Cape Town - Stellenbosch University management can no longer be convinced that alcohol is solely to blame for the recent racist incidents plaguing the institution.
That’s finding an easy way out of an institutionalised problem that requires the university to first concede that its environment is a safe haven for such attitudes, and then move with speed in dismantling it practically.
In 2022, it’s beyond heartbreaking that black students in that facility are made to feel inferior by their white counterparts who demean their dignity by either using racial slurs or urinating on their belongings.
Yes, these incidents mostly happen when the white perpetrators consume alcohol, but that does not even come close to justifying their actions.
The latest incident in the early hours of Saturday involves a white student who urinated on the belongings of two black students at Eendrag male residence.
He was temporarily suspended pending a confirmation of suspension hearing.
It happened a day after the National Prosecuting Authority reported that it would move to prosecute Theuns du Toit, who was expelled after being found guilty of urinating on fellow black student Babalo Ndwayana’s study material in an incident that shocked the country and parts of the world.
The recent incident happened almost a month after Stellenbosch University suspended another drunk white student who allegedly urinated on his roommate’s chair at the Helshoogte residence.
There are more incidents that have filled our news pages in recent weeks and months.
What they demonstrate is that the university is nowhere near ridding itself of racism so long as it fails to recognise that the problem is bigger than alcohol.
It’s a systemic injustice against the black majority of this country who have yet to heal from the pain of the past. It starts with how the university takes seriously its transformation agenda, including the promotion of black academics, especially women, to senior positions.
This should not be done as a window-dressing exercise, but as a process of correcting the wrongs of the past that still haunt the university.
The time for that is now. It can no longer be avoided or put on the back burner unless the university is still comfortable having to explain itself when racism rears its head.
Cape Times