Students abroad in South Africa witness racial representation protests

Nicole Nordstrom heard faint protests from her bedroom window when she was getting ready to go to class at the University of Cape Town in October. She went outside to see a group of about 200 majority black South African students and faculty members speaking in unison and marching toward the university.

University of California Education Abroad Program students studying at the University of Cape Town in South Africa last semester were unable to attend approximately five weeks of classes due to student protesting that began in early October.

Nordstrom, a third-year political science student, was one of six UCLA students studying abroad in South Africa at the time. She said it was shocking to witness the current effects of what she was studying – institutional racism and the effects of apartheid.

The protests were a response to national tuition increases, which the South African government first proposed in 2015.

Students also spoke out against the disproportionate number of black South African students enrolled at UCT. Black South African students make up less than 25 percent of the student population, even though black South Africans make up 80 percent of the national population.

“That was my first experience really understanding the gravity of the situation … (because) so many of these people don’t have the same privileges and standard of living as white Africans,” Nordstrom said.

All students at UCT were given the option to defer final exams last semester due to campus unrest and cancelled classes. International students were given the option to take online versions of exams at their home universities.

Nordstrom said she often questioned her place in the conflict between the university and the students.

“When I didn’t have school I could go to the beach or hike and it was this odd push and pull between … understanding the experiences of a student in that country, but also not understanding what my role was beside (being) an observer or a critical thinker,” Nordstrom said.

UCEAP students received an email from the vice chancellor of UCT asking students not to go to campus when protests began, Nordstrom said. For the next five weeks, students received daily emails informing them that class was cancelled and outlining the effects of the protests.

Protests turned violent and the university brought in a heavy police presence, Nordstrom said. She added protesters damaged school property at night, such as paintings the black population found degrading.

UCEAP liaisons working at UCT enlisted a panel of about five student protesters to go to a group of UCEAP students’ homes and explain the protests from a local standpoint.

“(Panelists) talked about the reality that in order for societal changes to happen you have to do things that … cause people to listen,” Nordstrom said. “They talked about the fact that their voices are less valuable than mine or the white student next to them.”

Lauri Label, a third-year sociology student, said the mobilization she saw at Cape Town reminded her of the Black Lives Matter movement in America.

“It was interesting to hear the news my parents were getting (because) all of it was student violence and none of it addressed how police were responding (violently), and that was a key component of what was going on,” Label said.

Mary McMahon, the UCEAP regional director for Asia and Africa, said UCLA does not guarantee students will receive class units and does not have a standard protocol for accommodations if classes are disrupted due to uncertain and sudden events. She added the university always tries to first allow students to complete terms on site.

Label said students were afraid they would not receive credit for their classes because they only attended about eight weeks of school.

Label took two of her final exams in Cape Town and one last week at UCLA. Nordstrom said she left South Africa two weeks early after taking only one final, and deferred three other exams to be completed online at UCLA.

Label said she finds it strange to be back at UCLA, where there is also an approved tuition hike, and see that students are not mobilized in the same way as the UCT students.

“I feel like we’re consumed with a self-interest whereas I saw a lot of community interest in South Africa,” Label said. “We have the manpower for social change, too.”

McMahon said UCLA coordinated with on-site liaisons to manage the students’ safety and academic concerns.

McMahon said students’ safety was never directly threatened, but protesters blocked access to certain parts of campus and for that reason students were asked to stay home.

According to a survey completed by 16 of the 23 UC students at UCT, 75 percent said they were satisfied with their experience, McMahon said.

“They all acknowledged it had been … hectic, but also made mention of the fact that what they learned they felt they would not have been able to experience, observe and absorb had they been (here) on campus,” McMahon said.

Label and Nordstrom agreed that studying at UCT gave them social perspective. Nordstrom added she will try to pursue photography in the future to combat social injustices after documenting some of the protests.