Where do I begin? We live in very interesting county. They say a week is long in politics but I think a month is longer in this colony currently called South Africa. From the Blesser phenomenon that has taken our country by storm, to judge Jansen’s racist vitriol masquerading as care and concern for black girls, to now a black graduate trending on social media for begging for a job at a busy intersection in Jozi. In the case of the blesser fiasco I refuse to preoccupy myself with how women use their bodies or should I say their vaginas nor am I going to comment about racism because educating white people and house negroes alike about racism is extremely tiring and emotional exhausting. My concern is the black graduate who was seen begging for a job at a busy intersection.
As a graduate, I found myself jobless for four years after the completion of my studies. Four years is exactly the same duration it took for me to finish my studies. I know how it feels to invest in education and then wait forever to reap rewards from your investment. The story of Anthea Malwandle a Btech Chemical Engineering graduate whose story and pictures were shared on social media touched me in ways I cannot describe. Malwandle was seen at a busy intersection in Rosebank carrying a board, on her board she wrote her qualification and the fact that she is looking for a job.
While others applauded her for her bravado, some euphemistically called her performance of poverty ‘a brilliant marketing strategy’ hence she landed a job with Sasol. I think we live an era of shallowness where social media commentary about a situation that begs critical analysis is usually shallow and glibly. In a country where jobs are not easy to come by, part of me understands why she resorted in doing what she did. To be told all your life that education is a key to success and find yourself jobless after acquiring it is painful and frustrating.
Let us look at her story for what it is. Black people remain disenfranchised economically and otherwise. The story of Malwandle is deeply hurtful. Her situation is a tip of an iceberg, many black graduates in this country are facing a similar predicament. Why as Africans should we publicly perform acts of poverty in order to be considered worthy of an opportunity to earn a living? The violence that is daily meted out to our black bodies in South Africa is maddening! The violence and humiliation Africans endure in Azania is of titanic proportions.
Mind you! Malwandle is a graduate in a field touted as critical for our economy. We are told everyday that people should pursue careers that require math and science in order to avoid unemployment. Here is someone who did exactly that but found herself jobless. Her story should not be looked at in isolation to structural inequalities brought about by the pre 94 set up. The monstrous system of apartheid created inequalities that persist today. The past is very present, educated black people are humiliated and reduced to status of beggars. Geoff Budlender argued in his public lecture in honour of banned UCT academic Bill Hoffenberg. “Apartheid was like a building, the apartheid laws created a scaffolding for the building when it was being erected – but when the scaffolding was removed after 1994 through the repeal of the apartheid laws, of course the building did not fall down”.
Malwandle’s story tells us one thing; the legacy of racial economic exclusion lingers on in South Africa. While her success of landing a job at Sasol should be celebrated, such a move by Sasol is nothing but self serving PR exercise to appear caring in the public eye. Granting people with NSFAS loans is great but condemning them back to poverty after graduating does not help anyone, especially when the interests charged on those loans are forever on the rise. Amen!!
Article By Khulekani Ntjana
About the writer: I am pamphleteer, Aspiring writer.I am anti white supremacy, anti debauchery and anti philistinism. I strongly believe we should always read even if we are not placed within the four walls of class rooms. Humanities graduate who just got along at varsity.
Great article, refreshing read. Black graduate unemployment is escalating at an appalling rate and such stories of graduates being reduced to being beggars is Saddening and just plain ridiculous. My opinion is that we have given far too much black power to the white monopoly. I am yet to see a documentary which showcases suffering of white graduates. To the uncle toms/house niggas protecting white interests, can you,ll please push for more niggas to occupy these white owned industries. Its sad to see such on our streets.