by Palesa Tshandu | Feb 20, 2015 | News
After a thirty minute wait outside the auditorium – students elbowed their way into their seats, with some occupying vacant spaces along the walkway using their thighs as tables.
An estimated 380 International Relations students were crammed into the confined space of West Campus’ Science Stadium.
“We are down to 380 now … 60 of them haven’t registered because the NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) didn’t come through,” said head tutor and Masters student Patricia Muauka.
Muauka, who was handing out course packs to the first years with the help of first-year lecturer Christopher Williams, confirmed that overcrowded classrooms are an issue, describing the administrative duties as “easier to manage… after years of practice and experience.”
“We get over 300 people in here and some are sitting in the aisles and some are standing”.
SIDELINED: First year students sit on lecture halls at West Campus Science Stadium aisles where they use their thighs as desks. Photo: Palesa Tshandu
Lecturer Christopher Williams laments on the sizeable classrooms as having “a lot of administrative duties”. Williams, who started working at the department last year, said: “In the United States. I taught much smaller courses and so it’s harder to teach because you cannot interact with students the same way”.
Dr David Hornsby senior lecturer in International Relations agrees that overcrowding has a huge impact on teaching saying “it can really affect whether or not the learning and interaction environment is a safe space.’’
He mentions the difficulty involved in engaging large classrooms with lecture material saying that “lecturers design their courses for a particular number of students” suggesting that if there is a dramatic increase in these numbers it can significantly affect the approaches to learning.
BA Law student Rachel Jambo says the case is not only in International Relations lectures, but similar cases can be found in Psychology and Sociology classes. “We get over 300 people in here and some are sitting in the aisles and some are standing”.
Jambo described the overcrowding as “uncomfortable” referring to the lack of ventilation in Senate Houses’ SH6 and SH5 lecture rooms.
First-year student Simpiwe Maseko however does not seem to be affected by the large classrooms saying that interaction with lectures has not been affected by the large classrooms, but cannot be certain because “it’s still like the beginning”.
She is however confident lecturers are “paying attention to every student…going to great lengths to ensure that everybody is on the same page”.
Hornsby advises that the university’s enrolment and registration process needs to be directed by the size of venues. “We cannot register more people for a course than caps allow. As the university moves to an online registration system –this problem should be addressed.”
Muauka confirmed that there will be 18 tutorial groups but remains uncertain on the number of tutors available to tutor these classrooms “We are holding thumbs that we have enough tutors this year.”
by Palesa Tshandu | Feb 16, 2015 | News
HOMELESS: Wits Junction Res management has been accused of maladministration after students were left homeless. Photo: Wits Vuvuzela.
Wits’ most luxurious residence has been accused of maladministration after failing to accommodate its returning and international students leaving them homeless.
The Wits Junction House Committee released a statement on Facebook regarding the perceived difficulties of student accommodation, describing them as “serious gross irregularities” blaming poor management for the problem.
The new cluster manager Thokozani Manyange has been accused of mismanagement after a number of students were left without accommodation. “I propose that the new manager of Junction be changed to Esselen residences so that he can gain experience – because Junction is too big,”said Student Representative Council (SRC) president and former Junction House Committee chairperson, Mcebo Dlamini.
Wits Vuvuzela tried to contact Manyange who directed inquiries to the Director of Campus Housing and Life Rob Sharman. While Sharman said he would not comment “on the allegations about staff,” he disputed the contents of the statement suggesting that it was released to serve the interests of certain committee members who were still on the accommodation waiting list.
“It seems one individual person is pushing very hard for his friends to get it”. Certain people have certain interests”, said Sharman.
According to Sharman there were three individuals behind the release of the statement with the application of two of those applicants was eventually successful because they had followed the normal course of waiting list processes, but the third, because he was a non-applicant is still on the waiting list.
Wits Junction House Committee chairperson Ntando Mndawe confirms that they were two returning students on the waiting list who were members of House Committee, but insists that this was not an issue of self-interest “We weren’t saying they should prioritise the two members… management likes to twist things but they said they would be investigating the issue,” said Mndawe.
“I propose that the new manager of Junction be changed to Esselen residences so that he can gain experience – because junction is too big,”
Sharman explained that there are two different accommodation waiting lists concerning Wits Junction students. The first consists of 234 students who are not at the res but have inquired and requested accommodation. The second is a list of 33 returning students who are “waiting to write supplementary exams, funding issues are unable to pay fees or appealing.”
Although he admits to a “hierarchy” with the student waiting list system but insists that the criterion set out by the university has to be “applied consistently”.
“There is a difficulty, students do not understand the complexity of dealing with tens and thousands of applications where each applicant has different need, different financial and academic circumstances. Every application has to be considered on its merits,” said Sharman.
“It’s (Wits Junction) the cream of Wits… everything is there so poorly managed and that’s the fact,” said Dlamini.
When Wits Vuvuzela visited the office, there were at least 10 students sitting at reception, all waiting to be placed in accommodation. After Wits Vuvuzela asked a student a question about the lack of accommodation, a receptionist told the reporter: “you are a trouble maker”.
The receptionist called another staff member who told Wits Vuvuzela that it “wasn’t proper etiquette” to interview students waiting at Wits Junction. However Sharman blatantly denies that there is an accommodation crisis – but insists that there are still many students seeking accommodation “as it is typical at this time of year.”
by Palesa Tshandu | Feb 13, 2015 | Lifestyle
SOULFUL SISTER: Third-year B.A student Nicole Daniella sings her way to the top. Photo: Ilanit Chernick
Third-year B.A student Nicole Davie aka Nicole Daniella, is a neo-soul jazz singer and songwriter who travels between Johannesburg and Cape Town performing her music at the local hang-out spots. This hippie-chic artist is currently working on her EP whilst juggling student life. Her family calls her Boskasie, meaning wild and unruly, which she says refers both to her hair and nature.
Why did you choose music?
Music chose me, I didn’t choose music at all. Like with anything I feel like I was born with that kind of passion inside of me. People know me as a musician now it cultivated itself for the past two years and it’s become an outlet for me. It’s become a place where I can be real, be true. I can write what I feel and sing what I feel and play what I feel, that’s what I love about any creative outlet.
How do you balance being both an artist who’s currently working on her EP and a student?
Recording takes so much out of me, it’s emotionally draining – because it’s coming from a true and real place and your sitting there till the early hours of the next morning and I might have an assignment due the next day, it’s going to be challenging but it’s two things that I love the most and I know that I’m going to find the time to balance.
What do you think makes you a cool kid?
I don’t think I’m a cool kid [laughs]. It’s being myself, being true being real. In terms of style a lot of people sees one being cool because of their style and my style is based on completely what I feel. People call it street style, but my style can change from day-to-day. So being a cool kid is about being you and letting people see your aura your vibe and expressing that to the universe.
Who do you want Witsies to know you as?
First of all I want them to have their own interpretation of me, I don’t want to enforce a kind of ‘being’ to them. But they must see me as someone chilled, cool, focused- focusing on school focusing on what I love – someone real, someone authentic. Someone they can come talk to if they see me sitting alone.
You have a manager what’s that like?
It’s cool first of all because with workloads he’s the first person I would call and say “ok where do I start” because I have assignments and a gig on Saturday and he’ll kind of put it into perspective and direct me. But at the same time it’s tough because now I always have to report to him, I always have to make sure he knows what I’m doing as well.
by Palesa Tshandu | Feb 13, 2015 | News
In Zakes Mda’s book the Heart of Redness there’s a story of an educated Xhosa family who sing choral arrangements in four-part harmony – this story has been written, and it’s about to be turned into an opera.
Renowned composer and librettist Neo Muyanga found inspiration in this book and adapted it into an opera. Muyanga loosely draws from Zakes Mda’s book and an episode of Nelson Mandela’s release.
“universes of old music and new music – black music, white music and complex music- will seek to define itself in a particular political style.”
“The book suggests lots of musical styles – traditional musical styling is suggested in this book and a particular kind of bushman music is elicited,” said Muyanga who added that the integration of Xhosa and Bushman families create a particular sound. Popular choral piece Baradi ba Jerusalema (Daughters of Jerusalem) will be one of the workshopped pieces where “universes of old music and new music – black music, white music and complex music- will seek to define itself in a particular political style.”
NEW AGE MOZART: Neo Muyanga celebrates his award as composer in residence at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) paying homage to Zakes Mda and Nelson Mandela. Photo: Provided
Muyanga was recently awarded as the composer in residence at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) and as part of this award he will engage in research to support the development and performance of the operas.“Opera is assumed to be an elitist preoccupation and in many instances it has become that,” said Muyanga before dismissing the stereotype, describing it as having “sleazy … working class habits.”
Muyanga’s research will see him undertake the popularity of opera in different black communities in both South Africa and the global south and the contributions it has made to black communities.“What I’m trying to understand is a black identity through the lens of opera singing and choral music making.” During his fellowship Muyanga will also engage in research to support the development and performance of the operas.
Although Muyanga said he doesn’t know what kind of impact he wants his research to have, he is “keen to have multi-layered conversations … in which institutions like Wits to help platform”.
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by Palesa Tshandu | Feb 8, 2015 | News
New students attending the annual Wits welcome day today were challenged to donate a hundred rand each to assist students who face exclusion due to a lack of funding. The call came from Student Representative Council (SRC) president Mcebo Dlamini, as part of efforts to assist students who did not receive funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
“The target is to raise one million by the end of this month,” said Dlamini, who is aiming to enlist the support of ten thousand people to reach the target before the end of February.
Dlamini was addressing an audience of over 5000 people, including parents and first-year students, who had gathered on the Library Lawns for the start of the official Orientation Week programme.
“It is a sad moment for this university,” said Dlamini who was referring to the 2788 student who were not able to register at Wits due to the lack of funding.
ONE HUNDRED RAND LEADER: SRC President Mcebo Dlamini holds R100 as pledge to support education for all. Photo: Palesa Tshandu
Dean of Students, Dr Pamela Dube, described the announcement as an “excellent plan” but said this was the first time the academic staff of the institution had heard of it.
“We were not aware of it but we would like people to help … this is what the SRC should be doing,” said Dube.
“The target is to raise one million by the end of this month,”
Former SRC president Shafee Verachia described the pledge as a “proactive initiation” by student leaders saying “if this pledge is a success, it will be a great success for the SRC”.
Dean of the Faculty of Humanities Professor Ruksana Osman commended Dlamini’s efforts in fundraising for the unregistered students.
Osman also said the Faculty of Humanities had pledged R1.5 million to help postgraduate students who are receiving their Bachelor of Arts honours degrees.
Dlamini confirmed the SRC will work with Wits University and Convocation to run the campaign once it gains traction and an account for the funds will be set-up by the office of the Dean of Students.
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by Palesa Tshandu | Feb 6, 2015 | News
Two Wits Economic Freedom Front (EFF) leaders were detained by police after occupying offices at the Department of Higher Education in Pretoria on Thursday.
LOCKED UP: Wits EFF chairperson Vuyani Pambo talks freedom and education following his detainment at the Department of Higher Education yesterday. Photo: Tendai Dube.
Vuyani Pambo and Mbe Mbhele were detained at a police station in Pretoria. “They took us to the station … after a while they realised they can not hold us,” said Wits EFF chairperson Vuyani Pambo who described the detainment as a “game of intimidation.”
On Thursday morning 17 EFF members travelled by train from Johannesburg to the Higher Education Department in Pretoria to address student concerns over the lack of funding by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Almost 3 000 Wits students who had been promised funding by the scheme have been left unable to register for studies this year.
Pambo said that before the Pretoria protest, they engaged with the university to understand the issue with NSFAS but after careful investigation realised that “this is bigger than what we thought – we were barking at the wrong tree, the university is not accountable for a national crisis.”
Shortly after their arrival at the Pretoria offices the protesters sought a meeting with senior officials at the department, but were asked to move off the premises by a South African Police Service (SAPS) special crowd control unit, who later escorted the two student leaders to the station. While they were detained, no official arrests were made.
“They tried to pacify us,” said Pambo who described the police officer’s attitudes as “fathers offering advice to their children.”
Director for security services at the department Richard Zungu denies that the students were detained, saying “the students were not detained and no meeting took place, even though they wanted a meeting.”
“The department says it is unable to secure funds because it doesn’t have funding from the government,” said Wits EFF member Sive Mqikela who was present at the protest.
EFF’s member of parliament Andile Mngixtama, who was meeting with EFF chairperson Vuyani Pambo, told Wits Vuvuzela: “They are criminalizing the poor, criminalizing blackness … Here students are saying they want education which is a fundamental right and what comes is the intimidation of the state.”
Mngixtama believes the solution to South Africa’s education crisis is to remove the bursary system and implement a free education for poor students.
Both Pambo and Mbhele have since been released without charges laid against them.
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by Palesa Tshandu | Nov 5, 2014 | Featured 1
Journalism in Ethiopia is becoming obsolete following the government’s lock-down on press freedom, according to Ethiopian journalists attending the Power Reporting journalism conference. Wits Vuvuzela spoke to some of the Ethiopian delegates who all asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions when they return to their home.
“There is no such thing as journalism in Ethiopia,” said the Ethiopian delegate, drawing on the frustrations experienced by many practising journalists in the country. Ethiopia is one of the most repressive nations in Africa for journalists and is the second worst jailer of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), after neighbouring Eritrea.
“We are expecting one day we have a media like yours,” said the delegate who expressed envy of the South African media system, citing it as a “beacon of freedom”.
“With each journalist sentenced to prison, Ethiopia takes another step further from freedom of the press and democratic society,” said CPJ East Africa representative Tom Rhodes in the statement. Earlier this year, Ethiopian authorities staged a crack-down on independent journalists and bloggers, causing many to flee the country. The CPJ said 17 journalists are presently imprisoned in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian writers and journalists who were at the conference spoke out about their government’s role as democracy’s locksmith.According to one of the delegates, many of their colleagues have been arrested and beaten for expressing their opinions. As a result many abandon journalism.“We are expecting one day we have a media like yours,” said the delegate who expressed envy of the South African media system, citing it as a “beacon of freedom”.
The Guardian’s Africa correspondent David Smith said Africa’s image of media freedom is varied, saying “there is a very mixed picture of [media censorship]” in different countries in Africa.Smith has reported in Ethiopia and described the government’s hostility towards independent journalists as “terrifying”.Despite the lack of media freedom, the Ethiopian delegates remain optimistic on the state of media independence in Africa, but reiterate that, in Ethiopia, “the condition is not conducive for any journalist”.
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by Palesa Tshandu | Sep 20, 2014 | Featured 1
ART-ACTIVIST: Neo-soul artist Nicole Daniella lends her voice in the fight for climate change. Photo: Palesa Tshandu
The arts came alive in the fight for climate change in Johannesburg’s Newtown last night as part of an initiative calling for African governments to prioritise the issue.
The concert, hosted by 350Africa, involved a number of Witsies who used their artistic talents to contribute to the evening’s line-up.
Second year Wits psychology student and neo-soul artist Nicole Daniella lent her voice to the fight against climate change. Daniella said it was “an honour” to be part of an organisation that advocates for the betterment of the environment.
She said, “we need to have events like this to raise awareness because we aren’t as aware as the northern hemisphere, so we need to become aware because it’s affecting us as its affecting them.
Third year BA student and poet Lebohang Nova’ Masango who performed her popular To Do List for Africa poem said, “the way our socio-economic system is set up is that anything that happens in terms of climate change will hit us the hardest”.
350Africa and Arab world team leader Ferrial Adam said the event was more about awareness than entertainment.
“It’s not so much a celebration as it is about creating awareness and I think there is so much strength in music and poetry that we also want to revive that in our campaigning, so this is only the beginning”, said Adam.
The concert comes just after the organisation staged a march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday, to deliver a petition to the President asking him to address the issues of climate issues for South Africans when he meets with global leaders in at the United Nations in New York next Tuesday.
“ Yesterday we handed in a petition to the presidency to say, look we know South Africans is going through these talks, these are our demands, said Adam”.
“
It’s not so much a celebration as it is about creating awareness and I think there is so much strength in music and poetry that we also want to revive that in our campaigning, so this is only the beginning.”
Adam confirmed that climate change is not at the top of the agenda for African governments, however said that the impact of climate affects change is going to affect the poorest and “it’s something we need to deal with”.
Campaigner at 350Africa Amir Bagheri confirmed that the organisation is due to open the first ever university branch at Wits at the beginning of next year.
“We have already collected over 40 signatures in support of starting the 350Wits group, which is enough to be recognised by the Wits Student Representative Council and admin”, said Bagheri.
by Palesa Tshandu | Sep 19, 2014 | Opinion
“I HAVE black friends”: a phrase that some white people wear as armour before entering into a racial battlefield, hoping it will save them from their history. It doesn’t. Instead it reminds us that black people are tokens in the claim for racial neutrality.
Apartheid’s residue left a culture of people struggling to reconcile what it means to be black with the people they really are. Some even reject this compromise, not wanting to identify with blackness because our history is so loaded with injustices. They do not want to wear the trauma of our past.
We can all agree that apartheid should never have happened, but it did and now we are dealing with its ramifications the best way we know how. And that means owning our blackness. 
Consciously black
Being black is one of the most magical things you can be. Being aware of your skin colour means having a deep understanding of the injustices that our forebears suffered under apartheid, despite how foreign that time seems to us now. This gives me a greater awareness of the inequalities we face on a day-to-day basis, even in a supposedly non-racial South Africa.
Black Twitter has afforded us a culturally loaded space where black people converge to launch a coup d’ètat against white supremacy and to find humour in the worst situations. This free space to discuss issues is perhaps one of the best things about being black.
When we deny being black we are in essence rejecting the part of ourselves that affords us the sanctity of knowing.
Using social media as a platform to express our hurts, fears and anger against racism, we make the decision to claim our struggle, label it and place it accordingly, without the misdirection of white supremacy.
Our melanin gives us the ability to soak in the natural goodness of the sun and colour ourselves with the light of the world, showing off the beauty of our skin tone. Our blackness affords us a space in two different worlds. We are able to go from suburb to township and understand our positions in these two worlds without being restricted by our own blackness.
Denying colour
Admittedly, ours is a society with people from different backgrounds and with different experiences of race and racism. It is part of our diversity that we are able to claim our own identities and celebrate them without judgment or fear.
Being black should therefore not be a default condition where we fear claiming our blackness because it’s loaded by stereotypes. We should rather marvel at this melanin cloak and wear it with pride.
When we deny being black we are in essence rejecting the part of ourselves that affords us the sanctity of knowing.This knowing allows us to see past the hidden agenda of white entitlement which caused disillusioned black people to believe whiteness was something people should aspire to.
Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once said: “Racism should have never happened and you don’t get a cookie for reducing it.” But race denialism … well, that is an even worse atrocity.
by Palesa Tshandu | Sep 5, 2014 | News
An “overdue” apology by dismissed senior lecturer Tsepo wa Mamatu has received a lukewarm response from staff and students at Wits.
The apology comes after months of denials following his dismissal for sexual harassment last year. Some staff members expressed mixed feelings in response to it.
“It’s an overdue apology for me, but again the truth of the matter is that he himself should have been allowed to take his time,” said wa Mamatu’s former friend and Wits dramatic arts graduate Zabalaza Mchunu.
Wa Mamatu released the apology following the removal of his play, By My Grave, from the Cape Town Fringe Festival. Festival participants had requested its removal which wa Mamatu said was his life story and incorporated issues of sexual harassment.
A Facebook apology
In the apology, published on his Facebook account, wa Mamatu expressed contrition on for his “lack of judgement” and admitted he had abused his power over students.
“I apologise to my community, my society and every woman for failing them,” wa Mamatu said in the message posted on Facebook.
“I will not be mute in my shame. I AM SORRY,” said wa Mamatu.
Mchunu suggested wa Mamatu’s apology was an act of self-defence, which came minutes before a panel discussion in Cape Town about the withdrawal of his play from the festival.
Mchunu said wa Mamatu was faced with appearing on a podium at the panel discussion: “So before he did, he had to be put in a space of defending himself … that’s why he went and did it.”
In an e-mail he sent to the panel conveners, wa Mamatu said he pulled out the debate because it was being repositioned into a “war cry” which had “mangled the opportunity to engage fairly, productively and constructively.”
“People like the idea of someone being down and out.”
“I refuse to participate in an environment that is not conducive to freedom of speech, that is intolerant of voices that are oppositional to others and that refuse to listen,” said wa Mamatu.
He added that he will continue the “processes of rehabilitation” and talk about the need for men to negotiate themselves against sexual relations.
“I will continue to share with others my own lessons, so that we as men, especially black men, learn to negotiate and respect women-hood in all its various and varying forms,” wa Mamatu said.
Mchunu, however, expressed skepticism about wa Mamatu’s absence at the panel discussion and compared it to the former lecturer’s absence at the initial hearings of the sexual harassment proceedings.
Head of division in dramatic arts, Dr Haseenah Ebrahim, said she welcomed the public apology by wa Mamatu, confirming that he had previously e-mailed an apology addressed specifically to the department.
Unforgiving students
“It’s not for me to forgive him, it’s only for his victims to forgive him. I’m not sure how plausible or believable he is,” said performance and visual arts student, Kelly Eksteen.
Eksteen, who is a former student of wa Mamatu’s, went on to describe the former lecturer as “a very sick man”.
Jacqueline Titus, a performing arts student, said that “speaking about Tsepo wa Mamatu is a very sensitive topic around here”, referring to the Wits School of Arts.
In response to the scepticism around his public apology, wa Mamatu told Wits Vuvuzela “an apology is not an end, it is the beginning”. He said there would be “other projects”, drawing on workshops he said he is actively involved in to draw attention to issues of sexual harassment and violence against women.
When asked about the rejection of his apology by his former colleagues, wa Mamatu said:“People like the idea of someone being down and out.” He said he hopes that the controversy would soon be over.
“I am worn out.”
by Palesa Tshandu | Sep 5, 2014 | Lifestyle
VOICES: A talking snake led to Nomasonto Baloyi-Tsotetsi discovering her calling as a sangoma. Photo: Palesa Tshandu
She was only a teenager when a black snake with a white collar-like stripe around its neck spoke to her. Little did she know this conversation would last a life-time.
“When people would speak to me I would hear voices inside my head,” said Wits Art Museum’s (WAM) administrative assistant Nomasonto Baloyi-Tsotetsi.
Tsotetsi is one of the many sangomas whose ancestral calling can be diagnosed by modern psychologists as schizophrenia.
Clinical psychologist Dr Esther Price confirmed that the symptoms of schizophrenia present themselves in similar ways as the ancestral calling (known as ubizo, when the ancestors call you to perform a particular task)
“Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychological condition where you hear voices,” said Price. She noted that both the “calling” and schizophrenia involved the hearing of voices. However symptoms of schizophrenia are more distinct.
Psychologists often confuse the ancestral calling with schizophrenia as the symptoms present themselves in similar ways, according to a member of the Traditional Healers’ Association and operational manager at the mental illnes hospital, Sterkfontien Hospital, Iris Mahlangu.
“They don’t take us seriously, they classify traditional callings as a ‘culture bound’ syndrome – meaning we are mad”, said Mahlangu.
Senior lecturer at Wits’ School of Community and Human Development Dr Molose Langa disputes the idea that the ancestral calling is a schizophrenic condition. But he does concede that it can be misdiagnosed. Langa confirms that ancestral callings have very little to do with psychology, but suggests that in the past people who had these symptoms would be sent to the mental hospital.
Tsotetsi, 45, has been a traditional healer for more than half her life, spending 17 of those years working in different departments at Wits University. Tsotetsi said her ubizo was confirmed by her grandfather’s friend who had the same calling.
“It was at my grandfather’s funeral when his friend walked up to my grandmother and told her that the snake I had seen and spoken to was not a real snake. It was a snake that was sent by the ancestors”, said Tsotetsi.
“I was scared that the ancestors would kill me and my three children”, said Tsotesti who confi rmed that her divorce may have been a result of the ancestors not wanting her to get married.
Tsotesti was initially angry about being chosen as a traditional healer but has learnt to accept it as part of her life.
by Palesa Tshandu | Sep 1, 2014 | Featured 1, News
PUBLIC APOLOGY: Dismissed Wits lecturer, Tsepo wa Mamatu, has taken to Facebook to apologise for his actions. Image: Facebook.
Former Wits University senior lecturer Tsepo wa Mamatu has publicly apologised for the first time since his dismissal last year for sexual harassment.
“I apologise to my community, my society and every woman for failing them,” wa Mamatu said in the message posted on his Facebook account.
“I will not be mute in my shame. I AM SORRY”, said wa Mamatu.
Wa Mamatu wrote that after his dismissal from the university he “went into a journey of exile, into a space where I asked of myself difficult and hard questions”.
Wa Mamatu apologised for his “lack of judgement” and admitted that he had abused his power over students.
“I apologise for abusing my power, vested on me by the university, to fail to be consistent with principles and values of best practice,” he said.
In addition to his former students, wa Mamatu also offered apologies to his friends and family as well as “my community, my society and every woman for failing them.”
Wa Mamatu signed off his Facebook apology with the words: “I am at your feet”.
Wa Mamatu’s apology comes after months of denying that he had sexually harassed students.
In a series of articles reported by Wits Vuvuzela last year, Wa Mamatu maintained that he had not sexually harassed anyone but rather had relationships with them.
Wa Mamatu was due to be a panelist at The African Arts Institute debate on Monday evening but appeared to have cancelled his appearance. The debate follows the removal of his play, By My Grave, from the Cape Town Fringe festival.
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