Globalization, democratization and knowledge production

6.5.3 Perceptions of HWUs

Students at HBUs were aware that their counterparts at HWUs have better and greater access to resources (I: Mbuyo; Sipho; Vusi). Sipho, for example, liaised with friends at UPE and Rhodes. He was aware that the fee structure at Rhodes was higher which, he believed, precluded disadvantaged students from attending the institutions: “Those who do afford to pay the Rhodes fees are actually coming from outside South Africa” (i.e., foreign African students). He suggested that Rhodes should “open up to the formerly disadvantaged students” and provide more bursaries for them to attend Rhodes (I: Sipho).

6.6 PARTICIPANTS’ VISIONS

Nearly all the participants’ future aspirations were closely tied either to the development of the institution or to developmental research with their communities. Wandile, a graduate student in agriculture, for example, hoped to work as a researcher for a “developmental” institution so that he could use “Agriculture as a tool for poverty alleviation” whereas Mbuyo “wished” his research into phytomedicine would help to develop medicines to help fight the AIDS/HIV epidemic. Sipho’s personal aspirations were linked to the future of HBUs. With a position at one of the national research institutes, he would seek to address the existing inequities between HBUs and HWUs through the allocation of funds for research:

Major emphasis or … contribution would be to ensure that the HBUs … are actually at par with their white counterparts through the availability of resources, be it financial or human, to such institutions, that the present status quo … comes to an end because I strongly believe that all the institutions in this country should be given an equal opportunity.
It comes as no surprise that Thandi could not talk about her aspirations for the future without referring to what she desires for Fort Hare, namely, a new library. For herself, however, she would like to be more involved in archives and records management, the area she specialized in for her master’s degree:

Archives are slightly different from libraries… In my view it is a continuum, libraries, archives and museums – they are all centres providing information and I think we need to demystify this ivory tower status … (and) respond to the needs out there. Talk to Joe Average… archives should be telling people stories and people would feel comfortable in donating their papers, and … artifacts.

Notwithstanding the significant role he has played in building research culture and capacity within his department, Fatuh did not believe that he could play a broader mentoring role in research capacity across the university because of certain obstacles: “I would like to help, however, there are obstacles. People like to remain in a comfort zone. They don’t want you to teach them, in inverted commas –‘anything.’ It not easy to play such a role.” However, he would like to secure a huge amount of research funding for a team project that would put Fort Hare on the map. The team would consist of master’s and PhD scholars and international scholars from Europe and Africa. He pointed out that there was a wide perception that nothing good can come from Fort Hare and he wants this project to “turn it around” so that Fort Hare can be internationally recognized for its botany, “a place of choice for botany.” He believed this was possible given that his students have won awards for their research, as noted above.

6.7 VISIONS FOR FORT HARE

The students at Fort Hare ventured opinions about the role of the university. According to Sipho, one of the roles of the university, especially in our post-apartheid society, is to educate the public about their democratic role: The university should “alleviate the bad phenomenon of civic apathy … (and)… ensure the development and entrenchment of democratic values in society.” But, he added that this would only be possible if adequate funding was allocated for conducting and publishing research.

The absence of the Africanization of South African higher education institutions has been recognised by African scholars, Mamdani (1998, in Makgoba, 1999) and Dr Makgoba, former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand (see Clery, 1995). At a continental conference on the African Renaissance held in South Africa in 1998, reputed African scholar Mahmood Mamdani, noting the resistance of South African universities to Africanization, stated that there could be no renaissance without an “Africa-focused intelligensia” (Mamdani, 1999, pp.125-134). Among the three institutions in my study, Fort Hare stands out as an institution with a definite “African-focus.” Some researchers, in botany, agriculture, public administration and English for example,were engaged in developmental research. There were endeavours in the area of indigenous knowledge systems as well, with plans to establish a centre of excellence for IKS (I: Sizwe). Moreover, an African culture and ethos are evident visibly, judging from the style and prevailing atmosphere of academic functions, such as inaugural lectures and graduations.⁴⁰ Unlike the solemnity typical of such events at most universities, including the HWUs in this study, at Fort Hare these events are characterised by African paraphernalia, music, dance and mirth. As noted, Sipho contended that Fort Hare plays a major role in the unfolding of the African Renaissance: “(Fort Hare) has a national ethos rather than an ethos that is subject to its founders… Rhodes still has an ethos based in Oxford. UPE is serving an Afrikaans ethos … (whereas) this university plays a major role in the process of an African Renaissance.” Most participants at Fort Hare, including some from the newly acquired East London campus of Rhodes, declared the university’s role as a development institution and believed that its niche area was development related research (I: Bertrand; Henry; Massey; Walter). This view of Fort Hare appeared to articulate well with those who recognised the potential of the university, given its close affiliations with local communities and strategic location, to engage in indigenous research (I: Sizwe).

Scholar Subotsky (1999) argues that HBUs in South Africa are well positioned geo-politically and historically to engage in socially relevant research through “community service partnerships” (p. 509). In this way, he believes, they “potentially hold a comparative advantage in contributing towards basic reconstruction and development,” one of the thrusts of the higher education policies (p. 509). He is aware that there is the risk of perpetuating existing disparities when adopting this approach and emphasizes that he is not advocating that HBUs follow the path of reconstruction and development while HWUs follow the global path (op cit.). Instead, he argues that “both functions should be strategically addressed at all institutions” but that some HBUs already have close ties with surrounding communities and long-standing commitments to community development (op cit). While I agree that Fort Hare, for example, seems well-positioned to assume the role of a developmental research institution with potential for conducting rich indigenous research in close partnership with communities, I think the university should also engage in entrepreneurial research to ensure diversity in its research programmes, especially with regard to obtaining diverse sources of income for its research activities (see further discussion and recommendations below).