S AT U R D AY S TA R

INSIGHT

December 29

2012

15

Habib ready for forward rush of treasure n blood

Wits Universitys new vice-chancellor believes higher education must be transformed, and hes ready to make his contribution to the reforms
UFRIEDA HO

NEW tenant is about to move into Savernake, the 1904 mansion on the Parktown ridge thats the traditional home of Wits Universitys vice-chancellor. Professor Adam Habib will call Savernake home by June next year and will also take up the top spot of VC and principal at the university after shadowing outgoing VC, Professor Loyiso Nongxa. But even as the university has been in a celebratory mood, hitting the big nine O this year, Habib knows he inherits long simmering tensions and fractures. This year Wits academic staff went on strike over salaries they say dont meet sector norms; salary disparity; and measly research funding. Theres also growing frustration from students who cant afford fee hikes; the universitys world rankings are slipping; and fewer academics are being retained. My undertaking is to talk with all the constituents, to meet around a table and to discuss a way to move from being diametrically opposed, to being able to moderate and start sharing the same script, says Habib. He knows, too, that for the last 20 years Wits has stagnated in its output of published papers. While it retains its position of second top university in the country coming behind UCT and ahead of University of Pretoria, the rest of South Africas other top universities have proportionately streaked ahead. I believe Wits has enormous potential to improve its research. For us to be world-class means we have to become masters of the local. You have only to look at the Wits-led solutions to deep-level mining used the world over, because Wits has been able to make itself a respected leader. You cant imitate; you have to find your specificity says Habib. , Habib has his own brand of specificity hes public, hes opinionated, he gets under peoples skin and he talks politics a lot. It raised questions about the Pietermaritzburg-born academic being too fiery too vocal for the role of VC or , conversely that the role would cool Habibs fire. Unlikely says Habib. VC s hould , be part of public discourse and debate, he says, and points to his peers like Professors Jonathan Jansen and Njabulo Ndebele who dont shy away from placing themselves in the middle of South African conversations. Habib will continue writing his regular newspaper columns and

PLENTY OF CHALLENGES: Prof Adam Habib will take over the top spot of VC and principal at the University PICTURE: DUMISANI SIBEKO of the Witwatersrand by June.
uprising not unlike the Marikana nightmare. He says: We need leadership, not just from the president but from every sector and even in our private lives. We also need to choose less consumerist lifestyles if we want a more equal society . But Habib has optimism too. For him it shows up in South Africans fighting spirit. Citizens refusal to back down means democracy thrives, even when unpopular decisions make them rage. Raging comes with the promise of possibility a little like Habibs theme song of the moment, Bruce Springsteens Jack of All Trades. Its a ballad of a working man taking on any job, waiting for the winds of change, the hurricane that rushes in a tomorrow soaked in treasure and blood. The days ahead may be of both treasure and blood, but Habib is ready Hes ready to call Wits home, . Savernake too, where he says the first thing hell move in is his pingpong table. Its the boys favourite. It also represents another of the professors challenges: to finally unseat Irfan as reigning Habib household table tennis champ.

A NEW BROOM: Gwede Mantashe congratulates Adam Habib on his appointment as the new vicechancellor of Wits University at a media briefing at the ANC elective conference in Mangaung recently.
PICTURE: ANTOINE DE RAS
insists he has not been asked to rein in his commentary or opinions by the universitys appointments council. He accepts, though, that his new role will limit his time to be readily available for sound bites and quick comments. None of this stops prickly issues from cropping up, though. During the appointment process the three short-listed candidates of Habib; Professor Yunus Ballim, Wits Deputy VC; and Dr Liesbeth Botha, a researcher at the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) were asked how they would juggle the needs and interests of the universitys diverse constituencies. These include donors, corporate partners, and religious and political associates. Candidates were posed a question relating to the Palestine and Israel conflict. Habib was deputy VC at University of Johannesburg (UJ) when UJ made the highly publicised move last year to sever a 25-year relationship with Israels Ben Gurion University . If you look at the forums, associations and conferences Ive been involved with youll see they cut across all society . For me, Wits must be about creating open spaces that accommodate a diversity of views and is ideologically free, says Habib. Its the critical awareness and freedom of thought he hopes for the students of South Africa. University should be the space to form ideas, think deeply and question. Habib says when graduates walk across the Wits Great Hall stage to be capped, it should signal that theyre exiting the system as highly skilled, technically adept professionals. More so he wants them to be professionals who are accessible to their communities. He says: We dont just want excellent doctors, but doctors who, when they are deployed to a poor, rural community are able to speak , to their patients and understand their needs. Theres much to transform in the higher education landscape. Habib admits students arrive at university nowhere near ready for first year. At the opposite end of the scale, talented pupils are missing out on a university education because they live in rural areas, are poor or have never been exposed to tertiary education as an option. Habib says more differentiated tertiary education institutions are needed. FET (Further Education and Training) colleges, universities of technology and high-level academic and research universities need to start delivering in their separate but equally important roles. We also want students who become good citizens; young people who are responsible, responsive, who care about the world they live in the climate, the people around them, says Habib, a father of two sons. His and his wife Fatimas boys,

SIMMERING TENSION: A student on the Wits Main Campus.

PICTURE: MOTSHWARI MOFOKENG
Irfan, 17, and Zidaan, 12, will be the future students who need higher education in South Africa and South Africa as a whole to hit the mark. Habib knows education pressures are framed as so much else in South Africa is by inequality . Polarisation foments revolt and

Ruling exposes fault line in prison health regime

RUTH HOPKINS
ECSTATIC, is how Dudley Lee (66) felt when his lawyer told him the Constitutional Court had ruled in his favour. In what is considered a landmark decision, the court held that the government is responsible for the damages Lee suffered as a result of contracting TB while he was jailed in Cape Towns Pollsmoor prison from 1999 to 2004. The court found that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) had not taken enough preventative measures to minimise the transmission of the disease. It overturned a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that acknowledged DCS had failed to tackle the pulmonary disease effectively but ruled Lee could not prove , he wouldnt have become infected if all appropriate measures were in place. The Constitutional Court found that the SCA had applied this causality test too rigidly and it referred the case back to the Western Cape High Court, which will decide on the amount of damages that will be awarded to Lee for his pain and suffering and loss of income. Jonathan Cohen, Lees lawyer, will be demanding approximately R800 000 before the Western Cape High Court. Lee says he welcomes the money: I have waited for nearly nine years for this decision to come through, while living on a state pension. After rent, I have about R150 left for the rest of the month. Lee used to be a businessman selling second cars and replica watches when he was arrested, alongside four other suspects, for fraud, money laundering and forged money and ID documents. He was sent to Pollsmoor, one of South Africas most notorious prisons because of its pervasive gang violence and abominable health conditions. Lee left Pollsmoor when he was acquitted of all charges, a few months after he was diagnosed with TB. I survived that health time bomb for four and a half years. Its a filthy gutter, there was no TB screening of new inmates and the cells were overcrowded and poorly ventilated. Research published in 2011 in the South African Medical Journal showed that there was a 90 percent chance inmates might contract TB in Pollsmoor because of poor sanitary and other conditions. After his release in 2004, Lee claims the trauma continued: Even though I was acquitted of all charges against me, the community still views you as a criminal. After spending nearly five years in prison, I was suddenly thrown out on to the streets. I suffered and still suffer from losing my house, job and my car. I had nothing to return to, yet I was not offered counselling or any form of help. My family members are straight laced and they dont speak to me any more because of my jail time, so I dont have much to fall back on. Lee was recently diagnosed with cancer and has to walk to the hospital for radio therapy from the old , age home in Cape Town where he lives, as he cannot afford transport. After these years of hardship, Lee now holds modest wishes for the future: I want a semblance of order in my life. It would be nice if I could live in a one-bedroom house in a retirement village, if I could pay for medical aid and buy myself a scooter to get around. If the high court awards the damages, Lee will most probably be able to realise his plans, but this does not mean he has forgotten his time inside. Most guys I met in prison were illiterate. I hope I can go back to prisons to teach them how to read and write. The South African government is like a mushroom mafia: they keep you in the dark and feed you manure. But its not right to kick people when they are down. Inmates should be rehabilitated and offered a new chance at life. They are my countrymen and I feel an obligation to help them, Lee said. While TB should be a manageable disease, it is the top killer in South African prisons, mainly because the government has not applied its own health rules and regulations, which are designed to reduce the spread of the pulmonary illness substantially The constitu. tional court ruling could open up a new legal avenue for many inmates who suffered a similar fate. This legal remedy however, has , come too late for former inmate Bobby Leping, a fridge repair man from Soweto. In 2009, he was embroiled in a family tiff. The police were called and they arrested him for possession of illegal firearms. Leping was incarcerated in Johannesburgs Sun City prison and later in Pretorias local prison. Somewhere along the line he contracted TB, which wasnt treated for months. When the doctors finally did administer medicine, it was too late. He died two weeks after he was acquitted in January 2012 of all charges and released. Cohen is hopeful the ruling will be significant for other inmates: A judge will always have to consider the merits of each case individually . But if DCS doesnt implement change soon in its correctional facilities, this decision will provide a strong precedent for inmates infected with the disease. The ruling of the SCA (according to which Lee couldnt prove he would not have contracted the disease if all measures were in place RH) made the State untouchable. The Constitutional Court has changed that, by clearly establishing that the State cannot continue to disrespect the human rights of prisoners. Dudley Lees life might return to some semblance of order within the foreseeable future, as his lawyer hopes to settle the damages claim before April 2013. Even though Lee says prison ruined his life, he does not look back in anger. I was very bitter, but it gets you nowhere. I try to see the bigger picture. Im a Christian now and see what happened to me as the steep learning curve of life. Ruth Hopkins works as a journalist for the Wits Justice Project, which investigates miscarriages of justice.

LANDMARK DECISION: Dudley Lee has been awarded damages after contracting TB in Pollsmoor Prison.