When the National Government assumed power in 1948, one of the earliest
moves was to introduce segregated education. Its threats to restrict the
admission of black students into the four 'open universities' galvanised
the staff and students of those institutions to oppose any attempt to
interfere with their autonomy and freedom to decide who should be
admitted.
In subsequent years, 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.
Protest escalated through successive states of emergency and clashes
with police on campus became regular events. Residences were raided,
student leaders were harassed by security police and many students and
some staff were detained for lengthy periods without recourse to the
courts.
First published in 1996, WITS: A University in the Apartheid Era by
Mervyn Shear tells the story of how the University of the Witwatersrand
(Wits) adapted to the political and social developments in South Africa
under apartheid. This new edition is published in the University's
centenary year with a preface by Firoz Cachalia, one of Wits' student
leaders in the 1980s. It serves as an invaluable historical resource on
questions about the relationship between the University and the state,
and on understanding the University's place and identity in a
constitutional democracy.
