A friend asked me the other day if I was aware that Wendy Appelbaum, a trustee of the Donald Gordon Foundation, which donated R200m to the University of Cape Town (UCT)’s Neuroscience Institute, has paused her support for UCT.
According to my friend, this was due to serious concerns that the university is in “absolute disarray” as intimated by Appelbaum, who further indicated that the UCT’s “fabric is being torn”. The donor concern included her apprehension regarding the handling of controversial issues, chief among them the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Dr Imtiaz Sooliman and the institution’s handling of Middle East politics.
I immediately combed through social media and other media outlets to get a grasp on the debate surrounding the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Dr Sooliman. I came across Mike van Graan’s bold and well-articulated letter and Leslie London’s article in the Daily Maverick, another bold, enlightening and great article.
I’ve known Appelbaum since 1999 when WIPHOLD listed on the JSE, and she was one of the non-executive directors. She possessed an incredible sense of duty and service, a no-nonsense attitude, forthright and was not one to shy away from voicing her opinion.
You wouldn’t have known her family was wealthy. She was curious, engaging, attentive and spurred by the desire for WIPHOLD to succeed because it was that important to her that women occupy the economic table, one with a menu she was accustomed to and wanted the same for the many other black women at WIPHOLD.
Her grit and determination to fight injustice is demonstrable in the many cases she fought, including for her farm employees against garnishee orders. She took on Auction Alliance for “ghost bidding” and came out triumphant and emboldened to advocate for those who were trampled upon by discriminatory practices that perpetuated inequality, subordination, power and control.
I want to believe Appelbaum is smart enough to know her position in society can make the difference between war and peace, between freedom and repression and between hope and fear.
So I’m at a loss regarding her pause of support for UCT, simply because Dr Sooliman was awarded an honorary doctorate. I’m certain Appelbaum is fully aware that UCT like many other universities awards honorary doctorates to recognise exceptional individuals ― a life of achievement, impact on society or distinguished service to a field, and Dr Sooliman meets one if not all these requirements.
It begs the question, why so much pushback from certain quarters of South Africa, especially wealthy individuals and philanthropists like Appelbaum? Surely, the Donald Gordon Foundation’s contribution to UCT’s Neuroscience Institute should not be used as a stick to beat UCT for not being beholden to the benefactor’s whims.
I want to believe Appelbaum is smart enough to know her position in society can make the difference between war and peace, between freedom and repression and between hope and fear. That she is a product of a country that deployed strategies of slavery, colonialism and apartheid to subjugate black people and limit opportunities to fight the atrocities, harm, misery, brutality, prejudice, contempt and disdain visited upon them.
The Palestinians’ struggle is no different from her farmworkers who experienced injustices through the garnishee order system that stripped them of their humanity.
It is not a coincidence that Appelbaum’s concerns of UCT being in “absolute disarray” and its “fabric being torn” came out during graduation and awards season. The outrage was intended to distract from the good work UCT had done during this academic period, to cast aspersions on the institution for not handling the Middle East situation in accordance with the benefactor’s own moral compass, ideology, privilege and warped sense of importance because they funded the university.
UCT is led by capable academics, administrators and leaders with impeccable moral standing. It is also an institution that upholds freedom of speech and is a fountain of knowledge. It fosters dissent, agreement, dialogue, debate and independent thinking.
It recognises the intersectionality of education, class, race, religion, gender, rural, urban, rich, poor, philanthropy, power, hierarchy in shaping a person’s lived experience. So the likes of Appelbaum should refrain from second-guessing UCT’s leadership and trust that it’s discerning enough not to throw the institution into disarray by awarding the honorary doctorate to Dr Sooliman.
Appelbaum says her personal philosophy is that she loves a good fight but prefers a fight for good. It is a fight for good to fight injustice whenever it rears its ugly head. That justice is about due process that is denied to Palestinians, it is about honesty that is not being encouraged when speaking about the plight of Palestinians, about integrity, law, right and truth.
Be feisty, Appelbaum, in fighting the good fight of compassion, kindness, empathy, tolerance and philanthropy rooted in mutual respect, equity, participation and rights.
We all have a duty and an obligation to adjust our thinking around privilege and remove our tainted glasses to stand a chance of bringing about substantive change to humanity, regardless of locality, geography religion and colour.
Brenda Madumise is the director of Wise4Afrika
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