Johannesburg -
“Wits University is an anti-black space built on the sweat and back of mineworkers long forgotten.”
These were the introductory words of Wits student representative council president Mcebo Dlamini in an open letter posted online to vice-chancellor Professor Adam Habib.
Habib said in a statement on Wednesday that Dlamini’s Facebook post was “racist to the extreme”.
He was commenting after the SRC president posted a photo on Facebook comparing the Israeli government to the Nazi regime.
Later, he wrote “I love Hitler” in the comments section.
Dlamini wrote: “Wits University privileges white bodies, white thought, white culture and white feelings.”
Habib has called for a probe to determine if disciplinary proceedings should be instituted against Dlamini.
In an e-mail to Dlamini, Habib asked him to explain the context of his postings.
Dlamini said Habib had told him he had received two formal complaints - one by a student, a second by an alumnus - about the Facebook postings.
Both complaints said the Facebook posts were racist.
Dlamini has been quoted in the media as saying he planned to publicly respond to Habib’s charges directly.
In the letter, he also criticised Habib for apologising on behalf of the university to “all individuals” who were offended.
“Adolf Hitler, like all whites, is no friend to black people, but I fail to separate him as a freak of nature from the rest of white people,” Dlamini wrote.
The Star