Reitz hostel to close after race storm

A notorious South African university residence where a racist video degrading black workers was filmed earlier this year is being closed down, a spokesperson said on Monday.

The homemade video, filmed by students of the former whites-only Reitz residence at the University of the Free State in protest at integration with black students, caused outrage when it was leaked in February.

“Yes, that is correct,” said spokesperson Lacea Loader when asked to confirm a report run in Beeld that the hostel was being closed.

The head of the Reitz residence, Pieter Odendaal, told the Afrikaans daily that management had informed the hostel of the decision.

“We haven’t been informed of all the reasons but they say it’s as a result of strong international support,” he said.

Student council president Ben Schoonwinkel raised fears of intimidation after suggesting residents would be moved into traditionally black hostels on the campus.

Four students filmed the video, which shows five black workers taking part in a number of initiation-like rituals, including going down on their knees and eating meat a student appeared to have urinated on.

The home-made film ended with the words: “That, at the end of the day, is what we think of integration.”

The film cast the spotlight on racism in the “Rainbow Nation” 14 years after the fall of whites-only apartheid rule.—AFP