#FeesMustFall

I’ve heard a lot of speeches here at greenside TM, and I’m sure I’ve heard everything there is to hear about saving the world, fighting for a cause, doing things for the greater good, ad nauseam. But what has this got to do with me? Nothing. Or so I thought until recently. Recently I began to realise that there are bigger things to worry about than who’s buying the next round.

This realisation began last Wednesday. I was at work, at Wits university. I was leaving early to go to a meeting. Work related. Her name was Teresa. I was goiung to dicuss the Magnanti Wiong method for constrained column generation problems. Although it did seem her talents may lie in other areas, such as wearing clothes, or dancing, but hey, you never know.

So It was important. and Nothing was going to stop me. Except when I got to the gate a hoard of students were protesting and weren’t allowing anyone in or out. I explained to them that my meeting was more important than…than….than whatever they were there for, but I have to explain things to students for a living, so I know it’s a futile exercise. They were not going to let me out.

I thought about Teresa sitting waiting for me. I thought about the kiss I would get when I  arrived. I thought about how she’d be after I got a couple of glasses of wine into her. I realised I had to get out of the campus.

I went behind a tree and put on  shorts and a T shirt, and emerged with a # fees must fall banner, and  I joined the protest. The plan was to work  my way towards the exit, then slip off and down the road, maybe catch a bus to my meeting.

The plan was working well. AS I was just about to slip off, this alright looking blonde came up to me and said, “You aren’t a protester. You weren’t here earlier.” I felt bad as I said, “of course I’m a protester.” And I threw myself into the protest with renewed vigour. I marched. I sang. I broke a nearby car window. All the time watching out the corner of my eye to see if she was noticing what a good protester I was.

Her name was  Diane. Just then, another staff member drove up trying to get out. I got so angry. I lay in the road in front of his car and stopped him leaving. Then it was a motorbike. Together we held the handlebars, side by side, our shoulders touching, sending a tingling feeling through me. Together we lay on the bonnet of an important looking Mercedes. Her hair brushed my face.

I realised we needed to have more of an impact. We needed to be on TV. So we decided to not only block Wits traffic, but block all the traffic. We moved down to the Empire Rd intersection and laid rocks in the road and caused mayhem. It was amazing, me and Dianne, working side by side, our fingers touching as we together lifted a particularly big rock.

Then a metro cop arrived. I told him in no uncertain terms that we were going nowhere until our demands were met. Luckily he didn’t ask me about them, I wasn’t too sure at this point.

Over the next week one thing led to another, and Diane and myself marched on the Union Buildings. We sang and danced, Dianne could really dance, mostly we did theToyi-toyi. I managed to get my hands on various parts of her body.

It’s hard to describe the feeling, warm and pleasant,  that you get when you’re succeeding at something so important. You’re really making an improvement for society.

Then it happened. Dianne said to me, “Ian we’ve won. They have agreed to no fee increases in 2016”. Then we kissed. That kiss was everything I imagined it would be and more.

For a moment there I even believed that fees must fall. But just for a moment. Of course fees should only go one way, and that’s up. The fewer students that can afford to come to university the better.

So don’t sit and watch injustices being perpetuated. You can make a difference, especially if we all join together. We can make the changes that our society needs. Get up, join a movement and fight for a cause. I can assure you, the rewards are worth the effort.