Abstract

This counter-petition calls for the R. W. James Building at UCT to retain its name. R. W. James was an internationally renowned scientist who played a lasting role in establishing UCT Physics as a research institution. His legacy extends beyond science: at a critical moment in South Africa's history, he publicly opposed government-imposed racial restrictions on university admissions, earning the admiration of his colleagues. His record cannot fairly be reduced to the racial injustices of his era. UCT's history of exclusion must be acknowledged honestly, and Dr Mosibudi Mangena's contributions to science and science education deserve recognition. Neither of these objectives necessitates the removal of R. W. James's name. His scientific contributions and opposition to racial restrictions are reasons for his legacy to be honoured, not discarded. UCT should pursue meaningful transformation while making historically informed decisions about whom it continues to honour.

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This counter-petition opposes the proposal to rename the R.W. James building on UCT's Upper Campus after Dr Mosibudi Mangena (henceforth referred to as “the renaming petition” [4]). It argues that R.W. James's historical record and contribution to Physics at UCT deserve fuller consideration before any decision is made to remove his name.

R.W. James was a pioneer of X-ray crystallography with an international scientific reputation, appointed Professor of Physics at UCT in 1937. During his tenure, he helped establish and expand the department's research activities, building laboratories that provided postgraduate students with opportunities to undertake research of international quality. His significance to UCT therefore lies not only in his individual scientific achievements, but also in his lasting contribution to developing the Department of Physics as a research institution.[3] This makes his legacy particularly relevant to the naming of this building.

The renaming petition uses an individual student’s account of representation to frame a broader assessment of the Department of Physics. It cites a student's experience of not having had a black lecturer during two years of physics lectures. That experience deserves to be taken seriously, but judging the department's overall staff composition and progress in transformation would be nonsensical without evidence. It does not follow from the fact that “black people are the majority in this country” that “finding a black lecturer to teach physics shouldn’t have been difficult”. The supply of qualified physicists depends on a national pipeline, and that pipeline was shaped by decades of unequal education and professional opportunity under apartheid, consequences that have not yet run their course. Underrepresentation in physics is real and deserves serious attention, but it largely reflects a wider history, and the renaming petition offers no evidence that the department’s current practices are its cause. What the department does within these constraints, in terms of hiring, funding and retention, is a fair question. The building’s name is not an answer to that.

The renaming petition makes an inherently contradictory statement about what it aims not to achieve: “Changing the science building's name is not about erasing R.W. James's accomplishments and contributions to physics at UCT,” it states. However, in practice, that is what following through with this action achieves: removing his name would withdraw an important form of public recognition from a figure central to the department's history. If not on the front of the building where he dedicated two decades of his life to developing the UCT Department of Physics as an institution which garners international recognition, then where? This history and legacy should not be left to historical texts and small writing on plaques or posters for the few who happen upon the history. 

Perhaps this obfuscation would have been justified if the petition had made any case against the personal record of R.W. James, but not even that much can be said. “We acknowledge R.W. James's accomplishments, and we also acknowledge the segregation that excluded black people from contributing to the science of UCT during his time.” These two statements can coexist without remotely necessitating treating the name and scientific legacy of this important figure in UCT’s history, in effect, as a cancer to be removed. R.W. James was in a position where he performed his duties under the rule of the apartheid government. The renaming petition acknowledges that there is a record of R.W. James being “against the apartheid regime”, and even that “rigorous activism would’ve had a negative consequence on the institution”, but does not elaborate. UCT's history of racial exclusion must be acknowledged, but R.W. James's own historical record must also be examined. As R. D. Cherry recounts, R.W. James publicly challenged the government's propaganda accompanying the parliamentary debate over racial restrictions on university admissions. Cherry recalled that R.W. James's speech at a protest meeting in Cape Town drew loud applause and made his colleagues proud of him.[1] W. Lawrence Bragg's biographical memoir independently records R.W. James's opposition to the Separate Universities Bill and to government restrictions on the university's freedom to admit academically qualified students.[2]

My petition does not dispute that Dr Mosibudi Mangena has made valuable contributions to science and science education in South Africa. However, he has not had any direct ties to the Department of Physics at UCT, and recognising his contributions alone does not establish that he is the most appropriate person to replace R.W. James as the namesake of this building instead of recognising his achievements through another appropriate means. Dr Mosibudi Mangena “deserves his flowers while he is still alive”, but not at the expense of the flowers of another man who has had a tangible role in shaping the Department of Physics at UCT; a man who has a rich and valued history in our department in particular, and a man who was a brilliant scientist that we as young scientists today should remember and be inspired by despite the time in which he existed. If honouring Mangena is a priority, a dedicated applied mathematics scholarship or chair in his name could provide meaningful recognition.

Slapping a new name on this building may have symbolic value to those in support of the change, but symbolic recognition and actual transformation are separate objectives. The renaming petition does not satisfactorily explain how this particular renaming would contribute to measurable improvements in representation or equality within the Department of Physics, nor why it should take priority over other possible measures. UCT should be able to pursue meaningful transformation while also making historically informed decisions about which individuals it continues to honour. The renaming petition asserts,“The history of the physics department paints a very sad story of exclusion and being built on top of black people's pain.” This sentence does not acknowledge the positive change that has happened thus far at UCT and in the Department of Physics, and it does not establish why an out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new attitude should be applied to every character within a painful period of the past.

One might say the question posed is not about R.W. James’s personal record but what UCT, as an institution, chooses to honour. That is a fair question, and UCT’s history of exclusion deserves honest acknowledgement. UCT’s naming policy already sets principles, including historical context and values. Any decision should show how R.W. James’s full record measures against them. Naming a building after a person honours that person’s record. In R.W. James’s case, that record includes public opposition to racial restrictions on university admissions, alongside his substantial contribution to the development of Physics at UCT. I believe that his record warrants fuller historical acknowledgement, not the removal of his name.

I call on those who share this perspective to support retaining the name of the R.W. James building unless a thorough, evidence-based assessment establishes sufficient grounds for its removal. Any decision should consider R.W. James's historical record in its totality, his contribution to UCT Physics, the legitimate concerns raised about racial exclusion, and UCT's own naming policy. Efforts to improve representation and equality within the department should continue.

References
[1] Cherry, R. D. “Professor R.W. James.” South African Journal of Science, vol. 93, February 1997, pp. 94–96. https://science.uct.ac.za/department-physics/history-rw-james/rd-cherry-tribute
[2] Bragg, W. L. “Reginald William James, 1891–1964.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, vol. 11, 1965, pp. 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1965.0007
[3] University of Cape Town, Department of Physics. “R.W. James.” https://science.uct.ac.za/department-physics/history/rw-james

[4] Black Empowerment: Changing UCT's RW James building to Dr Mosibudi Mangena building. Change.org. https://c.org/qzMwmWCWmZ