If you’re an outsider and unaware of the furore surrounding the closure of the Wilgenhof men’s residence at Stellenbosch University (SU), there is an easy way to begin to make sense of the hype.
In January this year, SU officials opened two locked rooms in the highly secretive Wilgenhof residence where they found deeply disturbing evidence of torture and abuse at the 120-year-old male student accommodation.
The SU Council recently announced the closure of Wilgenhof based on the principal recommendation in the report from the panel that was tasked with investigating the initiation practices at the res. This decision was met by hysterical opposition from a pro-Wilgenhof faction and received wide coverage in Afrikaans media.
To understand the support for such a disturbing culture, you need to look no further than the genocide currently happening in Gaza. Think of the photos of rabid Israeli protesters who stormed the Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel in July to demand the release of soldiers who were detained after they abused and raped Palestinian prisoners.
If you can imagine the depravity of people willing to openly agitate for the right to torture and sexually abuse prisoners, you can begin to understand the power dynamics of the Wilgenhof cult of ruthless entitlement.
Financial power at play
Don’t be fooled by the crocodile tears from old boys who claim all they want to do is preserve precious res traditions for future generations. Read between the lines for the actual message from the Wilgenhof brigade: we are a law unto ourselves. We will rape and torture and abuse and humiliate to our hearts' delight to achieve our goal of blind loyalty and privilege.
The only reason there is still a debate about the closure of such a clearly toxic establishment is the financial power of the old boys who want to keep the place going. They are holding Stellenbosch University to ransom with threats of withholding substantial donations.
To those unfamiliar with such cults of patriarchal impunity, it’s difficult to grasp the kind of brainwashing that would lead seemingly normal people to defend the indefensible. It is no coincidence that the Afrikaans media have given so much coverage to the pro-Wilgenhof band of “blood brothers”.
A number of mainstream media entities overwhelmingly still represent white economic interests and share the vested interests of the powerful Wilgenhof lobby – to enshrine and perpetuate ownership of South Africa’s economy.
It is also no accident that so many former Wilgenhof residents are captains of industry in South Africa – Christo Wiese, Michael Jordaan, Paul Harris and Whitey Basson, to name but a few. The economy in South Africa is inherently built on the exploitation of cheap black labour. It takes a coldly ruthless mindset to perpetuate such a callous system.
Those currently holding the reigns in our asymmetrical economy understand an important truth – you need a training ground for future captains of industry to be thoroughly schooled in two principles: ruthlessness to oppress and exploit others and sycophantic loyalty to the people who can open doors to the upper echelons of the business world.
The students who undergo initiation in places like Wilgenhof are made to accept the degradation and humiliation in their first year, because they’re promised they will inherit the power to degrade and humiliate others as part of a package of eternal privilege.
Once the brainwashing is completed, you’re accepted as a “master” in a world that you’ve been convinced still consists of a hierarchy of masters and underlings (in Afrikaans the “Baas-Klaas” hegemony). As a Wilgenhoffer, you’ve learned that you and your blood brothers deserve to be on top of the food chain. Your shared experiences have entitled and indemnified you to shape the world to benefit you and your kind. The men you’ve bonded with over alcohol, sweat, excrement and dark sexual secrets will forever have your back.
Famous names used to gaslight critics
An important part of the prescribed initiation rituals includes learning to mercilessly silence any voices of descent. Another element is claiming persecution by those who want to “destroy” all remnants of Afrikaner culture.
One of the most devious gaslighting tactics this modern Broederbond use to justify the value of an establishment such as Wilgenhof is citing famous alumni such as anti-apartheid activist Beyers Naudé, progressive politician Frederik Van-Zyl Slabbert and former Constitutional Court Justice Edwin Cameron. They want critics to believe exceptional cases are proof of a benevolent res culture and that these good men were primarily shaped by their experiences in Wilgenhof.
They can push this lie because they know full well how effectively those who did not enjoy the Wilgenhof experience have been intimidated and silenced.
The inclusion of a black minority in Wilgenhof (as well as the odd gay student) over the past two decades is often flaunted as “proof” that it is no longer a bastion of white male Afrikaans power. But if you look closely at the success of the white economy in South Africa, you’ll see since the birth of democracy in 1994, the overlords of industry have been very calculated in opening the doors to their kingdom to a token few to create the illusion of inclusion and equal access. They know exactly what percentage of the “other” to welcome in and coerce so that it doesn’t threaten the core hegemony of their power base.
The brainwashing has another powerful impact – to convince the chosen few that being in a res such as Wilgenhof is the most profound student experience one could possibly wish for. The indoctrination these men undergo succeed in narrowing their imaginations to any other way of being a student. They cannot fathom that other students form meaningful connections and lifelong friendships that are not forged by coercion, violence, fear and militaristic traditions.
A lack of imagination
Such a lack of imagination has a devastating effect, especially in a context of a university that is trying hard to shed apartheid-era baggage and transform to become more inclusive.
Imagination is a transformative human ability that enables us to empathise with others whose experiences differ from our own. Choosing not to exercise this capacity can lead to a closed mindset, where individuals ignore suffering that doesn’t affect them personally. This deliberate lack of empathy not only fosters fear and anxiety but also allows harmful forces to flourish unchecked.
The zealots fighting to uphold unimaginative practices and cultures born in the darkest corners of racist patriarchy are doing so because they still benefit from the excesses of those tyrannical relics from the past. They wilfully refuse to consider other ways of doing and being because they are too scared to imagine alternatives to the systems that keep delivering privilege and power so effectively.
That is why we should continue to question the motives of those who whitewash and minimise clear evidence of abuse.
And that is why the Wilgenhof of old should be dismantled in its entirety.
* Bianca Van Wyk is a social commentator.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.