Cape Town - It was May 16, the end of the day, and I was about to turn in for the night.
A notification popped up on my mobile device, lighting up a dimly lit room. A headline with the words ‘Stellenbosch University’ drew my attention, and as a former employee at said institution, naturally, my curiosity was piqued.
An article by a news outlet left me feeling irate and frustrated; another race related incident at Marais Huis and Stellenbosch University.
I learnt of the horrible ordeal that a young man had been put through. A student by the name of Babalo Ndwayana, a name on everyone’s lips right now, a young man who had his dignity stepped on by a fellow white student in the now notorious and widely publicised ‘Stellenbosch University urinating scandal’.
A question arose in my head; just what the hell is the matter with Stellenbosch?
It must be said that I am not a student at Maties, nor a former student, and therefore, do not presume to be an expert on the culture at Marais Huis or any other pieds-à-terre or quarters for that matter.
However, as a former employee who has experienced racial gas-lighting and micro-aggressions first-hand, allow me to add my two cents.
“Elitist”, “Bigoted”, “Snobbish”, “Preferential”, and “Patriarchal”; words that spring to mind when I recollect my experiences in Stellenbosch.
Terms that can never be placed alongside the following: ‘Gender Equality’, ‘LGBTQ Rights’, ‘Freedom of Speech’, and ‘Transformation’.
There is an unspoken uncomfortableness in the air, a complex among Stellenboschians. We have heard the term “White Guilt” before, and in my experience, it is either overt or underlying.
I have experienced two kinds of individuals: those who acknowledge the systemic disparities and have led a conscious and cumulative effort to unlearn and establish fairness by fighting institutionalised racism and right-wing nationalist ideology.
Then there are those who are neck-high in denialism, who are defensive, who ‘whitesplain” and adopt an almost avoidant attitude about past events and/or any other race-related issue that may, potentially crop up for previously disadvantaged individuals.
The latter of the two classes often seeks justification and attempts to make acceptable and palatable what is obviously not.
They view the world around them from under a restrictive lens and have no plans to adjust it.
There is the possibility of underlying shame, ignorance or apathy; this behaviour is synonymous with what is known as ‘White Fragility’.
The term white fragility can be defined as “the tendency among members of the dominant white cultural group to have a defensive, wounded, angry, or dismissive response to evidence of racism”.
In my experience, there is a deep rooted shame (an often cagey approach) in some when referring to matters of the past and its effects today.
Boomers and some millennials suffer cognitive dissonance when race- related matters are brought to their attention, matters involving the institution or even the town.
It is very disturbing, however, when we learn that the offender is a post- apartheid aka "Gen Z" product, and obviously, has no first-hand knowledge of the above, only what has been dictated and taught to him by his guardians and his community.
An infant has no awareness of the colour of its skin and what that could mean in the future, but a child is groomed over the course of some time to believe that which is of great importance to the groomer or groomers.
Of course, parents cannot be held accountable if their children commit acts of violence or vandalism independently, especially after reaching the age of responsibility, but the conversations being had in private act undoubtedly as a catalyst, influencing many young people's understanding of colour politics today.
It also holds up a mirror to that particular family; it speaks to the culture and the ethos of a particular society or town. Seeds that are sown at a tender age, the fruits thereafter can either enrich society or poison it.
To enter into someone else's room, to defile and destroy their personal belongings, tainting their varsity experience altogether cannot be normalised by couching it in the cultural practices of initiation that students often experience at first-year level.
What could have possibly possessed the perpetrator? One could also argue that the act of urination (unconsciously) is a “marking of territory” if you will.
According to the Journal of Animal Science, animals often mark their territory in order to “stake out a claim” - to bring to the attention of a perceived threat that the property or land is theirs.
Whatever the reasons may be, this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and shameful, to say the least.
Expulsion may set a precedent, yes, and the disciplinary steps already taken by the institution are being welcomed. However, the above means absolutely nothing when a horde of Matie loyalists still continue to offer up caveats. There are some who vehemently deny that the incident was racially motivated.
Others believe that the behaviour of the perpetrator is nothing more than the frivolous practice of hazing, often experienced by students at a first-year level.
Then there are those who have expressed anger towards the reaction of the supporters of the victim, citing exaggeration and “victim mentality” as a few root causes of major disruption on the campus.
This kind of denialism and downright victim shaming has its roots firmly placed in a ‘White Fragility Complex’.
In conclusion, rotten fruits do not appear unexpectedly. They are cultivated over a period of time and are connected to branches, off-shoots, trunks and roots. Rotten fruits alone cannot bear the responsibility of the crime in question. The entire “root system” must be ripped out if there are serious plans in place to quell prejudice and racism in Stellenbosch.
The unearthing of prejudice and racism starts with a firm and committed re-education programme, not just mere lip-service by affluent Vice Chancellors or Rectors.
Anonymous is a Poet and Graphic Artist.
Cape Times