<div dir="ltr"><h1>Open Stellenbosch: A university education in exclusion</h1>
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Neil du Toit
</li><li class="">25 Aug 2015 12:58 (South Africa)</li><li class="">
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<div class="">The fact that it only occurred to Stellenbosch
University’s management 21 years into democracy that a plaque
celebrating Hendrik Verwoerd should probably be taken down, is a strong
outward indication of the strength of the institutional culture that
continues to fester untreated within the Stellenbosch community. The
Open Stellenbosch Movement has engaged with students and heard the
stories of their shared experiences with the culture of exclusion. It
says it is absurd to talk about diversity, as envisioned by the
Constitution and interpreted by the courts, as diversity of public
institutions. What the Constitution envisions is diversity within public
institutions.</div>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">“</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">I
have gone through a bad experience. What happens is that we had girls
and guys. So all the girls had to throw their shoe on the dance floor,
and a guy had to pick up just one shoe and then raise it up. And if it
was your shoe then he had to dance with you. So I did that and one guy
picked my shoe. Then he and his friends just looked at me and he threw
it at me and laughed with his friends. So that was something that was
really … it hurt me a lot … that’s why I hate skakels. I hate them...” </span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">– </span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Asie, a black woman, describing her experience at the Stellenbosch residence welcoming week event known as ‘skakeling’.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">It
is difficult to articulate to someone who hasn’t lived in Stellenbosch
just how deeply entrenched structural racism and patriarchy are. That
Stellenbosch University (SU), a public institution, took 21 years of
democracy to realise that a plaque celebrating Hendrik Verwoerd should
probably be taken down, is a strong outward indication of the strength
of the institutional culture that continues to fester untreated within
the Stellenbosch community. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Quantitatively,
staff demographics provide some insight into the how the institutional
culture defines the make-up of the university. Management claimed in
their most recent statement: </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:rgb(255,255,255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%">“</span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">In
2014, permanent black, coloured and Indian (BCI) employees at SU made
up 43.2% of the University’s staff corps compared to 37.6% in 2008.” It
is no surprise that the university has chosen to focus on this group,
conveniently labelled BCI: these figures include every permanent
employee of the university: security guards, maintenance and cleaning,
administration staff, the employee who operates the photocopy machine in
the library, and so on. It is not clear whether the many outsourced
employees (who earn significantly less than they would in comparable
positions at other universities) are included in these figures. In any
event, when we look at research and instruction - staff employed in
intellectual labour - the numbers tell a damning story. Only 25.69% of
academic staff are currently BCI. In the professoriate, there are more
staff members named Johan then black staff in total. Most importantly,
the number of white staff in research and instruction has increased in
both absolute </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">and relative </span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">terms
since 2008, and by bigger margins in higher positions. This is as a
result of the university accelerating its employment of white academic
staff members in 2004.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">The
Open Stellenbosch Movement was formed just over five months ago. Over a
three-week period, we engaged with students and heard the stories of
their shared experiences with the culture of exclusion at Stellenbosch.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">“<span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal">During
the orientation programme for new students my friends were discussing
what was holding South Africa back from becoming a more equal society
and I said it was race. There were some people standing around and
listening to our discussion. This guy came up to me and told the only
reason I say race is because I'm black and that shouldn't be at
Stellenbosch because I'm black and that I should go back to Zuma and his
wives. Then he started pulling monkey faces at me,” said a student. The
engagements and discussions with students took place in open spaces,
where they felt comfortable to air their grievances. We also drew on the
insights of those who have engaged with the struggle to transform
universities after the end of Apartheid. On May 13 we handed over our
final memorandum to management.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">The
achievement of equality is one of the founding values of the
Constitution. The right to equality is entrenched in Section 9 of the
Constitution, and is elaborated on in the Promotion of Equality and
Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act. In their public statements,
Stellenbosch University and other supporters of the language policy have
repeatedly drawn on the supposed constitutional protection the policy
is supposed to provide. A long line of decisions by the Constitutional
Court have not been kind to those who try to shield themselves from the
need to transform by appealing to other legal rights. As court deputy
president Pius Langa, writes in the Constitutional Court decision of
City Council of Pretoria v Walker “In cases of indirect discrimination
(there) is almost always some purpose other than a discriminatory
purpose involved in the conduct or action to which objection is taken.” </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><i><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">In casu, </span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">that purpose is said to be the protection of the language rights of the Afrikaans minority. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">The
fault in this line of reasoning is that it mischaracterises the conduct
of the university as being the protection of Afrikaans culture. It is a
constitutional imperative that we thoroughly interrogate. The
Constitutional Court described this obligation in the Walker case as:
“always be astute to distinguish between genuine attempts to promote and
protect equality on the one hand and actions calculated to protect
pockets of privilege at a price which amounts to the perpetuation of
inequality and disadvantage to others on the other”. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">At Stellenbosch, these calculated actions amount to the protection, not of an Afrikaans culture, but of a </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">white </span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Afrikaans
culture. The term “Afrikaans–Nederlands” employed by the university,
which denies the role of the coloured population in the development of
Afrkaans, makes it clear that this is the intention. The fact that the
majority of Afrikaans speakers in the Western Cape are not white, but
that the majority of students at Stellenbosch University are, is proof
of the effect of institutional culture.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">“</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Orientation
week is the most tedious thing in Stellenbosch. As a young black man, I
felt like I was being forced into a system that wanted to change who I
was and what I believed in. I was told that I should learn Afrikaans if I
want to survive. Meetings were all in Afrikaans and it suddenly hit me
that it was going to be a long three years,” said a student.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span><span><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">The
idea of a protection of minority language rights is furthermore
misplaced in so far as it seeks to protect a group that is not in need
of protection. The proportionality exercise that is involved in a
weigh-up of language rights and the right to equality will take into
account the degree of unfairness inherent in the form of discrimination.
As Justice Kate O’Regan noted in President of the Republic of South
Africa and v Hugo, “the more vulnerable the group is, the more likely
that the discrimination will be unfair”. White Afrikaans people are not,
in the South African context, a vulnerable group.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span><span><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">In
addition, what is missed in this argument is that many black students
are not even translating into their second language when they are taught
in Afrikaans. It is a third language to which they must now
acclimatise. This is not the case for Afrikaans students speaking
English.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">“</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">During
my welcoming programme at one of the private student organisations, the
programme and daily activities were all conducted in Afrikaans. Myself
and other international students had no idea what was going on, and upon
repeated request for an English programme or a simple translation,
nothing pragmatic was done,” a student told us.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">It
must be emphasised that Open Stellenbosch is in no way anti-Afrikaans.
We would support parallel medium classes. We are fully committed to
multilingualism and language diversity. However, our understanding of
language diversity is one that gives full effect to the spirit and
purport of the Bill of Rights. It is absurd to talk about diversity, as
envisioned by the Constitution and interpreted by the courts, as
diversity </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">of </span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">public institutions. What the Constitution envisions is diversity </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">within </span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">public
institutions. The fact that many other universities in South Africa are
English cannot be a consideration, legally or morally, in light of the
overwhelming evidence that the language policy at Stellenbosch
University excludes students who cannot understand Afrikaans, and that
the institutional culture excludes even those black students who can
speak Afrikaans. Real multilingualism recognises that language diversity
is a powerful tool which can be used to expand access to universities
to all South Africans. Real multilingualism does not serve as a
rhetorical front to restrict access by protecting Afrikaans, under the
guise of multilingualism, to the exclusion of those who cannot speak the
language. Management has repeatedly used investment in isiXhosa as a
front for multilingualism. This is despite the inability of the
university, notwithstanding repeated attempts, to even name buildings
correctly in isiXhosa. We are fighting for a review of the language
policy because the learning environment experienced by black students at
Stellenbosch University cannot be maintained this far into our
democracy. However, our goals are consistent with a common sense
pedagogical approach that recognises the absurdity of requiring
lecturers to speak in two different languages for an interactive
lecturing environment. It is an approach that many lecturers and even
Afrikaans speaking students have been calling for. Our vision is one of a
university that is welcoming to everyone, multilingual, and diverse. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">None
of what has been said even speaks to the discrepancy between what is
stated in the four corners of the policy, and what is in fact
experienced by the student. As the Constitutional Court noted in South
African Police Service v Solidarity obo Barnard “Ordinarily, irrational
conduct in implementing a lawful project attracts unlawfulness.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Experiences
of flagrant disregard for the language policy are common. “I remember
sitting is a lecture once, when a student raised her hand to clarify
something with the lecturer in English,” said one student. What the
student describes next is a minutes-long monologue in which the girl was
personally attacked for having even dared to ask the question: “You
people come to our university, and then expect us to change?” </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span><span><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">And
yet, the stories that are the most touching are often so much more
subtle. One student recalls the way his lecturer, while following the
language policy, would nonetheless make all of his jokes in Afrikaans.
Jokes told in this way are not funny. It’s in these shared experiences
that black students are systematically excluded. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">These
are not shortcomings that find their source in the difficulty of
management to control the lecturer. The responses given by management,
when they attended the student parliament, to the lived experiences of
the language policy are now infamous: “This is Stellenbosch.” And “did
you really expect to come here and not hear Afrikaans?” </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">If
there remains any doubt about the incorrectness of the assumptions
underlying these remarks, such doubts are quickly cleared up on a proper
reading of the Constitutional Court decision in MEC for Education:
kwaZulu Natal v Pillay</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">, </span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">where
the court, per Langa, had this to say in relation to a school policy
which did not make effective allowance for the practising of the Hindu
religion: “The school also argued that if Sunali did not like the code,
she could simply go to another school. I cannot agree. In my view the
effect of this would be to marginalise religions and cultures, something
that is completely inconsistent with the values of our Constitution. As
already noted, our Constitution does not tolerate diversity as a
necessary evil, but affirms it as one of the primary treasures of our
nation.” </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">What
was perhaps much more telling though was the response to Sikhulekile
Duma’s complaint about exclusion: “No. That is not true”. This response
from the top is a perfect illustration of the manner in which the
exclusionary application of the language policy is systematically
defended through the discrediting and denial of any reports that there
is a problem. It is for this reason that the university cannot defend
the language policy and blames only its implementation for the problems
that persist. A radical overhaul is needed, and it is needed now. That
is what we are fighting for. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Open
Stellenbosch has given the Stellenbosch community every opportunity to
engage with the lived experiences of oppressed students. Prof Wim de
Villiers attended our first mass meeting and was invited to listen to
and respond to the oral testimony of black students. He chose instead to
read off a pre-typed speech. Our memorandum contains an extensive
appendix documenting some of the written submissions we received. They
have not been responded to. At student parliament, the lived experiences
of students were dismissed either as lies, or as something that we
should have expected when we came here. The only invitation we have
received to engage has been an invitation to a round table discussion
with other student bodies that are not committed to transformation. On
July 17, management finally replied to Open Stellenbosch’s memorandum.
Our demands were categorically rejected. In desperation, Open
Stellenbosch decided to engage in protest action on July 27, several
months after our formation. The aim was to secure the attendance of
management at a meeting. Our invitation to a meeting was rejected, and
instead our protest action was met with the institution of disciplinary
action against Open Stellenbosch members with the threat of expulsion.
This town will not hear our stories. That is why we are turning now to
the country. Share our story. Support Open Stellenbosch. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span><span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><b><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">DM</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.3cm;margin-bottom:0cm;font-weight:normal;line-height:100%;text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span><span><i><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Neil du Toit works with the media team of the Open Stellenbosch Movement. <br></span></i></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-top:0.3cm;margin-bottom:0cm;font-weight:normal;line-height:100%;text-decoration:none"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;font-family:georgia,palatino"><span><span><i><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2015-08-25-open-stellenbosch-a-university-education-in-exclusion/#.Vdx-JZeU2-c">http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2015-08-25-open-stellenbosch-a-university-education-in-exclusion/#.Vdx-JZeU2-c</a><br></span></i></span></span></span></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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