The university’s Robert Sobukwe block is plagued by leaks, mould, broken windows, and water damage.
A downpour of rain has exposed the cracks in the facade of one of Wits University’s oldest buildings. Robert Sobukwe Block (formerly Central Block) is the heart of Wits and in many ways the face of the university.
It is also home to the university’s humanities faculty, the largest faculty by enrolment. Despite this importance, the building is in disrepair and disarray.
“[It] feels like a prison, or one of those scary boarding schools we see in movies,” says International Relations Honours student Neo Moliea. The building has long suffered from water damage due to unfixed leaks.
On March 8, 2024, Wits Vuvuzela observed rainwater dripping from the roof onto stairwells and seeping through decaying windows onto the floor. Walls throughout the building show extensive water damage, with peeling paint and exposed plaster.
Bubbling paint covers the walls in the stairwells of Rober Sobukwe Block. Photo: Ruby Delahunt.
Many of the windows in Robert Sobukwe block are shattered, and the windowpanes are often rotting. The buildings’ walls are spotted with mould, often concealed in darkness as lights randomly stop working.
To some students, Robert Sobukwe block does not reflect the Wits they were sold on. “For the Wits centenary celebration, they spent a lot of money on decorating,” says law student Talia Krishnan, “[but] some of their facilities are just not working.”
Students and tutors see issues inside classrooms too. International Relations Honours student, Kea Maphila says the plug points in classrooms throughout the building malfunction, making her wary of using them in case they blow and surge her laptop. As a tutor, this affects her ability to teach students and is an inconvenience no student needs.
Rotting windowpanes where water leaked in and pooled in the stairwell of the building. Photo: Ruby Delahunt.
These issues compromise the integrity of the building, but also show a lack of interest in maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for students.
It may be a historic building, but students feel this does not mean it should not be renovated. “I am really against preserving history if it looks and feels so old and cold,” Moliea says.
Wits’ Property and Infrastructure Management Division (PIMD) logged a fault when questioned by Wits Vuvuzela but seemed unaware of the latest flooding incident.
FEATURED IMAGE: A smashed window in Robert Sobukwe Block overlooking the East wing of the building. Photo: Ruby Delahunt.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says lifestyle audits are “underway firmly” and dismisses the “fable” of government inaction on Zondo Commission findings.
“Rule of law, due process, and good governance” – these were the well-worn words of Ramaphosa in Parliament on Tuesday, March 19 – in what could be his last parliamentary Q&A session. Land reform, lifestyle audits and state capture are some of the issues discussed in the two hour sitting.
With just seventy days before national elections, the session was filled with politicking and electioneering, which made for an animated sitting. Members of parliament posed six main questions to Ramaphosa, with four supplementary questions allowed for each.
Lifestyle audits
Upon question, the President stated that lifestyle audits for the Executive are underway after years of delays due to budget issues and changes in service providers. The process will now be handled by the Director-General in the Presidency, Phindile Baleni. Now that it is in the right hands, the President promises that the project will pick up speed.
Democratic Alliance leader, John Steenhuisen, linked the early morning raid of the speaker of parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, to the delayed audits, first promised in 2018. “Your failure to implement lifestyle audits is what has facilitated this alleged corruption by the speaker,” Steenhuisen said.
According to the 2021 Guide on Lifestyle Audits, an employee’s lifestyle will be measured against their income for an accurate snapshot of their financial position.
Ramaphosa went on to discuss the state capture report, calling the allegations that nothing is being done to act on the findings of the Zondo Commission, a “continuous fable.” He said the findings “are currently receiving attention from a number of law enforcement agencies and other bodies”.
Members of parliament asked about the money (around R86-billion at last count) recovered from corrupt dealings linked to state capture. The President said some of this money from the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA) should be used to further the recovery process.
Dealing with wrongdoers
While parliament delved into the recent suspension of Deputy Minister for Small Business Development, Dipuo Peters, DA leader John Steenhuisen once again brought the conversation back to the raid on Mapisa-Nqakula’s home and demanded that Ramaphosa remove her from office due to the corruption allegations against her. The acting speaker of the house, ANC member Cedric Frolick, dismissed the point as irrelevant and allowed the session to continue without a response from the President.
This occurred just two days before the official implication of Mapisa-Nqakula in the R2.3-million corruption scandal from her time as Defense Minister that warranted the raid on her home. The speaker has since announced she will take special leave from office and has filed court papers to try and halt her arrest.
While the speaker remains on special leave to prepare to “defend herself against these allegations,” the DA has pushed for a motion of no-confidence in the speaker to formally oust her, while the Presidency has simply said “the process must now unfold” as facts arise.
With elections only two months away, it is no surprise that the session was packed with political grandstanding and insults hurled across the benches, but it made for a less than informative session on the actual practical aspects of the questions raised. Come May 29, we shall see what voters took away from this sitting – if anything at all.
FEATURED IMAGE: President Cyril Ramaphosa answering questions in parliament on 19 March 2024. Photo: GCIS/Supplied.
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