Rewriting history

Open letter to Dr. Max Price, Vicechancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT)

Sir,

It is with sadness that I am witnessing part of the renaming process that is currently taking place at the UCT. I would like to draw your attention to the names of Sir Julius Wernher and Alfred and Otto Beit. Yes, they were as so called Randlords involved in exploitative economic undertakings. Yes, these German born Jews were affiliated to Cecil Rhodes and held views that are different from nowadays ideas. On the other hand they funded greater parts of the University. The Medical School would not be in existence without their legacy. Your argument that there should be a definite break with a past that we are not all part of  seems to me a dangerous one. Every student who uses the facilities of the UCT is part of that history. Reinterpreting history selectively used to be the prerogative of dictatorships.

When I first had the privilege to speak to one of your predecessors, Mr. Stuart Saunders, because of a smaller grant the German foundation I was working for was planning to donate to the UCT Business School I was impressed by the high level of integration and the peaceful atmosphere on the campus. At that time it seemed to be possible without pushing forward with the name game like it is happening now.  

It would do no harm to continue to name at least one building after the early benefactors Wernher and Beit.

Yours sincerely,

Edith Werner