This month marks a decade since the advent of Fallism and Woke activism at the University of Cape Town. Amid the turmoil and destruction, one story stands out as a tragic testament to the devastating human toll inflicted by Woke bullying and intimidation. That is the story of Professor Bongani Mayosi, the former Dean of the university’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
Subjected to appalling and relentless abuse by student activists, Professor Mayosi tragically took his own life in July 2018. The university’s enquiry into his death, released in June 2020, provides a stark reminder of the destructive impact of Marxist agitation – not just at an institutional level, but also on good and decent individuals.
The destruction of a gentle and remarkable man
The life-story of Professor Mayosi is one of the most extraordinary and most overlooked chapters of recent South African history. Born in 1967, Professor Mayosi grew up in the village of Nqamakwe in the rural Eastern Cape[1]. He completed his schooling at St John’s College in Umtata where he displayed exceptional academic ability. At the age of just 15, he achieved the highest marks in the then-independent Transkei’s Matric Exams.[2] He proceeded to the University of Natal at which he studied for Bachelor of Medical Sciences and Bachelor of Medicine degrees, both of which he achieved with distinction.[3] After specialising in cardiology at the University of Cape Town, Professor Mayosi was awarded a Nuffield Fellowship to Oxford University where he read for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in cardiovascular medicine.[4]
Professor Mayosi was widely regarded as one of the outstanding academics of his generation. He published over 300 peer-reviewed academic articles in leading scientific journals, including Science, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine.[5] His scholarship was acclaimed both domestically and internationally, with Professor Mayosi being elected to the Academy of Science of South Africa as well as to the American College of Cardiologists, the US National Academy of Medicine[6], the European Society of Cardiology and the Royal College of Physicians of London.[7] Most notably, Professor Mayosi was part of the team which discovered a gene, CDH2, which has been linked to the life-threatening heart disease arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.[8] This breakthrough is regarded as one of the most important advances in South African cardiology since Dr Christiaan Barnard’s pioneering human heart transplant.[9]
Professor Mayosi played a pivotal role in developing systems to train physician-scientists. Working alongside the Minister of Health and key industry figures, he helped establish the “1,000 PhD Programme,”[10] a transformative initiative aimed at advancing medical research in South Africa. He also secured over R 250 million in research funding, significantly boosting scientific innovation.[11] At just 39, Professor Mayosi was appointed to lead UCT’s Department of Medicine and, a decade later, he became Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.[12] In recognition of his extraordinary contributions, in 2009 Professor Mayosi was awarded the Order of Mapungubwe, South Africa’s highest civilian honour.[13]
The University of Cape Town conducted a full enquiry into the death of Professor Mayosi, culminating in a 157-page report which provides a valuable (though not entirely exhaustive) account of the events which drove him to end his life. The findings of the report are clear and damning:
“The panel had no hesitation in concluding, from the testimony presented, that the eruption of the #FeesMustFall protests a few days after Professor Mayosi took up his post as Dean was the single most influential factor directly and indirectly affecting his Deanship.”
* * *
“The panel [drew] from a range of interviews with Professor Mayosi’s colleagues, administrative staff, and students to show how the energy and enthusiasm he brought with his vision was soon dimmed by the relentless and sometimes aggressive stance of the student protesters.”
* * *
“The level of distress Professor Mayosi experienced is captured in his own handwritten notes shared with the panel in which he states that he was ‘deeply affected by the trauma of the period’.”[14]
The abuse was horrific. Using the social media hashtag #OccupyFHS (i.e. Occupy the Faculty of Health Sciences), Fallist thugs intimidated staff and students in the health faculty during October 2016, occupying the Dean’s suite of offices for two weeks and forcing Professor Mayosi and his staff to relocate.[15] One public engagement was effectively hijacked by activists, with staff members subjected to what the report calls “crude engagement” and heckling.[16] The situation became so intense that one staff member suffered an emotional breakdown during the meeting.[17] The report further notes that, by this stage, Professor Mayosi had lost control over the faculty’s affairs,[18] ultimately descending into what it describes as “a state of fear and stuttering.”[19]
As one Health Faculty official recalled:
“Bongani was just absolutely eviscerated. When he conveyed the decision in this stammering voice … this powerful orator who kind of commanded a room had been reduced to someone who was just so unsure of himself, and so terrified, and understandably, in that situation. And, you know, he explained to them that he couldn’t close the faculty, because that was the university’s decision. And the rage was just massive…”[20]
What caused Professor Mayosi’s depression and mental decline? The report found that Professor Mayosi faced relentless harassment, stating that “there is evidence that students showed an incredible amount of disrespect, both in face-to-face encounters with him and in numerous electronic communications with him.”[21] Disappointingly (and inexplicably), the report does not disclose full details of the email correspondence or name any of the perpetrators of the bullying.
However, the report does recount one notable incident in which a group of Fallist activists, who had failed to meet the minimum requirements necessary to gain entrance to the year-end exams (known at the University of Cape Town as “due performance” or “DP” status), confronted Professor Mayosi in his office late one night. Under pressure and threats, he reluctantly sent an email to faculty confirming that the students would be granted a concession.[22] Professor Mayosi immediately regretted this decision, confiding in two colleagues that “he felt he had made a serious mistake by giving in to the student demands.”[23]
The following day, overwhelmed and disillusioned, Professor Mayosi made the first of several attempts to resign as Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. He formalised his intent in an email to the university’s Vice Chancellor, Dr Max Price:
“From: Bongani Mayosi
To: Max Price
Date: Friday 3 November 2017
Subject: Resignation as Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences
Dear Max
I have decided to resign my position as Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. I believe that the faculty deserves better leadership than I have been able to provide in the past year. I am sorry to do this in the middle of a crisis. I will ask Dr Reno Morar to act as Dean while I await your decision.
Yours sincerely
Bongani Mayosi”[24]
After discussions with Dr Price, Professor Mayosi chose to withdraw his resignation.[25]
Alarmingly, the report also details an incident in which protesting students attempted to break into laboratories at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, allegedly intending to release dangerous chemicals and biological specimens. [26] According to the report’s authors, it was only because of luck that this act did not escalate into a humanitarian disaster – one that could have had catastrophic consequences not just for the university, but for the wider Cape Town area. [27]
Equally troubling is the report’s acknowledgment of staff members who actively participated in student protests – not merely in solidarity, but as instigators. [28] However, in yet another frustrating omission, the report does not name these individuals or provide further details. It merely states that the implicated staff were affiliated with the “Academic Staff for Social Justice in Education” group. [29]
All of this took a terrible toll on Professor Mayosi. On one occasion, he was found slumped over his desk with his head on his folded arms, unresponsive to verbal communication from colleagues.[30] On another occasion, after failing to appear at a scheduled event, he was discovered sitting alone in his car in a car park, staring blankly into space.[31] Attendees at a cardiology conference in Egypt, at which Professor Mayosi had been invited to present, reported that he had trouble speaking and was physically shaking.[32] A similar incident occurred at a conference in the United Kingdom, where he failed to attend his session and was eventually found in his hotel room by a concerned friend. Professor Mayosi had wandered the streets of London alone in a despondent state.[33]
During this period, the university’s leadership failed to take meaningful action against the disruptive Fallist activists in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Professor Mayosi was effectively abandoned, with the report describing him as “a man alone, under siege from all directions, with nowhere to turn.”[34] According to Professor Mayosi’s sister, he took sick leave from the university, during which time he confided in his mother that he felt an increasing sense of isolation from his colleagues and a lack of support from the university and faculty.[35]
That Professor Mayosi achieved so much despite spending the first 25 years of his life under the constraints of apartheid is extraordinary. That such a brilliant mind could be so easily and cruelly sacrificed in an era that claims to champion justice and progress is nothing short of a calamity.
Fanning the flames
The tragic story of Professor Mayosi is far from an isolated or unique case. Beyond the disruption that occurred in the Faculty of Health Sciences, there were countless other incidents of violence and intimidation that occurred at the University of Cape Town.
One could point to the literal bonfire of books and portraits of white historical figures that occurred in the parking lot outside Smuts Hall. Or the burning of buses. Or the “Kill All Whites” T-shirts.[36] Or the time when a man who spoke up against the decision to remove the Rhodes statue had his fingers broken outside the Bremner Building. Or the petrol bombing of the Vice Chancellor’s office. Or the violent disruption of the Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting exams – despite them already being relocated to Newlands Rugby Stadium in an attempt to avoid unrest.
Or how about the time when the original faeces-flinger himself – Chumani Maxwele – confronted and threatened a white female lecturer in the Maths department, leaving her so fearful that she locked herself in her office? According to an article published in UCT News, Maxwele forcibly entered her office, banged on her desk and shouted, “WE MUST NOT LISTEN TO WHITES, WE DO NOT NEED THEIR APOLOGIES, THEY HAVE TO BE REMOVED FROM UCT AND HAVE TO BE KILLED!”.[37]
Many – probably all – of these incidents involved criminal conduct. Did the university’s leadership take any action to hold those responsible accountable? The answer to this question is a resounding “No”. On the contrary, there are numerous examples of the university intervening to assist and protect Fallist activists. For example, university leaders intervened in support of the bail application of Masixole Mlandu,[38] a key instigator of violence who somehow was never expelled from the university and would go on to preface his Honours research project with the words “ONE SETTLER ONE BULLET”.[39] They also permitted Chumani Maxwele to graduate, contrary to the standard practice of deferring the graduations of students accused of misconduct.[40] Professor David Benatar has documented at least eleven instances of assault or intimidation involving Maxwele – including incidents at disciplinary hearings convened to address previous allegations against him.[41]
The university’s failure to act allowed the violence and intimidation associated with Fallism to persist for years. In December 2022, Chumani Maxwele resurfaced at an event where he repeatedly punched Professor Jeremy Seekings in the face, knocking his glasses to the floor. [42] And in the past few weeks, radical students disrupted lectures and sports events, bringing academics to a halt. The reality is that the month of March 2015 has lasted a decade at the University of Cape Town.
Ultimately, thousands of people had their studies disrupted, their careers jeopardised and, in some cases, their souls destroyed when the flames of Fallism engulfed the university. Anyone who did not support the Woke Revolution was targeted. The Fallists called them “racists” if they were white; “house-niggers”, “sell-outs”, “coconuts” or “Uncle Toms” if – like Professor Mayosi – they were black. Many left academia. Others emigrated. A significant number struggled with severe psychological distress, with some expressing suicidal thoughts and many relying on anti-anxiety and antidepressant medication just to get through the day.
For one man, it became unbearable. On Friday, 27 July 2018, Bongani Mayosi took his own life. He was 51 years old.
Rewriting history
For those who claim that the supposed benefits of Fallism outweigh its undeniable costs, we must ask: How many staff need to be forced to flee the country? How many buildings and buses and artworks need to be destroyed? How many exams must be disrupted before we decide that the cost is too great? How many professors must take their own lives before we decide that violence, intimidation, and bullying have no place on our campuses?
But these are not questions that Woke academics are willing to contemplate. The fallout from the enquiry into Professor Mayosi’s death has been excruciating for the university’s race-obsessed Marxist Left. For years, they have framed Woke activism as the righteous struggle of oppressed black people against white oppressors. If white academics and students suffered distress as a result of that activism, well, so be it. But the notion that Woke activism could be responsible for the death of a black academic? That is unthinkable to them. And so, predictably, in the past few years we have witnessed relentless narrative manipulation and outright mythmaking.
The first example of such scapegoating and distortion comes from Professor Lydia Cairncross, who now occupies the position of Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences. In an article published in 2018[43], Professor Cairncross claims, with reference to what led to Professor Mayosi’s death, that “none of us will ever really know what happened”. She then dismisses “recent narratives laying blame at the door of only one aspect of these complex facets, in particular the student protests of 2016” calling them “narrow and divisive at a time when deep thinking, open feeling and collective healing is necessary”. So, who or what does she hold responsible? Without offering any justification, she invokes the concept of a “black academic tax” and attributes Mayosi’s struggles to “insidious, covert racism that permeates so many of our university structures, both in the bureaucracy and the academic leadership” which she claims “consciously or unconsciously undermines black leaders.”
Shockingly, she then comes to the defence of the Fallist activists who occupied the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2016 and subjected Professor Mayosi to such horrific abuse. Professor Cairncross states that “Seldom have I seen political protest unfold so spontaneously, so respectfully, so democratically, so beautifully as that particular protest did.” She claims that she “cannot recall an instance where Bongani Mayosi, the man, was disrespected, called names or denigrated in any way, though of course there may have been isolated instances of this.” This selective memory – whether intentional or not – underscores why it is unacceptable for the UCT enquiry’s report to gloss over the details of the abuse that Professor Mayosi faced. We need specifics. We need names. Only then can the obfuscation end, and accountability begin.
The second example of revisionist narrative distortion comes from Lukhona Mnguni, a researcher at the Rivonia Circle, a think tank affiliated with the political party Rise Mzansi.[44] Like Professor Cairncross, Mnguni claims that “We can never know the true facts” before asserting – without justification – that “UCT and many other spaces are still no places for black academics with agency and voice. To survive easily in these institutions you must be reticent, ‘see no evil and hear no evil’ and pretend that you are happy while you die a slow gentle death inside.”
Mnguni speculates, again without providing any evidence, that “No doubt, for siding with students Mayosi earned himself equal disdain and disrespect as that which was meted out against students yet to earn an undergraduate degree. He must have been infantilised by some of his colleagues hell-bent at refusing that UCT should be decolonised.” According to Mnguni, “Mayosi was always going to suffer institutional backlash from colleagues that believed students were misbehaving and denigrating the good name of UCT.” He followed that up with the following pronouncement: “White privilege — at its most vile and punishing mode — cares not for the credentials of the black person seen as a transgressor.”
A third example comes from none other than Chumani Maxwele.[45] In an article that Professor David Benatar describes as “replete with revisionist history and self-exculpatory rationalizations,”[46] Maxwele writes that “the idea that students at Health Science might have contributed to Prof Mayosi’s passing through their name-calling him is neither here nor there given the fact that there are so many other Black Professors that have been called names.” This blatant deflection not only trivialises the psychological toll of sustained abuse but also seeks to normalise it – as if the mistreatment of one academic is justified simply because others have endured similar treatment.
Like Professor Cairncross and Lukhona Mnguni, Maxwele lays the blame with unspecified white people. “The real issue here is that Prof Mayosi was called “incompetent” by White people who were supposed to take his instructions on decolonization and transformation of Health Sciences and more so the medical school and implement them. White people at Health Sciences did not trust nor have faith neither supported Prof Mayosi’s vision of transforming and decolonizing health sciences.”
All of these analyses follow a predictable script. First, there is an attempt to absolve Fallism and Marxist activism of any responsibility. Then, blame is redirected onto white people – or, in the preferred terminology, “whiteness.” These explanations are, of course, entirely baseless. They are cynical and transparent attempts to obscure the glaring truth of what really happened.
Sifting truth from the ashes
The story of Professor Mayosi is significant because a tragedy of this kind must never happen again. But to learn from the past, we must first ensure that it is recorded truthfully. That begins with an honest account of what happened. This is why the delusions of Woke academics are not just misguided. They are dangerous, even deadly. People are entitled to their own beliefs, however detached from reality. But that does not mean the rest of us should be forced to accept or participate in them.
But the tragedy of Professor Mayosi is significant for another reason: it exposes the myths, delusions, and pretensions of South Africa’s Marxist intelligentsia. It reveals that Fallist activism was never truly about fighting racism. At its core, it was always about power and control. Quite plainly, it was about institutional capture and the advancement of Marxist ideology. The consequences are clear: the erosion of behavioural norms and civil rights, the collapse of governance and the steady decline of academic standards. As a result, the University of Cape Town is rapidly devolving into little more than a Woke indoctrination camp – one that is, quite literally, now in a state of advanced physical decay.[47]
Ultimately, this scandal offers a revealing insight into the mindset of the Woke Left. Outwardly, student activists and their enablers present themselves as being compassionate defenders of the downtrodden, deeply invested in the plight of black people. But the reality is quite different. The Woke Left has no genuine concern for black individuals like Professor Mayosi. Their priority is never justice or equality. It was, and remains, their own image. The Woke Left is more interested in looking good than actually doing any good.
And, of course, what happened at the University of Cape Town did not remain confined to its campus. The flames of Fallism swept down into our schools, where teachers and children across the country became targets for Woke activism. Scratch the surface at almost any private or Model-C school in South Africa, and you will quickly find not just one but several figures who have endured appalling abuse. At the same time, those entrusted with governance and leadership often choose to fan the flames, indulging in self-congratulatory virtue-signalling while dismissing or downplaying the real consequences for those – like Professor Mayosi – who bear the brunt of this hostility. Culturally, these schools exist downstream from the University of Cape Town, and are shaped by its ideological currents.
That is why the truth matters. That is why the legacy of Fallism must be presented in its entirety – not merely in a manner that has been airbrushed to the satisfaction of Fallists – and why the public narrative must include a full account of the immense, devastating and almost unfathomable costs of “decolonisation”. That is why the University of Cape Town should release all supporting evidence from its investigation into the death of Professor Bongani Mayosi. For it is long past time to confront the true legacy of Fallism. Only then can we begin the vital work of curing the university of its Marxist affliction and restoring its classical liberal traditions.
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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References
[2] http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-95742018001000002
[3] https://health.uct.ac.za/mayosi-legacy/bongani-mayosi
[4] https://health.uct.ac.za/mayosi-legacy/bongani-mayosi
[5] https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/39/46/4051/5231424?login=false
[7] https://www.uct.ac.za/downloads/email/Mayosi.AbridgedCV.Oct2015.pdf
[8] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31857-9/fulltext
[9] https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2017-03-10-uct-researchers-discover-heart-attack-gene
[11] https://health.uct.ac.za/mayosi-legacy/bongani-mayosi
[13] https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2009-12-14-uct-scholars-get-countrys-highest-honours
[14] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 6. Available at:
[15] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 44.
[16] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 38.
[17] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 38.
[18] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 38.
[19] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 56.
[20] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 54.
[21] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 44.
[22] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 55.
[23] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 88.
[24] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 86.
[25] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 87.
[26] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 37.
[27] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 131.
[28] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 131.
[29] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 37.
[30] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 82.
[31] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 81.
[32] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at pages 81 to 82.
[33] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 82.
[34] Enquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding Professor Bongani Mayosi’s Tenure University of Cape Town, 16 June 2020 at page 59.
[36] https://www.businesslive.co.za/rdm/politics/2016-02-11-uct-condemns-kill-all-whites-t-shirt/
[38] Dr Max Price. Statues and Storms at 249.
[39] David Benatar. The Fall of the University of Cape Town at 149.
[40] David Benatar. The Fall of the University of Cape Town at 313.
[41] David Benatar. The Fall of the University of Cape Town at 293 to 315.
[44] https://mg.co.za/article/2018-08-01-did-uct-kill-bongani-mayosi/
[45] https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/uct-killed-professor-mayosi?ref=quillette.com
[46] https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/uct-killed-professor-mayosi?ref=quillette.com