Fred Hendricks
F.Hendricks@ru.ac.za

During August 1968 the council of the University of Cape Town appointed Archie Mafeje to the position of senior lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology.  Yet, they rescinded the decision almost as soon as it was made.  There was no law prohibiting blacks from
teaching at white universities but a threat from the apartheid regime was enough for the UCT council to prevent Mafeje from taking up his position.  In support of Mafeje the students occupied the University's administration building in a nine day sit-in.  This paper provides a critical appraisal of the nature of academic freedom at the white liberal universities in South Africa during apartheid.  It tells the story of the "Mafeje Affair".  While it attempts to provide a corrective account of the role of universities during and after apartheid, it also hopes to serve as an intervention which may allow the University of Cape Town to atone for the manner in which they have wronged Mafeje