Cape Town - Stellenbosch University’s new vice-chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers, was greeted by chants from protesters calling for an end to white supremacy at the institution as he walked the red carpet to his inauguration on Wednesday.
As the academic procession made its way to the ceremony, members of Open Stellenbosch, joined by UCT students, shouted, “Down white power down!” and held up posters stating, “Less than 3.5% black professors” and “Stop asking why did you come here if you don’t speak Afrikaans”.
As the ceremony started, the group started to sing Struggle songs before dispersing peacefully.
On its Facebook page Open Stellenbosch describes itself as “a collective of students, staff and faculty interested in purging the oppressive remnants of apartheid in pursuit of a truly African university”.
Earlier scores of students gathered on the university’s Rooiplein for a discussion on “confronting white supremacy”, organised by Open Stellenbosch.
During the discussion a white student who was passing by shouted “Jou m**r” at the group.
Open Stellenbosch member Khule Duma said white supremacy was present on campus every day.
“It’s thinking that your language is better than another person’s language. It’s thinking that within a residence space you have a right to speak Afrikaans despite the fact that there are students who say can we please make a compromise and speak English. It’s saying to students, this is not your university, this is an Afrikaans university.”
He said it was sad that black students were still afraid to speak out against the system. “Why is there the same fear that our parents faced against apartheid in 1976? Why does this same fear exist here in Stellenbosch?”
Duma said the group was unapologetic about creating spaces for dialogue. “If you are uncomfortable then you know what it’s like to be a black student on an everyday basis on the campus,” he said.
UCT student representative council president Ramabina Mahapa, who addressed the crowd, said the SRC supported Open Stellenbosch.
“As the oppressed people we must begin to really dismantle white supremacy at its very core because it is suffocating us.”
In his speech, De Villiers said it had to be ensured that the university was a place where everyone felt welcome.
“Now there is an argument that we don’t sufficiently meet the needs of those students who don’t speak Afrikaans. And there are viewpoints to the contrary. What we need to do is firstly to recognise that language of instruction is a complex issue, requiring careful deliberation.”
He said the university’s new language policy, adopted by its council in November, advocated multilingualism.
“The policy says the university is committed to Afrikaans as academic language but also to English in the interest of accessibility as well as the advancement of Xhosa, where feasible.”
De Villiers said the university had only 762 black, coloured and Indian students in 1990.
“Today, we have more than 11 200, or nearly 38 percent of our student body. And we aim to advance this further over the next few years.”
He said 43 percent of personnel were black, white or coloured, although this figure was only 20 percent if only academic staff was considered.
At a press conference before the ceremony he said he was “all for” student activism.
He said that in education, transformation could be achieved by recognising and developing potential and constantly emphasising excellence.
De Villiers is the former dean of health and has a long association with the university.
After matriculating with the top marks in the then Cape Province in 1977, he passed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) at Stellenbosch cum laude.
He also holds a Master of Medicine degree in internal medicine from Stellenbosch, a Doctor of Philosophy in Immunology from Oxford University and a Master’s degree in healthcare management from Harvard University.
Cape Argus