Carlo Petersen
RESIDENTS from Die Vlakte (The Flats)are not impressed with Stellenbosch University’s (SU) offer of five bursaries to their children and grandchildren – to make up for their families being removed from their homes in 1964 under apartheid legislation.
They say they want more than just symbolic reparation from the university.
SU kept quiet about the forced removals and later built on the land. But earlier this month, more than 50 years later, the university’s vice-chancellor, Wim de Villiers, sought to make amends to the community.
“We apologise and would like to offer this opportunity of further studies because higher education is a potent form of empowerment,” De Villiers said.
But his attempt at reparation has angered residents in the community, who have organised Die Vlakte Community Forum (DVCF).
“The announcement of bursaries in this limited form only serves the public relations agenda of the university,” DVCF chairperson Mogamat Ras said.
He said it was an attempt to trample on DVCF and to silence their voices.
“We have been silenced through many vindictive mechanisms. We believe the University of Stellenbosch needs to make active efforts to change the living circumstances of members of Die Vlakte community,” he said.
DVCF’s demands include:
l Education opportunities and bursaries covering full tuition (course dependent), with textbooks and stationery, transport and other necessities for all Die Vlakte bursary applicants.
lPlatforms of engagement with the surrounding Stellenbosch community to facilitate a more inclusive society.
l And cultural reparations in collaboration with the municipality of Stellenbosch.
SU spokesperson Martin Viljoen said Die Vlakte Bursary Fund is just one of many ways in which the university is working towards redress and development.
“Over the years the university has been involved in various partnership within the community,” he said.
“The university helped with the publication of a book on Die Vlakte ( In Ons Bloed– in 2006); rededicating the Lückhoff School to the community in 2007; establishing a permanent photo exhibition in the Lückhoff School in 2009; establishing a Memory Room in 2013; and, most recently, installing a Die Vlakte history in the Arts building, via the faculty of arts and social sciences.”
He said SU offers two other bursary schemes for disadvantaged students to study at the university.
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