Nzimande tackles varsity transformation
2013-01-23 13:11
Johannesburg - Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has
set up a transformation committee for universities, nearly five years after a
racist incident in the Free State sparked a probe.
Part of the committee's job would be to review initiation
practices at universities, Nzimande said on Wednesday.
The committee was created following a probe into
discrimination in universities, in the aftermath of a racism incident at the
University of the Free State (UFS) in February 2008.
Racism, sexism, discrimination
"This report [into the UFS matter] is old, but the
realities captured by the report are still there. They are alive,"
Nzimande told reporters in Johannesburg.
"We have been doing quite a lot of work since this
[report]. We have been asking universities to go through a very detailed
exercise [of transformation]."
In 2008, a video emerged of UFS employees undergoing an
initiation, which included having to get on their knees and eat food which had
apparently been urinated into by male students at the Reitz men's residence.
"We are picking up this problem of... initiation in
some universities. That thing has no place in a democratic South Africa,"
said Nzimande.
"It is very abusive and we are concerned, because
sometimes it can take racial forms and can be very explosive."
Nzimande said the oversight committee would monitor the
progress of transformation in universities and advise him on policies to combat
racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination.
"What we are committing [to] as a department is where
there are issues of discrimination, we are not going to fold our arms, nor are
we going to allow ourselves to be intimidated into not doing anything."
Stakeholders
He said the committee would consult university students. He
however urged students not to get too involved in the process.
"A committee like this will have to engage
stakeholders, including students," Nzimande said.
"I am always reluctant to put students in committees
because the role of students is to study and pass. We don't want them to become
professional students who take, five, six, seven years to finish a
degree."
Members of the committee were appointed for three years, and
could be re-appointed by the higher education minister.
"The appointment of the committee is effective from the
day of gazetting, which will take place soon after this announcement," Nzimande
said.
The committee consisted of University of KwaZulu-Natal vice
chancellor Prof Malegapuru Makhoba, University of Fort Hare vice chancellor
Mvuyo Tom, University of Witwatersrand transformation director Nazeema Mohamed,
and Congress of SA Trade Unions second deputy president Zingiswa Losi.
Prof Andre Keet, from the UFS, Prof Shirley Walters, from
the University of the Western Cape, and National Education, Health and Allied
Workers' Union first deputy president Joe Mpisi were also part of the committee.
- SAPA
