EDITOR – From statues to what? I firmly believe that the whole statue debacle was orchestrated by the ruling party, in part as a strategic distraction. The SRC's at various real universities and technikons were planning to take on the Department of Higher Education on many of the long standing grievances and all that pent up anger was displaced on the statues? One has to ask the question – why out of the blue these statues that stood the test of time suddenly appeared on the student agenda.
It has to be likened to an analogy of a burglar throwing a juicy lamb shank to the rotweiller to offer a reasonable period of time for the burglar to finish his work. Then the beleaguered Minister of Higher Education makes an appearance at the University of KZN on Wednesday 8 April, and said the following: “The protests are not about the statues alone but also about the racial and economic inequality they represent, the statue struggle is a proxy struggle. It's time we confront the real issues of national reconciliation, transformation, this is what lies at the heart of this.”
This was a strategic manoeuvre by the Honourable Minister to extend the agenda of battle. His target was transformation that the ministry has failed to achieve. He continued to target the staff composition saying that “South African professors are too old and too white. This reflects the bush tactics of the ruling party in that what cannot be achieved through the legitimate structures that promote dialogue must then be achieved through the barrel of a gun.”
I also believe that many of these so called old white professors would love to leave the services of these so called places of higher learning but are constrained by their conditions of service that they can only leave at 60/65. Mr Minister just change the rules and you will have universities and technikons without vital academic staff – you would have achieved transformation and leave a legacy of “Mickey Mouse Universities”.
Pro Bono Publico
Berea
