Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University students held an intersectional march against systemic issues at the institution on Friday, 20 May 2022. Photo: Storm Simpson / The South African

DA says Stellenbosch ‘racism’ report scapegoats Afrikaans ‘for any and all problems’

‘This is a sobering moment for the University. It is evident that black staff members and students do not feel welcome here, despite our deliberate transformation efforts to date,’ said Professor Wim de Villiers.

Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University students held an intersectional march against systemic issues at the institution on Friday, 20 May 2022. Photo: Storm Simpson / The South African

Stellenbosch University made public the report of the Commission of Inquiry into alleged racism at the university on Tuesday, 8 November. Retired Judge Sisi Khampepe was approached to head the commission after Stellenbosch was rocked by the urination scandal earlier in 2022. She officially began work on 13 June.

STELLENBOSCH ‘RACISM’ REPORT RELEASED

The University said it envisaged a review of the culture at Stellenbosch in its entirety along with a look at policies, operating procedures, and responses.

The commission considered incidents of alleged racism at the university and the current state of racial diversity, equity and inclusion in the campus culture – specifically looking at racism and resultant prejudice – among other things.

“This is a sobering moment for the University. It is evident that black staff members and students do not feel welcome here, despite our deliberate transformation efforts to date.

“We must face the reality that there is a gap between our intentions with regards to various transformation initiatives and the implementation thereof. We have to work hard to align our institutional commitments with what is happening in practice and on ground level,” said Professor Wim de Villiers, the rector.

In the report, the commission found that black students and staff members still feel unwelcome and excluded at Stellenbosch. This was due to a variety of factors.

The first factor listed was, “The history of the University and the symbolic meaning that it has acquired for certain members of the White, Afrikaans community poses challenges to transformation at the University. This is because there are people, both within and outside of the University, who believe that the University is culturally significant to Afrikaners and that the status quo should accordingly be preserved.”

The word “Afrikaans” appears 103 times in the 184-page report. Soon after its release, the Democratic Alliance said it would “immediately” take the report on legal review.

Leon Schreiber, the DA’s Constituency Head in Stellenbosch, said the Khampepe report scapegoats Afrikaans for problems at the university.

“Since Wim de Villiers became rector of the institution, SU has perpetrated various injustices against Afrikaans students, including by banning them from speaking Afrikaans in residences and in public – a violation that the DA referred to the Human Rights Commission.

“But the Khampepe report escalates the attack on Afrikaans to unprecedented levels by effectively blaming the seven million speakers of Afrikaans – the most diverse language in South Africa – for any and all racial tensions and incidents like the urination scandal,” he said.

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