Stellenbosch University on Monday said that it had launched an investigation into a video showing a White student urinating on a Black student’s belongings. The incident, which took place over the weekend, sparked protests at the university on Monday.
Many have labeled the incident as an act of racism and have called on university authorities to take action. In a statement, Stellenbosch University spokesperson Martin Viljoen said that the university “strongly condemns the destructive, hurtful and racist incident”.
The White student involved has so far been suspended from the university and criminal charges may be taken depending on what comes out of the investigation, authorities told BBC.
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Media reports say that the Black student was sleeping when he heard that someone was in his room. He awoke to find the White student urinating on his belongings. In the video cited by BBC, the Black student is heard asking the White student why he is peeing on his property.
“The Black student is still in shock. When I spoke to him, you can see he is still trying to process what just happened. It is just shocking what happened,” Stellenbosch University senior director of student affairs Choice Makhetha was quoted by 702 News.
“It was not the K-word but something that borders around discrimination and possibly racism, depending on how you look at it. It was a matter of basically diminishing his human dignity, just looking down on a person,” Makhetha added.
