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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

Kovsies defend tennis title in Sun City

2017-04-01

The first and second tennis teams of the University of the
Free State were first and fifth respectively among the 14
teams competing in the Egalite Invitational challenge.
Photo: Arne Nel

Although a tournament victory was not the Kovsie tennis team’s main goal, they still managed to outplay the best in the country.

The first team of the University of the Free State (UFS), who have been the champions of the combined USSA format for the past six years, successfully defended its title to end the Egalite Invitational challenge in Sun City unbeaten.

Second team also performing well

On 26 March 2017, the Kovsie first team defeated Puk’s first team 35-20 (games) in the final. Their second team also performed well and won against Tuks’ second team 31-21 to end fifth among the 14 teams. The matches in the tournament, which took place from 24 to 26 March 2017, were played in World Team Tennis format.

In the group stages, the Kovsie first team beat Puk’s second (35-12), Puk’s fourth (35-8), Tuks’ second (35-12), Maties’ first (31-19), Puk’s sixth (35-5), and Tuks’ third (32-16) teams. The team consists of Arne Nel, Christo Koekemoer, Emke Kruger, Lienke de Kock, Ansunica Brits, and Reze Opperman.

Preparation for USSA

Apart from USSA, the Sun City tournament is the other major tournament in which the UFS annually competes. “Of course you want to win, but unlike at USSA, this was not our main focus in Sun City,” says Janine de Kock, the Kovsie team manager. “We wanted to try new combinations and provide exposure to new players.”

A total of five of the 12 players in the two teams were newcomers. They are Lienke de Kock (first team), Handré Hoffman, JC Conradie, Brieta Pienaar, and Daniel de Villiers (all second team). According to Janine de Kock, it was especially important to test new doubles combinations before USSA.

“We always knew the first team is a good team with a chance, but we are very impressed with the second team’s fifth place.”

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