Hair, race, identity and education

If you had not heard of Pretoria Girls High School by the end of this week, there is an excellent chance you know of it now. 

According to social media and multiple news reports, pupils protested at the school against the school forbidding African hairstyles such as afros, dreadlocks, and braids. It was also claimed black pupils were not allowed to speak their mother tongue while no action was taken when Afrikaans was spoken, and students had been victims of multiple acts of racial abuse at the school.

The protest arose strong feelings across the media landscape, with Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, instituting an investigation at the school. The decision followed a meeting between Lesufi’s office, the school governing body, pupils, and parents that discussed racism at the institution.

The protests at Pretoria Girls High School also led to Parktown High School for Girls in Johannesburg amending its hair policy, with the school stating on its Facebook page that it sought to be proactive instead of reactive.

What the protests reminds us is while apartheid officially ended in 1994, South Africa still has a long way to go to overcome its horrific legacy. As American Abolitionist Wendell Phillips said in 1852, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”.

The Clash’s Should I stay or should I go? lives in SA’s halls of power

We are fans of all things music here at media update HQ, and it was The Clash’s 1982 release Should I Stay or Should I Go? that came to mind as we watched the game of political chicken being reportedly played by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, and President Jacob Zuma this week.

As these two political heavyweights threw shade and warning statements at one another, the market - that most nervous and jittery of creatures - looked on helplessly, losing weight, confidence, and Rand trading power in the process.

To top it off, Futuregrowth, which holds R150-billion in domestic fixed-investments, decided to halt three loans totalling R1.8-billion to state-owned companies due to political uncertainty and threats to the Treasury’s independence.

This was followed by Denmark’s Jyske Bank stating it would not lend Eskom money. Many of those who watch the market closely believe Futuregrowth and Jyske Bank won’t be the last to take such action. 

As The Clash said, “Darling you got to let me know, should I stay or should I go? If you say that you are mine, I’ll be here till the end of time. So you got to let me know, should I stay or should I go?”

End of daaaaaze

Solar eclipses are seen as ominous events by many, pointing to the end of days and, bad moons rising (literally). Well, instead of thinking about the end of days, media update HQ prefers to think of solar eclipses as the end of daze, since if you look at one directly, supposedly you risk blindness. 

We are also a wry bunch, so instead of harking towards a time of peril and disorder, it made for a sunny break from our hectic week. See what we did there? 

Springbok skipper announces shock retirement

The Springboks have been suffering their own eclipse in form (you don’t often get such material to work with) of late but local rugby fans were taken by surprise this week with current Springbok captain, Adriaan Strauss, announcing his international retirement at the end of the season.

It turns out Springbok coach, Allister Coetzee, knew since day one that Strauss would walk away at the end of the season. What is befuddling to many fans is Coetzee’s choice of Strauss as skipper if he knew the big hooker was going to call it a day at the end of the season. 

No one doubts Strauss’ commitment to South African rugby, with Coetzee stating that Strauss has been part of his “succession planning in any case”. It's all rather bananas.

We looked to work in a joke featuring Bonnie Tyler’s classic Total Eclipse of the Heart, but sometimes the Tetris pieces just don’t line-up. 

See you next week!