Interview: How African scholars face ‘academic xenophobia’ in South African universities
In this episode of Global South Conversations, we spoke with Dr Precious Simba, a Zimbabwean lecturer at Stellenbosch University, about her new study on the marginalisation of African academics in South Africa.
The research conducted across 26 public universities discovered some striking incidents of discrimination encountered by esteemed academics who agreed to be named.
“One such scholar is the renowned philosopher and social theorist Joseph-Achille Mbembe… he's been in South Africa for over 20 years, and even at that level, he still struggles with visa issues. Something as archaic as visa issues,” she told host Ismail Akwei.
“There is one particular scholar, she is at UCT [University of Cape Town]. She said the discrimination is so subtle that you even start to question your own sanity and asking what is exactly happening? But she said that what she has learned over time is not to ruffle any feathers but to take on an extra working load. So when everybody else is going home, it's the weekend, they're relaxing, you'll find the foreign academics, they're working overtime. They are teaching extra classes. They are working out of their minds to publish more to contribute so that they don't feel like a burden.
“It's almost like being a child that has been adopted into a family but never accepted, and so you're made to feel that you need to work for the grace of being in this household. You need to prove that you are thankful,” she added.
Dr Simba said the research team had to hire a psychologist as support for the project because of the emotions that came from just talking about these issues.
Watch the attached video for the full interview with Dr Precious Simba.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
