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South Africa's minister of higher
education Blade Nzimande Photo: GETTY IMAGES
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A
South African minister has described a university in the country as an
"apartheid institution" after a series of race-related scandals at
schools.
The Telegraph reports Blade
Nzimande, minister of higher education and training, said the North-West
University (NWU) in Potchefstroom "remains fundamentally an apartheid
institution, if not an enclave in urgent need of transformation".
His
comments came as he presented the results of an investigation launched after a
video emerged of NWU students performing a Nazi-style salute.
The
minister said initiation rituals at the university were designed to
"violate human rights and dehumanize first-year students". Anyone who
is not white, or Afrikaans, is a target, he said.
"A
culture of fear exists at the institution and people do not talk freely for
fear of victimization," Mr Nzimande added.
The
controversial assessment comes just days after two students at Stellenbosch
University near Cape Town painted their faces dark brown and dressed up as
tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams.
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Stellenbosch
University Blackface Scandal – Two students donned 'blackface' for a fancy
dress event, as they pretended to be the famous tennis sisters, Venus and
Serena Williams.
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Pictures
of the pair spread on social media and sparked a nationwide debate on racism in
South Africa's higher education system. The students have since apologized.
"We
would like to reassure you that there was absolutely no malicious or racial
intent in what we did, it was an error in judgement on all our behalves, and we
regret this," said Mark Burman and Ross Bartlett in a statement.
"This
was not us dressing as a ‘blackface minstrel’, in the sense of theatrical
makeup used to perpetuate racial stereotypes and caricatures," said the
men.
"This
was simply us dressing up as two successful sporting siblings, as authentically
as possible."
Earlier this month, two
University of Pretoria students were also subject to an investigation after
dressing up as domestic workers and painting their face black. The students
were temporarily suspended.
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University of Pretoria students (photo:Twitter)
- A picture of two white University of Pretoria students, who painted their
faces black and stuffed pillows under their skirts to make their
buttocks look bigger in an obvious mockery of Black women, which went viral.
Many outraged people took to the social network Twitter to express their
disgust at the students, calling them racist, while others dismissed it as
just a bit of fun.
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Of
the Pretoria’s school incident, according to one media report, Poet and presenter
Lebo Mashile said painting your face black and making a mockery of Black people
can never be acceptable and is no laughing matter.
“South Africa is a white supremacist
society to its very core, and even though life has changed for a slice of
Black people, for the majority of Black people in this country, life hasn’t
transformed. The majority of poor people in this country are Black. Many Black
people in this country still live like refugees. So why are we shocked that
white people don’t respect us?” she asks.
Mashile adds that as a Black woman,
she takes great offense at what the University of Pretoria students did.
“If Black girls are being told they
can’t wear their own hair at schools, if Black women are told in corporate
South Africa that their own hair looks unprofessional, why are we surprised by
these girls’ act?” she asks.
Mashile says it is sad that such
incidents still happen in the country and she doesn’t think the situation
is going to change any time soon.
Stand-up comedian Tumi Morake, who makes a
living out of making jokes about issues such as racism, says she doesn’t really
care about what the students did. “They are attention-seekers.
They knew what kind of reaction they would get when they posted those
pictures online.”
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