Academic thuggery must be disputed

THE University of Johannesburg’s Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation has organised what they call the Pan-African pantheon, which will be held from June 16 to 18.

Scholars from near and far have been invited to present papers on various Pan-African theoreticians.

They are going to discuss Pan-African scholars from South Africa for three days, but Robert Sobukwe is not among them. Instead, they will be discussing Thabo Mbeki and Ruth First.

There is no mention of Anton Lembede, Kwame Nkrumah and Cheikh Anta Diop.

What did Mbeki and First contribute towards the philosophy of Pan-Africanism?

Lembede dismissed First’s invitation in 1945 when she invited the Congress Youth League to join the Young Communist League in order to dilute its militancy. In about 1987, Mbeki bragged in the presence of white South Africans: “You can call me a Thatcherite if you like.”

He won’t deny it because he appeared on television saying those words. Is he a Thatcherite-Pan-Africanist or a Pan-Africanist-Thatcherite?

What is a pantheon? It is a small group of people who are the most famous, important and admired in their particular area of activity.

Don’t they think Sobukwe has earned a place in the pantheon of Pan-Africanist intellectuals and proponents, not only in South Africa, but the world?

I looked at the list of names of people who are behind this project, and saw the names of Adekeye Adebajo, Barney Pityana and Chris Landsberg, and knew nothing would run smoothly without partisanship. Scholarship should not be considered along partisan lines.

Their infantile approach makes them seem like novices. The University of Johannesburg and these people claim they are organising the event to contribute to decolonisation of the education system.

How can they achieve this goal when they are deliberately leaving out a pioneer in the decolonisation of the South African education system before Bantu Education was introduced?

It is unfortunate that venerable seats of learning are promoting partisan scholarships, and the media should not let them get away with it.

The media should seek answers as to why Sobukwe has been left out of the programme. They should not connive and collude in this intellectual dishonesty.

I don’t think the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania at UJ and Wits will allow this academic thuggery to go on unchallenged.

Sam Ditshego Joburg

Don’t they think Sobukwe has earned a place in the pantheon?