Staffrider Vol.6 No.2 1985 - DISA

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Damian Garsidec9lukTo surpass the grandmastersOne must not just deprive themBut denude their inheritance.One must crawl in under the skinOf landscape — wriggle inBeneath the rough hide.Let your little incisorsBite through the fat, the uppermost crustWith its bosveld and koppiesAnd camouflage stuff.Cleave a path for your bodyThrough its neutrals and sombresTo that soft underbellyBe nourished and sluk.Pertinent devilsNothing is neutral nowThere are rivers of heartbloodThere are rivers to cross.Past grainfields of labour and dorpiesOf lawTo that mythical homelandWhere the mountains shout down'Dig as you crawlThere is blood enoughSluk.'Damian GarsideElizabeth VilletA•his citythere is a momentin this citywhen the eyes of the cityare closedand the mountain's body sleeps —even the newspaper boysare curled under their light coveringsin cornerslike caterpillars in dried leaf cocoonswaiting to emergewith newsprint wingsand the city waits to dream . . .there is a moment in this citywhen the city lies defencelessas a sleeping childthat can't be harmed —a moment between the breath inand the breath out —a moment in this city1 of my waiting breathless heartElizabeth VilletTembeka Mbobo-yUntitledambivalence is a wordthat cannot explainmy inertia.Stagnation is a pitand failing to seethe dying fires isno excuse.Hell is sort-of-comfortable,but basically rotten.I've seen and felt it —all my life.^ ^O, .,Wf widowsand orphansblack veils and ragsstrength and unitytears and laughterthe presence of an absence.windowless housesand gateless fencesbleak futures andinevitable departuresthe resonant sound ofthe knock that never comes.lunch packs without lunchesand coalboxes without coalwarm donations andendless thank yousthe echoes of laughterthat once was.permeating happinessand eerie forgetfulnessdays of chips andrays of sunshinethe presence of a newsemi-unknown and semi-wanted.white veils and velvets andlaces and flowerslaughter and tearsthe presence of knocks andhappiness and anger andhateful regrets.| |lintidedChained to womanhoodI couldn't fight nor try nor win— they thought.Unsupported I should falland rise and fall— they perceived.Insecured I would calland cry and beg— they assumed.Deserted I couldn't mendand build and— spread growth.They didn't know me . . .They may have thoughtI was just —awQman!IIlector P.It could have been anywherebut it was hereIt could have been anybodybut it was youIt could have happened anywaybut it was this wayIt could have been due to anythingbut it was thisIt could have stopped anythingbut it was youMaybe it could not be helpedby us unwary mortalsIt was never plannedbut by the jittery handsof a few . . .We remembered you againyesterday.IIwn titledI buried it in ashallow gravesomehow expectingrains to open it upthat i might geta glimpse of itagain.Chris van WykTXHE REASON,The reason whymurderers and thievesso easilybecome statuesare made into monumentsisalready their eyes are granitetheir heartsare madeof stoneChris van Wyk12 STAFFRIDER, VOL. 6 NO. 2, <strong>1985</strong>
The I 1 ^Photographs by David JoosteBMby Richard Kichard NtuliiteMasterIntroduction and interviews byJon Lewis and Mark SwillingINTRODUCTIONFor over a year 130 MAWU members dismissed fromLiteMaster in Wadeville have been meeting three times perweek at Morena Store, Katlehong, waiting for the results of acourt case which will decide their fate. These regular meetingsmaintain the workers' morale and solidarity. They alsoprovide education. The tactics of the employer and questionsof trade union organisation are debated in detail. Thesemeetings are highly disciplined and structured — peoplespeak only through the chairperson. At the same time allmembers are encouraged to participate. The debates areinterspersed with song.Richard Ntuli's story was a collective effort. Although heprovided the main narrative his story was constantlycorrected and added to by other members. Richard Ntuli wasthe first chairperson of the first shop steward council set upon the East Rand in 1981.PHINEAS TOLO: I started working for LiteMaster on 13 May1954 — making score (doing piece work). The score was toohigh to reach. We were under pressure every day. There wasno time to go anywhere. I worked so hard — until my fingerswere bleeding and painful. The basic wage was R6.93 perweek. Working 7.00 a.m. till 7.00 p.m. and Saturday 7.00 a.m.till 4.00 p.m. you could earn R9 to Rll.I joined MAWU on 7 March 1981. Before the union cameworkers had no power. There were no strikes. If you talked,if you were late, if you mentioned wages, if you didn't makethe score — then you were chased out. So as soon as youreached the score they increased it.DAVID KHUBEKA: I started working for LiteMaster on23 September 1963. I worked in the Automatic Departmentoperating many machines. We had to work faster all the time.storyI was changed to one machine making lampholders. I wasworking so hard that my hands were burning and bleeding.During that time management were 'boxing' the workforce.If you said anything you were chased out — no goingto the office to discuss it.When a foreman wanted to move you, you were takenroughly — not asked nicely.A white mechanic was hitting a black worker — and theworker was chased out.The work was dirty but there were no overalls. Duringthat time you were not allowed to ask for an increase. Ifthere was an increase it was one or two cents — no more.They were chasing out workers all the time. There was nounion then. Before MAWU came there was a TUCSA union,but they started by seeing management and then came to us.This was not the right way.WORKING FOR LITEMASTERI started working for LiteMaster on 19 January 1975. Theytold me there is a score (production target) at LiteMaster. Iasked them what is a score? I told them I had come to doany job and I know all the jobs, so they employed me. MrLampke and Mr Mdamane employed me.I first worked in the Appliances Department makingtoasters, irons, fans and table-lamps. There were no overallsat the time. I worked there for eight months. I then movedto the Stamping Department. I was sent all over the factorydoing different jobs. I told them I only wanted to do onejob. I was left alone with five machines. I made parts fortoasters. There was a coloured man, Len Con, who set themachines. He was a clever guy because he kept his job.There was a time when they gave me an increase of threecents. I took the amount out of the envelope and gave itback to the foreman because I was not satisfied.After they realised I was a hard worker I was shifted toSTOP PRESSVICTORY FOR WORKERS!Nearly 2 years after thedismissal of 65 Litemasterworkers, they have nowwon their jobs back withback pay as from 10 November1984 by order of theIndustrial Court. Throughoutthis period they continuedto maintain disciplineand solidarity. ThirtyLitemaster workers were,however, not awarded theirjobs back. Ntuli promisesthat they will continue tofight to have these workersreinstated.Richard Ntuli points out the LiteMasterfactory.STAFFRIDER, VOL. 6 NO. 2, <strong>1985</strong> 13
Page 2 and 3: NEW BOOKSFROM RAVANHis second autob
Page 4 and 5: hoseby Bheki MasekoIllustrations by
Page 6 and 7: Ihe teacher hadhardly dismissed us
Page 8 and 9: That I had to run away from home wa
Page 10 and 11: screaming his head off in his own s
Page 12 and 13: Nikitinsky. He was sitting in a roo
Page 16 and 17: meeting we — the LiteMaster worke
Page 18 and 19: or thirteenth of July we were all d
Page 20 and 21: 'What do you want Johnny,' I saidin
Page 22 and 23: I shrugged an embarrassed smile but
Page 24 and 25: Andries W. OliphantT he Eye of the
Page 26 and 27: orkingomenMabel was a garment worke
Page 28 and 29: He was dedicated to his medicine,ye
Page 30 and 31: 'You have two minutes.' The silence
Page 32 and 33: Staf frider Popular HistoryMhala, t
Page 34 and 35: Dombo RatshilumelaIn secret lepers
Page 36 and 37: R regnancyf A poem should be palpab
Page 38 and 39: one night in Meadowlands, another i
Page 40 and 41: Hugh Lew intJ/ ACK*The manwho died
Page 42 and 43: esources of living should constitut
Page 44 and 45: SOUTH AFRICA: PASSPORT REFUSED TOSO
Page 46 and 47: y Walt OyisiphoKaMtetwalood'What! I
Page 48 and 49: TALKING STORYWhat this delayed reco
Page 50 and 51: Andries W. Oliphant Lancelot Maseko
Page 52: IN OUR NEXT ISSUEThami Mnyele, Dona

Staffrider Vol.6 No.2 1985 - DISA

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