Thursday 26 August 2021

On Contradictions at UFH: Who is the foe of the students? by Lindokuhle Mponco

     On Contradictions at UFH: Who is the foe of the students?

 

The first thing we need to understand when we delve into this matter is the keyword contradiction. A contradiction according to the Oxford dictionary is a combination of statements, ideas, or features which are opposed to one another. It further goes on to refer to contradiction being a situation in which inconsistent elements are present. In our case at the University of Fort Hare we can clearly see that we have an environment which is riddled with contradictions which have become an inherent part of the process. The contradictions vary, however, in this Marxist-Leninist analysis we will deal with the primary contradiction as it sets the tone for the secondary contradictions.

 

                                      Historical Development of UFH

 

The University of Fort Hare is an institution of higher learning which was founded in the year 1916 and was then known as the South African Native College. It was initially attached to the University of South Africa before it was associated to Rhodes University and renamed University College of Fort Hare. In 1953, it became part of the Bantu Education system, and became one of the many ‘bush’ colleges that would produce revolutionary stalwarts like the late General Secretary of the South African Communist Party, Chris Hani (he was eventually expelled and graduated at Rhodes University). The University of Fort Hare was in all its intent and purposes created to create a black elite which would be the spreader of pro-bourgeois ideas. James Stewart, a missionary principal of the Lovedale Missionary Institute had suggested this development in the year 1878, however, it was only realised 38 years later.

In 1916, the Colonial Settler population, which at this time was dominated by the British, had fully subordinated the African masses, and had successfully suppressed the Indian settler population. They had started legislatively setting the tone for a capitalist development which would intensify the proletarianization of the African majority, and the descendants of the Indian & Chinese indentured labourers and settlers. The University of Fort Hare makes its appearance in the middle of World War I, and at first glance is seen as a tool to continue the ‘civilisation’ of the African masses. However, what we can see is an institution which was set up to strengthen the hegemony of the capitalist class which was embodied by the Colonial Settler population. The Christian principles of subsidising the fees, and creation of bursary schemes and scholarships were used to attract a large pool of African students. This large pool would then become the new elite which would be the epitome of ‘civilisation’ among the African masses.

The education was Western-style and emphasised British superiority, especially after the victory of World War I. This character remained until the dawn of the apartheid regime which had one sole aim, and that is to turn it into a ‘black university’. The aim of turning it into a ‘black university’ was not to enforce a sense of pride, but rather isolate and alienate African people from the rest of the oppressed ethnicities. The anti-thesis of this development is that every time the State tried to turn the University of Fort Hare into a tool to advance its class interests, which are elitist and serve the capitalist class, the student populace has always resisted such advances. As a result, the University has always produced revolutionary personalities who would go on to shape and shift the revolutionary movement against apartheid & capitalism. This allowed the revolutionary movement to perform its necessary tasks. The continued clash of these forces throughout the period of British colonialism, and Apartheid ultimately led to the 1994 breakthrough moment of temporary rest due to ‘Rainbow Nation’ euphoria.

The ‘Rainbow Nation’ euphoria would reduce the level of strikes to mainly operational issues and the transformational aspect was somewhat shoved to the backseat. This is understandable considering the fact that the ANC and its principals were enjoying popularity, and everything they touched seemed to turn into gold in the eyes of the masses. The ANC-led government post-1994 managed to hold back the anger of the students even though strikes would erupt particularly because of the deformed character and pattern of development during its lifetime. This deformed character was further intensified by the addition of the two campuses in semi-urban and urban areas (Bhisho and the East London Campus). These additions brought the reality of combined and uneven development to the institution. Combined and uneven development became manifest in its most vile character particularly because the issues now differed based on subjective factors, even though the objective reality remained.

The #FeesMustFall epoch was a defining epoch in the Higher Education sector, particularly at the University of Fort Hare. The contradiction of commodified education which was no longer as subsidised as the pre-Bantu Education era made the situation unbearable. To paraphrase Lenin’s words, the rulers couldn’t rule the old way and the subjects couldn’t live the same way. The activism sprung forth due to the intensified contradictions which led to transformational issues taking the primary role, while operational issues took the secondary role even though the two were interlinked to the other. This turn was accompanied by a change in management which coincided with the defeat of the #FeesMustFall. After the #FeesMustFall era of 2015 – 2017, the crisis of GBV became so overt that a GBV policy had to be enacted in 2019 due to student pressure. This once again shows how the students have been the motive force for change throughout the history of the institution.

After the #RegisterOneRegisterAll strike in the beginning of the 2020 academic which was stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, we saw strikes to effect transformational and operational change shift to online platforms and gain some relative strength. It is a pity that after the initial show of strength, the online strike movement has not only ebbed but is at its lowest point in terms of driving awareness and mobilising students. What exists at present is unorganised complaints which are subject to opportunistic vultures who are preying on the dying body of the student.

 

Who is then the enemy?

 

It is then based on this historical development whereby we can clearly see that the historical enemy of the students at the University of Fort Hare or any other university for that matter is the State. However, we must remember universities are the cultural expression of the State. Therefore, the State indirectly uses the management as its instrument to carry out the class interests of the dominant class. The dominant class in this context is a social group with one common interest, and that is to maximise profits at all costs. This dominant class is known as the Bourgeoisie, or the Capitalist class which owns the means of producing the necessary goods and services we need to reproduce and live as humans. This dominant class is the first to demand for police officers to use force to suppress student strikes. The management before it can call the police exhausts the use of private security. The owners of these hired armed men accumulate a profit for the continued protection of ‘public property’ which ultimately benefits the owners of the means of production more than they do those who are subjected to use these properties. As revolutionaries we should stand against any damage to property whether it belongs to all or to the capitalist. Our aim in our struggle against capitalism is not to destroy the property of capitalists, but to expropriate it and place it under democratic workers’ control and management. We can not subject ourselves into owning the ashes of property that could be used to eliminate the poverty, inequality, and exploitation that exists in our society!

 The Capitalist class uses the media to put the management under pressure. The management due to this pressure and its purpose have no option but to manage the contradictions and these antagonistic clashes through the deployment of force. The violence of the State, and ultimately the Capitalist class is not released because students are burning property that can help them, but mainly because the burning of this property is an attack and a declaration of war to the Capitalist class, and its principal agent, the State. The State is led by the party which wins elections, and has no problem bowing down to the demands of the Capitalist class. From this we can see that the response of the State is the response of the Capitalist class against an attack on its interests, the management becomes the implementing agent, and therefore assumes and embodies this contradiction particularly because it is the ambassador of the State, and ultimately the Capitalist class. The management becomes a primary contradiction not because they are the primary source of the other contradictions that grip the University, but because they embody the interests of those that benefit from these contradictions who are in turn the real source of these contradictions, the State and ultimately the Capitalist class. The workers also suffer in this process particularly because of this, due to how these contradictions lead to staff shortages, outsourcing which leads to exploitative wages being paid to low-level workers, the emphasis of quantity leads to lower level of quality of work, and corruption. The management does all it can to maintain order, produce outcomes, and continue to provide the raw resources which make a profit for the Capitalist class, human labour, and creativity.

It is through open confrontation with the management whereby students can begin the transformative process of turning the University of Fort Hare into a bastion of excellence, and a producer of high-level graduates that will contribute decisively to the development of the productive forces, and ultimately society. The confrontation will trigger a greater response by the State, which must trigger a counter response of introducing the Working class into the revolutionary arena. When the workers are involved, the confrontation will transform into a broader class confrontation which will either have revolutionary or reactionary outcomes.

 

Friday 20 August 2021

The scourge of GBV #JusticeForNosicelo by Lindokuhle Mponco

                                              The Scourge of GBV #JusticeForNosicelo

                                                                    by

                                                        Lindokuhle Mponco


The scourge of GBV in South Africa continues to rip communities apart. The latest incident that occurred keeps proving that until we deal with patriarchy and toxic masculinity, we will not have a GBV free society. Of course it is very important to note that patriarchy and toxic masculinity are not necessarily a capitalist feature even though we have come to recognise that capitalism has intensified and strengthened it. Anything that promotes and justifies exploitation has been used to advance the growth of capitalism including customary law.

The brutal murder of our sister Nosicelo Mtebeni, who was a final year LLB student has not only served as a reminder but keeps on reminding us that the scourge of gender based violence still exists and will not go away without proper action. As students from different class backgrounds we united against the murder of the late UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana after hearing about the horrific death she suffered at the hands of another man who felt entitled to her affection. Students from across the country joined hands to speak up and stand up against another GBV murder which continues to illustrate the toxic character of patriarchy. We cannot disassociate this behaviour from patriarchy, which then gives birth to toxic masculinity because such are intertwined like a shoe and its laces. The GBV scourge is older than the dawn of capitalism in South Africa, however, we have to deal with African Nationalists who romanticise the era before capitalism as if it was paradise.

The teachings that continue to exist in the psyche of men in South Africa date back to the pre-colonial era where men were taught to be the protectors of women because they are the 'weaker' sex. However, the contradiction is that traditional African society in South Africa referred to a woman as 'Imbokodo'. 'Imbokodo' is a hard and immovable rock which was meant to denote that women are an immovable force and are therefore hard to break. This figure of speech might have been used during the Apartheid era to describe the strength and resilience of women, however, it has become a double edged sword in the hands of patriarchs who view women as a literal mbokodo. The saying has not only dehumanised women overtime, but has also turned them into punching bags. This saying is directly linked to when women get married and are told to 'nyamezela' or 'bekezela' because marriage is a tough journey where happiness comes and goes. It is a reality that these words are used to encourage women to stay in abusive relationships even when the abused woman wants to leave this death trap. We must dialectically analyse the role culture plays in perpetuating GBV and start to assess whether our respective cultures are progressive when it comes to combating GBV. 

It is a reality that South Africa is a rape capital in the world, with 66 196 reported incidents and a rate of 132.40 incidents per 100 000 people according to the World Population Review. This is the highest in the world! The World Population Review also ranked South Africa 10th in the overall murder rates at 32.9 murders per 100 000 people, while Femicide statistics sit at 9.5 per 100 000 people according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with South Africa being the leader of the pack. This comes at the back of the high rate of unreported cases and incidents, meaning that there are more women that suffer in silence, and more women that get killed by their so called loved ones. The statistics might not show everything but they give us a glimpse of the scourge we are dealing with. It is unfortunate that 70% of the people that commit these dastardly acts are people that are known to the victims, this ultimately meaning that there is a 70% chance of a women being killed or raped, or even going through both at the hands of someone they know. 

As a man, I bow my head in shame and sorrow because I know that most of these cases are perpetrated by men. The situation is so bad that even men fear men! Men has become the prime enemy of humanity particularly because of the notion that they are superior and have the inherent right to oppress and dehumanise whoever they can dehumanise. Men are at the centre of almost every GBV case particularly because they believe they have the divine right to do as they will in this world. These so-called rights stem from religious practices and cultural practices that affirm the undue rights of men to dictate the lives of women. It is alleged that this non-entity of a human brutally murdered Nosicelo because he suspected that she was cheating. That excuse is a lame excuse which has unfortunately led to many a deaths. It stems from the toxic masculine idea that a woman cannot cheat on a man, while a man cheating on a woman is understandable. It is these cultural beliefs that lead us to this dark path of men killing women based on unfounded suspicions. Even if the allegation is true it still doesn't justify killing a human.

The patriarchy which continues to grip contemporary South Africa is a breeding ground for toxic masculinity which manifests itself in GBV incidents such as this tragic incident which brought an abrupt end to a promising life. We must go beyond social media slogans and hashtags and start moving towards the space of rolling mass action. The GBV epidemic is symptom of a parasitic State which feeds the capitalist machine through the blood of innocent women, whose potential is dimmed by toxic tendencies of men who have become willing weapons in the hands of the racist, capitalist and patriarchal machine that continues to destroy the fabric of our society.