric appliances that were in the kitchen. That accommodation is between houses, but it was the only house that had endless break-ins, as it was also the only house with students, and students are always targeted. The matter was reported to the South African Police Service but there was no further communication on the ongoing case. After the incidents, Samkelisiwe is scared to study or use the bathroom at night.
The issue of break-ins in student accommodations is a national issue. Walter Sisulu University students embarked on a strike first week of May 2019 outside their residence on Wodehouse Street. Students were concerned about their safety as the accommodation was targeted by criminals and as a result, three break-ins occurred in April 2019. Three rooms have been broken into and laptops, clothes, blankets, food, and cell phones were stolen. Speaking to one of the publications, the mother of the break-in victim said her daughter was home the weekend of a break in but when she received a call from her roommate, she was scared to even go back to school as she feared for her life since criminals are capable of doing anything.
According to Eastern Cape crime statistics, Humewood police station in Port Elizabeth has burglary statistics that fluctuate yearly. The Humewood police station is near the Summerstrand suburb where Nelson Mandela University, as well as several NMU off-campus accommodations, are located. There were 457 burglaries at residential premises and 230 in non-residential cases reported in Humewood SAPS in 2017 but during 2018 the numbers decreased, there were 434 burglaries at residential premises and 180 burglaries in non-residential premises.
A security who patrols at night in some of the NMU off-campus accommodations in Summerstrand called Thinus Van Jaarsveld said incidents are more likely to happen every day around the accommodations although hours that can be considered risky hours are between 23H00 to 4H00. When asked what they do to make sure that a person that enters the accommodations belongs there it’s not an intruder or whatsoever said they are not able to differentiate those who stay there from those who are visiting.
Nelson Mandela University has
encountered more than two break-ins this year 2019 and we are only in the 4th month
since the accommodations have been operating, in its off-campus accommodation
where some students lost their valuables.
A study by a group called Student Accommodation Crisis reveals that there is an 80% chance for first-year students that live on campus to pass well. However, the pass rate for those who live off campus is 20%. In the survey I conducted out of 56 students 90% of them said they only feel safe when they are on campus. Those off-campus accommodations are not really safe even though the areas they are in are the most dangerous areas.
Student accommodation should be a student’s home away from home, it should be a place where students are able to relax and have fun. When living condition is poor, it is likely to have a negative impact on a student. Students who reside in insecure areas live in constant fear that even prevents them from studying. No student can be able to study in a place where he does not feel safe. Break-ins do not only take away their valuables, but they take away their future. Almost every student uses a laptop to study and do an assignment and all their schoolwork is saved in a laptop. When this break-in happens, they take all their future and be required to start from scratch, and some do not even have money to buy new things which results in them becoming university dropouts.
Keeping up with Lona 