Free State University will allow four accused of humiliating black workers in internet video to resume studies
David Smith in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 October 2009 16.21 BST
A university has tested the limits of racial reconciliation in South Africa after dropping disciplinary action against white students accused of humiliating black workers in a notorious internet video.
Jonathan Jansen, the first black vice-chancellor of Free State University, announced that the four white students would be allowed to resume their studies as a gesture of forgiveness.
His decision was condemned by leaders across the political spectrum, but won support from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who chaired the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in an attempt to heal the wounds of apartheid.
There was outrage across South Africa when a video posted on the web showed five black campus employees allegedly being forced to drink full bottles of beer and perform athletic tasks. The final extract of the film showed a white male urinating on food, then shouting "Take! Take!" in Afrikaans – apparently forcing the campus employees to eat the food, and causing them to vomit.
Jansen said the university would allow the students to continue their studies if they want to return. "As an act of reconciliation, the university will say to the students: 'You can come back, you can participate and complete your studies,'" he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Jansen added that the university, in the Afrikaner stronghold of Bloemfontein, should take responsibility for failing to integrate black and white people. "This university has for more than 100 years excluded black people from participating as students … by failing to integrate early and with determination, [it] created the conditions in which such a racist act could occur."
He pointed out that the workers – Laukaziemma Koko, David Molete, Noom Phororo, Mitta Nlseng and Rebecca Adams – would be offered financial reparations and, although the students will not face internal discipline, they will still go to court to face charges.
His decision was condemned by South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC). "Our view is that such an act will not lead to reconciliation but it will again harden racial attitudes, not only in the university but in the country broadly," the party said. "The dropping of the charges has robbed the former students, their victims, the university and South Africa of such corrections."
The ANC said it planned to organise marches and pickets at the university in coming weeks.
Helen Zille, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, said the students should be held accountable for their actions, adding that the pardon could do more harm than good. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union called Jansen's decision an "abortion of justice".
But retired archbishop Tutu expressed support for the vice-chancellor. "Forgiveness is not for sissies," he said. "Revenge and retribution are easy, being the path of least resistance."
The students – Roelof Malherbe, Johnny Roberts, Schalk van der Merwe and Danie Grobler – are expected to appear in a Bloemfontein court later this month. They are accused of willfully harming the employees' dignity through the use of racial gestures.
The video is believed to have been recorded in 2007 in protest against the university's plans to racially integrate students' residences. Lawyers for two of the students played down the incident last year, saying the video was "no more than play-acting".
Jansen said he understood the criticism, but had received "unbelievable" support and had spoken to the victims. "I do not come to this decision with hubris or self-satisfaction," he said. "It was a hard decision, but one on which I consulted widely."
Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/20/south-africa-students-race-row
No comments:
Post a Comment