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19 February 2018 Photo Archive
Prof Sampie Terreblanche inspired many undergraduate students to become economists
Prof Sampie Terblanche, Prof Philippe Burger, and Prof Tienie Crous
It is with sadness that the executive management of the University of the Free State (UFS) received the news of the recent passing of Prof Sampie Terreblanche of Stellenbosch University.
 
Prof Terreblanche has been advocating social and economic justice for decades. During the 1980s and 1990s, he played an important role in keeping the debate about the need for socio-economic and -political reform in South Africa going. His position was not always popular, particularly among those who had a vested interest in the apartheid regime. After the dawn of democracy, he continued to argue for socio-economic and -political reform, and especially reform that would address the very high levels of inequality in South Africa.
 
Through his testimony before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as his seminal book entitled A history of inequality in South Africa: 1652 to 2002, Prof Terreblanche demonstrated that even though South Africa experienced a political transition towards democracy, it still needed to undergo an economic transition. Once again, he found that his position was not always popular, particularly among those with a stake in the old, but still existing economic order. Admirably, he nevertheless persisted to argue for socio-economic change, even in the last months of his life when he was already very ill.
 
Prof Terreblanche’s career started in 1957 as lecturer at the then University of the Orange Free State, later becoming senior lecturer. In 1965, Prof Terreblanche moved to the University of Stellenbosch as senior lecturer, becoming professor in 1968. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1995.
 
As an academic who taught generations of undergraduate students, he inspired many of them to become economists. In 2005, the UFS conferred an honorary doctorate in Economics on Prof Terreblanche in recognition of his work in Economics and his relentless advocacy for social and economic equality.  

News Archive

Q and A with Prof Hussein Solomon on ‘Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Africa’
2015-05-29

 

Political Science lecturer, Prof Hussein Solomon, has launched his latest book, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Africa: fighting insurgency from Al Shabaab, Ansar Dine and Boko Haram, on Wednesday 26 May 2015 at the UFS.

In his book, Solomon talks about the growing terrorist threat in Africa, with the likes of Al Shabaab, Ansar Dine, and Boko Haram exploiting Africa's vulnerabilities to expand their operations. Explaining both the limitations of current counter-terrorist strategies and possible future improvements, this timely study can be appreciated by scholars and practitioners alike.

Q: If you speak of Al Shabaab, Ansar Dine, and Boko Haram expanding operations, do you see possibilities for their expansion even into South Africa, or is expansion mainly focused on northern African countries?
 
A: All three movements are operating out of their respective countries. Al Shabaab has attacked Kenya and Uganda and tried to attack the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. So yes, there is a danger that they are here and, more importantly, newer groups like ISIS are recruiting in SA already.
 
Q: If the traditional military response is ineffective, what would be a better approach then?
 
A: What is important is that the force of arms needs to complement the force of ideas. What is being waged is an ideological battle, and, just as the West defeated Communism ideologically in the Cold War, we need to defeat radical Islamism ideologically. In addition, the military response needs to complement the governance and development responses.
 
Q: External players like the US have insufficient knowledge of the context, what would be the knowledge about context necessary for anyone concerned about the terror problem in Africa?
 
A: Allow me to give you some examples. The US trains African militaries to fight terrorist groups, but, when they return to their countries, they stage a coup and topple the civilian government. The US does not seem to understand that arming a predatory military and training them makes them more predatory and brutal, which results in civilians being recruited by terrorists, as happened in Mali. Similarly, the US sent arms to the Somali government, and members of that government sold those arms to Al Shabaab terrorists, the very people they were supposed to fight. So the Americans do not understand the criminalisation of the African state, which undermines good governance and promotes terrorism.

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