Fire, freedom and disrepair

By Zenobia Ismail. The wave of violent protests at South African universities and the frequent use of fire as a weapon have provoked much analysis of fire as an idiom for political change in South Africa. In January when the students at the University of Cape Town raided the portraits adorning the dining hall at Fuller House and set fire to them, an article in The Economist carried the headline “Whiteness Burning”. Read more...