Erin Dodo has just faced the most intense period of her life, battling it out for one of 15 spots in the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) highly politicised Student Representative Council (SRC).
She broke all boundaries: standing as ActionSA’s first nominee in a university SRC election, being the first Jewish person voted onto a UCT SRC in at least 10 years, and then being chosen as part of its executive as deputy secretary general.
And for her, it’s just the beginning. Born in the United States and raised in Johannesburg, this 20-year-old dynamo says she has been told that the politicised elections are nothing compared to the year ahead on the SRC. But she says she’s ready for whatever comes her way.
Speaking to the SA Jewish Report on the first day of her term in office, she says her role as chairperson of the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) in the Western Cape was the start of this journey. “I joined SAUJS because I felt that Jewish people were left out of the narrative and activism. People don’t see us. But then I realised that I had a lot more to give and do. I wanted to make my voice heard on an even bigger scale.”
She knew that running in the SRC elections was a major undertaking, but chose to take the leap. She didn’t want to run as an independent candidate or for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), so ActionSA decided put its weight behind her. Dodo became its communications director, and was nominated by the party.
“It’s been a long process,” she says. “There was a lot of push back and politics. If you imagine university as like a country, then the SRC elections is about choosing the government. So, obviously, there will be politics and people using anything they can against you. It’s about rising above that with tenacity and strength. People are willing to use anything to put you down and weaken your morale. You deal with it by having a strong team behind you and realising that it isn’t about you. In the grander scheme of things, you have to realise that you’re doing this for the university and it’s a lot bigger than yourself.”
Thirty people ran in the election, and Dodo came sixth out of the 15 that were elected. The council is made up of three EFF candidates, 10 independent candidates, and two ActionSA candidates.
“It was an amazing feeling and a big relief. This is the first time that ActionSA has put forward candidates, and we won two seats. It felt like all our hard work paid off. And as a Jewish woman, it felt like an unparalleled accomplishment. I’ve done a lot, but this is the first time I felt like I had really done this for me. It was a beautiful feeling.”
It may have been a beautiful moment, but Dodo has been warned that student politics can get ugly. “I’ve been told that everything about me will be used against me, that people will use bullying tactics. I said, ‘I know this, and I will rise above it.’”
Dodo always wanted to move to Cape Town and go to UCT. She attended Crawford College Sandton where she enjoyed the diversity of students, and wanted the same for her university experience. She lived in residence in her first year, which also allowed her to meet people from all walks of life. She’s studying political science and anthropology, which she says is “a lot of work”, but it’s only one ball she’s juggling as she takes on her role at the SRC.
“Deputy secretary general is a big role, with a lot of admin,” she says. It also entails being chief operations officer and public relations officer. Her responsibilities include liaising with the department of student affairs; chairing the SRC media and communications sub-committee; preparing and publishing all SRC publications in consultation with the SRC; maintaining the SRC website and student web facilities; and being the chief publicity agent within the SRC.
When fellow students are enjoying the long summer holidays ahead, the SRC will be strategising, planning, co-ordinating, and meeting. And though relationships in the SRC are known to get heated, Dodo says they are “like friends in that we choose to work together and like family in that we have to work together! Just like family, we’ll fight but we’ll also keep forging ahead.”
Personally, her goal is to make the university “more accepting and open”. “The past few years have been quite skewed by political agendas. As the SRC, we have the power to create the environment, an image of campus, and a feeling of warmth, where everyone feels welcome, regardless of who you are and where you come from.”
That means she wants Jewish students to “walk in and feel seen and heard, and never feel like they are on the sidelines”. She wants them to get involved in their university, which they worked hard to get into, and “deserve to feel part of”.
Regarding Israel Apartheid Week, Dodo says, “Everything that happens needs to be documented and reported, and if anyone on either side says anything untoward, it must be dealt with by the student committee. Though freedom of expression is important, it can border on hurtful and hateful. Our role is to monitor that. People should know that what they say has consequences.”
Dodo says the community, her family, ActionSA, mentors, friends, and fellow students have all been incredibly supportive as she took this path. But at the same time, she has had to blaze her own trail. She feels that more Jewish students should get involved in student politics, and that the community can do more to prepare young people to do that.
“You do need to learn to be strong and not react. If you react, it will be used against you. So you have to stay firm. But the more we shy away, the more we’ll be left out of the narrative. We need to say, ‘We don’t have a choice, this is who we are.’ If we stay in the shadows, we’re never going to be heard.”
And, equipping youth with the tools and knowledge they need to step up needs to start young, Dodo says. “We’re told to ‘be Jewish and proud’, but we also need to know why and how to stand up and defend our people. Teach your kids and re-teach yourself so that you can stand up for yourself and your beliefs. It can be uncomfortable, but ignorance is the opposite to progress.”
