Judge Sisi Khampepe has lifted the lid on the struggles of black people at Stellenbosch University in her commission of inquiry report into allegations of racism at the institution released this week. In the report, Khampepe said the university cannot be accused of failing to take steps towards furthering transformation. However, the evidence showed that there was still much to be done, in official terms, the university has accomplished a fair amount in a relatively short space of time. “My only criticism of the university is that it is fairly evident that the formation of its transformation apparatus has occurred in a piecemeal and disjointed fashion. The upshot of this is that the transformation apparatus is actually quite complex, and it can take some time to understand how to navigate the various policies and structures. “This was evidenced by many students who confirmed that the majority of students are entirely unfamiliar with the University’s important policies and offices, particularly the Equality Unit,” she said. Khampempe found that the existing Policy on Unfair Discrimination and Harassment is long and cumbersome, ‘which probably explains why its objectives are not transcending the page into practice.’ “The problem with the university’s approach of adopting a multitude of
complicated policies and structures is that there is bound to be overlap, which can lead to confusion, omissions, a lack of accountability and duplication of efforts. Moreover, the fact that the university is only adopting an official transformation policy this year explains why the transformation apparatus lacks cohesion,” the report found. It further stated that the main problems that are preventing the realisation of the university’s transformation objectives do not appear to lie on paper, but rather in practice. “This is because, notwithstanding the university’s official commitment, there are multifaceted challenges emerging from the history of the university and society at large that make it difficult to move from transformation on paper to practise. “My conclusion is not that the university does not take these matters seriously, but that there is needless bureaucracy in its systems which creates the wrong impression of its commitment to transformation. My advice to the university is that there is beauty and benefit in simplicity,” she said in the report.
The report happened at a time when the university was embroiled in racial scandals. First-year law student, Theuns du Toit, was suspended after a video on social media showed him urinating on the study desk of Agricultural Business Management student, Babalo Ndwayana. A few months later, an Eendrag residence student relieved himself inside the room of two fellow students. The university on Tuesday said the findings of the Khampepe Commission were “a tipping point” for the institution. Rector and vice-chancellor, Wim de Villers, the report was 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 regard 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 the ground level,” said De Villiers. He said the report further indicated that there was still much to be done at the institution.
“Although there is much in the report for the university to take heart from, specific fault lines have also been identified. There is a lot of work to do across, in the interest of all our students and staff, in the sincere spirit of being welcoming and inclusive. “Justice Khampepe made various recommendations that we are now studying deeper. We will evaluate the findings and implement action plans to address the areas for improvement as identified in the commission’s recommendations,” said De Villiers. While the university has welcomed the report, the Democratic Alliance said it would immediately take the report on legal review. The party said the report ‘outrageously scapegoats the Afrikaans language for any and all 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,” the party’s Leon Schreiber said. He added that the findings were designed to provide De Villiers with the excuse he has long sought to eliminate Afrikaans as an academic language. “Equating Afrikaans with racism is not only a disgusting insult to an entire language community in South Africa. It is also completely irrational, based on anecdotal and wholly unrepresentative evidence, and at odds with everything our constitutional democracy stands for. “That is why the DA has immediately instructed our lawyers to take SU’s Khampepe report for review in court. As the leading political champion for language rights in Parliament, the DA will spare no cost and leave no stone unturned to protect the dignity of our indigenous languages – including Afrikaans,” he added.