The Report

Workers march at the University of Cape Town

Last Wednesday a group of about 300 contract cleaning workers marched with some students, academics and other supporters to the offices of the University of Cape Town (UCT) management to protest against oppressive outsourcing practices.

The marchers met on the steps in front of Jameson Hall, the central and most visible space on campus. They then started a fast-paced, high-energy and very noisy toyi-toyi that took them through one of UCT's main streets, off campus onto a public road that leads to a nearby freeway, and then back onto the campus on a winding route to the administration office block.

People looked on, puzzled, surprised. Something was not quite right. The scene itself was familiar enough – a marching, toyi-toying crowd of black people with a sprinkling of white faces framed by long hair dyed in all the colours of the rainbow. Were they perhaps shooting a movie about the struggle against apartheid?

The open-mouthed bemusement of the onlookers spurred the marchers on. They raised their voices, lifted their knees a little higher, thrust their posters into more faces, pushed their pamphlets into more hands, and of course, smiled a little broader. The smiles however vanished when the marchers reached the administration block. The doors of learning were blocked by gates of heavy metal and guarded by men in black jackets and shades.