Many decades ago, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, as a youthful student addressing parents, staff, and the body of students at the University of Fort Hare, placed progress, and not destruction, at the centre of his speech.
In those heady days, in what is now colloquially described as Sobukwe’s state of the nation address because of its brilliance, Sobukwe sought to show that, if there was a will, his university could be turned into a centre of excellence and great scholarship, where mediocrity, even corruption and malfeasance, was not tolerated but frowned upon.
“Fort Hare [University] must be to the African what Stellenbosch [University] is to the Afrikaner. It must be the barometer of African thought.”
That was an aspirational thought, at a time when Africans were struggling with injustices imposed upon them by colonialism, apartheid and dispossession.
Sobukwe knew, almost instinctively, that the university must not only be a place of learning but also a centre that ought to shape the destiny of communities by producing thought leaders committed to good values and norms out of which upright society is birthed.
Despite odds stacked upon it in terms of underfunding and underdevelopment, not only did the University of Fort Hare produce some of the finest minds who produced sound leadership – great sons and daughters of Africa. Down the ages, the university also became a magnet for every African child who could afford it to want to go to that institution.
Out of the university, great African leaders emerged, including Robert Mugabe, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Nthato Motlana, Chris Hani, Sir Seretse Khama of Botswana, Ntsu Mokhehle of Lesotho and many others.
Many years later, at the time of democracy and freedom for which the institution played a role in a quest for the attainment of justice, the vision of Sobukwe for the university has become soiled by corruption and malfeasance and even assassinations.
What is happening at the university is symptomatic of the grime of corruption gripping the country today.
The assassination attempt on the life of the university’s vice-chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu was a shocking incident, which raised many questions for many South Africans: what has gone wrong in the country? Is freedom and democracy not yielding the desired outcomes of a better life for all its citizens?
Buhlungu’s driver sadly lost his life at the hands of assassins and those who continue to pursue corrupt practices.
Malfeasance continues to be at work even as the motives of criminals are a subject of investigation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).
Part of what is happening at the university mirrors the full spectrum of the state of malaise in the country – a product of dark forces pervading every sphere of social and public life in the country.
Former president Thabo Mbeki in his recent address to students and the Unisa academic staff and the public reflected on what might be behind some of these occurrences of violence and corruption.
Without going into the minutest details, Mbeki attributes the phenomena to forces in high places who are not lovers of freedom and democracy.
He said if you destroy or weaken important state institutions such as Eskom and the South African Revenue Service, this will have a devastating impact to collapse governance structure and therefore undermine good governance.
The abiding question, therefore, must be: What may Sobukwe say in his grave about all that is happening in his country? What might Chris Hani in his grave think?
There will be nothing for Sobukwe and Hani to say in their graves. They laid the foundation for freedom and democracy to thrive.
In the words of Mandela, “It is all in your hands” – if we choose to destroy what the June 16 cohort of students bravely fought for against all odds, laying their young lives for us and die for the sake of our freedom and democracy, there will be no one to blame but those who are hellbent to destroy our new land.
The ancient writer muses, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friend [or comrade].”
To die, and sacrifice own life, in the service of others is an immeasurable honour.
Fort Have university is an important learning institution. The state must play a huge role to rescue not only the university, but all state infrastructure that are threatened by crooked mafia bent on destroying our freedom and democracy.
- Mdhlela is the acting news editor of Sunday World, an Anglican priest and former editor of the South African Human Rights Commission journals
