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(iii) Thirdly, the University — with good reason — often cites plagiarism as
the most cardinal academic sin but I believe denialism and escapism have
even more disastrous effects. 33 Any attempt to stifle debate — even between
students and lecturers — should be rejected. Interpreting art to ‘challenge
conventional wisdoms’, to critically think about the world around us and to
produce new and radically different understandings of and solutions to, inter
alia, the issues that Diane Victor captures in her drawings is one of the many
ways in which we can achieve the transformation needed to advance the
academic project and more importantly dislodge those very evils that Diane
Victor depicts.
Ergo, the University must place itself or at least see itself to be in a
position to deliver social transformation but if it cannot do that, it must
become a breeding ground for social transformers. This is suggestive for the
day-to-day politics, which in turn informs the culture and core value-system
that prevail in the Faculty and ultimately, the kind of lawyers it produces. If
the question of the University as open space does not receive the attention
it deserves, then it will be true — as Prof Jonathan Jansen has said — that ‘...
Tukkies can’t produce intellectuals’. 34
5 Conclusion
Art is no stranger to controversy. I would even go as far as to suggest
that some art would not be so called if it did not shock us out of our
complacency, forcing us to confront issues and themes that we are
only too happy to gloss over. 35
Art, like field journalism, music, poetry & literature and protest theatre have
had an immense impact on society and have been invaluable in uncovering
and understanding the constraints, challenges and dangers that prevail in
post-apartheid South Africa, post-colonial Africa and the post-war world. For
33 Prof van Marle puts forward an interesting proposition. Her argument suggests
that since students are not being taught and encouraged to develop their own
ideas, they end up plagiarising other people’s work. The emphasis here is on the
fact that universities are supposed to be intellectual and creative environments.
The events in the faculty and final decision to hide the etchings in the Public Law
HOD’s office are in diametric opposition to what the University should strive to
be. This may require further research and exploration but it is a notion that I
support wholeheartedly.
34 J Jansen ‘Why Tukkies cannot develop intellectuals’ (2001) Innovation Lecture
Series University of Pretoria.
35 P Matjila ‘Dissecting Nelson Mandela’ The Times 13 July 2010 9.
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