A student’s refusal to pray has highlighted religious and racial discrimination at Stellenbosch, writes Marion Edmunds
A PETITE 21-year-old Stellenbosch University student says she has been repeatedly heckled, abused and imtimidated by fellow residence students because she refuses to pray after meals.
Lawyers’ letters are flying between the student, Yvonne Malan, and student leaders of the Harmonie residence after a botched attempt to outlaw her from the dining-room.
Malan, now in her third year, told the Mail & Guardian this week that the intimidation was part of a history of conflict which dated back to her first year when she resisted the doop (initiation) activities, and also presented different viewpoints from the norm.
“Apart from Wilgenhof, this is the oldest residence in Stellenbosch and it is very strong on tradition. Nobody speaks against it, and it’s mostly filled with third- generation students, people whose grandmothers were at the res.
“In first year, they hung up the National Party flag and I objected and I got hammered … the day before the general elections they made everybody sing Die Stem. I refused and by the time I got to my room, the mob was already there waiting … they also try and keep me awake at night by banging on my door at 3am … it’s mostly a psychological thing.”
Malan, who is majoring in philosophy and politics, has a coloured boyfriend and she says this causes her further problems.
“A girl came to me and said I must remember that `mossies word met mossies en spreeus word by spreeus’ (birds of a feather flock together),” she said.
Malan said the residence was unofficially separated into white and coloured students, with the race groups sitting at different tables in the dining-room, and engaging in different activities. She said the white students referred to coloured people as “daardie mense (those people)” and that their rights counted for nothing.
Malan said that she often ended up eating in the dining-room on her own because she was considered persona non grata by her white counterparts.
She said she left the dining-room after meals without waiting for prayers to be completed. The row concerning this has been simmering since September when students at a house meeting, which she was did not attend, discussed her behaviour and reportedly passed a motion to outlaw her from the dining-room.
She could not find documentary evidence about this, but wrote to the house committee asking for an explanation of her rights. She received a letter from a lawyer which said that her rights as an individual were subject to the rights of the majority, which were Christian, and asserting that the residence was private property.
She took legal advice and responded that there were no grounds for this argument. She also objected to the tone in which the letter had been written. Another lawyer’s letter followed, from the house committee, apologising for the tone, but saying that there would be no further trouble if she behaved herself. Her lawyer is drafting a response.
The primaria (head student) of the residence, Jorisna Bonthuys, said that the matter was an internal one, and that it had been dealt with. She said there were no grounds for the allegations of intimidation, and referred the M&G to the dean for Student Affairs.
A representative for Student Affairs, Danie Roux, said: “The whole matter sounds very funny, and it is strange that we have not heard anything about it. I am afraid we cannot comment without knowing the specifics of the case, so perhaps you could encourage the student to come to us and we could help.” Roux denied that there were such problems on campus, or that racism in residences was an issue.
Malan said she had not gone to the authorities to complain because everybody would close ranks and deny any wrongdoing, and because the authorities’ first loyalties were always to the residences.
“They will say that I am throwing the Afrikaner tradition down the drain,” she said. “Those with problems are too frightened to speak when it comes to the crunch, because you are not just fighting the administration, but also the National Party in the Western Cape, the Studentekerk and a faction of the Broederbond.”
The chairman of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Nadine Fourie, said she had not heard of the matter but intended to follow it up. “We would strongly condemn and take strong steps against discrimination because we support the principle of religious freedom. I have heard that the rule of obligatory prayer has recently been scrapped by the house committee, but it’s clear that not all parties are happy, so we will definitely follow this up and try for an amicable solution. There seem to be a lot of communication gaps at the moment.”
Fourie said that intimidation of the sort described by the student was unacceptable, but was cautious about commenting without knowing the full details.
“We have to understand that we are moving to a situation where different people of different cultures and beliefs will be living together on campus. Our res tradition is important, it is an integral part of Stellenbosch culture, but that culture must be one of tolerance and there must be an exchange of cultures.
“The disproportionally small number of black students to white students makes it very difficult to integrate on a social level, and this will have to be addressed by the SRC and the university.”
The minister of education’s special advisor, Thami Mseleku, said the house committee’s stance on prayer was unconstitutional.
“All these matters are of great concern to the minister and the Commission for Higher Education and we are reviewing similar reports from Potchefstroom University where Muslim students are being expected to do certain actions and take certain courses which are contrary to their religion.” Mseleku said Stellenbosch students had raised the issue of racism in residences and on campus with him when he visited the campus last year.