APARTHEID AND UNIVERSITY El>UCATION, 1948 -1970 Mary Alice Beale A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree o1:'DMtOI' of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 1998 Abstract This thesis examines Government university policy between 1948 and 1970. University education was already segregated and discriminatory in 1948 and until the mid 1950s, Nationalists disagreed about plans for university education. Their discussions about the development of apartheid university policies helped clarify general apartheid principles, Apartheid university education was based on the principle that university education was not universal but should serve a particular ethnic community. Divided university education was entrenched through the Extension of University Education and Fort Hare Transfer Acts of 1959, which were primarily produced by the Native Affairs Department. The ethnically segregated, state-controlled university colleges they created provided different, inferior educational opportunities to the state-aided, more autonomous, universities. The 'open' universities complied with the compulsory closure of enrolment to black students. 'J. he University of Natal was less co-operative, but also ultimately complied. Enrolment at ethnic university colleges was not compulsory, but there were few alternatives. Enrolments at black institutions rose, despite continued opposition to ethnically-defined institutions. In the 1960s Nationalists promoted Afrikaans enrolments and facilities for Afrikaans students. TIle establishment the University of Port Elizabeth and the Rand Afrikaans University was only considered once the economic boom of the 1960s made this feasible. The Government spent more money on university education generally, resulting in huge increases in enrolments and institutional capacity. Spending on Afrikaans students was most generous. The black university colleges were expensive, but Government spending 011 black university education, in proportion to the black population, remained low. African school funds were depleted to pay for the ii African university colleges. The divided university system produced far more white graduates, in a wider range of disciplines, than black graduates. South African universities were isolated internationally and the development of an indigenous intellectual culture and research capacity was hindered, especially at the Afrikaans- medium and black institutions. Politically, Nationalist university policy was counterproductive. It failed to build white South Africanism, and the university colleges nurtured Black Consciousness. From tine late 1960s the police increasingly acted against students at the black and English-medium institutions. In 1970 the black university colleges were granted autonomy from Unisa, ;Keywords: South Africa, apartheid, National Party, policy, education, university) students, Saso, Nusas iii I declare that this thesis is my own unaided work. it is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University ·.)fthe W;.;watersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination in any other university . ......~ . iv Dedication For those who have studied at South Africa's universities, and for those who wanted to v --------_. /l.ttending unlversir transforms people socially, politically and in the way they interact with the Nonomy. Some individuals feel included, equipped and empowered to j' In a social elite and advance personally, joining a new generation of'Ieaders, wh~.e others feel excluded, alienated and deprived. Many are unable to enrol at all, fiJme battle with part time classes or correspondence tuition. My own ( xperiences of university education began in 1982 at Wits, when it celebra; .d its diamond jubilee under the auspicious slogan 'Tomorrow begins at Wits t iday', I was excited by the opportunity before to me, and I can identify with Man tela, when he wrote in his autobiography that 'Wits opened a new world to me a. world of ideas and political beliefs and debates, a world where people were passionate about politics'. 1 Two experiences prompted my interest in the politics of universities. First, Wits began to be transformed during my undergraduate years. When I was on the SRC in 1985, Wits struggled, to adapt meaningfully when, for the first time, significant numbers of black students enrolled at Wits as Government restrictions on admissions were abandoned. Many of these students had previously attended Bantustan institutions, where conditions were then chaotic. Second, at the end of 1986, I was awarded the Abe Bailey Travel Scholarship, and, exactly as Bailey intended, I learned about the complex idealism and fears of Afrikaans students. Iam grateful to many people and institutions for their support and help in writing this thesis. Ireceived financial support from the University of the Witwatersrand in the form of a Senior Bursary, and a research award from the Human Sciences Research Council, and I would like to formally acknowledge and thank them for their support. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the librarians and archivists at the Institute for Contemporary History in Bloemfontein, the Campbell Library in Durban, the C01Y Library for Historical Research at Rhodes University, 1.Mandela, NR (1994) LOlIg Walk to Freedom, Macdonald Purnell, Randburg, pSS. vi the University Archive at the University of Cape Town, the Documentation Centre at the University of Durban-Westville, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies of the University of Lon don, the University Registry of the University of Natal, the University of South Africa Documentation Centre, the Historical ":d Literary Papers library at the University of the Witwatersrand as well as the University of the Witwatersrand Archive. Many people stimulated and encouraged me inthis work. I thank those who I interviewed, those who chaired and attended seminars where I presented work in progress, those who helped with access to archives and with arranging interviews, especially my father in law, George Bizos. I am very grateful to Shula Marks and Albert Grundlingh, who read drafts and chapters of the work and provided sympathetic advice. Liz Walker has helped enormously to overcome my isolation by responding quickly to my ernails with gems of insight into child care, the process of writing and completing the thesis and practical help. I cannot thank Sue Krige enough, for always being ready with encouragement, practical ideas and energetic action on my behalf. Bruce Murray has been tolerant of my silences and absences and prompt with feedback despite my propensity to submit work just before maier cricket fixtures. I've been confident that Tracey Doolan has taken good care of Lucia, making it much easier for me to get 011 with work. Erato and Denise Bizos and Colleen Howell also helped at critical points with childcare. My parents have been supportive and resisted the temptation to chide me about how long this has taken - except to say that Lucia was the only major project I've ever finished ahead of schedule My father ferried me around the country so that I could use archives and conduct interviews. vii I record here my apologies to Lucia: for not being allowed to draw coloured circles on the computer whenever she wanted and for shutting the study door. I also forgive her for secretly locking the keyboard for three days. I've been 'almost finished' since Imet Kimon a long time ago. He insisted that I should take the opportunity to upgrade the completed NIA to a PhD, and supported me throughout with his typically unstinting generosity and without (much) complaint when I abandoned him to spend time in South Africa. I am very grateful to him. viii Contents Abstract ii Declaration iv Dedication v Preface and acknowledgements vi Contents ix List of tables xii List of abbreviations used xv Chapter 1 pI Apartheid and University Education, 1948 - 1970 ] .1 Aims of'this thesis and relationship to the current literature 1.2 Methodology and sources 1.3 Themes and chapter structure Chapter 2 p34 ,University educatio!l before apartheid reorganisation 2.1 The origins of South Africa's university education system 2.2 Division of responsibility in university governance 2.2.1 Black admissions, segregation and contests over university autonomy 2.3 Character of the student population and patterns of enrolment 2.4 Political cultures at the universities in the 1940s and ea.rly 1950s 2.4.1 Ethnic particularism and the culture of the Volksuniversiteit 2.4.2 'English liberal conservatism' at Rhodes and Natal 2.4.3 Fort Hare: Universal ideals, segregated reality 2.4.4 Wits and UCT: the ambiguities of academic integration and social segregation 2.5 Gender and university education in the early 1950s 2.6 Conclusion Chapter 3 p l 07 A 'difficult and delicate matter',: Conflicts within the National Party about £!partheid at universities, 1945 ~ 1955 3.1 The reorganisation oflJnisa, the establishment of the Natal Medical School and the Hollow ay Commission into university finances 3.2 NP views on universities before the 1948 election victory 3.3 Eiselen and the Native Education Commission 3.4 Viljoen and the appointment of the Holloway Commission 3.4.1 Reaction to the report of the Holloway Commission: Sabra and Verwoerd 3.5 Conclusion ix Chapter 4 p152 Native Affairs Department control of University Apartheid: 1955 - 1959 4.1 Inter-departmental enquiry under HS van der Walt 4. L1 Student numbers 4.1.2