Summer School 2026
The 2025 Summer School programme, which showcases the world-class, often ground-breaking research done by the university’s scholars, is an exemplar of excellence in research and in teaching and learning.
The 2026 Summer School programme, which showcases the world-class, often ground-breaking research done by the university’s scholars, is an exemplar of excellence in research and in teaching and learning. The 2025 programme is emblematic of outstanding scholarship and intellectual rigour, presented by staff, post-graduate students, past and retired university staff, as well as thought leaders, authors, luminaries and scholars from South Africa and across the world, many with deep ties to the university.
Preview: Book Launches at 2026 Summer School
THE SHADOW STATE
Jeff Wicks, journalist
Friday 23 January 3.00 pm COURSE FEES R115; Staff and students R58
On 23 August 2021, Babita Deokaran – a hardworking single mother and chief accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health – was shot down outside her home. The izinkabi paid to kill her were caught, but the question remained: Who ordered her murder, and why?
Investigative journalist Jeff Wicks set out to find the answer. This quest would profoundly change – even endanger – his life, as he bravely followed the leads Babita had left behind. Leads that the Hawks, who were officially investigating her assassination, had failed to act on.
In The Shadow State Wicks uncovers a tangled web of crooked officials, ANC politicians, and extraction syndicates – including that of the notorious ‘Cat’ Matlala – siphoning away billions meant for patients in Gauteng’s public hospitals.
An explosive, fast-paced investigation into greed and state capture, this book is also a moving tribute to the courage of one woman who, when confronted by powerful wrongdoers, refused to keep quiet.
Recommended reading
Wicks, J. 2025. The Shadow State: Why Babita Deokaran had to die. Cape Town: Tafelberg. TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/performance.aspx?itemid=1575862768
2026
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THE TRUTH ABOUT CAPE SLAVERY: CHALLENGING HISTORICAL DISTORTIONS
Patric Tariq Mellet, researcher, writer
Monday 26 January 3.00 pm COURSE FEES R115; Staff and students R58
In The Truth About Cape Slavery Patric Tariq Mellet argues that modern South Africa was established on the foundation of chattel slavery, as in the United States of America. According to Mellet, the existence of a benevolent and mild form of slavery at the Cape is a myth; slavery formed the cornerstone of infrastructure and economic development in South Africa. He claims that the system of indentured labour, as well as the migrant labour system, was nothing but a continuation of slavery in a new form. This then moved to become the cornerstone of the Cape’s agricultural economy and the Boer Republics. His book is a work of ‘restorative memory’, without which restorative justice is not possible.
Recommended reading
Mellet, PT. 2009. Lenses of Cape Identity: Exploring Roots in South Africa. Botswana: Dibanisa. Mellet, PT. 2020. The Lie of 1652: A Decolonised History of Land. Cape Town: Tafelberg.
Mellet, PT. 2022. Cleaner’s Boy: A Resistance Road to a Liberated Life. Cape Town: Tafelberg. Mellet, PT. 2024. The Truth about Cape Slavery. Cape Town: Cape Town: Tafelberg.
TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/performance.aspx?itemid=1575438680
2026
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IN CONVERSATION PARCEL BABY: ALIAS
ES, APARTHEID, NEUROSURGERY
Dr Shafik Parker, neurosurgeon; Emeritus Professor Anwar Mall, University of Cape Town
Thursday 22 January 3.00 pm COURSE FEES R115; Staff and students R58
As a baby, Cassiem was uprooted from his home on the Indian subcontinent and stripped of his identity. He was shipped to South Africa with the name of Shafik Ahmed and forced into a life of servitude. Against a backdrop of racial prejudice and societal constraints as a youngster, he forged a path of resilience. With determination as sharp as the scalpel he would one day wield, Shafik Ahmed ascended from the humblest of schools on the Cape Flats to pioneer the complexities of neurosurgery. Yet fate dealt a cruel blow, abruptly ending his surgical career. His memoir, Parcel Baby, peels back the layers of mystery and deception to reveal the extraordinary life of a man who transformed adversity into triumph. Having built a world from nothing, Shafik Parker’s legacy extends far beyond his personal triumph. His heart, as boundless as his ambition, is dedicated to inspiring others with hope and compassion.
Dr Shafik Parker will be in conversation with Professor Anwar Mall.
Recommended reading
Parker, S. 2025. Parcel Baby. Cape Town: iRon Publishers.
TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/performance.aspx?itemid=1575250342
2026
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GLOWFLY DANCE: LITERATURE AS CHANGEMAKER
Dr Jade Gibson, anthropologist, artist, writer
Friday 30 January 3.00 pm COURSE FEES R115; Staff and students R58
Jade Gibson’s debut novel, Glowfly Dance, is a powerful and haunting account of intimate partner violence as witnessed through the eyes of a young girl. The book was part of a major social change process in addressing domestic violence, including the #MeToo movement in 2017. Although autobiographical, Glowfly Dance was published as a novel but crosses memoir and fiction genres, loosely described as literary autofiction. Jade will speak about the personal experience of navigating the difficult terrain between subjectivity and objectivity; how a novel can be part of a process of bringing about social change; and the impact on her personal and professional life as a speaker and writer. The discussion will appeal to all those interested in the writing process, both memoir and fiction, and how personal stories can act as a catalyst for change.
Recommended reading
Gibson, J. 2015. Glowfly Dance. Cape Town: Penguin Random House. https://thisisafrica.me/arts-and-culture/writing-glowfly-dance/
TO BOOK: https://www.webtickets.co.za/performance.aspx?itemid=1575250931
2026
Closed
Sneak preview: 2026 Summer School
Hiroshima: eighty years on
Eighty years ago, the world learned that the Japanese city of Hiroshima had been shattered by a weapon of unprecedented destructiveness. Eight days later the Japanese accepted the Allied terms of surrender.
Altered states, dreams and archives
This course will describe a history of attempts to understand rock paintings, particularly those from the Cederberg, moving further into the minds and intentions of the painters.
