Corridors of Death

Malaika Wa Azania

Description

The post-apartheid dispensation that has seen Black people continue to be hurled at the margins of existence has crystalised mental pathologies that have their roots in our violent and amoral past. Millions of Black people in South Africa are battling with a range of mental health challenges resulting from a complex interplay between biological, psychological, social and environmental factors.In Corridors of Death, the lived experiences of Black students in historically White universities is explored, exposing how structural violence, racism and a culture of alienation are pushing them to the edge of depression and increasingly, suicide. The book contends that urgent structural and institutional interventions need to be made, the centre of which must be transformation that reflects the demographic and socio-political construct of the South African society. Unless and until this happens, Black students will increasingly reach an unendurable level of invisible agony, and die in universities.

Sujets

• Littérature Sud-Africaine
• Littérature sud-africaine

Informations

• Publié par: Blackbird Books
• Date de parution: 01 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781990977169
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Corridors of Death
The Struggle to Exist in
Historically White Institutions

Malaika Wa Azania





First published by Blackbird Books, 2020
593 Zone 4
Seshego
Polokwane 0742
South Africa
www.blackbirdbooks.africa
© Malaika Wa Azania, 2020
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-990977-16-9
Also available in print.
Cover design by Megan Ross
Editing by Norma Young
Layout design by Nsuku L. Sithole
Proofreading by Katlego Tapala
See a complete list of Blackbird Books titles at
www.blackbirdbooks.africa



This book is written for Black students in historically White universities who died of suicide after reaching an unendurable level of invisible agony. And for thousands more who are struggling to breathe…


Contents
Mental health in
universities
An unbearable agony
Thando Mbilini:
We come from brokenness
Le rona re batho
Begging to be Black
#RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall as a struggle for belonging
Institutionalised racism: White supervisors and the deliberate sabotage of Black students
TUT students and the
Wits gives you the edge – and pushes you over
A University of Pretoria student died that day
White universities are killing Black academics too
It follows us to the workplace
Thuma Mina must go to
Where must young people
Acknowledgments
About the author



Chapter 1
Mental health in
universities
A devastating tragedy occurred in August of 2018. A beautiful young woman died by suicide at her home in the south of Johannesburg. Her name was Khensani Maseko, she was a student at Rhodes University and had been in the Student Representative Council (SRC). Although her family threw a ring of silence around her death, her friends shared the details with the world, as did Khensani herself. The young woman had been raped by a fellow student a few months before her death and had been battling severe depression since then. One morning she woke up and wrote a gut-wrenching post on her Twitter account. With a caption: ‘No one deserves to be raped’, it read, simply:
24.07.1995
03.08.2018

These were the date of her birth and the date of her death, respectively. Khensani’s death sent shockwaves across South Africa. It sparked a dialogue about rape culture within the institution as well as higher learning institutions in general. Student protests erupted across the country as finally, students broke the silence about an issue that had been gestating for many years, but which until that moment, had never been elevated to national discourse. But beyond the conversation on rape culture, the death of Khensani also sparked a dialogue on mental health in higher learning institutions, and although this dialogue was not centred on race relations, it was an entry point for a discussion that would ultimately centre the race element of mental health.
One of the issues that emerged from Khensani’s death was the inadequate support that institutions of higher learning provide for students who are dealing with mental health issues. Although Khensani reportedly sought help shortly before her death, from Nkoli-Fassie, an organisation dealing with various issues including sexual assault on campus, according to her friends, she felt isolated at Rhodes University. This isolation was said by a number of students interviewed by Kwandokuhle Njoli of the Sunday Tribune, in an article titled ‘Rape victims face culprits daily at Rhodes’, to be stemming from a culture of silence that permeates the institution. This culture of silence was directly linked to the management’s consistent failure to deal with rape cases at the university.
One student, making reference to the #RUReferenceList protests that had gripped the university two years earlier, naming and shaming rapists who were still enrolled in the university, had this to say: ‘Three years after #RuReferenceList, we still feel unsafe. Earlier this year a student was raped in one of the residences and all the university did was release a statement saying, “investigations are being conducted”. That was the last time we heard anything on the matter.’
These sentiments were shared by many students at the university, who continuously argued that the inefficiency of the institution in dealing with sexual abuse cases resulted in a situation where victims would be forced to attend classes with perpetrators, and that this caused them great mental and emotional harm. A former student activist at Rhodes University contended that it took the death of Khensani for the university’s management to finally realise that rape culture was a massive issue on campus. As a student at the university, I agree wholeheartedly with these sentiments and believe that had it not been for the tragic death of the beautiful Khensani, the university would still be getting away with rendering victims of sexual abuse on campus invisible.
Painful though it may be, the death of Khensani played an important role in forcing our universities, and indeed the country, to take seriously the issue of rape culture. For this reason, her death was not in vain even as it could and should have been prevented.
Deaths that should also not be in vain are those of Sanele Dlamini, Kago Moeng, Relebogile Pheto, Mpumelelo Tshabalala, Xolani Kosi, Tiyiselani Mpangane and many others. These are students from Wits University, the University of Johannesburg and the University of Cape Town who have died by suicide in the recent past. They are not the complete number of students who have died or attempted to take their lives in our universities. According to the University of Pretoria, 23 students attempted death by suicide in 2018 alone. During the year 2017, the University of Cape Town recorded six deaths by suicide.
There is no way to determine with absolute certainty the number of attempted deaths by suicide at Rhodes University because the institution’s culture of silence goes beyond rape culture. It extends to every issue that is in any way related to mental health. The university does not speak out about such issues and in fact, to a great extent alienates students who are crying out for help.
During my first year at the university, I lived on campus at Milner House in Hobson Hall. A young woman at my residence attempted death by suicide, but thankfully, was discovered by fellow residence mates. She was sent home to her family and that was the end of the story. The following year, I was financially excluded and so did not return to the university. But when I did the year after that, I discovered that one of my friends had been relieved by the institution after she too had attempted death by suicide. She had fallen pregnant, but because of her poverty-stricken background, could not afford to keep the child. She was also on a very strict scholarship programme that would drop her with immediate effect had it been discovered that she was pregnant. Because of this, she terminated the pregnancy. A close mutual friend would later inform me that the abortion was done backdoor, and that some students at the residence had in fact seen the embryo floating in the toilet while the student herself was on the floor bleeding. But understanding what was at stake for her, they had taken a pact to keep quiet in order to protect her. A few months later she had fallen into a deep depression and attempted death by suicide.
When the institution found out about this, she was sent home to ‘recover’ but informed that she could return when she was feeling better.
This is generally how Rhodes University deals with students who attempt death by suicide. The university’s ‘Threatened, Attempted or Completed Suicide Protocol’ begins with this deeply disturbing statement: ‘The University will endeavour to do all that can be reasonably expected to prevent a student from ending his or her life. However, the primary responsibility for this lies with the student concerned… ’ [Emphasis mine]
It goes on to speak cleverly about how the university has minimal responsibility towards students who attempt death by suicide; that such students should be admitted to a psychiatric hospital or be released into the care of their families. The result of this insouciant approach to students is at the heart of why so many suffer in silence. They fear that if they come out openly about their struggles with depression leading to suicidal thoughts, they might be compelled to de-register from the university and be forced to return home where they would be forced to deal with disapproving families, often in very troubled environments.
Over the years, there has been significant proliferation of literature on mental illness in higher learning institutions. This is especially true for developed countries, where there has been greater investment not only in the provision of healthcare services for students, but also in research aimed at designing meaningful interventions that could curb the growing crisis. I say that this is a crisis because according to the Association for University and College Counselling Center Directors Annual Survey, the international organisation for counselling centre directors comprised of universities and colleges from the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, the number of students with significant psychological problems is growing exponentially. In its survey report published in 2013 by the American Psychological Association, Vol. 44, No. 6, the organisation found that:
Anxiety is the top presenting concern among college students (41.6 per cent), followed by depression (36.4 per cent). On average, 24.5 per cent of clients were taking psychotropic medications. However, 19 per cent of directors report the availabil