Johannesburg - A small group of Wits University students associated with the Wits #FeesMustFall movement have embarked on a “F*** White People” protest.
According to Wits, the group claims to be mobilising on behalf of an individual who “will apparently be appearing before the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Wednesday “ for wearing a T-shirt that had the words ‘F*** white people’ painted on the back.
“We are not sure who laid the complaint with the SAHRC,” the university said.
The photo of the student in his T-shirt went viral over social media last month.
Offensive graffiti was sprayed in several places on campus over the weekend, including the Olive Schreiner Law Building and the Wits Law Clinic building.
On Wednesday, students protested on the Great Hall stairs, wearing T-shirts saying: “F** white power”, “F*** De Klerk:” and “Being black is s***”.
Wits said: “The offensive graffiti has been removed from our campus walls, however, the individual wearing the T-shirt has been associated with a number of illegal activities on Wits’s campuses in recent weeks, which we are investigating, in line with the university’s policies.”
The university condemned “the offensive messages” but said according to the constitution, they did not necessarily incite harm.
Wits said the actions were not helping the poorer students’ cause despite the temporary satisfaction some students were obtaining “as a result of wearing offensive T-shirts or spraying graffiti”
“We are forced to clean this offensive graffiti at a huge cost. These are funds which could have been spent on financial aid. This is the tragedy,” it said.
@Lanc_02
The Star