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Prof Nyasha’s new book challenges the ongoing impact of apartheid in modern South Africa

01 August 2023 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo SUPPLIED

Apartheid Studies, A Manifesto Book Launch — Prof Nyasha Mboti launched his book, Apartheid Studies: A Manifesto, on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus on 25 July 2023.

in a perpetual state of disaster and creating a normalised life, even if it is built on anomalous arrangements, Prof Nyasha Mboti launched his newly published book, Apartheid Studies: A Manifesto, on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus on 25 July 2023.

Prof Mboti is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Communication Science at the University of the Free State and is the pioneer and founder of Apartheid Studies, a new interdisciplinary field of study from the Global South, which utilises the notion of ‘apartheid’ as a paradigm by which to understand the confounding persistence and permanence of harm, oppression, and injustice.

Oppressive systems persist in modern South Africa

Making reference to the pass laws that were a dominant form/tool of oppression and segregation during the country’s apartheid system, he said apartheid created a “paradigm of life where things that aren’t supposed to go on, go on.

Life has to go on even in oppression. People have the capacity to live with harm, and apartheid banks on people’s capacity to go on”.

The daring book posits itself as a first-of-its-kind authoritative study of the phenomenon of apartheid, shedding light on the continuing impact of apartheid decades after its formal abolishment and exploring the idea that while it was intended as a temporary phenomenon, it became deeply ingrained and normalised, persisting in various forms today.

“What apartheid is, is a temporary phenomenon that has become permanent. That is my argument. This book is an attempt to leverage how we live with harm as a way of doing something about it and hopefully putting an end to it. If you can go on one day living in harm and the next, before you know it, four decades of living under Apartheid from day to day have passed. Until we understand it, it persists,” he said.

By asking whether one would queue for a dompas, Prof Mboti challenged the audience to reflect on how oppressive systems persist when normalised, even when inflicting profound harm.

“Would you queue for a dompas? If your answer is yes, then for me, that is an indication that Apartheid persists. Harm persists. Until we understand it, it persists.”

News Archive

UFS changes format of graduation ceremony

2011-04-17

The highest number of qualifications in the history of the University of the Free State (UFS) will be awarded at the autumn diploma and graduation ceremony from 9-11 May 2011, which will be held in the Callie Human Centre on our Main Campus in Bloemfontein.

From this year, the format of the ceremony will change to make it more visible to students and the public. For the first time, all the doctoral and master’s degrees from each respective faculty will be conferred during one ceremony on 11 May 2011, instead of each faculty handling these qualifications individually. Another change in the format is that the procession will gather on the Red Square in front of the Main Building and move to the Callie Human Centre from there. Both academic staff and graduands will partake in the procession.

A total of 3 674 qualifications will be conferred during this year’s graduation ceremony, including 629 diplomas, 2 613 Bachelors and honours degrees, 372 master’s degrees and 58 doctorates.

An honorary doctorate in Drama and Theatre Arts will also be awarded to theatre stalwart Mr Pieter Fourie. He is one of the most acclaimed Afrikaans playwrights in South Africa and probably the only person to have left his mark as an actor, director, artistic director and writer.

Mr Fourie was awarded the Gerhard Beukes prize for drama , was honoured for his contribution to the arts by the South African Academy for Science and Arts and was appointed as trustee of the Arts and Culture Trust of the State President in 1997. He has also served as a committee member of the South African Academy for Science and Arts.

Mr. Fourie has also been the proud recipient of the Hertzog prize for drama, two FNB-Vita awards and a Fleur Du Cap award.

The full programme for the respective ceremonies is as follows:

Monday, 9 May 2011:

At 08:30, certificates and diplomas, excluding PGED and PGES, will be awarded to graduates from the Faculty of Education and at 12:00 PGED, PGED and B and honours degrees will be awarded to students from the same faculty. At 15:30 on the same day, certificates and B and honours degrees will be awarded to students in the Faculty of the Humanities.

At 19:00, the Faculties of Education, the Humanities and Economic and Management Sciences will have their prize-giving ceremonies for outstanding achievers.

Tuesday, 10 May 2011:

At 08:30, students in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences will graduate and at and 12:00 the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science will join them. This includes students in BML, B.Admin., B.Pub. and related honours degrees. At 15:30, 503 students from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences will receive their certificates, diplomas and B and honours degrees.

At 19:00, the Faculties of Health Sciences, Natural and Agriculture Sciences, Law and Theology will have their prize-giving ceremonies.

Wednesday, 11 May 2011:

The Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Theology will be awarding their certificates, diplomas and B and honours degrees at 08:30. At 12:00, all faculties will award a total of 372 master’s degrees and at 15:30 a total of 58 doctorates will be conferred.

The Chancellor’s Dinner will take place in the Centenary Complex on the Main Campus of the UFS at 19:00.

The graduation ceremony of our Qwaqwa Campus will take place in the Rolihlahla Mandela Hall on the Qwaqwa Campus on 7 May 2011 at 10:00. All the faculties at this campus will confer their degrees, certificates and diplomas at this ceremony.

Media Release
21 April 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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