WITS END
T
hese students won some concessions, including the establishment of a “Department of Inclusion” at the University of Missouri, where administrators are now obliged to undergo “implicit bias training”. And no one envies Georgetown University, which is tasked with tracking down the descendants of 275 slaves who were sold by Jesuit priests in the 1830s to help fund the university.
Nonetheless, the ruling party, which had fought valiantly to deliver freedom of expression to the country back in the day, faced a conundrum as “Baba loves Hlaudi”. First out the gate was ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa, who attacked SABC acting CEO Jimi Matthews for resigning in protest from the SABC and accused him of working against transformation. A short while later, there was a U-turn with scathing criticism of the SABC by ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu, who effectively said you can’t let any old Tom, Dick or Hlaudi run the SABC.
The “safe space” provided by Brown University during a debate about campus sexual assault included a room “equipped with cookies, colouring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and staff members trained to deal with trauma”, according to an op-ed piece in The New York Times.
Nobly sticking to its principles, the Communist Party arranged a protest against SABC censorship but it was hijacked by musicians who held a counterprotest. Fortuitously so, because this protest may have produced a seminal moment in SA protest when it was revealed that some of the protestors appeared to be stoned. Legalising the herb may be the solution to Hlaudi’s woes as protestors could get stoned rather than indulge in stoning, thus allowing SABC cameramen to film peaceful protest and allow us to float on towards our safe space.
But all this now seems petty compared to the brutal race-related murders on American streets. And while the US battles its demons, back home an SABC audience would have been spared witnessing the horror of violence on the streets of the USA thanks to Hlaudi (ninety percent) Motsoeneng. Frankly, if anywhere merits being a designated safe space it’s our own homes. We therefore need to be more appreciative of Hlaudi’s heroic, albeit abortive efforts to deliver safe space TV to our living rooms.
And we are not alone in this noble quest. The UK, having decided to Brexit, is now a space safe from European refugees and immigrants; the US is considering creating a space safe from Mexicans by building a Great Wall of America; and anywhere outside Zimbabwe is a safer space for Zimbabweans.
Luckily, Hlaudi also clarified that banning distressing images of violent protest is definitely not censorship: “What is this censorship thing? It is English so I don’t know it. There is no censorship here.” * KEYAN G TOMASELLI IS A WITSIE, A UKZN PROFESSOR EMERITUS, AND A UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG PROFESSOR. HE IS RECEIVING TREATMENT FOR THE IMPLICIT BIAS AND MACRO-AGGRESSION IN THIS WRITING. HE CAN BE CONTACTED IN A SAFE SPACE AT KEYANT@UJ.AC.ZA
64 | WITSReview | August 2016