Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has welcomed the swift action by Stellenbosch University (SU) to suspend Theuns Du Toit, the student dubbed the ’Stellie urinator’ was caught on camera peeing on a black students’ study material.
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) issued a statement today saying the minister condemned in the strongest terms what clearly appeared to be a blatantly racist act, where a white student Theuns Du Toit committed an “egregious act” against the dignity and person of a fellow black student
On Monday a video showing the student dubbed the ’Stellie urinator’ was caught on camera peeing on a black students’ study material at the Stellenbosch University’s Huis Marias student residence on Sunday morning, went viral prompting South Africans to be up in arms.
The university has since suspended Du Toit, pending an investigation.
“The Minister welcomes the swift action taken by the University to suspend the perpetrator of this shameful and de-humanizing act against another student and urges the University to take the strongest action to ensure that the university does not provide sanctuary to any racists. There is no place for such behaviour or persons at our universities,” the department said.
Nzimande is expecting a report on the incident from SU following the disciplinary hearing which is scheduled to take place on Friday.
The department added that the minister also directed that Higher Health work together with the university to provide the necessary support and comfort to the affected student to ensure that the student is not further violated.
On a broader scale, Nzimande called upon the university to ensure that it firmly enforces a zero-tolerance policy to vow that it provides no sanctuary to racists and ensures that the university is a safe space for all its students and staff.
“The Minister further asserts that the incident, like similar past incidents, point to a fundamental question about the continued persistence of oppressive social structures in parts of South African society that fosters a disposition in which a young person endows himself the right to behave in the most egregious and abominable racist manner against a fellow human being. If it is the case that no person is born racist, as former State President Nelson Mandela correctly argued, where does such behaviour stem from?,” the department said.