ANT KATZ

Because Wits had given permission for Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) and the SA Union of Jewish Students’ (SAUJS) Give Peace Wings had been given permission to run concurrently, Wits University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Habib has moved to ensure that discipline is strictly maintained and that there is no repeat of last year’s hooliganism and violent confrontation which led to the cancellation of the Yossi Reshef concert and the disciplining of almost the entire SRC.

“I had a meeting with two groups (SAUJS and PSC)” Habib confirmed to SAJR last week, “so we don’t find ourselves taken by surprise like last year.” Habib was not the VC at the time last year but has had to deal with the ramifications.

“We put out a set a set of suggestions and we are waiting for their replies,” Prof Habib said in an exclusive interview.

Prof Habib said that there had been “a statement that some people have said that they will not participate.” He would not elaborate further by Jewish Report has established that it was the PSC.

“Anybody, on any side, who doesn’t abide by the rules or policies of Wits will be disciplined,” said the VC. He had asked the students groups to submit any objections by last week Friday and sign a document of “good faith.”

If anyone didn’t participate in the process, said a tough-talking VC, “I will transmit that these are the rules!”

Dean of Student Affairs, Dr Pamela Dube, told SAJR this week that the university’s management was taking the matter very seriously, “which is why the Vice-Chancellor had engaged with both groups personally” before handing the matter over to her for finalisation, she said.

Habib is at pains to explain that there are no new rules. “We already have the rules, they exist,” he explained. But he had put them together in a single document and defined all the wording precisely. He says he has been facing differing definitions of words like “coercion,” and “protest.” “When is blowing a vuvuzela allowed and when not?” he explained.

“So,” says Habib, “what we are doing is clarifying the intent of the rules and the deputy Vice-Chancellor will work with all sides” to ensure that clarity, he said.

Prof Habib’s intention: “To ensure that within the free space of Wits we will protect the right of free speech and the right to protest – and agree on how to balance the two.”

With this in mind Habib issued the two sides with five documents and a letter to sign saying that they had studied and agreed with them and would be responsible for policing them. The documents (SEE PDFs BELOW) were:

1. Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000;

2. Rules for Student Conduct 2014;​​

3. Rules for Student Discipline;

4. Statement of Principles and Values Regarding Protest on the Wits University Campus; and

5. Media Policy.

No-Nonsense Approach

To illustrate Prof Habib’s no-nonsense approach, the 12-page discipline document includes issues such as: Vice-Chancellor’s powers of suspension; Powers of suspension of assistant registrar and dean of students; Summary inquiry by the vice-chancellor or a deputy vice-chancellor and by an ad hoc committee; Disciplinary powers of the students’ representative council; Appeals and reviews; Withholding of examination results/conferment of a degree; Amendment of monetary penalties; Delegation of vice-chancellor’s powers; Hindering or obstructing of proceedings; Remission of fees; Payment of fines or performance of some other act; and Application of rules.

SAUJS national chair Ariela Carno told SAJR that “Prof Habib is playing by the rules, which we appreciate. He is formalising some existing rules and defining them by consensus with both sides.”

Seeking comment from the PSC was less easy. Dr Dube gave details of Tasneem Essop, who is listed on the Wits website as PSC president. But she was one of the students sanctioned for misbehaviour after the Reshef concert and told Jewish Report that she was the Wits IAW co-ordinator. Jewish Report was unable to get contact details for Wits PSC chair Sharia Kalla or deputy-chair Alex Freeman (who is Jewish) from either the Dean of Students’ Affairs office or the Wits website.

Tasneem Essop confirmed today that “We did sign a document of good faith” but was none too happy with the rules that came with it. Among the rules is a comprehensive “On-campus Media Policy” in which Prof Habib elucidates on what will be considered “hate speech” and it appears to be defined more tightly than in the SA constitution. This applies to all graffiti, pamphlets, posters, etc.

SAUJS have pulled out all the stops and outdone themselves in organising counter-IAW protests this year – not just at Wits. They have been supported and financed by organised Jewry from all quarters but the students have done all the work. Campus chair Zac Feldman and the teams behind and in front of them – it seems that, at Wits at least, despite BDS boasts of being three times bigger than last year, SAUJS’ “Give Peace Wings” campaign may even outdo the IAW’s.

And, says Ariela, the last day of IAW is Purim (which she is sure will be peaceful). There are two days a year that all students, even Palestinian students, love SAUJS, Ariela told SAJR in a recent interview: One is on Purim “because we give out free hommentaschen which they love”; and the second is on Yom Ha’atzmaut, when we bring camels to campus and students queue up all day for a free camel-ride.

Both sides, SAJS and IAW, are playing their cards close to their chests and have yet to publish their respective programmes for the week-long events.

Related PDF documents on SAJR:

WITS AGREEMENT WITH SAUJS/PSC

WITS STUDENT DISCIPLINE DOCUMENT

WITS STANDARD CODE OF CONDUCT FOR STUDENTS

WITS ON-CAMPUS MEDIA POLICY & PROCEDURES