The following is an extract from Albert Grundlingh's book: Slabbert: Man on a Mission, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg, 2021
After a year at Wits Van Zyl Slabbert moved to Stellenbosch University, where the Dutch Reformed Church's theological seminary was located. He had to complete a BA degree before he could be admitted to the seminary. One of the reasons for the move to Stellenbosch was in order to take classical Hebrew, which was not formally offered at Wits and was a prerequisite for admission to the seminary.
As a filler subject, he also continued with sociology, which he had started at Wits. Little did he know that sociology was destined to become a career choice. His overall undergraduate record was respectable but not outstanding. In 1960 he obtained the following grades at Stellenbosch: Greek II, 6; Afrikaans-Nederlands, II, 6; Sociology II, 5; Hebrew I, 7. In the following year, he graduated with AfrikaansNederlands, 5; Sociology, 7; and Hebrew TI, 7.
Stellenbosch at the time was considered a premier Afrikaner institution.
Thousands of young white men and women, overwhelmingly Afrikaans-speaking, descended on the town to attend the university. They came mainly from the Cape Province but also from further afield, as Stellenbosch had successfully manufactured a reputation as the Athens of the south - a place of academic excellence with a unique student life amid scenic natural surroundings. In terms of intellectual life, Stellenbosch was to Afrikaners what the Oxbridge universities were to the national life of Britain, or the Ivy League universities to America.
The university was also closely connected to the ruling National Party. Slabbert later graphically described Stellenbosch as 'the uncomplicated and charmingly oak-lined avenue of mobility to the upper slopes of ''volksdiens" [service to the nation]. The university was a force to be reckoned with in the affairs of state. It had connections and had to be taken very seriously. By and large, there was also considerable support for apartheid. Even those individuals who might have had their doubts, one academic explained, 'neither expressed "voice" publicly or within the system, but simply "exited", opting instead for the quiet life in a stream of Afrikaner conformity'.
Slabbert did not fit the usual profile of a Stellenbosch student. Whereas many students came from solid middle-class family backgrounds, with parents who believed in the sanctity of marriage, even if contrived at times,
Slabbert's home life, as we have seen, was much more complicated and marked by discontinuities due to his absent and divorced parents. Moreover, in a broader sense, Slabbert's close connections with black people from an early age predisposed him to be suspicious of apartheid policy formulations that spoke of black people in the abstract, in rarefied terms rather than as people of flesh and blood.
It meant that when he landed at Stellenbosch, he brought with him a conception of black people that was largely absent from the mindset of many pro-apartheid university staff, students and townspeople. Black people might well have featured as objects of missionary endeavour, a major thrust of the theology faculty, but as a result of influx control measures there were few black people in town, and neighbouring Kayamandi was still a relatively small township.
Ironically, the intellectual development of apartheid thinking at the university took place without real engagement with black people.
Slabbert lived at Wilgenhof, the oldest male student residence at Stellenbosch. Life in residence carried a particular imprint of tradition and esprit de corps that could become all-consuming. The university rector in the 1960s, Professor HB Thom, regarded residence culture as an integral part of the university experience. He argued that one could perhaps 'distinguish between academic life and resident life, but they cannot be separated'.
According to Thom, they were 'two sides of the same thing'. Wilgenhof had in this respect developed a reputation that was almost second to none. The existence of an exceptional sense of camaraderie or 'residence spirit' was facilitated by the relatively small number of students who lived there, and by the fact that all the rooms opened onto a common quadrangle, which encouraged easy mingling and made for intense student discussions and debates. lt was later even claimed that this discursive culture contributed to the fact that a number of Wilgenhof old boys made their name in politics, including Slabbert.
Slabbert himself commented upon hi initial experience. at Wilgenhof, likening it to a 'total in institution' that ruled one's entire life and required absolute 1oyalty. Any concern with the outside world' he later said, is lobotomised away by the immediacy of residence life. During their first two weeks at Wilgenhof students were subjected to the most intense orientation/initiation/abuse imaginable, both physically and mentally". Slabbert experienced this at first hand. When he arrived in Stellenbosch he took a taxi from the station to the residence, as he did not know the town at all.
When he arrived in Stellenbosch, he took a taxi from the station to the residence, as he did not know the town at all. Upon arrival at Wilgenhof, and just as he was about to pay for the taxi, some of the senior students exaggeratedly pretended to welcome him, paid the taxi fare and even carried his baggage from the car into the residence. But once the taxi had departed, they pounced. Within 45 seconds, he said, his clothes were stripped from his body and he stood there only in his underwear. They also trampled on his sunglasses and tore his scarf, shouting, 'You mustn't think that this a fashion show, you know! Here you behave yourself! Here you must know your place!'
Yet, for all its harshness, there was supposed to be an underlying logic that was not immediately apparent but was part of a bigger picture. The initiation he experienced, Slabbert claimed, was designed to alert the newcomer not to act in an unreflective manner. He elaborated on the supposed rationale behind the rituals: 'Every time you unthinkingly carried out an order, you had to shout "parrot" repeatedly.'
At the same time it was drummed into him that 'the place', as the institution was called, required almost unconditional loyalty. Paradoxically, this 'strengthened independence'. Ultimately, the aim, instilled somewhat roughly and contradictorily, was to incorporate the residence's perceived values, including a critical outlook. Discussions and debates in the residence allowed for a fair degree of latitude, provided that a point of view could be substantiated. Thom in general regarded this dimension of residence culture as a wonderful bonus, 'as without realising it, one experienced a true schooling for life'.
He was not far off the mark. Slabbert later recalled that he benefited greatly from the variety of discussion groups at the university. For many of his generation, the cut and thrust of these
groups was a 'major formative experience'. Besides this, 'the place' also had a sense of concern for others. What stood out for Slabbert was the way in which one was accepted as a person. In a particular case, he remembered bow an impoverished student was helped to complete his studies through a fund established by his house1nates.
It was at Wilgenhof that Slabbert made acquaintances that were to last a lifetime, in particular Jannie Gagiano, later to become a lecturer in political science at the university. Gagiano was one of those irreverent characters that Slabbert was easily attracted to, not least because Slabbert found in him a worthwhile foil for testing his own ideas. Although they were often at cross-purposes, there was mutual respect.
A lifelong friendship was born at Wilgenhof. Slabbert also became primarius (head student) of Wilgenhof in only his second year, which for a relative junior was most unusual at that time. He had to step into the breach in June 1963 when the incumbent head student was expelled for irregular conduct. Slabbert was to serve for four months.
Slabbert seems to have found in Wilgenhof a place where he could test his intellectual mettle by engaging in robust debate. It was also a close-knit community that held him in esteem and recognised his leadership qualities. Fellow students, keen on wide-ranging and lively debates, often filled his room. For someone from a dislocated background, the acceptance of his peers in a new 'home' could only have been a morale booster.
Although Wilgenhof provided an enabling environment, it should be borne in mind that Slabbert came to the residence as a relatively hardened youth, having already spent much time in school hostels. That experience likely facilitated his entry into the rough-and-nimble world of Wilgenhof. It also prepared him, somewhat later, to become a resident warden for other male residences on the Stellenbosch campus.
