The SAfm panel discussion held on Wednesday 22 April in Barratt 1 welcomed audiences from all corners of South Africa to share their views on the ongoing debate surrounding the Rhodes Must Fall campaign and the call for transformation in South African Institutions of Higher Learning.
This live radio broadcast hosted by Bongi Gwala was attended by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Sizwe Mabizela and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Chrissie Boughey. Retired history lecturer and Distinguished Professor, Paul Maylam, President of the Rhodes Student Representative Council Siyanda Makhubo and Transformation Officer for The South African Students’ Union Sakhe Badi were on the panel along with Advocate Sonwabile Mancotywa, CEO of the National Heritage Council in telephonic conversation.
Professor Maylam began the discussion by summarising the history of how Rhodes University was named as such. In doing so, he emphasised the point that Cecil John Rhodes himself had no connection with Grahamstown and the University itself. He also went on to mention that this was not the first time that the university’s name had been challenged.
“In 1994 a proposal was put to the university senate that the name of the university be changed,” he explained. “Then the sub-committee was set out to obtain feedback from the university community and as a result of the feedback it was decided in fact to retain the name. One of the arguments in favour of keeping the name was that the name had brand value.”
Makhubo, who described this as an exciting time for South Africa, agreed with the Professor. However, he expressed the SRC’s wish to maintain neutral on the question of whether the name should change or not, stating that it would not be fair for them to choose a portion of the already divided student body whilst neglecting the other.
“We are a responsible SRC and the most legitimate SRC in the country” he said, “yes the Rhodes statue at UCT fell, I could have done that overnight, but we have bigger issues to handle.” This was said in response to a caller who expressed his disapproval of the “on the fence” stance that the SRC has adopted.
These issues, as agreed by some audience members and listeners who called into the show, include transforming the university’s curriculum to include black African figures and addressing social issues such as the water and electricity shortage in Grahamstown.
Dr Mabizela also distanced himself from taking a stand on whether or not he believes that the Rhodes University brand must be changed. Instead, he pronounced his appreciation for such a democratic platform that allowed for the sharing and contesting of views. It is this type of engagement that he believes will allow for a well-informed decision to be drawn.
“This is an important debate and I think different people hold different views. We must respect that and I’m hoping that we will be open-minded enough to listen to each other so as to appreciate the different positions that we hold,” he said.
The role of the Institutional Forum was highlighted by both the Vice-Chancellor and SRC President as a crucial one.
“Our institutional forum will be meeting to map out and hold a discussion on how we engage with all the important role players and all the important constituencies so that in the end we all start to create an institution that we all can be proud of.”
He also challenged an EFF audience member who claimed that Rhodes students were being expelled for expressing their views to hand him the names of just one these supposed students. The EFF audience member was unable to provide any proof. Dr Mabizela reiterated that all views were welcome and that the University is open to critical discussion and that everyone’s judgement and viewpoints were welcome provided that we are all open-minded and respectful of one another.
Sakhe Badi acknowledged that there is no perfect system to the process of transformation. However, he indicated that changing the university’s name would symbolise the institution’s commitment to act upon transformation.
Article by Phiwokuhle Mandisa Dhlamini