8 | Features
Contextualising student protests: Campus security and policing
issues of student debt and funding as well as the prioritisation of the missing middle bracket of students. However, the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba, a bystander during the Wits Fee Protests in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, once again brought issues of security, policing and the use of force during student protests to the forefront of national discussion. This incident drew rebuke from Police Minister, Bheki Cele, who deemed it as “something that it has no inch, it has no grain of explanation. Somebody, for me, went crazy”. A statement from the Independent Policing Investigative Directorate (IPID) has confirmed the arrest of the four police officers involved in the incident who have been charged with three counts of attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice. UP’s own microcosm of the nationwide fee protests in March was led by the SRC, who handed a memorandum of demands to UP vice chancellor, Professor Tawana Kupe, on 18 March, following a week of protest action and sit-ins. As the UP SRC and other students waited for the vice chancellor Photo: Susanna Anbu at the Engineering entrance, SRC President Lerato Ndlovu stated in an interview with television network Susanna Anbu ENCA that, “We [the students] were told to social distance so [Prof. Kupe] may come, wear our masks, we have done exactly that as you tudent protest action in South Africa has garnered national can see behind and all that we have gotten so far is still waiting for attention due to its volatile and persistent nature. Over the him and the police are now preparing their weapon and now they have years, incidents like the Soweto Uprising in 1976 and the Fees pointed this water machine of theirs in our direction so that is all we Must Fall (FMF) movement of 2015/2016 have effectively cemented have had so far [sic]”. notable Watergate moments in South African history, and underscored Despite the police articulating that they would leave once the the importance of student movements in the South African national students were on campus property, it was understood through Ndlovu’s consciousness. Student movements in South Africa are often rooted statements that the police acted beyond their jurisdiction. She states, in funding crises and institutionalised racism. Through the discourse “they [SAPS] gave us 15 minutes to disperse and we did not do so. of student protests in the last eight years, UP students have boasted They threatened to shoot and we came running for refuge here, on participation in the many movements. By tracing this protest action, university property because they don’t have jurisdiction beyond this we garner a better understanding of protests in the context of tertiary place and they’re still here, still preparing their weapons and they’re institutions, and at what point student protest action poses the potential still coming on the property, intimidating us”. to morph into a turbulent nature. Some of the traditional methods employed by SAPS to disperse Through the progression of student protest action over the years, protesters consists of the use of teargas, water cannons, and stun the interplay between student safety and policing is a concern that has grenades. The aforementioned equipment is listed under the SAPS drawn up wide debate. Former PDBY Editor, Michal-Maré Linden, policy document as minimum equipment required by police during mentions that, during PDBY’s coverage of the FMF movement in protest action. Such equipment enables SAPS to undertake mechanical 2015, PDBY journalists tasked with covering the protest action were force on demonstrators. It is further stated that the use of “coercive supplied with red bandanas on the day. Journalists were encouraged to and deadly force” is only undertaken in rare and exceptional cases as write their name and contact number on the bandana and tie it around opposed to indiscriminately. their wrist for easy identification in the crowd. Linden ascertains that The policy document on the policing of public protest articulates there were a number of student Whatsapp groups before the march to that “in line with international instruments, many countries do not the Union Buildings where students shared tips about how to protect subscribe to the use of force [during public protests]”. The policy themselves from the police. She mentions that “these tips were told document discerns that the SAPS policing template stems from a to students by their parents who used them during apartheid”, stating Belgium model that is based on “distant policing of crowds and that, “a popular one was to carry a bottle of water and a bandana. You would include discussions, negotiation and persuasive methods”. The could also use your t-shirt. When the police shoot tear gas, you cover document goes on to explain that limitations of the Belgium approach your face with the wet t-shirt or cloth”. underpinned the justification for resorting to a French template that cut Bringing it to the current context, 2021 saw student protests down the distance between protesters and police, and rather “requires regain national attention due to nationwide protests regarding the that the police should be literally a few meters in front of the crowd”
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Meme-orable Moments Muskaan Singh
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ver the past year, the news has been dominated by bad news, from devastating updates about the global pandemic, to hate crimes. However, every now and again, a headline is just absurd enough to find itself commemorated as a meme on Twitter timelines, TikTok trends and Tumblr dashboards (and inevitably as screenshots posted on Instagram). In case you missed the memo (or should I say, meme-o), here is a rundown and explanation of the meme highlights of 2021 thus far.
Bernie Sanders and his mittens After the 2020 US elections that had the world collectively holding its breath, President Joe Biden was elected as the 46th President of the United States. However, at his inauguration on 20 January, all eyes were on Senator Bernie Sanders and his mittens. With hands and legs crossed, and while wearing oversized mittens, Sen. Sanders was photographed by Brendan Smialowski, a photojournalist at Agence France-Presse. Soon, thousands of renditions of the picture with hilarious captions were being shared on social media. While it was not a headline by itself, the meme was a wholesome takeaway after a tense election. GameStop short squeeze The social media posts about GameStop stock that appeared in late January had many people cackling with laughter, and just as many stumped. The memes appeared in various formats and, without context, were bizarre. In this instance, however, the actual
event was more absurd than the memes it birthed. In short, amateur traders on Reddit cost hedge funds billions of dollars. GameStop is a chain store group in decline, with mass closures announced last year. The price of stocks was incredibly low and Wall Street bet on its closure and shorted the stocks. In short, shorting is when Person A owns a share of stock that they lend to Person B who is the short seller. Person B then sells this borrowed stock to Person C. If the price of the stock drops, Person B buys back the stock for a lower price and returns it to Person A, keeping the difference. If the price of the stock rises, Person B has to purchase back the stocks at a loss in order to return them to Person A. It is possible for one stock to be borrowed multiple times. Therefore, when Redditors on the r/wallstreetbets forum began buying up GME stocks, it caused the value of those stocks to rise. By 27 January, two major short-sellers, Melvin Capital and Citron Capital, closed after taking a 100% loss from betting that GameStop stocks would fall, as reported by The Guardian. Essentially, a group of Redditors upended Wall Street and made for some great memes.
The obstruction of the Suez Canal This meme was hard to miss - a huge ship lodged in the Suez Canal, and a meme often used to represent student struggles. In March, the Suez Canal was blocked for six days by the Ever Given, a 200 000 tonne container ship. On 23 March, the Ever Given encountered a sandstorm and was grounded, lodged sideways in the Suez Canal. By 28 March, 369 other vessels were lined up and waiting to pass through the canal. BBC News reported that around 12% of global trade passes through the canal each day and data from Lloyd’s List showed that Ever Given was holding up around 9.6 billion dollars of trade every day.
25 May 2021 to restrain forward movement of protestors. It is acknowledged in the document that, although the French template has been employed, “no formal approval for the exclusive implementation of the French model by the SAPS has been made by the SAPS management”. The document concludes by articulating that the policies governing the use of force by SAPS during public protest action is a “subject of urgent review to reduce the use of force to a minimum” in order “to reduce the risk of casualties and fatalities associated with the use of firearms during public protests”. Research penned by participants of the FMF movement articulates that the university management in tandem with the South African Police Service (SAPS) “used militarisation and force to perpetuate violence on campuses”. It is echoed that the moment a campus undergoes militarisation in the form of interdicts and heavy police presence on campus property, early engagement with student stakeholders becomes an impossible phenomenon. This is substantiated by a statement made back in 2016 by the UP SRC, which stated that “[i]n light of the heavy security presence in the form of bouncers, and in light of the presence of the SAPS, and the general militarisation of our institution, we believe such a statement adds to the paranoia of students and the limitation of their freedom of expression as provided for in the Constitution of South Africa”. PDBY reached out to Johan Boonzaaier, Director of Security Services at UP, for consensus behind how campus security operates in the midst of looming student protest action. Boonzaaier states that “given that the department is tasked with ensuring the safety and security of all students, staff and visitors on campus, we will compile an operational plan to address the challenges that staff and students will face with regards to safety on campus as soon as we become aware of potential protest”. Boonzaaier ascertains that campus security is only obligated to use force against students “when people’s lives are endangered /threatened and only in severe cases of damage to property”. Boonzaaier explained that student protest action breaks the law in cases where a person’s life is in danger or property damage is undertaken. In these instances, Boonzaaier established that “if possible, we will engage with students before acting against the offenders and getting the assistance of the SA Police”. Boonzaaier acknowledged that “by its very nature, protests are volatile and anything can trigger violence”. In such instances, he stated that campus security “try to engage with students, limit access to campus and separate groups as far as possible”, explaining that “if initial measures don’t succeed the campus will be vacated and closed for a period of time. When students prevent access to a building in a form of sit in (such as the sit in witnessed at the Enterprises@ UP building during March’s protest action), Boonzaaier mentions that campus security services ensure the safety of the buildings’ occupants by closing the building and its perimeter. In instances where student protests disrupt public traffic or block roads, Boonzaaier explained that, “outside the boundaries of the University’s properties, the jurisdiction falls within the responsibility of the SA Police Service and Metro Police”. In commenting on the history of campus security deployment against student protest action at UP, Boonzaaier stated that, “The Department of Security Services took all protest action, which has the potential to endanger the lives and property of the University as serious”, and “will do everything we can to protect UP students and staff, visitors and property”. He mentioned that it was for this purpose that the Department of Security Services “have added additional security measures such as the installation of the biometric access control system, extensive CCTV coverage, deployment of security officers to protect students (Green Route Service), staff members and UP property”. Boonzaaier stated that “building relationships with student leaders, such as the SRC has assisted us greatly in ensuring the safety of students”.
Josh Fight This has to be one of the most wholesome things to come from 2021. Josh Fight was a meme, pool noodle fight, and a fundraiser. It had the same energy as the Area 51 Raid, except for the fact that people actually showed up. Josh Fight began in 2020 when a University of Arizona student, Josh Swain, began a Facebook group with nine other people named Josh Swain, and invited them to meet on 24 April 2021 to fight for the name. The Facebook message was a joke, but Josh Swains and hundreds of others gathered on the specified date at Air Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. After the initial message was posted on Twitter last year, several Reddit pages were started and countless memes emerged. The hype seemed to have died down, but evidently, Josh Fight was taken seriously by many across America. The original Josh Swain helped organise the event when it became apparent that people were planning on showing up. He set up a fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital & Medical Centre Foundation in Omaha and managed to raise $12 000. People who attended the event also donated food to the Lincoln Food Bank. The Josh Swains faced off in a game of rock-paper-scissors, and the others battled with pool noodles. Ultimately, a four-yearold Josh (Little Josh) emerged victorious. Some honourable mentions While these memes stood out because of their real-world bizarreness, this year has shown us so many gems, from the vaccine memes on Twitter— “if you’ve ever dated a Pretoria hun, you don’t need to worry about what’s in the vaccine”, was a big ouch— to the Gorilla Glue meme, and The Weeknd’s iconic Super Bowl halftime show. Whatever the rest of the year has in store, at least there will always be reason to laugh.
