26 September 2014
Following the widely covered incident of the `Heil Puk` Nazi-style fascist salute that was reported early in the year at student residences at North West University, I wrote to the Chairperson of the Council at the university, Mr P J Van der Walt requesting the university to"institute a thorough investigation on the initiation practices and acts of Fascism and Nazism which seem to exist at the institution under the tacit approval of the university management"and to report within three months. In the letter, I also directed the Council to Section 49A of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997), which outlines the conditions for intervention by the Minister.
I am happy to report that the university Council heeded my request and appointed an Independent Investigation Task Team (IITT), which was chaired by Dr Leon Wessels. Other members of the IITT were Dr Bismark Mzubanzi Tyobeka, Advocate Rehana Rawat and Professor Somadoda Fikeni.
I am happy to report that the mandate given to the Task Team by the university Council covered all the aspects of the concerns I had raised in my letter to the council Chairperson. My main concern was that initiation practices and apparent acts of Fascism and Nazism at the university were taking place under the tacit approval of the university management.
On 27 June 2014, the Council submitted its report to me with a request that it not be released to the public. I have decided not to comply with this request and am now publiclyreleasing the report. It is unacceptable that a report that exposes a deep moral corruption at a major public university should be kept from the university community and the people of this country. This is how a Council that is strongly influenced by organisations that pretend to bechampions of transparency - such as AfriForum - try to use university autonomy to frustrate transformation and democracy.
I have engaged with the report, and I am satisfied with the investigation carried out by the Task Team and agree with its recommendations.
It is of concern that since 2008 there have been a number of investigations at North West University, both externally and internally, that have focused on issues of transformation and/or on first-year orientation and welcoming programmes and initiation activities. Little has been done to deal with these issues. Three internal institution-specific studies were carried out between 2009 and April 2014, and the current report is the fourth report within the space of five years. The frequency of these investigations, focusing on the same issues relevant to the Potchefstroom Campus of the university, is a clear indication that there are problems that require action. The fact that the former Vice Chancellor at the time tried to dismiss my concerns and tried to defend what was happening at the campus as innocent cultural activities, in the face of having three reports in his possession, shows that I was correct to intervene. It is clear that there are deep-seated practices at the institution related to its welcoming programmes for first year students that violate human rights and dehumanise first year students.
The recurring findings in all these reports confirm that the problems are specific to the Potchefstroom Campus of the university, and include residence specific initiation practices mainly directed at first year students who are vulnerable, especially those who are not from the dominant Afrikaans feeder schools. These initiation practices amount to the violation of human rights and have existed for a very long time, to the extent that they have assumed the status of being considered cultural practices in the residences. It is also clear that these practices are well known to the management of the residences, with some actively participating in the processes. Furthermore, given the various reports, the university management and campus management cannot claim ignorance of such practices, but have steadfastly refused to act on the evidence. A culture of fear exists at the institution and people do not talk freely for fear of victimisation.
It is most disconcerting that in a report submitted to me on 24 February 2014, the university management sought to justify the practices reported in the media, painting them as cultural practices. I am relieved to see that this Task Team report contradicts the February 2014 report.
I welcome the observations and recommendations made by the Task Team which did manage to reach credible conclusions. However, I am left with an uncomfortable feeling that the IITT has only scratched the tip of the iceberg, particularly since they carried out their investigation in only one month and experienced serious challenges, including being hampered from uncovering all relevant facts and reports. The base of the iceberg is undoubtedly the fact that the Potchefstroom campus of NWU remains fundamentally anapartheid institution, if not an enclave, in urgent need of transformation.
As I stated at the beginning of the year following the media reports on NWU, the Department of Higher Education and Training cannot sit back and watch the Constitution of our country being trampled upon by one of our public higher education institutions. Our universities have a responsibility to spearhead the development of a human rights culture in our democracy. It is indeed in our mandate to develop responsible citizens and future leaders who are just, free thinking and committed to building a society free of racism, sexism, intolerance and injustice.
The report provided by the Council is welcomed, especially since it appears to be an honest introspection. It is particularly refreshing that there is tacit acknowledgement that the NWU institutional model is problematic and appears to have been engineered to foster a largely monocultural environment that appears to be designed mainly for white Afrikaaners on the Potchefstroom campus. The university should be fostering a culture on all its campuses that includes Afrikaans in an open and inclusive manner.
I have now met with the Executive Committee of Council and we have discussed and agreed on the way forward.
I have requested the Council to ensure that the university management implements the very useful recommendations of the report as soon as possible and to report to the university community and to me on their progress on a quarterly basis. In particular, I have requested that the Council follow through on the review of the institutional model that has allowed this problematic culture to remain embedded on the Potchefstroom campus and institute processes to ensure the effective transformation of NWU.
THE Council welcomed the Ministers impression and has undertook to implement the recommendations of the report and have committed to work with the department to ensure that all matters thereto, including negative perceptions about the Universities, are overcame through sustained process of transformation.
Minister of Higher Education and Training
Dr Blade Nzimande, MP
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Khaye Nkwanyana
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