Mafeje affair

Mafeje affair
Part of the Protests of 1968
UCT's students surrounding Jameson hall on 15 August 1968
Date15–23 August 1968
Location
University of Cape Town, City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Caused byThe government pressuring the University of Cape Town to rescind a black Lecturer’s, Archie Mafeje, job offer
GoalsAcademic freedom
MethodsNon violent protest and sit-in
Resulted inQuelling of protests
Parties
UCT's students
UCT's staff
Students at University of Natal and University of Witwatersrand
Lead figures

Duncan Innes
Raphie Kaplinsky
Philip van der Merwe
Tony Shapiro

Number
+600
Casualties
Arrestedsee Arrests

The Mafeje affair[1] refers to anti-government protests by South African students in 1968 in response to a decision of the council of the University of Cape Town (UCT) to rescind anthropologist Archie Mafeje's job offer for a senior lecturer position due to pressure from the South African apartheid government. The protests were followed by a nine-day sit-in at the university's administration building.

Protesters faced intimidation from the government, anti-protesters and fellow Afrikaans students from other universities. The police swiftly squashed support for the sit-in. Students at other universities, including the University of Natal and the University of Witwatersrand, voted in support of the UCT action. However, the government successfully intervened against a sympathy march at Witwatersrand.

Mafeje was never hired, and he left the country afterwards and did not return until 2000. After his death, UCT apologised to him and his family, and renamed the main room where the sit-in was held in his honour.

  1. ^ University of Cape Town (1968-08-07). "The Mafeje affair". Varsity.