A national event hosted by Rhodes University to address gender-based violence at higher education institutions was halted today when protesters from the #RUReferenceList group interrupted proceedings in the first few minutes. Rhodes Vice Chancellor Sizwe Mabizela afterwards said reasons for the dialogue were urgent and the aims of the day would have to be pursued in other ways; however, the protesters were adamant that removing the interdict in place against violent protest on the campus and the suspension from the University of students they have accused of rape were preconditions for their participation.
A national event hosted by Rhodes University to address gender-based violence at higher education institutions was halted today when protesters from the #RUReferenceList group interrupted proceedings in the first few minutes. Rhodes Vice Chancellor Sizwe Mabizela afterwards said reasons for the dialogue were urgent and the aims of the day would have to be pursued in other ways; however, the protesters were adamant that removing the interdict in place against violent protest on the campus and the suspension from the University of students they have accused of rape were preconditions for their participation.
Following the anti-rape protests at Rhodes and allied events at other institutions, the Department of Higher Education and Training’s HIV/Aids programme (HEAIDS) was mandated to “implement a comprehensive response to the issue of gender-based violence through inclusive dialogue”.
The first National Gender-based-violence Dialogue was to have been hosted at Rhodes University today.
In attendance from across South Africa were representatives from 13 universities, 21 Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges, the government departments of Social Development, Health, Justice and Correctional Services, Police, Basic Education, Science and Technology, as well as representatives of the German government and civil society organisations and NGOs.
The programme for the day was to have included an address by Mduduzi Manana, deputy minister of higher education and an overview of the gender-based violence (GBV) post-school sector programme by director of HEAIDS, Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia.
Panellists for a discussion to follow included advocate Nickie Turner from the National Prosecuting Authority, SRC transformation and activism councillor Naledi Mashishi, researcher in sexual and gender-based violence Lindsay Kelland and anti-rape activist Andy Kawa.
The programme got under way around 11am with a welcoming address by Mabizela. However, a few isolated boos and shouted comments soon rose to a crescendo that became impossible for him to ignore, and finally a group of 20 protesters stood up, some of the men and women with their shirts off, holding up various printed slogans.
Some echoed those held up by a group of protesters during President Jacob Zuma’s election victory speech on Saturday night – “#REMEMBERKHWEZI” (the woman who accused Zuma of rape) and “#Iam1in3”. Others recalled demands voiced during the #RUReferenceList protests earlier this year and subsequent anti-interdict protests – “Protect us not him”; “Rape@Azania” and “Remember Motshidisi Pascalin” (the matric pupil who was murdered in a suspected anti-lesbian hate killing), "Rape culture is a crisis", "Still not asking for it" and “We are not the criminals”.
Dialogue chairperson Criselda Kananda-Dudumashe urged the protesters to speak and various speakers did. The said they had not been invited to be part of the process of setting up the Dialogue and had only found out about the event by chance the night before.
They demanded the removal of the interdict in place against violent protest on the campus and the suspension from the University of students they have accused of rape.
The angry protesters also said the University should first have engaged in dialogue with them (the group of Rhodes students) before taking the issue into a broader forum.
Members of the Rhodes University Concerned Staff Group also spoke in support of the protesters. They said the Dialogue had been set up in a top-down fashion and that the composition of the panel echoed the patriarchal management structures of higher education institutes across South Africa. They said dialogue required an environment of trust and mutual respect and that this had been absent in interactions about rape culture at Rhodes up to now.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail afterwards, Rhodes SRC activism and transformation councillor Naledi Mashishi said she wasn’t surprised given the level of activism on campus this year.
“A lot of it comes from anger – anger at Dr Mabizela specifically because of the way the #RUReferenceList protests were handled. Particularly putting an interdict out against the students.
“It’s stemming from a lot of anger and it’s not surprising really.”
She was sceptical about a resolution.
“A way forward requires trust, and right now the students body does not trust management. They are not willing to engage with them. So I’m really not sure what the way forward is.
“One way of fostering trust could be for management to take down the interdict. But it doesn’t look like management is willing to do that.
“Another way would be to suspend the men who are accused of rape on the #RUReferenceList. But the University has made it clear they’re not going to do that because that would in fact be illegal. You can’t just suspend people unless they’ve been charged.
“So the University will not be doing that, so I don’t see a way forward right now.”
The interdict, Mashishi said, was widening the gap between students and management.
“Unless the interdict is taken down, that management shows they’re willing to give something, there’s no way the student body is going to trust management. It’s just not going to happen.”
Mashishi agreed that an opportunity had been missed, however.
“At least with this dialogue today you had the top representatives there to challenge directly about policies on sexual violence. For example on the legal principle that in order to prove that someone raped you you have to prove that they intended to rape you, we had a legal person here today who could have answered questions on that.”
Turner, from the National Prosecuting Authority, is an expert on rape prosecutions.
“I can’t help but feel that this was a missed opportunity.”
Mabizela said it was unfortunate that the dialogue had to be suspended.
"But the reasons for the dialogue are as important and urgent now as they have ever been. So we must continue to work hard to create safe and secure institutes of higher learning so our students and staff feel safe and that the institution is free of any form of sexual or gender-based violence," he said.
"We have a huge responsibility to ensure that we build a better society, a more humane, just, equitable, inclusive and compassionate society, and so what had been planned for the day must be achieved in other ways."
Mabizela said he didn’t understand criticism of the composition of the panel.
“it was quite diverse – there were men and women on the panel. There was at least one student.
“The panel did not even have an opportunity to engage.”
Mabizela said the leadership of institutions, students, academic staff, and workers had a collective responsibilty to create better, safer institutions.
“Education and awareness raising about gender violence, and the creation of safe, empathetic spaces for our staff and students who fall victim to that kind of violence – I would like them to know that their vice-chancellor and their institution is firmly behind them.
“We must make sure that the perpetrators are charged and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, so that they are removed from our institutions and our society.”
In response to criticisms from the protesters about how the event had been organised, Mabizela emphasised that Rhodes was hosting the event organised by the Department and had informed the University community about it.
He said the interdict was a matter now subject to the high court and that the date 3 September had been set to consider the interdict.
“And so I am not able to comment on that.”
Regarding the #RUReferenceList, Mabizela said he had consistently said that if anyone had been sexually violated on the RHode university campus they needed to report the matter.
“Once someone has reported, we will be able to act against that person.”
Mabizela said there had been claims made against people that had not been substantiated.
“Some of those [accused]have repeatedly asked me whether anyone has come forward to lay a charge against them.
“Unfortunately we have to say no, because no one has.
“But for the university to act against someone there must be a complainant. Once the complainant has provided a statement, we can organise a pre-suspension hearing where we can put the charges to that person and ask them why they should not be suspended pending the finalisation of the matter.
“Unfortunately we have not been provided with that information and that is the biggest frustration that we have.”
A group of parents of Rhodes students, who were present at the scuppered event, spoke in confidence to Grocott’s Mail saying that they were deeply distressed by the events of the morning and the angry tone of the protesters.
“We understand that the children are angry,” the women, all mothers of children attending Rhodes University, said.
“But we should still talk to each other with respect.”
Protesters likewise spoke of the need for respect, however. Speaking to Grocott's Mail afterwards they said, "We feel like it is disrespectful to us students and women that get raped by these men, to have a vice chancellor that is so condescendiing and disrespectful to us women."
While various members of the groups spoke, they declined to be named individually.
On April 17 a list of names known as the #RUrefenceList of current and former students was circulated on social media. This was the start of two weeks of protest on the Rhodes campus against rape culture.
The protesters today said that they were sick and tired of the University not listening to them and allowing alleged rape perpetrators to remain on campus.
"I find it deeply insulting and humiliating that, we, as the victims of these people are being given an interdict by the university while our perpertrators are being sent to a 'safe house'," said another protester.
The students said they had not been told by the University that the Dialogue was to take place and that they had found out only hours before the event.
"We feel silenced by the University because between 10am and 13.30pm (the time of the proposed Dialogue), the majority of us are in class and that is when the dialogues were meant to commence and they knew we would be in class hence they chose these times," said one of the protestors.
The students reiterated their demand that the court interdict against violent protest on the campus be removed with immediate effect.
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