Book review 8: Breaking A Rainbow Building A Nation Rekgotsofetse Chikane 

The year was 2012 when I first set foot at the North-West University Vaal Triangle Campus. I was nervous, yet deeply excited. Nervous because it was my first time away from home and excited because a new chapter of my life was beginning. 

The atmosphere was filled with so much hope. 

My village dads parting words to me were: “you are the second child that I get to sponsor for University. Please make me proud”. 

I held onto those words tightly, because indeed I was the second among my siblings to enter University. 

In  many African households, this is a significant milestone. Considering the history of our country, access to quality education is not just an opportunity-it is a victory!

I set out to fulfill my parents’ hopes of completing my qualification. But more importantly, my goal was to make the most of my university experience. 

At first, it all felt like a fairytale–registration, buying books and collecting study book guides. But everything began to shift when I started engaging with other students on campus. The realities of student life and struggle quickly become visible.

I met students waiting for funding approvals from financial institutions. Students searching for registration fees. Students who had partial funding and were desperately trying to raise the remaining balance. 

Then there were NSFAS beneficiaries–the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, a South African government entity under the Department of Higher Education and Training that provides financial support to low income students. 

I remember crowds of students standing in long queues, missing classes as they tried to access funding. 

What still breaks my heart to this day were students who travelled from different provinces with no accommodation and no money to return home. Some made temporary arrangements with others, while some were forced to compromise their safety. 

I will never forget the generosity of fellow students  who opened up their rooms to help others. I did the same, because it was painful  to witness.

That was the moment I truly realised what it meant to be a young black person in South Africa. 

I witnessed inequality.

I witnessed the weight of  socio-economic injustices.

I witnessed poverty. 

I saw a generation of young people fighting a system–some succeeding,  and others being left behind. I witnessed a generation determined to re-write the narrative shaped by the legacy of Apartheid.  

University opened my eyes and deepened my consciousness. 

High school shields us from the harsh realities of the world. We move through it believing success is guaranteed. But  university introduces us to life as it truly is– unequal, complex and often unjust. 

It forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth that, in many ways “some animals are more equal than others.”

University expands our worldviews but it also exposes the weaknesses within our institutions and the urgent need for transformation. 

Many higher learning institutions in South Africa are undergoing transformation. Breaking A Rainbow Building A nation powerfully unpacks this need, drawing on the significance of the #FeesMustFall movement. 

In truth, the Fees Must Fall movement was never about “fees”.  It was a call for deeper, structural transformation within South Africa’s higher education system. 

If we are to have honest conversations about transformation, they must begin within our universities.

Thank you Kgotsi, for writing such a revolutionary book. We need book two.

Book 8 of 2026

Revolutionary read. 

Phiwe Mncwabe is a pan-African storyteller, blogger and founder of Botlhale Hub Afrika.

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