Dr Ashwin Desai, who is barred from the University of KwaZulu- Natal, will take up a lecturing post at Rhodes.
Dr Ashwin Desai, who is barred from the University of KwaZulu- Natal, will take up a lecturing post at Rhodes.
Dean of Humanities, Professor Fred Hendricks, confirmed that Desai has accepted a short-term contract position lecturing on Industrial Sociology at the university, starting in the second term.
Desai said yesterday that he was “full of nostalgia” about coming back to Rhodes after 20 years. “The timing is quite wonderful,” he said.
“It will be wonderful to meet people I respect a lot, such as Guy Berger and Fred Hendricks. I’m so overwhelmed.”
Desai was banned from UKZN last year after a dispute with the Vice-Chancellor, Malegapuru Makgoba, over his application for a Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) grant to research race and redress in South African sport.
Makgoba told Desai to resign his position as an honorary research fellow at the Centre for Civil Society in order to be eligible for the grant, which Desai did. Makgoba, however, allegedly instructed the HSRC selection committee not to consider Desai’s application, and further barred Desai from occupying any other position at UKZN.
Makgoba’s decision is believed to be based on a prior agreement between Desai and the University of Durban Westville.
Desai faced disciplinary charges in 1996 for his role as a trade unionist in protests against the university.
The agreement saw the dropping of disciplinary charges against Desai, provided he resigned as a lecturer and did not come on to campus without the VC’s permission.
The ban was subsequently revoked in 2004 by then-Vice-Chancellor Saths Cooper. Speaking about his controversial banning, Desai said the decision will “haunt the University of KwaZulu-Natal”.
He claims: “It is a matter of principle. People shouldn’t be banned [from academic institutions].”
He denounced Makgoba’s argument that “the university is a place of technical issue and facts, and not politics” as “absolute hogwash”.
“Technical issues are political issues. Therefore, Makgoba’s argument is a political one.”
Desai hopes to start his research on South African sport while lecturing at Rhodes, and also wants to follow up on research he conducted into the motor industry some years back. He added that he is looking forward to returning to Grahamstown and experiencing a sense of déjà vu.
“I am sure that the university and city will have changed considerably, but it is wonderful to know that things like Grocott’s Mail are still around.”
