Getting Stuck in Statistics

by Stuart Buchanan

I don’t really know what there is to say about Rape that isn’t blatantly obvious or hasn’t been said before. When researching the subject for our recent Television News project, there were a lot of statistics flying around at Rhodes as well as on the internet. It’s often the starting place for many activists to rally people to their cause, by quoting a statistic like ‘A woman is raped every 26 seconds in South Africa’. Not only is it shocking and disgusting, but it often has the effect of getting people to speak out, or show their support in some way.

At Rhodes University, a different statistic was used. Less than one in nine cases of rape are reported, and of those an even smaller percentage are successfully prosecuted. With this, volunteers gagged themselves for a day to represent this silence, while a few remained ungagged to explain the protest and represent the few voices that do speak out.

The volunteers were wearing T-shirts which further explained the protest, and also quoted a number of other statistics. While the protest was successful overall, in the days that followed I found some interesting discussions going on about the incorrect use of statistics. The figures seem to change with every website you visit – POWA quote stats without revealing their source, the SAPS figures show a different total to what the Rhodes volunteers quoted, and the One in Nine Campaign haven’t even updated their website since 2006. With all these different figures flying around, it is understandable to see how some people can criticise these activists for phoney stats that detract from their cause, and make it seem as if they are exaggerating the facts to enlist members.

Personally, I don’t take that view. What’s the point? Why criticise a good cause? Stats are important to legitimise a cause, but the fact is we all know that rape is a problem in South Africa. A huge problem. Can we not move away from getting the facts straight and understand that something needs to be done anyway? Just because the figures are fuzzy, it doesn’t mean these activists are exaggerating things. Why would they need to – the real situation is bad enough. And furthermore, each case of rape is a traumatic experience for every survivor. The fact that rape happens at all is disturbing enough. When are these stats-obsessed people going to be happy? When the figure is 5 in 9 or 7 in 9 instead of 1 in 9? Why don’t we just focus on the cause and less on the figures? Well done to the volunteers at Rhodes for doing just that.

MY JOKE FEST (Please don’t sue me!)

by Stu

If you, like Fatz, thought the Vodacom meerkat was pushing the boundaries of tasteless and nauseating advertising, then the recently held ‘My Coke Fest’ in Johannesburg and Cape Town over the Easter weekend would have had you regurgitating your overly-priced hamburger and soft drink. Picture the scene. You arrive at the stadium entrance, your ticket in hand, and you walk through a giant red Coca-Cola archway. Not too bad – at this point, you’ve just got there and are excited to see your favourite band. You make your way over to the food tent, which is large and red and that oh-so-recognisable logo is emblazoned across the entire side of it. You start to get that thirsty sensation in the back of your throat, and a little voice with an American accent in your head tells you, “MMMM MMMM I sure fancies myself a big ol’ swig of cola! Yeehaw!” Luckily, there is more than one option to drink – apart from Coca-Cola, the vendors can sell you ANYTHING else you want …as long as it’s owned by Coca Cola. And if it’s a beer you are after, which of course is not owned by Coke, they send you to the reject tent in the furthermost corner, and make you queue in excess of two hours before you get your order.

So a Coke it is then. While you’re walking around, sipping on a can, you come across the ‘Style My Coke’ tent. If you are like me, you will still be pondering on the fantastic use of grammar in that phrase for weeks after, and marvel at the company’s ability to create its own language. A ‘Style My Coke’ (yes, apparently it is a noun) is basically a designer Coke. It seems the company couldn’t settle with their standard product being ‘hip’ or ‘funky’ enough (two words in the English language I would happily have removed – perhaps donated to Coke’s new repertoire) for the youth, and so have designed a bigger-sized, intricately-patterned bottle, which has the sudden effect of making your normal Coke can seem like you’ve just picked it up off the street after a car has run over it. The added incentive to buying one was that it gave you the chance to meet your favourite band. Oh yes, the bands. That was the reason you came to the festival in the first place. With all the advertising everywhere, it’s easy to forget that this is a ROCK CONCERT. Rock dammit! That rebellious music that your parents hate and that tattooed people with long hair listen to. There was NOTHING rebellious about Cokefest. It was a lesson in Commercialism. I won’t knock the bands – there were a couple on the line-up that I don’t rate too highly and others that I think are fantastic but I understand that it comes down to personal taste. But I just wonder how they felt playing on that stage, amongst all that branding. Between every band were constant Coca-Cola adverts, and little graphics which repeated the logo over and over and over again. The MCs kept repeating the word ‘Coke’, and this strange use of ‘My’ in front of every word (rather selfish if you ask me) kept creeping into their sentences. “MY Coke Fest.” “Style MY Coke.” “Buy MY Merchandise.”

YOUR Coke Fest, you say? Fine – you can keep it.

I will say one thing on a more positive note, if only to stop all the genuine music fans out there from jumping out a window after reading this. I believe there is hope. This is only the third serious rock festival of this kind that South Africa has ever hosted. We don’t have a fantastic track record of attracting big international acts, and seeing people like Chris Cornell singing songs like ‘Black Hole Sun’ in our very own Cape Town is still a rare and amazing thing for music fans. And you have to thank Coca-Cola for throwing their weight, but most importantly their money, behind such a venture in order to attract those big names. But a festival culture will develop, South Africa will, for the first time since the seventies, become a regular stop for touring bands. More and more diverse sponsors will begin to show interest, and perhaps one day, concert organisers will have enough money to turn around to Coca-Cola and say, “Take you uniquely-contoured Coke bottle and shove it up your ***!”

Now that’s Rock and Roll.

Don’t FIDEL with the system!

By Stuart Buchanan

Well, I haven’t started doing anything to this blog yet, so I thought I might just write a little something to justify its existence on the web. We are supposed to be discussing current affairs and things like that, and how they would possibly affect us here in little ol’ Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Well, I’m not sure I can do that, but the recent news about Fidel Castro’s resignation has spurred me into saying a few words about the Commandante.
As a journalism student, I’ve had all those damn lectures (who’d have thought – being a student actually means attending lectures) about how the world’s media is controlled by the West etc etc *yawn*, and yes, we all know that thank you very much. Which is why the coverage of Castro is something worth thinking about. He has been the olive-green uniformed thorn in the side of the Americans for over fifty years, which is pretty damn impressive. The CIA and others has tried to assassinate him several times in the past, but has survived every one.  He has quite successfully run a country which has had an embargo against it for four decades, blocking the possibility of trade from the only superpower and the richest country (…*puts on Jeremy Clarkson accent…*) in the world. The Americans have tried to undermine him so many times since he first came to power, but they don’t want you to know that. They are, however, quite happy to let everyone know he is retiring.
So what? (Journ students will know this is a blog as I have not provided the So What section earlier). Well, I don’t think most people will care too much about Castro’s retirement, or what the future of Cuba may bring. The thing is, Cuba is not like any other country (here comes Clarkson again) in the world. It is not a Communist country like China is, and it’s not a Communist country like Russia was. It is unlike any other South American country, even those trying to role out similar socialist values. So read up on Cuba – if you dodge western news coverage and look for books you will find that Cuba is a unique, interesting and successful country which has managed to outlive Soviet Russia and still not give in the western liberal democratic system. It has its own system, and it’s own values, and perhaps we could learn something from that system.
Castro was the man who said “Up Yours!” to America louder than anyone else, and for longer than anyone else, and in my books, that makes him worth remembering.