Cape Town - Stellenbosch University has confirmed receiving a letter from DA Students Organisation chairman Sikhulekile Duma, who was assaulted and knocked out by fellow students after he intervened in a racially charged incident at a fast-food outlet in the town.
“The rector will respond in the appropriate manner to the letter. The university was informed about the event… and has been assisting the SAPS with the investigation,” said university spokesman Martin Viljoen.
He said management was alerted to the letter.
“At this time, the identity of the attackers is unknown to the university and, for now, the primary focus will be to support the injured students. The university’s crisis service has been in contact with them to offer support and counselling,” said Viljoen.
Duma said there were at least three incidents a week where students undermined, shouted at and hassled black workers at fast-food outlets in the area. It was a regular occurrence to see white students, especially when they were drunk, abuse black staff at food outlets.
“Sometimes they shout at them and tell them to hurry up… They also undermine them by making fun of their accents. To me, there is no excuse to behave in the manner they do, even if they are drunk. This shows you that there are still some white people who feel they are still entitled to abuse black people.”
Duma said it was the first time he had seen a racial incident escalating to violence and ending in a physical fight. He had been having meetings with the university to find ways to come up with a solution to the weekend’s incident and other ways of preventing it from happening again.
In a letter to the Cape Times, Duma said he felt compelled to intervene following the harassment of staff at the fast-food establishment in a degrading way by white students. He said the students racially taunted black staff and tugged at their uniforms across the counter.
He had written to the university’s rector and the rector’s management committee to urge them to prioritise tackling racism on campus.
“Far more needs to be done by the university to address racist attitudes among students. The closure of the Inclusivity Office and withdrawal of the dean of students’ position has come at a time when attitudes among students on campus require more intervention, not less,” Duma said.
Police spokesman André Traut said no one had been arrested.