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Underlying societal ills fuelled recent looting and protest

24 August 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Flickr (GovernmentZA)

Min Zulu — Minister Lindiwe Zulu said the ethos of social sciences should serve as a blueprint for academics to foster a better understanding of social development.

While most of the discussion about the recent violent protests and looting focuses on the political impact and economic ramifications, a group of social science academics met with the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, for a virtual colloquium on 18 August 2021 to assess the entrenched societal ills that preceded these acts of violence.

During the colloquium hosted jointly by the Department of Social Work at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Zola Skweyiya African Social Policy Innovation (ZSASPI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), there were tangible engagements and presentations on how to deliver implementable solutions that social scientists could utilise when attempting to address the notion of violence during protests in South Africa. Some of the solutions are based on active citizenship – getting communities to contribute to the national development agenda, and an understanding of the provisioned right to protest and the responsibilities thereof.

Other speakers included Dr Mpumelelo Ncube, Academic Head of the Department of Social Work at the UFS; Prof Chitja Twala, Vice-Dean, UFS Faculty of the Humanities; and Prof Ndangwa Noyoo, Director of the Zola Skweyiya African Social Policy Innovation. The panel also featured Dr Motlalepula Nathane-Taulela from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Dr Grey Magaiza, Lecturer in Sociology at the UFS, and Dr Thabisa Matsea from the University of Venda (Univen). Presentations ranged from the right to protest with responsibility, active citizenry, political intolerance and inequality, unemployment, and poverty.

Social Sciences best to deal with underlying issues

In her keynote address, the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, stressed that social scientists are the best equipped to address social development issues. “We need to understand the deeper state of the people, and the humanities and social sciences should redefine their role,” she said.

In the wake of the looting and riots in July 2021, it is important for the Ministry of Social Development to understand and to look deeper into the impact and effect that COVID-19 had on the psyche of people in South Africa. Minister Zulu said her department wants to intensify the psychosocial support to communities and that she hoped the colloquium would look for “African solutions for our unique African problem”.

She also cautioned that many youngsters were involved in these violent protests and reminded the youth about their role within the broader society – “to be educated in order to prepare, lead, and build a prosperous South Africa and African continent”.

Watch a recording of colloquium here:

Colloquium much-needed space for critical discussion

“This is the kind of platform we need to use in order to inform but also to try and guide our communities in terms of our research findings,” Prof Twala said in his opening remarks. Dr Ncube reiterated Prof Twala’s sentiment by saying, “As academics, we had to ask ourselves what the role of social workers is in the broader society and what could be the role of social sciences in addressing these questions of violence in protest, using our intellectual muscle to bring about tangible change.”

Protesting comes with inherent responsibility

Section 17 of the Constitution of South Africa makes provision for protesting, but with these rights, there are also some responsibilities on the part of the protesting community. “This right has gotten backlash – particularly from academia – on how the protest culture has turned violent,” Dr Ncube said. He also said that South Africa has been dubbed the world capital of protest, because in “some cases we had a protest every second day”.

This colloquium served as an inaugural step in facilitating important discussions on a national level.

Listen to a recording of the colloquium here

News Archive

State of our campuses: Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year on UFS students

2016-10-08

Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,

Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year

The University of the Free State (UFS) reiterates its support and commitment to the cause of free higher education. We have stated our position in all the available spaces. We want to work with UFS students to put pressure on the government to commit itself to accept the many suggestions put forward to make free education possible within a negotiated timeframe.

We are also seriously committed to our responsibility of providing education to all students enrolled at the university. We are doing our outmost to ensure that we can resume academic activities next week.

Description: " Academic non-completion 2016 Tags: " Academic non-completion 2016

We want to bring to your attention what will happen to individual students if the UFS cannot resume classes fully on Monday 10 October 2016.

Currently we have extended the academic year by one week. Some faculties are working on Saturdays and Sundays, starting earlier and finishing later to complete the material that needs to be taught and the practical work that students need to do to be able to write exams.

In the three biggest faculties at the university: Education, the Humanities, and Natural Sciences, this is what will happen:

Education will fail to graduate 1 193 students
Humanities will fail to graduate 1 125 students
Natural and Agricultural Sciences will fail to graduate 1 390 students

In the professional faculties: Economic and Management Sciences, Health Sciences, and Law, this will happen:

Economic and Management Sciences will fail to graduate 997 students
Health Sciences will fail to graduate 633 students
Law will fail to graduate 619 students

In total, approximately 6 000 students will not receive complete transcripts of their degrees and the certificates for their qualifications.

The university currently has 3 238 students on NSFAS bursaries. None of these students will be able to apply for bursaries for the lost year. They will be regarded as having failed or not completed their courses. They will not only miss this year, but the opportunity of studying in the future.

These students come from families to which their success in higher education was supposed to mean a change in the future of the entire family. Some parents/guardians hold more than one job to be able to pay tuition fees.

In not allowing the year to continue and students to finish, we are throwing away the efforts that entire families of poor people have made for four or five years to put their children through university. The promise of free education for future generations means nothing to these families who are poor in the present.

In terms of the academic calendar, it is a false argument to say that universities will be able to enrol first-years, because what 2016 students will miss, is the second semester.

We do not have the capacity to teach double the number of students in the second semester. This also misses the point that those students who were completing modules in order to graduate, will waste an entire year (assuming they have funding) to complete their degrees. This argument does not see the knock-on effect that students, not promoting in modules from first to second and second to third year, etc., will have. Finally, this also misses the point of what will happen to students who have to repeat first-semester modules.

In terms of academic staff, students are discounting the willingness of academic staff to teach double or to have the academic year extended by approximately six weeks between teaching and examinations. The same can be said for all the administrative and support staff required for running the university.

In our case, all the students in the University Preparation Programme (UPP) on the South Campus in Bloemfontein will be stuck without being able to move into mainstream modules, preventing a new intake of UPP students for 2017. These are the poorest and most disadvantaged students at the UFS.

It is absolutely necessary to find a means of protest and political action that will not jeopardise the future of current students and the country’s desperate need for critical skills. The interdict against violent protest secured by the UFS is still in force. The police will intervene if the interdict is not respected and the UFS will have no control over police actions.

We trust that parents/guardians and students understand the implications of the situation.

Kind regards,

Prof Nicky Morgan
Acting Rector
University of the Free State

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

State of our campuses #11: Academic activities on UFS campuses continue

State of our campuses #10: Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year on UFS students

State of our campuses #9: Academic programme on all UFS campuses to resume on Monday 10 October 2016

State of our campuses #8: UFS extends vacation as from 28 September until 7 October 2016, 28 September 2016

State of our campuses #7: All three UFS campuses will be closed today, 27 September 2016.

State of our campuses #6: All UFS campuses reopen on Tuesday 27 September 2016

State of our campuses #5: UFS campuses to remain closed on Monday 26 September 2016

State of our campuses #4: Decisions about the UFS academic calendar

State of our campuses #3: UFS campuses closed until Friday 23 September 2016

State of our campuses #2: UFS Bloemfontein and South Campuses closed on Tuesday 20 September 2016 (19 September 2016)

State of our campuses #1: Academic activities suspended on UFS Bloemfontein Campus (19 September 2016)

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