The ongoing saga at North West University (which I wrote about, here) is not the by-product of fun student traditions; it is as a result of the appropriation of a political salute (sieg heil) by students in residence greetings — despite the fact that this salute is problematic because of its link to Nazism. These […]
universities
Posted inGeneral
Some thoughts on the crisis in higher education
The recently released Council on Higher Education (CHE) report on the state of higher education in South Africa is ringing alarm bells all over the country at universities, as may be expected, given the dismal picture it paints of the higher education landscape. Understandably, school education is implicated, and identified as the main reason for […]
Posted inGeneral
The death of South African student politics
by Jordan Griffiths South Africa has a proud tradition of radical and innovative student politics. This is the country of Steve Biko’s SASO, the National Union of South African Students (Nusas), the detention and banning of student activists like Patrick Duncan and Ian Robertson, and the rise of student leaders like Tony Leon – who […]