Flag flying at half-mast to commemorate those lost to violence in recent days
- By Prof. Yunus Ballim
As the Acting Vice-Chancellor, I have requested that the Wits flag be flown at half-mast for this week in memory of those members of our community who died recently in the violence at Marikana and Pomeroy. Events like these always leave us feeling that an important part of our humanness is being offended. Regardless of our distance from the event, we feel the blow of such violence as if we were right at its source.
足球竞彩app排名ly, the flag is at half-mast to symbolise Wits’ deep dismay and the continuing expression of violence that characterises social and institutional interactions in South Africa. Marikana and Pomeroy are only recent examples of this characteristic. Wits flinches with the same pain when violence is visited upon an individual or a group; a single child or a gathering of adults. Social justice cannot be allowed to reside in the stoning hand or the trigger finger of those with more power. This on-going violence is a part of our national and collective shame and it is right that Wits acts to disturb the conscience of our community – students, staff and the broader South Africa alike.
My VCO colleagues and I are considering a range of public expressions of our concern in this regard and I will keep the Wits community informed as these initiatives develop.
Sincerely
Prof. Yunus Ballim
Acting Vice-Chancellor