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Ruth First’s legacy lives on: UFS launches powerful collection on activist research

21 July 2025 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied

Vasu Reddy Saleem Badat News — Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, and Prof Saleem Badat, Research Professor in the UFS Department of History, launch a new book honouring Ruth First’s activist legacy and scholarly impact.

On 16 July, during the Free State Arts Festival, the University of the Free State (UFS) launched Research and Activism: Ruth First & Activist Research, an incisive edited volume by Professors Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Internationalisation at the UFS, and Saleem Badat, Research Professor in the UFS Department of History.

The event was facilitated by Prof Christian Williams, Associate Professor of Anthropology, with Prof Reddy delivering the keynote address and Dr Lazlo Passemiers, Senior Lecturer in History, serving as respondent.

The important new work pays tribute to Ruth First - South African freedom fighter, journalist, intellectual, and scholar-activist, who’s unflinching pursuit of justice continues to resonate. Far from a closed chapter in South Africa’s struggle history, First’s legacy remains a compelling call to action for contemporary scholars, activists, and institutions: to confront injustice, speak with conviction, and pursue research rooted in ethical action.

A legacy of fearless scholarship

Ruth First’s activism was grounded in refusal to remain silent in the face of injustice. As a tenacious investigative journalist and public intellectual, she exposed the systemic violence of apartheid and challenged power through sharp incisive analysis and courageous advocacy. Her life, and her assassination by apartheid operatives in 1982, exemplify the personal and political costs of speaking truth to power.

Prof Vasu Reddy reflected that First “theorised, analysed, and connected the dots between racism, capitalism, and oppression, and refused to dilute her message for mass appeal.” Her words”, he said, “unsettled because they were true. Her activism “compels us to speak courageously, think critically, and act ethically. She turned ideas into instruments of liberation.”

Beyond the ivory tower

With contributions from 17 scholars, the volume examines themes ranging from climate justice and activism in Marikana to the ethics of legal practice, community engagement, and the role of the university in social transformation.

Prof Reddy emphasised that Ruth First’s example disrupts the traditional notions of academia. “Universities must be engines of social change, not ivory towers,” he argued. “Her legacy reminds us that activist research is about standing with the marginalised, and not merely studying them.”

Dr Passemiers echoed this view, describing First as one of South Africa’s foremost examples of blending impactful activism with rigorous scholarship. “Her activism was often transnational, connecting South Africa’s liberation struggle with broader regional movements. This perspective is especially relevant today, as many of our challenges transcend national borders.”

He added that the book should be required reading for students in the social sciences and humanities, as it “challenges misconceptions about activist research and shows how scholarship can contribute meaningfully to public life, beyond academic debate.”

Redefining academic activism

Prof Christian Williams underscored one of the book’s central provocations: to set a litmus test for genuine activist research. He argued that activism and scholarship can compete with one another, but should, following First’s example, be intersecting commitments. “There is no true academic neutrality,” he noted.

Members of the audience also touched on related themes pertaining to the role of universities in society, responding to the book’s content as narrated at the launch. For example, the collection interrogates how universities often claim to be ‘engaged’ while aligning primarily with business, the state, and elite interests. True activist research, the contributors argue, must connect with social movements and confront power, not shy away from it. Members of the audience reflected on this point, considering what it means for researchers to do activist research amidst attacks on social justice-oriented programmes in higher education globally.

In Prof Reddy’s final comments, he returned to the importance of First for debates about the university’s role. “This is unfinished business. The story of Ruth First, and of activist scholarship, is not fully told”, says Prof Reddy. As he noted, Research and Activism offers both a tribute to Ruth First and a powerful reminder of the work still to be done. “Her life triggers us to think deeply about real-world issues, not as abstract concepts but as urgent matters of justice and humanity.”

Research and Activism: Ruth First & Activist Research is available for free download via the ESI Press website.

News Archive

UFS responds to concerns around high costs of higher education

2015-10-15

Dear Students

UFS responds to concerns around high costs of higher education

There is an understandable and shared concern among students in the country around the high costs of higher education. As you know, this also is a matter of deep concern on our campuses, which the University of the Free State (UFS) has made a priority in discussions with student leaders - and through new strategies to relieve the burden of costs on poor students and their families. In fact, in the past two weeks, the UFS leadership has again engaged students on the matter of fees in the future.

This is what we have done so far. We have maintained our position as one of the universities with the lowest tuition fees in the country. As you would have seen from recent newspaper reports on the cost of a degree at various institutions over the past five years, the UFS has had consistently low fees. This is not an accident; both the University Council and the executive leadership of the UFS is of one mind that we must offer a high quality education at minimum cost to all our students, despite the rising costs of operating a large multi-campus university with 30 000 students. Our commitment to you is to continue to keep those costs to students as low as possible, without compromising on the quality of education.

In addition, we took a decision earlier this year to become the first university to drop application fees for first-year students. We are proud of that achievement, since so many students fall at this first hurdle as they contemplate post-school education and training. We also waived registration fees for postgraduate students and now Research Master’s and PhD students can study tuition free under certain conditions. We raised more than R60 million from the private sector to enable talented students, who do not receive NSFAS funding, to complete their degree studies at the UFS. We set aside some of the university’s own funds to enable even more students to access finance for their studies. And we now have a special office set aside to counsel and assist students to apply for more than one scholarship to support their studies. The university does not follow a policy of maximizing exclusions. It has endeavoured and succeeded to turn around the majority of its potential deregistration cases. During 2015 we had 2 700 students at the risk of being de-registered, but our serious efforts resulted in only over 200 instances of exclusion we could not mitigate. As is the practice for the past few years, these students’ debt for 2015 has been reversed.

But, we do not only look for funds from outside to support our students. Last year we set up a Staff Fund to which ordinary members of the academic and support staff can contribute from their own, and sometimes very modest, salaries to enable Kovsie students to finish their degrees. We have volunteers who work on the No Student Hungry (NSH) Bursary Programme to raise funds for students who cannot afford a regular meal. We have an open line to rural and township schools to nominate poor students with good results for support by the Rector’s Fund, and some of those students are now in their final year of studies. And many of our staff support individual students in their homes and with their families, without being asked to do so. This is what we call the Human Project and it remains central to the way in which we deal with students.

We will of course continue to make representation to government, the private sector, and individuals to increase funding, especially for first-generation students, and for families where more than one student is at university. We will continue to take to the road to raise funds from companies and foundations to finance our students. We will expand on-campus opportunities for limited working hours for students who wish to earn some money to support their studies. As we have said often before, no student who passes all their courses or modules will be turned away simply because they do not have the funds to study.

The UFS discusses and agrees to fee increases with our students well in advance of the next academic year. None of these decisions are taken without the agreement of the student leadership and thus far these engagements, while tough, have always been done in good faith and with the students’ interests at heart.

It is important for you to know that, with the declining government subsidy, in real terms, and the expanding needs of our students, we will not be able to keep the university running without fees - even though this source of revenue comes mainly through scholarships and bursaries. We need to compensate staff, purchase new library books and renew journal subscriptions (which is very difficult given the low value of the Rand), upgrade computers and software, pay rates and taxes, purchase laboratory equipment, pay the water and electricity bills, expand internet services, upgrade campus security, and hire more academics to keep class sizes reasonably small. It is important for you to know that the university has managed to avoid increasing student fees as a result of much higher municipal rates. Our lecturers are not the highest paid in the country and financially we run a tight ship. We consistently achieve unqualified audits and we are known to be one of the universities that manage its NSFAS contributions with great efficiency. We do this because of our commitment to ensure that our students are able to enjoy a high quality of education on a stable campus where there is a deep respect for all campus citizens.

Despite all these efforts, the most important message we wish to communicate, is that the door remains open for continued discussion with student leaders as we continue to find ways of keeping university education open and accessible to all qualifying students. At the same time, the UFS leadership is involved in discussions with government about how to best manage the escalating cost of higher education for our dents.

Thank you for your support and understanding at this time and be assured, once again, of our commitment to students as a matter of priority to the university leadership.

Best regards

Prof Jonathan Jansen
Vice-Chancellor and Rector

University of the Free State
19 October 2015

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