/ 12 January 1996

What will Wits legacy be

Wits University faces the challenge of finding a non-racial solution to a racial problem with the Makgoba affair, writes Russell Ally

Professor Etienne Mureinik correctly pointed out in his article (Mail & Guardian December 22 to January 4) that there are important, larger lessons to learn from the William Makgoba affair.

It is unfortunate, however, that the lessons he wants us to learn are so small-minded and mean-spirited. But, as one of the 13 academics who called for an enquiry into Makgoba, it is perhaps not surprising that Mureinik’s purpose in the article is not really to teach but to defend his own position and to admonish those who dare to call into question the motives, methods or actions of the 13.

Consider how he frames his argument. Thirteen senior academics at the University of the Witwatersrand accused one of its deputy vice- chancellors of bringing the university into disrepute, of administrative incompetence and of embellishing his CV. Under normal circumstances this would have been a simple university administrative matter where normal university disciplinary procedure would have prevailed. But, because the majority of those doing the accusing were white and the accused was black, the matter quickly became transformed into a racial issue. Even worse, the accusers were branded as racists for having the temerity to question the credentials of a senior black academic. The supporters of Makgoba speedily rallied around him in a show of “naked, uncritical race solidarity… greater than most would have

Really getting into his stride now, Mureinik warns us that this kind of response is but a short step away from “crude ethnic cleansing”. Clearly, Mureinik forgot to add to his list of the death of wit, irony and metaphor that parody was not only alive and well, but

Anyone vaguely familiar with the Makgoba affair knows that it is a far more complex issue than merely a choice between “quality universities” and “ethnic cleansing”. For one, the divisions at the university over the Makgoba affair are not simply between black and white. Among the 13, notwithstanding how he may be presented, is one black person. True, the majority of Makgoba’s most ardent supporters are black, but among them will also be found a number of white academics. And it is certainly not the case that all Makgoba’s detractors are white. So, if we are going to have ethnic cleansing at the university, then it is going to have to be a uniquely South African ethnic cleansing of a special type.

But these are just the divisions at the extremes. In between Makgoba’s detractors and his supporters are a host of positions shared by both black and white. There are those who believe that it is the way in which the 13 have gone about making their accusations against Makgoba which needs to be criticised. Even if the accusations against Makgoba turn out to be true, they believe that the affair was handled neither sensitively nor compassionately. For them it is questionable whether the motives of Makgoba’s accusers were the well-being of the institution and not narrow factional political considerations.

Yet others believe that the methods used to obtain information about Makgoba need to be the subject of an inquiry as much as the findings themselves. Did Makgoba’s accusers misrepresent themselves in the way in which they went about preparing the case against him? For a university which prides itself on its record of research and enquiry, surely such ethical questions cannot be lightly dismissed as innocuous, esoteric, social

Some lay the blame at the door of the senior management of the university for failing to provide leadership and vision at a crucial stage in the university’s history. Borrowing a metaphor from another period — which should warm the heart of Mureinik — they liken the situation at the university to one in which the king no longer rules and the barons fall out among themselves.

None of these positions will reveal any simple-minded “racial solidarity”. If anything, they show just how heterogeneous the university is, and the potential which still exists for debate. Indeed, contrary to Mureinik’s claims, they show that principle can still trump cheap racial stereotyping.

But lest I be accused of flighty idealism or, less generously, prevarication, let me not duck the hard questions which the Makgoba affair has thrown up. To pretend that it is not a racial issue would be utterly dishonest. But it would be even worse to believe that race can be expunged from the whole affair.

If there is a lesson to learn from the Makgoba affair then it is that the university needs to take a hard look at itself — at its record of redress and at its history of transformation. The time for complacency, nay worse, indignant self-righteousness, has long past. Yes, Wits University has a proud legacy of struggle against past injustices and oppression, albeit uneven. The test is now what legacy it wants to leave behind in the building of a non- racial, democratic society.

Russel Ally is president of the Academic Staff Association at Wits University and lectures in the History Department