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10 September 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
student dialogue
Dialogues presented by the Office for International Affairs provide a safe space for people to voice their opinions, to learn, and to engage. Here are, from the left: Montsi Ramonaheng, third-year BSc student majoring in Biochemistry and Genetics; Lebohang Lesenyeno, third-year LLB student; Motsaathebe Serekoane, Lecturer in Anthropology; and Bulelwa Moikwatlhai from the Office for International Affairs.
Will the creation of one African country solve the problem of xenophobia? 

This was the question raised at a recent dialogue session on the University of the Free State Bloemfontein Campus.

Most attendees believed the concept of ‘one Africa’ implied that only one language and one dominant culture would be needed – resulting in the spirit of multiculturalism ceasing to exist. When one speaks of a united Africa, it means that the continent recognises the diversity of its cultures and embraces these diversities. It was concluded that one Africa was not a solution to ending xenophobia.

Awareness of xenophobia from a human rights perspective

The Office for International Affairs hosted the two-dialogue series aimed at addressing an array of social issues such as xenophobia, cultural appropriation, and xenocentrism. They wanted to demonstrate the influence these issues have – not only on the mindsets of individuals, but also on how it can contribute towards the development of an unjust society devoid of embracing difference.

The first session was titled: Burn the Phobia, with the theme: ‘We are all foreigners somewhere’. The aim of this dialogue was to create awareness of xenophobia from a human rights perspective. 

Recently, a second dialogue session was presented, with the theme ‘Appropriation vs Xenocentrism’. According to Bulelwa Moikwatlhai, Officer in the Office for International Affairs, the purpose of this session was to encourage people to appreciate their own cultures and to respect other peoples’ cultures.

“We wanted to critically discuss cultural appropriation versus xenocentrism in an attempt to find a human response that is inclusive in nature,” says Moikwatlhai.

Direct outflow of UFS Integrated Transformation Plan

The lecture was presented by Motsaathebe Serekoane, Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the UFS, who urged attendees to always keep it authentic. He also stated that, as boundaries between the North and the South collapsed and knowledge flowed in and out, knowledge from the South was not taken seriously. 

“We lost ourselves within what happened in the North. We want to be appropriate and we want what they have, because it is more beautiful than what we have. We need to find something in Africa that will define us as African,” he says. 

These dialogues are a build-up to the International Cultural Diversity Festival that will take place at the Thakaneng Bridge on 13 September 2019 from 12:00 to 14:00.

The dialogue is a direct outflow of the university’s Integrated Transformation Plan. “We strive to cultivate a culture where everyone feels welcome and comfortable. We want to create common ground for international and South African students to get together and to collaboratively discuss issues from both parties in order to find innovative solutions to student challenges,” indicates Moikwatlhai.

Much of what is learnt in these sessions is used for reflection in order to improve the overall student experience. According to Miokwatlhai, it is essential to ensure that all processes related to students are structured to be socially just and inclusive. 

“As an institution of higher learning, we need to continuously create such platforms so that we have rich engagements about pertinent issues that affect the UFS community, and find human solutions to overcome barriers,” she concludes.

News Archive

But do you forgive yourself, Eugene de Kock? asks Candice Mama
2015-03-16

From the left are: Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Candice Mama and Prof André Keet, Director of the UFS Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice.
Photo: O'Ryan Heideman

 

Candice Mama: Audio

Candice Mama and her family met with her father’s assassin. Eugene de Kock. Prime Evil. Commander of the apartheid government’s covert Vlakplaas police unit. And what followed from this meeting was one of our country’s most poignant gestures of reconciliation. One by one, each family member expressed their forgiveness of De Kock, and soon afterwards, he was granted parole.

Candice recently visited the Bloemfontein Campus to talk about ‘An Unexpected Encounter with Eugene de Kock: A Journey of Transformation’. The event was a collaborative effort between the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice and Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation Studies.

“What makes it possible to cross the boundary from loss and pain to bond with the person who hurt you?” Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, asked Candice. “I had to educate myself about the when, where, and how, to get a context for Eugene de Kock,” she answered. With the encouragement of her mother, Candice became an avid reader from an early age. She devoured information, so that she could build a picture of this man within a specific historical and political context. What also contributed to this moment of reconciliation for her was De Kock humbling himself and taking full responsibility for his actions.

This meeting was not without inner conflict for Candice, though. “Why am I crying for hím?” she asked herself as she listened to him speak. “Why am I laughing?” she chastised herself as De Kock preened shyly for a group photograph with the family. “Is there something wrong with me to connect with him?” She questioned her values and beliefs. But instead of a monster, Candice saw the true essence of a repentant human being.

But how do you know he didn’t fake it, many people asked. Because it was “one of the most sincere and honest encounters I’ve experienced,” she said. During their meeting, Candice saw a man “crushed by the world”. Everything he believed as a young man, he realised, was a lie.

“Do you forgive yourself?” Candice asked the one question De Kock feared most. And in that moment, he was humanised for her. “When you’ve done the things I’ve done,” De Kock replied, “how do you forgive yourself?”
It remains an open question. But this act of forgiveness gives an entire country hope.

 

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za.

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