Stellenbosch University's (SU) Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers, has allocated R500 000 to boost the University's Die Vlakte Bursary Fund, which was established at his inauguration in early 2015.
On Monday (18 April), the bursary was awarded to five recipients during a ceremony held in SU's Memory Room.
Prof De Villiers announced the establishment of the Vlakte Bursary Fund in 2015 for descendants of people who were forcibly removed from Die Vlakte, an area close to the town centre of Stellenbosch, as a means of restitution and development.
The funds were received from the Harry Crossley Foundation, awarded to the Rector for exceptional leadership in 2015. The Foundation is one of SU's biggest donors and has contributed to postgraduate bursary programmes and research at the University for the past 22 years.
"Announcing the establishment of the Vlakte Bursary Fund was one of my first acts as Rector, so it's no secret that it is close to my heart. I have decided to allocate the donation I've received from the Harry Crossley Foundation towards this fund in an effort to bolster it and put us in a financial position to award even more bursaries in future," Prof De Villiers said.
"Higher education is a potent form of empowerment, and thus creating opportunities for students in financial need is a priority for me," he added.
According to Mr Arrie Hanekom, Head of SU's Undergraduate Bursaries and Loans Division, five candidates have received the Vlakte Bursary for 2016. The bursary covers basic class fees for the minimum length of the student's chosen programme. The recipients' fields of study range from education and engineering to health sciences and humanities.
"A community committee was convened to help with the verification of the applicants' association with Die Vlakte, and the allocation criteria were applied by the Bursary Committee," Hanekom added.
A maximum of five bursaries will be awarded each year to applicants who lived in the area, and their children and grandchildren. Current and prospective undergraduate students may apply, as well as applicants who will be registering for a first postgraduate programme. Applicants who are no longer living in the Stellenbosch area but who can give proof of their parents or grandparents being affected by the evictions will also be considered. Successful academic progress is a prerequisite to retain the bursary.
Die Vlakte was a neighbourhood in the area between Muller, Bird, and Joubert Streets and Merriman Avenue. The residents were mostly coloured people, and they were forcibly removed in the 1960s under the Group Areas Act. At the time, the University did not protest, and also later built on expropriated land.
For decades, the removals from Die Vlakte and the Battle of Andringa Street were not part of the official history of Stellenbosch and were only placed on record with the publication of In ons Bloed (2006) and Nog altyd hier gewees: Die storie van ʼn Stellenbosse gemeenskap (2007) – publications on the history of the area and supported by the University.
In 2013, the University opened a Memory Room in the Wilcocks Building as a gesture of reconciliation between it and the town's coloured community. The Room is a permanent contemporary exhibition space depicting the suppressed history of people of Die Vlakte.
The brainchild of the late Prof Russel Botman (the then Rector and Vice-Chancellor of SU), the Memory Room originated from the apology in 2012 offered by student leaders in Dagbreek men's residence for the role they played in the Battle of Andringa Street (when white students attacked coloured residents of the adjacent Vlakte and damaged their residences in 1940) and the subsequent meeting between students and former residents of Andringa Street at Botman's house.
Forced removals from Die Vlakte under the Group Areas Act also resulted in the Lückhoff School in Banghoek Road being given to the University. The Lückhoff School has since been rededicated to the local community (in 2007) and houses various community organisations in addition to the University's Division for Social Impact. In 2008 and 2009 a permanent photo exhibition was installed in the building to give recognition to old boys and girls of the school who had become prominent role-players in South African society.
- Photo: Prof Wim de Villiers congratulate the five bursary recipients. They are Wesley Gabriels, Cleo Lawrence , Griezelda Stuurman, Brad Poole and Melissa Hector. (Photographer: Anton Jordaan)
