Call for Papers: 10 Years of #Must Fall Movements: Experiences and Reflections from Historically Black Universities

Call for Papers: 2025 Special Issue, Southern Journal for Contemporary History
10 Years of #Must Fall Movements: Experiences and Reflections from Historically Black Universities.

Special Issue Editors: Mr Mohau Soldaat (UL), Associate Professor Paul Maluleka (UNISA), Mr Kabelo Noosi (NWU, Potchefstroom), Dr Sarah Godsell (WITS) and Dr Paul Hendricks (WITS).

Overview:
By 1958, the apartheid government had struggled for ten years to introduce the separate University policy which spoke to racism in higher education in South Africa. In 1958 Hendrik Verwood had ascended to the head of the apartheid government. Among the many things he accomplished was to appoint deputy ministers who would assist portfolio ministers in executing their duties. Johannes Voster was appointed as a deputy minister for Education, Arts and Science and of Social Welfare and Pensions. He was also a staunch believer in Afrikaner development and thus the separation of racial groups. Hence, he opposed equality between Black and white people particularly the Afrikaners. Vorster as an interim minister tabled the Extension of University Education Bill, which was passed in 1959 as Act No. 45. Because of this, higher education was differentiated into three tiers, namely: the dominant, the intermediary, and the subordinate tiers. The dominant tier was constituted by English universities that were established during the colonial period. The mandate of these institutions in the top tier was to preserve and extend English ways of being, knowing and living in the colony. The intermediary tier was made out of Afrikaans-speaking universities, whose primary function was “to serve as a socio-economic and linguistic resource in producing and maintaining Afrikaner national identity, together with the production of the Afrikaner elites who would play a critical role in the apartheid state”. The subordinate tier was mandated to serve the oppressed population of South Africa, that is, the colonised other. Thus, they were not only differentiated racially and geographically; they were also differentiated along ethnic lines.

So, it was this Act that gave birth to so called the Historically Black Universities in South Africa, which after 1994 some were turned into college campuses of certain institutions. In the main, these college campuses were established in rural areas, again to foster accessibility of higher education, but also to limit movement of rural villagers to urban areas. On the other hand, the post-apartheid South Africa government had a mammoth task to transform universities in the country, that is, financially, inclusionary, and representationally. These changes have not borne fruit, and in the main experienced numerous challenges including classism, which turned higher education into a commodity and unaffordable for the poor or rural communities.

Towards the end to 2015, students and workers across South African universities went into the streets to protest fee increases as they realised that they needed to fight for a free higher education that is decolonised and Africanised. Although many of these protests of 2015 started in the urban universities, many rural universities and college campuses joined these protests as they were also stifled by high university fees. However, it should be noted that protests over fees in historically black universities have a long history that dates back before 2025.

It is against this backdrop that this Special Issue seeks to locate the historically Black universities and college campuses within the #MustFall campaigns, whilst at the same time historicising their experiences. The Special Issue endeavours to focus on the #MustFall campaign and the road students, workers and progressive academics among others have traversed in the last ten years in realising inclusive deco-modified, decolonised, and Africanised higher education landscape. This is because historically black universities and college campuses have not yet fully received much of attention in the scholarship of higher education particularly in relation to the #MustFall moment.

Potential Themes:
By suggesting these themes, the editors of this Special Issue intend to spark or stimulate metacognition (thinking about thinking) amongst scholars or contributors. Thus, it should not mean that they are exhaustive (potential themes) for the scope of prospective contributors. Therefore, contributors should feel free to come up with potential themes in line with the above background and working title. The following themes and concepts could be considered or explored:
• The conceptualisation and historicisation of students in historically black universities and colleges as the first Fallists.
• “Le rona re batho!” The role of students, workers and progressive academic in historically black universities and colleges as during the #MustFall moment.
• Experiences of Fallists in college campuses across South Africa.
• Institutional or symbolic representation of colonialism and apartheid in historically Black universities and colleges.
• The role of historically black universities and colleges in the development of their immediate communities.
• An African university in rural area(s)?
• Decolonising knowledge, pedagogy, and assessment for rural contexts in line with Fallists’ demands.
• Languaging? The decolonial language policies of historically black universities and colleges.
• Sexuality and gender politics and otherness (LGBTIQA+, transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Gay and Lesbian) in historically black universities and colleges.
• Adapt or Die? The radical student politics in historically black universities and colleges.
• The quality of teaching and staffing in historically black universities as per the #MustFall student demands.

• Are rural universities in the right path in relation with technological advancements and the Artificial Intelligence?
• Regressive elements of the #MustFall moment in historically black universities. • (In)tolerance and bullying at historically black universities and colleges. • Class struggle, poverty, and student funding at historically black universities.

Submitting to this Special Issue:
• Call to submit Abstract: 01 – 29th of November 2024.
• Editors’ response to submitted abstracts: 30th of November to the 10th of December 2024.
• Submission of full manuscripts: Before or on the 28th of March 2025.
• Reviewing Process (Double Blind Review): 31st of March to the 30th of June 2025.
• Corrections by Contributors: 30th of June to the 15th of August 2025.
• Editors Final Response to edited Submissions: 15th to the 30th of September 2025.
• Final editorial edits and DOI number allocation: 1st to the 31st of October 2025.
• Journal Copyediting: 1st of the November to the 1st of December 2025.
• Publication: December 2025

NB: Abstracts should be sent to mohau.soldaat@ul.ac.za Please CC malulp@unisa.ac.za; kabelo.noosi@nwu.ac.za; paul.hendrick@wits.ac.za and sarah.godsell@wits.ac.za