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03 July 2020 | Story Prof Francis Petersen and Motsaathebe Serekoane
Motsaathebe Serekoane,left, and Prof Francis Petersen.

The South African statue debate is back in the spotlight again, as statues deemed controversial or offensive are coming down in America and Europe during demonstrations against racism and police violence that have renewed attention on the legacy of injustices. This follows the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. 

The world has witnessed the toppling of Confederate statues in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Raleigh, North Carolina in the US, as well as a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol and the statue of slave holder Robert Milligan, which was removed from outside the Museum of London Docklands in the UK.  The statue of Paul Kruger on Church Square in Pretoria was again vandalised with red paint during a #BlackLivesMatter protest, as was the statues of Voltaire, a leading thinker and writer in France, and Hubert Lyautey, a French general and colonial administrator.

The attacks/hostilities against statues started in 2015 when the statue of Cecil John Rhodes at the University of Cape Town was torn down by students during the height of the #RhodesMustFall protest, which subsequently led to the #FeesMustFall protest that saw the statue of CR Swart at the University of the Free State being toppled a year later. 

The challenge in the South African context
The traditional definition and meaning of spaces inhabited by people (including temporarily) still renders some of the public spaces unwelcoming and excluding by virtue of their names, presence of symbols, and inscriptions. These spatial markers have a historical significance link with certain social identities or representation, and there is an increasing call for the reconfiguration of public spaces. It is argued that the symbolic landscape also requires change if a city/metro is to incorporate all its citizens and their histories into the fabric of an ‘imagined’ inclusive and just city.

The politics of symbolic representation has been at the heart of decolonisation and post-apartheid transformation. At stake in South Africa – with the historical legacy of segregation policies – is the competing and often conflicting notion of space, and the ideological notion of commemoration or memorialisation, coupled with the lack of shared collective memory and meaning of public representation. 

This calls for a pro-active approach towards the preservation and conservation of heritage resources material. In line with the National Developmental Plan 2030 (NDP 2030) – as a transforming country (with the baggage of both colonial and apartheid legacies) – the state is striving to cultivate an environment that is inclusive and socially just. The transformation of spatial milieu presupposes collective ownership and management of space, founded on the permanent and temporary participation of the 'interested and affected parties' with their multiple, varied, and even contradictory political interests. In the review of the current symbolic landscape for inclusion, it is suggested that spatial identity transformation be negotiated; the process must develop from a nexus that understands the interrelationship between space and spatial inscription through the form of street names, symbols, public art, and other forms of spatial markers.

Important to note is that symbolic power is inherent in these processes of change and includes, among other things, erasure and recognition and competing notions of spatial inscription or re-inscription. Notwithstanding the progress made to date, the following remains a challenge: reflecting on the definition and meaning of spaces that have become public; critical reflection on the role of memorabilia in the post-embedded-conflict society; the notion of preservation and conservation in the post-embedded-conflict society; reflecting on the role of memorabilia for documentation and educational ends; and finally, broadening the heritage landscape.

The politics of recognition
Five years since the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall movements, different forms of memorabilia still remain at the centre of discontent. The observation is that contemplative conversations on these diverse commemorative markers, sites, and symbols established during the colonial, apartheid, and democracy eras are becoming a threat to the country’s NDP 2030, and in particular the social cohesion project. South Africa and the rest of the world continue to struggle to situate/re-appropriate historical text in the contemporary politics of recognition. The demand for recognition in the post-conflict society is given urgency/traction by the hypothetical links between recognition, identity, and public representation. Recent literature postulates that non-recognition or misrecognition in the metros or city spatial landscape can inflict harm, be a form of oppression, or imprison someone in a false, distorted, and reduced mode of being and belonging. Despite the Ministry of Arts and Culture’s investment in transforming the heritage landscape across South Africa – from the level of policy and legislation, the establishment of new commemorative markers, and heritage institutions – the question on what to do with symbols of South African histories and how to deal with them against the backdrop of preservation and conservation in the post-embedded conflict society, remains unclear.

Legislative framework
Whereas the NDP 2030 is advancing a social cohesion vision, section 37 of the South African Heritage Act, No 25 of 1999, protects public monuments and memorials from any form of altering, damaging, or relocation and prescribes a minimum requirement before any form of action is taken. Although the Act is advancing the protection of heritage resources, an interpretation of the Act is that it makes provision for the re-imagination, creative, and responsible review of heritage in a post-embedded conflict society, thus broadening the heritage landscape through reconfiguration discourse of re-interpretation, re-appropriation, relocation, and removal. It is a balancing act with embedded and enmeshed complexities. 

Emancipatory claim-making in the quest for spatial parity
The statue debates continue to be characterised by a polarised disposition. At the one end of the continuum are individuals who hold a strong view and advocate for the ‘cleaning’ of what is deemed painful reminders of past atrocities in the public, which is now accessible to all. On the other end of the continuum are individuals arguing for the juxtaposition model. The process of striving towards a space for equity (cf. socio-spatial justice) and inclusion – needless to say – requires the asking of some difficult questions. 

Towards the inclusion end, the argument is for spatial re-imagination that will have the courage to disrupt homogeneity and advance heterogeneity in pursuit of a spatial landscape where differences intersect, influence each other, and hybridise in pursuit of dialogic engagements and transformative output. 

The UFS and the MT Steyn statue – a transparent and consultative approach
True to the ideals of a contemporary university, which is an intellectual space that encourages new ideas, controversy, inquiry, and argument, and which challenges orthodox views, the UFS has approached the call to remove the MT Steyn statue from the Bloemfontein Campus of the university in a transparent and consultative manner, respecting the different views and perspectives. In fact, the UFS adopted an Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) in late 2017, aiming at an institution ‘where its diverse people feel a sense of common purpose and where symbols and spaces, systems and daily practices all reflect commitment to inclusivity, openness and engagement’ – the ITP, which embodies social justice, was used as the framework for engagement on the MT Steyn statue.

The South African Constitution, which celebrates the diversity of our nation, upholds the rights of all people to freedom of speech, and specifically protects academic freedom. To shut down the right to speak or ask questions in the context of a public debate is unacceptable in a democratic society. Rude or violent behaviour rarely serves to change how people think about any particular issue – on the contrary, it polarises views and makes it harder to listen to one another. 
In this engagement process on the statue, it was important for members of the UFS community to exercise tolerance to listen, to engage with strongly divergent views, and to do so in a manner that is respectful, so that it expands the space for debate. This indeed happened through seminars, public lectures, panel discussions, radio and television interviews, and public opinion pieces. Through these engagements, four options were put forward in relation to the MT Steyn
statue:
• The statue remains as it is,
• The statue remains as it is, and the space around the statue is reconceptualised,
• The statue is relocated to another position on campus, and
• The statue is relocated off campus

Part of the engagement was a heritage impact assessment (HIA) with a public participation process. The public participation process (60 days) included the exhibition of a reflective triangular column erected in front of the statue, primarily to keep the statue topical, but it also edited the statue out of its power position if viewed from the east along the main axis from the city of Bloemfontein. Public notices and advertisements were placed in both local and national newspapers, while the family of President Steyn was kept informed of developments.

Although the call to remove the statue has challenged and re-energised a critical engagement around the purpose of a university in an unequal society – both as a site of complicity and as a potential agent for social change – the call should never be interpreted as an attack on President Steyn (the person), but rather what a 2 m tall statue represents for a changing student and staff demographic on the UFS campuses.

Honouring the legislative processes through the Free State Provincial Heritage Resources Authority, the UFS Council approved the relocation of the MT Steyn statue from the university campus to the War Museum in Bloemfontein – the ‘dignified’ dismantling of the MT Steyn statue took place on 27 June 2020. With the statue at the War Museum, Steyn’s contribution as an anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist will be fully understood by all South Africans in the context of the South African War, as portrayed by the museum.

Reimaging an inclusive public space faces many obstacles and challenges in engaging with existing spatial markers, differences, diversity, and cultural heterogeneity in creative and productive ways.  However, the path followed by the UFS to relocate the MT Steyn statue creates a unique opportunity for a discussion on how spatial re-interpretation can promote inclusivity and meaning of space in a sustainable manner that balances the intricacies of the past, the present, and the future. All considered, it is a difficult process; but change cannot just be for the sake of change, there should be an emancipatory claim in the quest for a just society, advancing reasoning over rage.

Opinion article by Motsaathebe Serekoane, Lecturer: Anthropology, and Prof Francis Petersen: Rector and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Free State
 

News Archive

UFS announces the closure of Reitz Residence and the establishment of an institute for diversity
2008-05-27

Statement by Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Acting Rector of the UFS

The Executive Management of the University of the Free State (UFS) today announced a unanimous decision to close the Reitz Residence, effective at the end of the current university semester, and establish an institute for diversity on the same premises.

Four students from the Reitz Residence were responsible for making the now infamous Reitz video, depicting four female colleagues from the University and a worker of Prestige Cleaning Services who were lured into participating in a mock initiation ceremony during which they were humiliated and demeaned.

University management repeated its strong condemnation of the video, made in apparent protest against the University’s integration policy implemented at 21 residences accommodating some 3 400 students on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein.

The Reitz video reopened racial wounds, and is deeply regretted. It was an isolated manifestation of resistance to the impact of ongoing transformation initiatives at the University. The video and other acts of public violence and vandalism on the campus have undermined the efforts of the University to foster diversity in student and staff life and create an inclusive institutional culture on the campus.

The actions of a relatively small group of students also inflicted severe damage on the University’s reputation and standing in the local and international academic community. The UFS management had therefore decided that closure of the Reitz Residence was an unavoidable strategic imperative and an important gesture of reconciliation towards all South Africans who had been offended.

The University has apologised unreservedly for the video. Two of the students who were still residents in Reitz were barred from the campus and subsequently terminated their studies at the UFS, while the other two students had already completed their studies last year.

In an endeavour to make restitution and to offer a lasting contribution to transformation, both at the UFS and in the country as a whole, the UFS has committed itself to establishing an institute for diversity on the premises of the former Reitz Residence.

Reitz will therefore be closed as a residence from 20 June 2008. The UFS has appointed a fully representative special committee to assist current Reitz residents in finding alternative accommodation.

The Institute for Diversity is envisaged as a centre of academic excellence for studying transformation and diversity in society – a living laboratory for combating discrimination and enabling and enhancing reconciliation in societies grappling with the issues of racism, sexism and xenophobia.

The declaration of Higher Education South Africa (HESA) published on 28 March 2008 highlighted that racism, intolerance and discrimination are societal phenomena present on many campuses. However, these issues are not restricted to institutions of higher learning, and are symptomatic of a broader social malaise.

In responding to the challenge faced by the University regarding its own transformation issues, as well as those faced by the country, the UFS will study the anti-transformational impulses on the campus as a microcosm of much broader socio-political challenges. The University will transform itself over time into a beacon of hope, combating racism and other forms of discrimination in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.

The Institute for Diversity will add impetus to the University’s existing transformation programme. Six strategic clusters, including a transformation cluster, were created in 2007 as part of the University’s long-term strategic planning.

The University has already provided seed capital of R1 million to design and establish the Institute. Planning will take place during 2008/09, with the Institute being formally opened in the 2010 academic year. An international fund-raising drive to raise an initial target of R50 million will be launched shortly.

Note to editors: The Reitz video was apparently made late last year, but only entered the public domain on 26 February 2008.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
27 May 2008


UFS e phatlalatsa ho kwalwa ha hostele ya Reitz le ho thehwa ha Institute for Diversity

Phatlalatso ka Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Morektoro ya tshwereng mokobobo wa UFS

Kajeno bolaodi ba Yunivesithi ya Freistata (UFS) bo phatlaladitse qeto e ananetsweng ke bohle ya ho kwalwa ha hostele ya Reitz mafelong a sehla sena sa pele sa dithuto (semester), le ho thehwa ha Institute for Diversity meahong eo ya Reitz.

Baithuti ba bane ba hostele ya Reitz ba ile ba eba le seabo kgatisong ya video e mpe moo basebetsi ba bane ba bomme ba yunivesithi le mosebetsi wa khamphane ya Prestige Cleaning Services ba ileng ba hohelwa ho ba le seabo mme ba tlontlollwa le ho nyenyefatswa hampe.

Bolaodi ba yunivesithi bo boetse ba nyatsa ka mantswe a bohale video eo e ileng ya hatiswa ka maikemisetso a ho ipelaetsa kgahlanong le leano la diphethoho dihosteleng tse 21 tsa yunivesithi Bloemfontein tseo e leng bodulo ho bathuti ba ka bang 3400.

Morektoro ya tshwereng mokobobo wa UFS, Prof. Teuns Verschoor, o boletse hore video eo ya Reitz e boetse e butse maqeba a semorabe mme e seollwa ka matla. O re e ne e le ketsahalo e ikgethileng ya boipelaetso kgahlanong le diteko tse tswelang pele tsa ho tlisa diphethoho yunivesithing. O re video eo le diketsahalo tse ding tsa merusu le tshenyo ya thepa khamphaseng di setisitse diteko tsa yunivesithi tsa ho tlisa poelano hara baithuti le basebetsi, le ho theha moetlo o akaretsang ka hare ho yunivesithi.

O tswetse pele ka hore diketso tseo tsa sehlotshwana sa baithuti di boetse tsa senya yunivesithi serithi le lebitso mona hae le dinaheng tse ding. Kahoo bolaodi ba UFS bo nkile qeto yah ore ho kwalwa ha hostele ya Reitz ke ntho o kekeng ya qojwa mme e boetse ke mohato wa bohlokwa wa poelano ho ma-Afrika Borwa ohle a anngweng ke taba ena.

Yunivesithi e kopile tshwarelo mabapi le video ena. Ba babedi ba baithuti ba amehang kgatisong ya video eo, ba neng ba ntse ba dula hosteleng ya Reitz, ba ile ba thibelwa ho kena khamphaseng mme yaba ba tlohela dithuto tsa bona, ha ba bang ba babedi bona ba ne ba se ba phethetse dithuto tsa bona selemong se fetileng.

Prof. Verschoor o boletse hore ho leka ho kgutlisetsa maemo setlwaeding le ho tshehetsa leano la diphethoho UFS le naheng ka bophara, UFS e ikanne ho theha Institute for Diversity hona meahong eo ya Reitz.

Kahoo hostele ya Reitz e tla kwalwa ho tloha ka la 20 Phupjane 2008. UFS e thontse komiti e ikgethang e akaretsang bohle ho thusa baithuti ba dulang hosteleng ena hajwale ho fumana bodulo bo bong.

Institute for Diversity e tla ba setsha se kgabane sa dithuto tsa diphethoho le poelano setjhabeng – setsha se tla lwantshana le kgethollo mme se kgothalletse le ho matlafatsa poelano hara batho ba tobaneng le mathata a kgethollo ya mmala, ya bong le lehloyo la melata.

Tokomane ya Higher Education South Africa (HESA) e phatlaladitsweng ka la 28 Hlakubele 2008, e pepesa dintlha tse amanang le kgethollo ya mmala, tlhokeho ya mamellano le kgethollo ka kakaretso e le dintho tse teng dikhamphaseng tse ngata. Dintlha tsena ha di teng feela ditsheng tsa thuto e phahameng, empa le setjhabeng ka kakaretso.

Prof. Vershoor o boletse hore UFS e tla lekola dikgato tse kgahlanong le diphethoho ka hare ho khamphase jwaloka karolo ya diphepetso tse nammeng hara setjhaba ka kakaretso. O re yunivesithi e tla fetoha ha nako e ntse e tsamaya ho ba mohlala o motle wa tshepo, twantsho ya kgethollo ya mmala le mekgwa e meng ya kgethollo Afrika Borwa le lefatsheng ka bophara.

Institute for Diversity e tla thusa ho matlafatsa lenaneo la jwale la diphethoho la yunivesithi. Ho thehilwe di Strategic Clusters tse tsheletseng selemong se fetileng, tse kenyeletsang Transformation Cluster, jwaloka karolo ya merero ya UFS.

Yunivesithi e se e nyehelane ka tjhelete e kana ka diranta tse milione ho rala le ho theha institute ena. Ho rerwa ha yona ho tla etswa ka 2008/09, mme institute ena e tla bulwa semmuso selemong sa dithuto sa 2010. Haufinyana ho tla thakgolwa letsholo la matjhaba la ho bokeletsa tjhelete e kana ka diranta tse dimilione tse mashome a mahlano.


Tlhokomediso ho bahlophisi ba ditaba: Video ya Reitza e hatisitswe selemong se fetileng mme ya hlahella pepeneng ka la 26 Hlakola 2008.

Phatlalatso ya boraditaba
E entswe ke: Lacea Loader
Motlatsa molaodi: Dikgokahano
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
27 Motsheanong 2008








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