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20 December 2020
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Story Thabo Kessah
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Photo Thabo Kessah
Mbuyiselwa Moloi with student volunteers, Keamogetswe Mooketsi (presenter), Tshumelo Phaladi (producer), and Siphamandla Shabangu (SRC member – Social Justice and Universal Access).
The month of October 2020 marked the first anniversary of the Qwaqwa Campus online student radio, Q-Lit. “It has been a rocky road of sleepless nights, tears, and a lot of challenges. However, we have grown from strength to strength. We have made dreams of ordinary students possible. We have influenced change and inspired students to tap into their talents and potential,” said an elated station manager, Mbuyiselwa Moloi.
The station came in handy during the worst lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic when it bridged the communication gap between students and the university to integrate teaching and learning into the programming to ensure that no student was left behind. “With all of the regulations and online learning, Q-Lit had to be reinvented. While it was not an easy journey, we have grown more than ever before. Our August 2020 report shows that we have pulled in more than 1 600 listeners, even amid the learning, unlearning, and relearning processes. It was during this month that we also ran a series highlighting strategic offices led by women on campus as part of our Women’s Month celebration,” Mbuyiselwa revealed.
Looking to the future, the station hopes to obtain a full broadcasting licence from the regulatory body, the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA), soon.
Race, technology, and maritime labour in the 19th century
2016-06-23
Prof John T. Grider
“When employers
impose
worker identity,
it creates problems.”
What does identity mean to people today, and how is it formed? Religion, politics, race, ethnicity, and gender make up individual and community identity. However, Prof John Grider (University of Wisconsin – La Crosse) is of the opinion that employment moulds our identity, since we spend so much time on the job.
Prof Grider joined the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses to discuss his research on the maritime industry, published in his book, Foreign Voyage - Pacific Maritime Labour Identity: 1840 to 1890. “When employers impose worker identity, it creates problems,” he said. Particularly, this “creates instability in communities, and a vulnerability and insecurity amongst the employees”.
To illustrate his point, Prof Grider expanded on the history of 19th-century Atlantic sailors, a highly-skilled workforce, who failed to adapt to changes in their labour environment. Initially, the sea-faring community was very diverse racially. However, as the Pacific, and particularly Asian, marine community gained precedence, this tide turned to such an extent that, in 1886, the Atlantic sailors formed their own Coastal Seamen’s Union in San Francisco, causing a split between Asian and non-Asian sailors. Atlantic sailors had failed to integrate with the new technology of the day (steam power), nor had they accepted the demographic changes that flooded their community rapidly with cheap labour from Chinese shores.
Prof Grider highlighted the need to maintain an adaptable mentality in the ever- and rapidly-changing labour world, since division amongst workers could lead only to further exploitation of the workforce.