The University of Cape Town’s Academic Freedom Committee has let intellectual freedom down regarding Professor Nicoli Nattrass’s commentary in the South African Journal of Science
South Africa is not producing a sufficient number of free and critical thinkers, and this raises questions such as “Why is this the case?” and “Why is our higher education system failing in this respect?” -- and, perhaps less obviously, “Does South African society need free and independent thinkers?”
Until recently in South African higher education, academic freedom was not a sexy issue. Those arguing in its defence were often perceived to have been using the issue to preserve the status quo in higher education and resist transformation. However, this matter is now perhaps the most interesting and hotly contested one in academic and public debates on higher education.