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26 September 2023 | Story Supplied

The University of the Free State is pleased to present the second Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture, which will be delivered by award-winning biographer and professor of English literature, Stephen Clingman. Well-known author and advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi will respond. 

The lecture, titled Bram Fischer, Or What Happens When the World Becomes Inhospitable, will consider the continuing importance of Bram Fischer in a South African and global context. Bram Fischer was born in Bloemfontein in 1908 into one of the most prominent of Afrikaner families. While never surrendering his Afrikaner identity, he also transformed it by identifying with the struggle for liberation of all South Africa’s peoples. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he faced an inhospitable world, yet his commitment was to make the world more hospitable to all. 

Date: Wednesday 11 October 2023
Time: 18:00 to 21:00
Venue: Equitas Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus, UFS

RSVP here to attend this lecture by 6 October 2023.

For further information, contact Alicia Pienaar at pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za.

The Speaker

Stephen Clingman is Distinguished University Professor of English and former Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has held several fellowships internationally and written widely on a range of topics. His books include The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: History from the Inside, The Grammar of Identity: Transnational Fiction and the Nature of the Boundary, Birthmark (a memoir/autofiction), and William Kentridge (the catalogue of Kentridge’s exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, 2022). His biography, Bram Fischer: Afrikaner Revolutionary, was co-winner of the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award, South Africa’s premier prize for non-fiction.

The Respondent

Tembeka Ngcukaitobi is a South African lawyer, public speaker, author, and political activist. He is a member of the South African Law Reform Commission. Ngcukaitobi has authored the books The Land Is Ours: South Africa's First Black Lawyers and the birth of Constitutionalism and Land Matters: South Africa's failed land reforms and the road ahead.

News Archive

UFS research sheds light on service delivery protests in South Africa
2015-01-23

UFS research sheds light on service delivery protests in South Africa

Service delivery protests in the country have peaked during 2014, with 176 major service delivery protests staged against local government across South Africa.

A study by the University of the Free State (UFS) found that many of these protests are led by individuals who previously held key positions within the ANC and prominent community leaders. Many of these protests involved violence, and the destruction had a devastating impact on the communities involved.

This study was done by Dr Sethulego Matebesi, researcher and senior lecturer at the UFS. He focused his research on the dynamics of service delivery protests in South Africa.

Service delivery protests refer to the collective taken by a group of community members which are directed against a local municipality over poor or inadequate provision of basic services, and a wider spectrum of concerns including, for example, housing, infrastructural developments, and corruption.

These protests increased substantially from about 10 in 2004 to 111 in 2010, reaching unprecedented levels with 176 during 2014.

The causes of these protests are divided into three broad categories: systemic (maladministration, fraud, nepotism and corruption); structural (healthcare, poverty, unemployment and land issues); and governance (limited opportunities for civic participation, lack of accountability, weak leadership and the erosion of public confidence in leadership).

In his research, Dr Matebesi observed and studied protests in the Free State, Northern Cape and the North-West since 2008. He found that these protests can be divided into two groups, each with its own characteristics.

“On the one side you have highly fragmented residents’ groups that often use intimidation and violence in predominantly black communities. On the other side, there are highly structured ratepayers’ associations that primarily uses the withholding of municipal rates and taxes in predominantly white communities.”

 

Who are the typical protesters?

Dr Matebesi’s study results show that in most instances, protests in black areas are led by individuals who previously held key positions within the ANC - prominent community leaders. Generally, though, protests are supported by predominantly unemployed, young residents.

“However, judging by election results immediately after protests, the study revealed that the ANC is not losing votes over such actions.”

The study found that in the case of the structured ratepayers’ associations, the groups are led by different segments of the community, including professionals such as attorneys, accountants and even former municipal managers.

Dr Matebesi says that although many protests in black communities often turned out violent, protest leaders stated that they never planned to embark on violent protests.

“They claimed that is was often attitude (towards the protesters), reaction of the police and the lack of government’s interest in their grievances that sparked violence.”

Totally different to this is the form of peaceful protests that involves sanctioning. This requires restraint and coordination, which only a highly structured group can provide.

“The study demonstrates that the effects of service delivery protests have been tangible and visible in South Africa, with almost daily reports of violent confrontations with police, extensive damage to property, looting of businesses, and at times, the injuring or even killing of civilians. With the increase of violence, the space for building trust between the state and civil society is decreasing.”

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