This was the focus of a recent conversation and discussion on the article Decolonisation is Not Even a Footnote: Dominant Ideologies and Smoke Screens in South African Higher Education, by Dr Savo Heleta and Isha Dilraj.
Dr Savo Heleta, Sinethezekile Mpanza, Research Assistant at Mandela University’s ChriSHET (Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation) and Dr Siyabulela Mandela.
The discussion, presented by the University's Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation and the Madibaz Reading Group brought together academics and activists.
These included Dr Savo Heleta, a researcher, scholar, educator, and author, and former Mandela University International Office staff member, as well as Dr Siyabulela Mandela, who was part of the Fees Must Fall and Rhodes Must Fall protests.
A central question posed to participants was: “Reflecting back now, do you think that the Must Fall generation missed anything? Is there something that you think you missed in addressing, reflecting now?”
Dr Heleta stressed the expanse of the struggle: “The student movement was about so many things. It was not just about fees, it was about curriculum, it was about the exploitation of outsourced workers. Perhaps it would have been easier if they focused on one thing, but students saw so many injustices that they couldn’t.”
He recalled a moment when students handed their platform to workers: “They understood that the problems were bigger than just what the students were experiencing. For me, that was incredible. Again, it was something that the university leaders chose not to see, but the students did.”
Dr Mandela reflected on what their generation fought for: “There might be a lot of things that were missed. But like Doc was saying, this generation has its own mission. Hence, our mission at that time, as the student union I was from, was to fight for access and success. That became the core of what we were fighting for,” he said.
“Many students from rural areas faced severe barriers to entering universities, and even if you had access, achieving success was another challenge, due to language barriers and limited resources,” Dr Mandela explained.
The reflections come nearly a decade after the 2015 – 2016 protests that began on campuses across South Africa and grew into a nationwide call for transformation in higher education.
Both speakers agreed that while progress was made, some struggles remain unresolved, particularly around inequality, exclusion, and the broader decolonisation of higher education.