Archie Mafeje came to national prominence in 1968 as a result of ‘The Mafeje Affair’. This occurred when Professor Monica Wilson tried to have Mafeje appointed as a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The 1959 Extension of University Act, far from extending university admissions, restricted Africans to segregated universities. The Act required that any designated European university could only engage African lecturers by special ministerial dispensation. The government of South Africa refused to allow UCT to appoint Mafeje. There was a hue and cry from UCT faculty and students protesting against government prohibition. The protest spread to other universities in the region including the Universities of Botswana, Lesotho (in Roma) and Swaziland (UBLS). After these symbolic protests, mainly in the form of sit-ins and marches with placards, university authorities soon succumbed to the dictates of government. To all intents and purposes, the Mafeje Affair was laid to rest. He, however, remains a tower amongst African intellectuals.