Courageous friends

NADINE GORDIMER

NADINE GORDIMER (DLitt honoris causa 1984), Nobel Prize recipient for Literature in 1991, was a close friend of Wits. Born in Springs and educated at the local convent school, she enrolled at Wits in 1946, but left after only one year.

In 2008 she told WITSReview: “I don’t know why I did that really. At 20 I had read much more than was on the reading list. I’d already educated myself. But there were one or two good people there and I think it stimulated my critical sense.” At Wits she mixed with fellow students from diverse racial, class and national backgrounds for the first time.

Gordimer maintained a lifelong connection to the University, giving generously of her time. She often appeared on campus to participate in colloquia and alumni events. When asked what people could learn from her writing she said: “I’m not teaching anybody anything. The best I could say and hope for is (as I read other writers) that they should question their own set ideas. Think again about your certainties.”

THE ANNUAL NADINE GORDIMER MEMORIAL LECTURE BRINGS GLOBAL THINKERS AND ACADEMICS TO THE UNIVERSITY. ESTABLISHED BY THE WITS SCHOOL OF LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE STUDIES IN 2004, IT OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT ON THE ROLE OF LITERATURE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND IN EDUCATION. PREVIOUS LUMINARIES INCLUDE SUSAN SONTAG, AMARTYA SEN AND CARLOS FUENTES. THIS YEAR ACCLAIMED AUTHOR AND POET DR MANDLA LANGA (DLITT HONORIS CAUSA, MA 2020) SHARED HOW HE WAS TRANSFORMED BY READING GORDIMER’S WORK IN A LECTURE TITLED: “THE VOCABULARY OF WITNESSES”.

NELSON MANDELA

Nelson Mandela with Joe Slovo

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WITS MADE ME WHAT I AM

NELSON MANDELA (LLD honoris causa 1991) was a law student from 1943 to 1949, but he did not graduate with a Wits LLB. He experienced racism and found it difficult to juggle his political commitments to the ANC Youth League and his studies.

While at Wits he befriended anti-apartheid activists such as Joe Slovo (BA 1948, LLB 1951), Ruth First (BA 1946) and George Bizos (BA 1951, LLB 1954, LLD honoris causa 1999). He said the University exposed him “to a new world of ideas and political debates, a world where people were passionate about politics”.

His applications to complete his LLB were blocked for years and only in 1998 did he qualify for his LLB from UNISA.

He graciously accepted an honorary doctorate from Wits in 1991 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

He requested a reunion with the law class of 1946, including those who had snubbed him. In November 1996 at the reunion he said: “Wits made me what I am today. I am what I am both as a result of people who respected me and helped me, and those who did not respect me and treated me badly.”

TODAY THE LEGACY OF THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MANDELA AND WITS IS REPRESENTED BY THE NELSON MANDELA INSTITUTE, MANDELA-RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS AS WELL AS THE NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, LAUNCHED IN 2017. *SEE PAGE 39