The
University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg
served as a premier liberal institution and center of resistance during the apartheid era. Despite operating as one of the few "open universities" that challenged state-enforced segregation, it still faced government interference, including quotas and the 1959
Extension of University Education Act which severely restricted the enrollment of Black students.
[1, 2, 3, 4]
The university community became a major hub of the Mass Democratic Movement. As the apartheid government enacted increasingly oppressive policies, protests escalated, resulting in campus raids, arrests without trial, and violent clashes with riot police.
[1]
The seminal historical account of this period, written by former Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Mervyn Shear, details how the institution continually fought for academic freedom and autonomy.
[1, 2, 3]
Experiences of the Wits Community in the Apartheid Era
The historical tension between the university's anti-apartheid stance and the oppressive regime's attempts to control campus politics is extensively detailed in historical records and personal accounts.
[1]
“In November 1986, a delegation from the University of the Witwatersrand, widely known in South Africa as 'Wits', where I was Deputy Vice-Chancellor... was summoned to a meeting by FW de Klerk... to be lectured that we pampered radical students, we did not...”
AbeBooks
“As the regime adopted increasingly oppressive measures to prop up the apartheid state, opposition on the campuses, and in the country, increased and burgeoned into a Mass Democratic Movement intent on making the country ungovernable.”
archivewitspress.co.za
Would you like to know more about the specific student organizations, the academic boycotts, or specific historical figures that emerged from Wits during this time?
WITS: A University in the Apartheid Era
15 Sept 2022 — Author(s): Mervyn Shear. Publication Date: Sept 2022. Dimensions and Pages: 210 x 148mm Extent: 388pp. Paperback EAN: 978-1-77614-
History and heritage - Johannesburg - Wits University
Aerial view of campus (foreground) looking south, with Johannesburg CBD in background, 1963. The Liberal Tradition. From the onset...
University of the Witwatersrand - Wikipedia
In 1948 the National Party (NP) was voted into power by South Africa's white electorate, and apartheid (Afrikaans for "separatenes...
Racial Discrimination at Wits (Chapter 1) - WITS
24 Nov 2023 — Summary. In 1956 the Nationalist Government announced that it intended to prohibit the 'open universities' from admitting non-whit...
Cambridge University Press & Assessment
University of the Witwatersrand - Britannica
Learn about this topic in these articles: ... …of higher education include the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa's pre...
