Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
27 November 2023 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath and André Damons | Photo SUPPLIED
2023 UFS Thought-Leader Webinar Series
Prof Adam Habib, Director: School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), and Dr Max Price, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT), took part in the University of the Free State (UFS) Thought-Leader webinar titled, Student protest action, politics, and higher education. Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, was the facilitator.

The crisis in South African universities is a crisis of the faction fighting in the ANC. 

This is according to Prof Adam Habib, Director: School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), who was a panellist on Tuesday (21 November 2023) at the University of the Free State (UFS) Thought-Leader webinar titled, Student protest action, politics, and higher education.

Dr Max Price – former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT) – was the other panellist, and Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, was the facilitator. This webinar was part of the 2023 Thought-Leader Webinar Series.

The two academics discussed their respective experiences in leadership positions during the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall student protest movements, the lessons learnt during these tumultuous times, and how these events continue to influence the current landscape in the higher education sector in South Africa and further afield. The discussion also reflected on their respective books – Rebels and Rage: Reflecting on #FeesMustFall, and Statues and Storms: Leading through change. 

Failed to achieve free education

Prof Habib said the social movements were successful in some areas but failed to achieve free education. “There was a big story about concessions around NSFAS. I would argue that it has as much to do with the protests as it has with the faction fighting within the ANC and the character of the former president.”

“We knew that the concessions made by President (Jacob) Zuma will not resolve the financial challenges, the missing-middle challenge remains and the fact that we have continued protests every year is a sign of that. The university crisis is a crisis of the faction fights of the ANC and until we call it out, we will not be able to deal with it,” said Prof Habib.

Rethink student governance 

He also talked about social struggles turning violent and said there is a romanticisation of violence in South Africa. A hard line against violence needs to be taken, said Prof Habib, and the only way to deal with it is to get the balance right in terms of acculturation and accountability, and proactive behaviour to engage with students and management, staff, and unions about what is acceptable practice and what is not. 

Prof Habib further said that there is a need to rethink student governance: “I don’t mean politics; I mean party politics. Too much of student governance is about the ANC competing with the DA, competing with the EFF. They are fighting universities on policies their political parties created the policies on. Their political parties created the policy infrastructure for the crisis in universities and then they are protesting against it.” 

“I want to be clear – student politics is important; however, student party politics is paralysing our institutions and there is something to be said about how we get student governance to represent the views of students as opposed to representing the views of the political parties. I don’t think we will sort out the problem of student governance until we get political parties out of the student governance of universities.”

Dr Price agreed that ideally, political parties should not contest student government elections. “National party politics neglects the real agenda. It seems that the real agenda of students is to advance the interests of national party politics and sharpen the ANC.”  He also reflected on how national party politics and the split within the ANC played out within the campuses through canvassing to sharpen the ANC, neglecting the real agenda of representing student issues. Nothing the vice-chancellors or management of universities could offer was satisfying, because the main purpose of students was to show up by shutting down universities.

“One cannot stop students from forming a slate representing common interests. However, it is difficult to determine if students form a slate as a front for the interest of political parties,” said Dr Price.

According to Prof Habib, compared to five years ago, R35 billion more is spent on universities, and if universities are not more stable and produce better graduates, this will be happening annually. 

Proactive on strategic issues

Dr Price reflected on whether being proactive as institutions can prevent protest actions, with reference to the Rhodes statue and the fallist movement. According to him, although Rhodes – for example – was on the agenda a year or two prior to the #Rhodesmustfall fallist movement, there was no agreement on taking down the statue, as their judgment was that it would not only be controversial, but also divisive. “The fallist movement tipped the balance and, largely through social media, educated a much larger audience than was ever interested in Rhodes.”

According to Prof Habib, a diverse understanding was and is required about reimagining statues – this is not just about the Rhodes statue, but about many things in South Africa. “Leadership is possible not only when people are on the streets; some kind of proactive movement is possible on big strategic questions. One of them that was long possible was the rethinking of financing universities, which we should not be surprised about. The failure was not that of universities, but instead the failure of the political class who refused to recognise that we were heading for a crisis, although they were told multiple times,” Prof Habib said.

Prof Habib concluded by emphasising that the indulgence of violence is destroying society. “Until progressives and those who claim to be progressives start developing a pragmatic and principled understanding of violence and not romanticising it, we will be in trouble. Structural and physical violence breaks the social pact that underlies democratic societies.”

News Archive

Ground-breaking project scores Renewable Energy Award
2017-10-29

Description: ' 000 University Estates award Tags: University Estates award 

Marcel Theron, Former President: HEFMA; Nico van Rensburg, Senior Director:
University Estates (UFS); and Maureen Khati, Project Manager: Facilities
Planning (UFS) attending the HEFMA awards ceremony in Pretoria.
Photo: Supplied

University Estates at the University of the Free State (UFS) were recently awarded for their amazing initiative to install and operate photovoltaic (PV) and greywater systems on all three of its campuses. They were awarded by the Higher Education Facilities Management Association of Southern Africa (HEFMA), an association of facilities managers operating in the higher-education sector in the Southern African region. All universities and universities of technology in the country form part of this association, which promotes excellence in the planning, construction, maintenance, operations, and administration of educational facilities.

Nico van Rensburg, Senior Director of University Estates, says, “I want to thank HEFMA for this amazing award which motivates for much more and also opens up the doors for so many more opportunities.”

Solar and greywater systems installed at various buildings

In December 2016, 26 solar-driven LED street-light poles and a greywater system were installed at the Legae Residence on the South Campus. Greywater is made up of bath, shower, and bathroom sink water. The water is reused for toilet flushing, as well as for irrigation purposes.

On the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses, the computer laboratories as well as the Thakaneng Bridge Student Centre and the expected Afromontane Research Centre have freestanding solar solutions mounted on their roofs. These systems are designed to operate independently of the power grid (Eskom) during sunlight hours when the PV solar panels are heated by the sun.

Teamwork equals ground-breaking results

“This was truly a team effort with a variety of role players who contributed,” says Van Rensburg. He believes that higher education can do more to make use of other environmentally sustainable initiatives, and to go beyond just erecting and renovating buildings.

The UFS executive management is also extremely proud of the team that were involved in the project. Prof Nicky Morgan, former Vice-Rector: Operations, says, “It’s been extraordinary what we could achieve at all three campuses with such a small team.” Nadeem Gafieldien, Director: Property Services at Stellenbosch University, showered the UFS with praise. “This is truly ground-breaking for Higher Education (HE) and you are truly leaders in these renewable energy projects in the HE sector.” He says we need to demonstrate to other institutions in the HE sector that this is the future and that it makes the institutions both environmentally and financially sustainable.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept