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Burning topic: Humanities hosts robust dialogue on student protests

08 June 2022 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Pexels

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

Getting out of the dark

2015-06-10

ESKOM is making daily announcements on the status of the power grid.

Anton Calitz, Electrical Engineer at University Estates, is in continuous contact with Eskom and Centlec in an effort to stay abreast of load shedding.

According to Anton, Eskom has recently - the week of 20 April - been focusing on the evening peak, and has announced STAGE 1 load shedding from 17:00-22:00; thus, the Bloemfontein Campus should be able to continue business as usual during the day, except for Thursdays from 18:00 and, possibly, Fridays from 17:00.

Where can I get more information about load shedding stages?

Apart from Eskom’s webpage, staff can also visit GRID WATCH. Click on "Search", then under "Schedules". Look for "Mangaung Local Municipality", and select "GROUP 4". Save this location. “This can even be loaded onto your mobile device.”

“The time slots can be seen for a couple of days in advance, to allow us to plan around the possibility of load shedding in our daily lives,” said Anton.

Please note: ESKOM can change the STAGE level at any time. Therefore, keep an eye on GRID WATCH and News24.

View the typical seven-day planner for the Bloemfontein Campus (Group 4), which indicates the STAGE 2 and 3 possibilities. Take note that, on some days, the STAGE 2 and 3 time slots are the same.

More load shedding tips: Your IT needs

The UFS Data Centre (Computer Room) is fully serviced by a generator facility, and can function without external power supply for a few days.

The generator servicing the UFS data centre does NOT provide power to the outlying facilities. This implies that all digital equipment at gates, booms, and access points will be shut down until the power is restored to these facilities. “We are now, in collaboration with Nico Janse van Rensburg, in a process to install UPS facilities at these points, which will ensure two to three hours of power supply at these points, even during load shedding,” said Dr Vic Coetzee, Senior Director: ICT Services.

No Wi-Fi will be available, as it is dependent on the power supply to the buildings where it is installed.

All servers are contained in the data centre, and will be kept running by our generators.

How to manage load shedding and your IT needs:

1. Get into the habit of saving your work regularly on computer so that you don’t lose your work/files during load shedding.
2. Back up important data. Keep to a schedule of regular back-up. Make sure your computer back-ups are safe and recoverable.
3. Keep all electronic devices charged and ready to run on battery power. Keep your cellphone charged: some old-style Telkom landlines will still operate during power outages, but others won't.
4. Remember, when power supply is restored, it sometimes happens that a power surge is sent through the network, which will damage your computer. Fortunately, laptop computers will not suffer this fate as their power is provided through an external power pack. Often, this power pack will be damaged, but not the laptop itself.
5. It makes good sense to reboot your computer daily, not only in terms of power shedding, but also in terms of updating the drivers, software, etc.
6. Switch off all computers and other electrical equipment at the wall plug overnight and on weekends.
7. Should your IT equipment not switch on after a power outage, log a call with the ICT Services. You can also call them at x2000.

More information, guidelines and contact numbers

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