Pursuing praxis

So, no field work for me in South Africa, despite some fairly well-sketched plans for it. There’s the overabundance of work at the museum, but what tipped the balance was a nation-wide strike by public service workers. "Talks" had been going on for several weeks - perhaps even months - with the union demanding a 12% salary hike, and the government only willing to give 6% (7.25% as of June 15th). The strike started around May 25th, and is continuing.

This means many government-run services like the courts are either just creeping along, or not working at all, many public schools aren’t open, so kids are out and about. Although nurses and the police have contractual agreements that they’re not allowed to strike, public hospitals have been minimally staffed, meaning private hospitals are over-booked, and many striking healthcare workers are now being fired, along with other strikers.

Firing union members - even with warnings, ultimatums, and deadlines - is one of the surest ways to piss these people off, so some of the demonstrations have recently turned violent. (Teachers burning tires and trying to shut down a provincial hospital in Kwa-Zulu Natal on Thursday night). Newspapers this morning quoted President Mbeki telling union members to "behave themselves," (as if that works for 8 year-olds, much less a group of hundreds of thousands of adults who feel entitled to use physical force as a means of getting what they want - which is what unions do). The papers also announced that some 200,000 police officers will might be striking as well. That’s right, they’re considering breaking their contractual agreement to the contrary, right when people aren’t behaving themselves. It is as I predicted: if police officers are members of the same union that is striking and breaking the law, the situation simply cannot turn out well. It’s an inherent conflict of interest - yet another fantastic reason unions only ever make things worse - and in this country, I don’t have too much motivation to assume the best about people.

Oh yeah - and many private taxi companies are joining the strike as well - I think at the behest of the union - on the arguement that much of their business comes from public service workers, and the taxi companies are best served by not operating (i.e. not making any money) and further crippling those people and businesses that keep the country running while others sit on their hands in petulant self-righteousness expecting to keep their jobs, get higher pay (and back-pay while striking!), and return to a friendly work enviroment as if they hadn’t just threatened their bosses. Isn’t that extortion?

These are some of the same taxi companies that gained worldwide infamy in the late ’90s by warring with each other over "territories" and routes, and shooting up each other’s vehicles and killing scores of passengers. Looks like the ‘wars’ started up again, just before the strike. Needless to say, I won’t be taking any of those taxis to the airport (the South African equivalent of matatus - 14 passenger minibuses). Better to pay an arm and a leg for a private yellow cab, which was my plan anyway.

The good news is, the airport hasn’t been affected yet, so hopefully things will not disintegrate so fast that I’m delayed getting out of here on Saturday.  

True enough, other researchers here have succeeded in doing field work, but in my book the facts that I don’t have a travel partner or assistant, that I’m female, and that I haven’t traveled around the country much yet, tip the scales in favor of staying put in the museum. I’m quite alright with this. Pity I’d (finally) gotten a grant to reimburse field work costs! Hopefully I can persuade them to let me use the money for other research costs coming up.

For the record, I’d planned to go to the Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve in Kwa-Zulu Natal province to see nyala, one of my dear tragelaphine antelopes, and the only one not present in East Africa. They’re the fashionistas of their tribe, males having elaborate coats with stripes and long white hairs along the spine that they can make stand up to look bigger and more impressive. Their horns are very similar to sitatunga horns, and the females are similar to most of the other tragelaphine females. Nyala are rather rare, but locally numerous. I figure they’re not going anywhere too quickly, and I can deal with them later.