Historic public space for the working class under threat

EVICTION LOOMS

- MANYANE MANYANE [e-mail]

THE historic Khanya College could soon be forced to stop operating as the City of Johannesburg is planning to evict the institution from the Workers Museum Cottage.

According to Khanya, the city wants to turn the cottage into an administrative office. The college said this decision threatens the closure of the city’s last remaining public space that serves working people and communities in Johannesburg.

On the other hand, the city said the agreement ended more than a year ago.

The metro said this agreement was that Khanya College would use and occupy a particular building, in East Cottage, for a period of three years from 2021 to 2024.

Khanya College was established in 1986, when the apartheid system was starting to unravel.

It allowed students who were classified as “black” by apartheid legislation the chance to gain access to universities classified as “white”.

Its history as a college that opened the doors of white universities to black students during apartheid holds three key lessons for higher education in South Africa today. These relate to empowering students through an African and global curriculum, encouraging critical thinking, and transforming universities and society.