CAPE TOWN - The EFF has described a Twitter post by Stellenbosch University (SU) on International Women’s Day “as a conspicuous display and celebration of whiteness”.
The outrage comes after the university had on International Women’s Day tweeted a picture of women in its top management, who were almost all white.
With the picture, the Tweet read that under the theme “Break the Bias”, women in top management would share their views around the achievement of women’s equality.
However the Tweet was later deleted after receiving backlash from Twitter followers.
EFF provincial spokesperson Wandisile Kasibe said the party was “disgusted” but not surprised by the “blatant racism” displayed by SU.
“International Women’s Day is a global initiative intended to celebrate women regardless of their colour, religion or creed and yet the university has the audacity to undermine the role played by other women. Through this act of racial bias the university presents whiteness as a sine qua non and ‘signifier’ of progress and other black women and women of colour as secondary, aberration and alien to the project of the university. This is a clear microcosm of the underlying hardcore racism that still influences decision making processes at this institution of higher learning,” Kasibe said.
He called on the executive management of SU to institute an investigation into the matter.
SU meanwhile apologised for the incident.
University spokesperson, Martin Viljoen said: “Stellenbosch University (SU) acknowledges that the picture used in error was insensitive and apologises unreservedly.
“Over the years, the University has actively promoted the profile of female academics and leaders through the extensive placement of articles and opinion editorials in the media. The picture is not a reflection of what the University aspires to, it has been removed from our website and social media along with the accompanying article,” said Martin.
He added that transformation at senior management level remained a “core focus” on the SU’s agenda.
“While this is a journey not without its challenges, we can report that progress has been made specifically with regard to growth in representative academic staff numbers and the appointment of members from these population groups to senior positions,” said Martin.
Cape Times