The Minister of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya has expressed grave concern that the views of four women affected by the incident of racism at the University of Free State have never been heard in local media.
Minister Mayende-Sibiya was speaking at a seminar organised by the Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg to mark Press Freedom Day. Minister Mayende-Sibiya’s comments follow the decision by the university’s Rector and Vice-Chancellor Dr Jonathan Jansen to drop charges against the four students who allegedly fed residence staff urinated food.
Minister Mayende-Sibiya said the voice of the affected women workers have been absent in the media discourse since the incident took place in 2007. Mayende-Sibiya was the President of National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) which represented the affected workers at the time of the incident.
“I was amazed to read that it was only last week in the British Sunday Times that we heard some comments from the four black women cleaners who were made to eat what is believed to be food urinated on by white male students,” said Minister Mayende-Sibiya.
She said while the story has been covered extensively from a racial angle, there was a need to look at its gender and class perspective.
“We did not do much about the class background of the students which reinforced their perception of superiority over the cleaning workers. I have no doubt that the gender of these workers also contributed to their vulnerability to abuse,” said Minister Mayende-Sibiya.
She said the consideration of the matter by a court of law will give local media an opportunity to tell the story from the perspective of the victims of the incident.
“The media has a critical role to play in exposing incidents of racial and gender discrimination that still manifest themselves in various forms in our society. But it can only do that if the media itself engages in the process of gender and racial transformation. Maybe the media could have done more to give us a perspective of these individuals as black working women,” said Minister Mayende-Sibiya.
Contact:
Sibani Mngadi
082 772 0161
Issued by: Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities
20 October 2009
