Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh (born 4 January 1989)[1] is a South African author, musician and activist. Mpofu-Walsh was president of the University of Cape Town Students' Representative Council in 2010.[2] He holds an DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford.[3] In September 2017, Mpofu-Walsh published his debut book, Democracy and Delusion: 10 Myths in South African Politics.[4] Along with the book, he released his debut rap album, also titled Democracy and Delusion.[5][6]

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh
Born4 January 1989
Other namesVice V
Spouse(s)Sumaya Hendricks
Parent(s)Dali Mpofu; Theresa Oakley-Smith

Early life

Mpofu-Walsh was born in Johannesburg, the son of a black father and a white mother. His parents were politically active in the struggle against apartheid. His father is Dali Mpofu a prominent advocate, former SABC CEO and Chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters political party.[7] He attended Sacred Heart College and St John's College. He was part of the hip-hop group Entity, along with rapper AKA and Nhlanhla Makenna. He played for the Orlando Pirates Youth Academy between the ages of 13 and 16. Mpofu-Walsh spent a year living in the rural Eastern Cape village of Qugqwala, before undergoing ritual Xhosa initiation in 2007 .

Mpofu-Walsh attended the University of Cape Town, earning an Honours degree in Politics Philosophy and Economics in 2012. He was SRC President in 2010, where his SRC was the first to successfully challenge the university's proposed fees increase, reducing it from 12% to 8% . At UCT, he co-founded InkuluFreeHeid, a youth-led civil society organisation. He earned a Weidenfeld Scholarship to pursue a master's degree in International Relations at the University of Oxford, which he earned with distinction . He is currently pursuing a doctorate in International Relations at Oxford..

Writing and public career

Mpofu-Walsh released a song called ‘Mr President’, criticising South African President Jacob Zuma for corruption in 2013.[8][9] The song was featured in the Wall Street Journal.[10] That year, the Mail and Guardian named him as one of the 200 top young South Africans.[11]

He has written on the subjects of racism and corruption for South African newspaper City Press. In 2014, his article called "SA's Three-Way Split" predicted that South African politics would split into three poles.[12]

Mpofu-Walsh has been a vocal supporter of free education in South Africa. He published a chapter on a possible free education model in the book Fees Must Fall: Student Revolt, Decolonisation and Governance, published by Wits University Press.[13]

Mpofu-Walsh was also part of the Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford campaign, which aimed to highlight alleged institutional racism at Oxford and called for a statue of Cecil Rhodes located on the Oxford High Street to be relocated.[14] Mpofu-Walsh was quoted as saying:

"There is something deeply wrong with the way Oxford presents itself, with the way it has biases against people and we are raising that and for the first time we are forcing the university to confront that problem and probably doing a better job than any generation before us."[15]

The campaign was ultimately unsuccessful at Oxford, and was opposed by university academics and anti-apartheid activists including Nigel Biggar, Mary Beard and Denis Goldberg. It was supported by prominent academic Noam Chomsky.

Mpofu-Walsh won the City Press-Tafelberg Award for promising non-fiction for his book Democracy and Delusion: 10 Myths in South African Politics, published in September, 2017.[16][17][18]

Discography
  • Democracy and Delusion (2017)

References
  1. inspired4writers (2013-09-25). "Exclusive Interview with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh". inspired4writers. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  2. "Extend SRC's work beyond campus, says president-elect | University of Cape Town News". www.uct.ac.za. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  3. Wire, RDM News. "EFF's Mpofu a 'proud dad' as son graduates from Oxford". Times LIVE. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  4. Whittles, Govan. "Literary bent to hip-hop's Democracy & Delusion". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  5. "Debunking SA's myths". News24. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  6. "'People are going to be outraged by a lot said in this book'- Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh". News24. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  7. https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/dali-mpofu-five-fast-facts-about-attorney/7. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. "Mr President: "You wanna see a chicken run? I'll drown you in your firepool!"". The Daily Vox. 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  9. Jadoo, Yadhana. "'Mr Zuma, your time is up' video goes viral". The Citizen. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  10. McGroarty, Patrick (2014-05-04). "Discord Grips Young South Africans". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  11. "Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh – 2013". 200ysa.mg.co.za. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  12. "Beyond 2014: SA's three-way split". News24. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  13. "Fees Must Fall". Wits University Press. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  14. "Patten criticism of Cecil Rhodes campaign 'scandalous', Best of Today - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  15. "Oxford is 'institutionally racist', say Rhodes Must Fall campaigners". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  16. "Literature corner: Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh exploding myths about SA politics". CapeTalk. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  17. "Literature corner: Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh exploding myths about SA politics". 702. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  18. "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
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