Rhodes University honoured three South African activists at a student hall and residence naming ceremony on Tuesday.
The ceremony coincides with Human Rights Week, during which several events are held at Rhodes to celebrate the rights of all South Africans.
Rhodes University honoured three South African activists at a student hall and residence naming ceremony on Tuesday.
The ceremony coincides with Human Rights Week, during which several events are held at Rhodes to celebrate the rights of all South Africans.
Three residences, named after Victoria Mxenge, Ruth First and Joe Slovo, will make up the Lillian Ngoyi Hall.
Each of these people played a critical role in the struggle against apartheid and according to a statement released by the university, the naming commemorates their bravery, courage and sacrifice.
Larissa Klazinga, the warden of Ruth First residence, said that the story of women in struggle is about multifaceted women who were activists, mothers and career women, who put the love for their country and families above everything else.
“The naming and launch of new residences after women struggle heroes offers the opportunity to focus and reflect on the totality and complexity of the lives of women engaged in liberation struggles, thus ensuring that their names and the legacies of these extraordinary people do not fade over time,” she said.
Over the past few years, Rhodes has re-named several university buildings, such as the Bantu Stephen Biko Union Building in 2007.
Rhodes recommended that “all new names be in fundamental accord with the vision and mission statement of the university”.
Rhodes has a commitment “to develop shared values and embrace basic human and civil rights, and to acknowledge and be sensitive to the problems created by the legacy of apartheid, to reject all forms of unfair discrimination and to ensure that appropriate corrective measures are employed to redress past imbalances”.
