Nolitha ran the back of her hand across her face and it came away wet. “Yes, Andi, it is. So unfair.” She scrabbled in her rucksack for a tissue, but Fundiswa was there before her.
“Here, Miss.” A white tissue, printed with pink noses.
Nolitha took it and blew her nose vigorously. She looked over to the corner they’d chosen for the bookcases. Maybe there was some way around this. Perhaps if she went to the furniture guy and said she’d pay for them herself. And then she could go to places like the TEARS bookshop, and the second-hand shelves at the library. She could start the club next term, give it another name. Anything to get the students here reading. Not just reading. Enjoying reading. Squabbling over who was going to be allowed to take a favourite book home. Maybe she could even ask local authors to come to the school and chat to the kids … Mr Mahlangu wouldn’t be able to stop that—
Her thoughts were cut short by a hubbub outside the classroom. A low hum of voice, rising steadily.
Her class was standing now, the students out of their seats, moving to the door.
“Hey,” she called after them. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Miss.” Cebo was at the door now, looking directly at her. “We didn’t want to tell you. Don’t want you to get into more trouble.”
“What is it, Cebo?” A group of students stood behind him, craning to see over his shoulder. More were running to join them, and still more behind them.
“We’ve had enough, Miss. Enough of this.” He waved a hand at the decrepit desks, the paint peeling off the classrooms walls, the gaping holes in the ceiling where the boards had fallen through and never been replaced. “No desks, Miss, no proper books, no running water, no proper toilets. No proper teachers, apart from you and a few others. And it’s all because of him.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
“Mahlangu,” Andisiwe chimed in. “He can’t be allowed to continue, Miss. We’re tired. We’re so tired of it all. All we want is a chance for a decent Matric, to get on with our lives in the best way possible, and all he wants is to suck the school dry.”
“Ayitye, milk it,” Cebo said, “for his personal gain.” He stood straight and spoke to the students thronged in the doorway. “We’ve had enough. We’re going to do something about it right now.”
“Wait!” Nolitha shouted. “Just wait a second.”
“We’re tired of waiting, Miss.” Cebo’s face was pensive. “It’s funny, isn’t it? We’ve put up with so much, taken so much of his rubbish at this school, when we could have been learning and getting better grades. Except for you, Miss,” he added quickly, “and teachers like Miss Nene. But we want more Nenes, don’t we?”
There was a low murmur of assent from the crowd.
“We want more Solanis, right?”
“We want books.”
The students took up the chant, repeating everything Cebo said.
“We want books.”
“We want books.”
“We want desks.”
“We want desks.”
“We want good teachers.”
“We want good teachers.”
“We want a principal with principles!” Cebo shouted and the students shouted back.
“We want fairness.”
“We want respect.”
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
9.45 a.m.
Nolitha’s fingers were flying over the touchscreen of her phone.
Jama. Nombi. Things getting tense here. Students really hacked off.
Her screen lit up immediately.
What are they doing?
Think it’s building into a protest. What should I do?
How much time do you have?
Nolitha looked up. The crowd outside the classroom door was growing by the second, students leaving their classes and gathering to see what was going on.
Not much. She flashed the answer back
How many kids?
Stax.
The corridor was almost full now, students standing quietly as they listened to Cebo’s words.
“We demand fairness. We demand a fighting chance. We want to be educated. We want a school that works.”
“We want our bookcases!” Dubula’s voice had lost its joking edge. “Give us back our money.”
At least 200, Nolitha texted, and growing.
Okay, Nols. See if you can get them to stay calm and listen to you. Any other teachers there?
Another quick glance down the corridor.
Not yet. I’m worried. Some of the teachers might hurt the kids. Maybe even police.
Stay cool, Nols. Can you calm them down? Get them to wait? Much better if you have time to organise. Deal with authorities.
I’ll try.
***
Tell us what you think: Will Nolitha be able to persuade the students to wait? If you were a student at the school, would you wait?