POLOKWANE – South Africa is a unique country. We have unique names for different objects, such as skaftin, and occurrences such as load shedding, and every now and then, there is a trend that takes the country by storm.
One such trend is the #MustFall trend.
Protest action in South Africa is nothing new, just watch the news and you are bound to see a community or employees protest about one thing or the other.
Protest action has somehow gotten to the point where it is the norm, and the intention, which is to get government’s or the employer’s attention, has lost its effectiveness.
Disgruntled students from Rhodes University started the #RhodesMustFall campaign last year, and everyone thought they were a bunch of privileged born-frees who did not fully understand the history of the country. But it was when students from University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) protested with #FeesMustFall, that people really took notice, and from that the student revolution of 2015 was born.
Thanks to the power of social media, the Wits protest trended in a matter of hours, and soon swept to campuses across the country.
Everybody heralded the students for their tenacity and for standing up for their rights, they were even compared to the class of 1976.
But as fate would have it (and an annoying habit of copying everything) someone thought the #mustfall concept was pretty cool and should absolutely be copied.
So we had #(insert employer’s name)MustFall, #RacismMustFall, ValentinesDayMustFall #SugarDaddiesMustFall (yes it’s a thing) and most recently, #ZuptaMustFall.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am all for people showing their dissatisfaction and making their voices heard, but can not find a more creative way to do it?
The students did when they started those hashtags. Unlike the class of 1976, these born-frees used the resources at their disposal to get the country to sit up and take note of their plight. Can we not take light (and sometimes make fun) of their struggles? Unlike the rest of the country, theirs is a campaign intended to make a significant change and not just a cute slogan to get attention.
So I propose we make this hashtag, #MustFallMustFall trend. It has dried out and in some instances does not even make sense.
Mogomane Seabi
