We are deeply concerned by the current systemic crisis that besets our universities and the impasse that has ensued at the University of the Witwatersrand. This is unprecedented and presents a precarious situation demanding extraordinary action. Conversely we are shocked by the way university management and the state have/are responding. We acknowledge that there has been broader debate and conversation on how we can come out of this cul-de-sac without compromising our esteemed university education system. We are very skeptical of some of decisions taken so far that in our view have potential to irrevocably destroy our university.
We are black academics working at the University of the Witwatersrand and have the burden of enduring the same system that our students are rejecting. We strongly support the urgent need for the de-commodification and decolonisation of our education system as a step towards transformation and redressing the dispossession that underpinned apartheid and colonisation experienced by our societies for centuries. We strongly believe the demands by the students are legitimate and can be realised for the broader benefit and transformation of our society. We applaud the current generation of students for articulating critical questions challenging the power, structure and how our society is organised The structural challenges are central in reproducing the ills of poverty, inequality, unemployment and crime that are overwhelming our society. We need not be reminded that challenging this order was the essence of the struggle against apartheid.
- On Free education/de-commodification of education
We strongly believe that free and decolonized education is possible and that we should all support this and develop models on how this may be realised urgently. The quest for free, quality and decolonized education is not divorced from the structural challenges facing our society (racism, unemployment, poverty, inequality and crime). We take cognisance that the demands by students are radical and have potential to shift the trajectory and way our society is organised Free, quality and decolonized education will unlock the structural challenges of racism, unemployment, inequality, poverty and crime.
- Decolonisation
Over 70 percent of Wits students are black and many of them are from the working class and poor households. However, two decades after the democratic transition we have failed to create our own model of an ideal African and South African university drawing from our lived experiences, African black critical thought, history, language and literature. Our universities continue to produce racial and cultural domination that alienates blackness. We thus support the decolonisation of our education system particularly the epistemological dimension as articulated by the student movement.
Whilst we have succeeded in transforming the demographics of the students which now somewhat reflect the national demographics, the same cannot be said about the academics. The demographic composition of academics at Wits and many of the former white universities has remained untransformed with a handful of black South Africans and some colleagues from the African continent. The system is hostile to the nurturing of potential black academics. This partly explains why the voices of black academics has been muted and/ or silenced in this important debate. The South African academia is unsurprisingly hostile to black bodies and blackness. Wits currently has less than a handful black professors and only one black women professor and this will not change anytime soon if unchallenged. Often the excuse given for the continued gate- keeping is that there is not enough black academics who crack the academic threshold required to be employed at Wits or that blacks are not interested in academia.
In light of this dearth of transformation, the university management claimed that at least 90 percent of the academics voted for the academic programme to resume if ‘proper’ security measures were in place. At the same time we were disturbed by that the union of academics failed to take a strong unequivocal position on free/de-commodified and decolonized education. Most of the academics are either liberals or conservatives who painstakingly defend the status quo when push comes to shove. The Wits Black Academics Caucus was born in the face of this struggle and to challenge the indifference and or ambivalence by institutions meant to articulate the collective voice of the academics. As black academics our position on free and decolonized education is unequivocal.
3: On the handling of the crisis
We note that the current student movement has been demanding free and decolonized education for at least 18 months since 2015. The state and other support institutions, in particular the governing African National Congress have been indifferent to this call. They have not taken any urgent and concrete measures to resolve this impasse. We do acknowledge that this is a national crisis and not any of the vice chancellors has the means to resolution. However, we feel that the state has been disingenuous by its apparent indifference on the crisis. At the same time we are shocked that university management is standing in the way of a problem that it has no capacity to resolve. The least the management could do is engage students on internal demands specific to the institution while supporting them on the national issues that are the preserve of the state to address.
Instead of finding ways to open dialogue and forge consensus, the university management adopted divisive measures such as the poll and ‘securitisation’ and ‘militarisation’ of campus which inevitably escalate the nature of the problem. For example, the poll conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand ultimately divided and polarised relations within the university community irrevocably. This has destroyed trust and limited the prospects of any amicable solution. The ‘securitisation’ and ‘militarisation’ of campus escalates confrontation and the levels of tension. We all experienced this last Tuesday when in no time the campus was unnecessarily turned into a war zone resulting in a number of students, staff and police officers sustaining injuries following a number of clashes.
4: On the planned resumption of the academic programme on Monday 10th of October 2016
We have learnt hard lessons from last week’s aborted plans to open the university academic programmes without the consensus of all stakeholders. It will be absurd to repeat the same strategy and expect different outcomes. We do not believe that the plans to open on the 10th of October 2016 by any means necessary to save the academic programme will work, rather it will raise tensions and jeopardise any chances of forging consensus which is critical if we are to move forward.
Whilst we acknowledge the claim by the university management to continue with negotiations and engagement with all the parties, the decision to resume the academic programme before consensus is attained raises tension which may inevitably culminate in yet another violent confrontation as was experienced last week. The university management must refrain from putting the cart before the horse as this has potential to extinguish all possible lines of engagement and consensus building.
We believe all the students, including those protesting earnestly want the 2016 academics year to be concluded. The university should in utmost good faith open lines of engagement and negotiations with the students through the current intermediaries. We applaud the intermediaries’ efforts thus far and suggest that we call aboard other eminent persons and institutions to assist in breaking the impasse.
- ‘Militarisation/Securitisation’ of campus
The university is a space of academic engagement, learning, teaching and research and also a site of ideological/cultural/ intellectual? struggle. We should endeavour to avoid anything that may raise tension and confrontation. It is our belief that in the current context a resumption of the academic programme in a ‘securitised’ and ‘militarised’ campus will, for the students who are protesting, inevitably translate to extreme provocation as this undermines their legitimate cause.
The use of violence and securitisation of campus will not take us forward as experienced last week, but further strain relations. We are shocked by that the university management seem to have not learnt any lessons. We do not believe that the situation can be normalised by ‘militarisation’ and ‘securitisation’ of our campus. The university cannot continue with its normal business of teaching, learning and research in a ‘militarised’ and volatile context. We have seen from last week how many of our students, staff, and police got injured. We cannot afford to have a repeat of this absurdity.
- The way forward
After a critical evaluation of the situation on the ground we strongly reiterate that it would not be safe to resume with the normal academic programme without the threat of violence and risk to the lives of our students and staff. We strongly urge the university to consider postponing resumption of the academic programmes indefinitely and give time to reach out to various platforms of engagement and negotiations to build consensus within the broader university community. The situation as it stands is very precarious and can easily get out of control. The resumption of the academic programme without overarching consensus will burn the bridges and chances of forging common ground within the university community.
It is in the interest of all the parties to conclude the 2016 academic year. We strongly believe that after the building of consensus we will still stand united and be able to salvage the academic year. There are many ways in which we can earnestly work towards building this consensus. The university assembly may be preceded by an imbizo which allows a broader debate, engagement and participation of the broader university community in forging the way forward. A decision not to engage with the broader student community is perceived as a ploy to undermine democratic engagement and consensus building. We conclude by emphasising that this is a national crisis and the students are directing their demands to the state and the universities must not stand in the way but must be on board and assist in articulating their perspective.
We remain optimistic and strongly support the call for free quality decolonized education for all.