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Protest
Student protest has been a hot topic on many campuses across the country.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of the Humanities provided the platform for a robust dialogue on student protests in South Africa. The round-table discussion, titled ‘Humanistic Perspectives on Student Protests in South Africa’, took place on 30 May 2022, with an impressive panel drawn from the Humanities, senior management of the UFS, and student governance.  

Vice-Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities Prof Chitja Twala said the faculty thought it prudent to lead this discussion by hosting a round-table talk. “Student protest will be with us for some time, and we need to engage and talk about these issues from a humanistic point of view – it is important for us,” he said.

“It is only when we dialogue and engage with each other that we can meet each other halfway and understand the problems students are faced with, and students can understand the problems institutions of higher learning are faced with.”  

The dialogue was an opportunity to discuss humanistic perspectives on student protests and included the following topics, among others: dynamics of student protests, the relationship between politics and protests, why protests are a challenge for the higher education sector, and the possible responses to protests by universities. 

“We wanted an academic experience and we wanted to give a sense of the different kind of angles when looking at protest, and we have not even scratched the surface,” said Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities. 

* Listen to the discussion on the podcast recording below to gain insights from the six speakers. 


Protesting is important in addressing issues

Panellist Prof Sethulego Matebesi, who is an expert on community protests, said protesting is the main modality of expression for social movements in South Africa. He also said that protesting is a key element to celebrate, because people now have the right to protest. 

Student Governance Manager Motlogeloa Moema agreed that protest is important and is not something to be frowned upon. “Protesting is a reaction and a manifestation of grievances that have not been addressed, both in the community and institutions of higher learning,” Moema said. He added that it needs to be acknowledged that protesting is not a bad thing, and that it is “a democratic right enshrined in our Constitution”. 

These sentiments tied in with those of UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Francis Petersen, who said that protesting campaigns like the #RhodesMustFall and subsequent #FeesMustFall movements addressed certain issues and were actually helping to resolve and address the issues at hand. “Some of these are not resolved, but the role protest plays is quite critical.” 

Management must ensure stakeholder safety

Prof Petersen aimed to contextualise student protests from the viewpoint of the university management team. He said the UFS is home to both students and staff, and management’s mandate is to ensure that everyone feels welcome and can reach their maximum potential in an enabling environment. “The formal structures must facilitate and ensure that staff and students do what they are here to do,” Prof Petersen said. 

“The question is how that protest is being conducted, as there are rules for protesting; in fact the Constitution tries to assist and guide us on how protest should be conducted,” Prof Petersen said. “Protesting is a constitutional right, and we respect that right at the UFS.”

Student equivalent of dialogue planned

The Division of Student Affairs plans to host a student equivalent of this dialogue in the second semester. “This discussion was to get the perspective from academics, and then we will get the student perspective,” Moema said.

News Archive

UFS in forefront with ASGI-SA initiative
2006-05-10

At the conceptualisation colloquium and stakeholder dialogue were from the left Dr Aldo Stroebel (senior researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate), Dr Edith Vries (acting Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Development Trust) and Prof Frans Swanepoel (Director: UFS Research Development Directorate).

UFS in forefront with ASGI-SA initiative

Two staff members of the University of the Free State (UFS) have been appointed as members of the advisory board of the national programme for the creation of small enterprises and jobs in the second economy.  This programme forms part of government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGI-SA).

Prof Frans Swanepoel, Director of the UFS Research Development Directorate and Dr Aldo Stroebel, senior researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate, are working with a team of experts from the UFS on a draft implementation strategy for the national programme.  Both Prof Swanepoel and Dr Stroebel are also associated to the UFS Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
 
“The strategy is being developed in collaboration with institutions like the Independent Development Trust, the Department of Agriculture, the National Development Agency and the Department of Trade and Industry,” says Prof  Swanepoel.  

The other team members of the UFS are Prof Basie Wessels, Director of the  Mangaung-University Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP) and Mr  Benedict Mokoena, project manager at the MUCPP.

Dr Stroebel was also member of the organising committee of a conceptualisation colloquium and stakeholder dialogue that was recently presented in Johannesburg.  The conference was attended by more than 400 delegates from government departments, higher-education institutions and civil society, including Dr Kobus Laubscher, member of the UFS Council.

The conference was facilitated by Ms Vuyo Mahlati, previously from the WK Kellogg Foundation’s Africa programme and opened by Ms Thoko Didiza, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs.   

“The colloquium formed the basis of an induction workshop during which a group of 150 individuals (50 teams of three) from all nine provinces, identified to initiate the implementation of the national programme, was trained and orientated towards an induction manual in collaboration with Hand-in-Hand, an Indian counterpart,” says Prof Swanepoel.

Dr Stroebel and Mr Benedict Mokoena formed part of the team to conceptualise and finalise this training manual.  The induction training includes a case study of a successful community self-help partnership model, namely the MUCPP at the UFS. Prof Wessels and Mr Mokoena are both playing a leading role in the further development of subsequent training initiatives throughout South Africa, in partnership with the relevant provincial departments.

“The involvement of the UFS in the programme is a compliment to us.  It reflects the value government sees in the use of academics and experts in the management of the ASGI-SA initiative.  It is also an indication of one of the aims of the UFS to play a role in South Africa and Africa and in the transformation and change that is taking place in our country,” says Prof Swanepoel.  

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
10 May 2006

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