The University of the Free State (UFS) is expected to announce its decision on the future of its Reitz men’s hostel on Tuesday.
The hostel was the centre of a racial storm in February this year after a video, made by residents, sparked a national outcry.
The video features black university employees on their knees eating food that had apparently been urinated on by a white student.
It depicts a mock initiation of five black staff members into hostel activities and refers openly to the university’s integration policy for campus residences announced in 2007 and implemented this year.
Two of the four students who shot the video have in the meantime stopped their studies at the university.
Before they left the campus, the two, RC Malherbe and Schalk van der Merwe, apologised for their involvement in the video.
They submitted that they acted without malicious intent, and expressed sorrow for the embarrassment they might have caused to any individual or group, including their parents.
Free State police spokesperson Superintendent Sam Makhele said a decision on possible criminal charges into their actions was still under way.
Various organisations called on the university to speed up its integration and transformation programme after the incident.
The council of the UFS has mandated management to consider the possibility of closing down the hostel.
The council indicated that the residence could be converted into a beacon of transformation, hope and liberation.
The university has in the meantime called for input from the community and all affected parties on the future of the hostel. — Sapa