MINISTER NZIMANDE STATEMENT ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN THE POST SCHOOL EDUCATION AND TRAINING SECTOR ON THE ALLEGED RACIST INCIDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH
Minister Nzimande condemns in the strongest terms what clearly appears to be a blatantly racist act, where a white student committed an egregious act against the dignity and person of a fellow black student at the Stellenbosch University's Huis Marias student residence. This incident was captured in video footage in circulation on social media.
The Minister welcomes the swift action taken by the University to suspend the perpetrator of this shameful and de-humanizing act against another student and urges the University to take the strongest action to ensure that the university does not provide sanctuary to any racists. There is no place for such behaviour or persons at our universities.
The Minister expects a report from the University following the disciplinary hearing which is scheduled to take place on Friday, the 20th May 2022. Minister Nzimande furthermore directed that Higher Health work together with the University to provide the necessary support and comfort to the affected student to ensure that the student is not further violated further.
On the broader scale, the Minister calls upon the university to ensure that it firmly enforces a zero-tolerance policy to guarantee that it provides no sanctuary to racists and ensures that the university is a safe space for all its students and staff.
The Minister further asserts that the incident, like similar past incidents, point to a fundamental question about the continued persistence of oppressive social structures in parts of South African society that fosters a disposition in which a young person endows himself the right to behave in the most egregious and abominable racist manner against a fellow human being.
If it is the case that no person is born racist, as former State President Nelson Mandela correctly argued, where does such behaviour stem from?
Statement issued by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, 18 May 2022
