Oh my there is a Bantu in my bathroom
When one of my favourite twelebrities (a new term used to describe people made famous by twitter. Twitter + Celebrity = Twelebrity) is hosted by the University of the Free State to present a guest lecture about his book “There’s a Bantu in my Bathroom”, you do need to guess who was first in line.
The lecture was presented at the Mabaleng Auditorium, it started at exactly 7pm. Eusebius McKaiser enters the auditorium and there us a roar of applause from the quite surprisingly full venue, he graces us with a smile and thanks us for attending. To my surprise he is quite formally dressed in a suit but no tie, this totally distorts the image of him in my mind.
The lecture was refreshing and it was quite thrilling to be confronted with issues we would rather not discuss and considering the history of our university, race was the touchiest topic. The whole venue was cringing, I know this because I too was cringing and deflecting my embarrassment with uncomfortable chuckles. Once the race issue was done we eased back into the lecture conversation ranging from non-service delivery, the dreaded affirmative action, BEE and as well as the inequalities in our society that affect both Black and White. Mr McKaiser was eloquent and charming, as well as very funny even at the most uncomfortable times. This lecture was one of the best lectures I have attended on campus, next to the late Chinua Achebe’s lecture which was presented in 2012.