AGI & AFS statement on VC Phakeng’s tweet on 18 May 2022

The Department of African Feminist Studies and the African Gender Institute have been following the Twitter commentary on the experiences of a UCT member who has laid a criminal case against a UCT Professor for rape. On the night of May 18th, VC Phakeng responded to a tweet challenging UCT by saying that the person writing about her experience of rape had a 'real agenda' that should be revealed. 

There is an ongoing widespread Twitter based sense of outrage at the idea that anyone telling a story of rape has an 'agenda.' The African Gender Institute and the Department of African Feminist Studies shares this outrage and calls on VC Phakeng to explain herself and retract her allegation.

It is worth remembering that it was precisely an allegation like this which caused Khwezi in 2006 to flee the country, afraid for her life, after she accused Zuma of raping her. Many other people telling of their experiences of rape have encountered the response that they have 'an agenda' rather than a truth; we know this from long years of activism, research and personal experiences. Telling those who share stories of rape that they have 'an agenda' is dangerous, historically toxic, and unacceptable from a Vice Chancellor (or anyone else).

The Department of African Feminist Studies and the African Gender Institute stands in solidarity with all those trying to tell of their experiences of rape. We would like to offer whatever support we can to ensuring that UCT works constantly against cultures of language and practices which make rape and sexual assault so familiar. We are not afraid of difficult conversations and we are not afraid of demanding a leadership attuned to the work of fighting gender-based violence and knowledgeable about what that might entail.