The Big Read: Protesters trapped in the past

Pallo Jordan and his academic record - or lack thereof - might have dominated the news but the most tragic story was on page 11 of this week's Sunday Times.

Yes, it is shocking that Jordan - an intellectual giant whose immense contribution to the creation of post-apartheid South Africa can never be denied - is accused of falsifying his academic qualifications.

Over the years he has built himself a reputation as a politician of integrity who never feared to speak his mind whenever things went wrong.

That is precisely why it has been so disappointing for many of us that, despite being given ample time to respond to the questions posed to him about his educational background, Jordan has kept mum.

As much as it is understandable that tongues continue to wag days after the Sunday Times hit the streets with the Jordan story, I believe we should be making an even bigger noise about the tragedy unfolding in Joe Morolong local municipality, in Kuruman, Northern Cape.

According to a report by Prega Govender, about 16000 pupils of the 50 schools in the area have not seen the inside of a classroom since June 5.

They are the victims of yet another school boycott orchestrated by local residents, who are demanding that local gravel roads be upgraded.

It is not the first time that this community has embarked on such action.

Similar protests in 2012 shut down schools for three months.

What sparked off the latest mass demonstration, apparently, is the construction of a stretch of road that goes past the home of the local municipality's speaker.

Angry residents see this 800m stretch of road as evidence that local councillors are looking after themselves first and do not care about the welfare of the residents who helped put them in power.

Community leader Joe Morolong was quoted as saying: "The budget for that road could have been used to upgrade the roads we have been complaining about, which would have benefited a lot of people."

Although the residents' anger about the municipality and the provincial government's failure to deliver on the tarred road they promised to build in 2012 is understandable, it does not justify jeopardising the children's future.

As one of the pupils who attended a community meeting at which the decision to continue the boycott was taken put it: "We don't want to sit at home; the years are catching up on us."

Her plea fell on deaf ears as the vast majority of the 312 residents who were at the meeting voted to continue their protest action.

Community activist Kealeboga Maamogwa said: "We don't like protesting. We feel bad that the children are not in school but keeping the schools closed is the only thing that is going to open the ears and eyes of the government."

And herein lies the problem.

Twenty years into representative democracy and freedom, there is still a substantial number of South Africans who believe that their voices will not be heard unless they engage in the illegal and violent forms of protest that were preferred during the last days of apartheid.

Given the fact that the vast majority of South Africans had no representation in parliament and other institutions of power during apartheid, it was understandable that people embarked on those kinds of protest.

But why do apartheid protests survive in a post-apartheid country?

These Kuruman residents decided to shut down their schools in a bid to be heard barely a month after the last general election. What stopped them from using their votes ?

What about other forms of passive resistance that would not put the future of their children at risk? Surely a march or a peaceful sit-in at the provincial government offices in Kimberley would have driven the point home loud and clear.

But, be it in Kuruman or in the Johannesburg CBD - where toyi-toying school children went on a rampage, looting stock from poor street vendors - it is clear that many have not moved beyond the apartheid-era forms of protest.

They behave as if the current political dispensation is both unrepresentative and illegal.

If our democracy is to prosper, this culture must die.

Protest will always be an integral part of democratic expression but it must be conducted in a way that does not interfere with the freedom of others.

Ideally, politicians would resolve issues long before frustrated communities resorted to mass protests and demonstrations.

But, given the poor state of many provincial administrations, that is unlikely to happen any time soon - so it is time we drew up new rules of engagement for protests.

Rule number one for me would be, no matter what the demand, children's education should never be compromised.

As the late former president and one of the pioneers of the anti-apartheid protest movement, Nelson Mandela, once put it: "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world."

More than the tarred roads, Kuruman residents should be insisting that their children get the best education possible in order to lift themselves and their families permanently out of poverty.