The case against four former University of the Free State (UFS) students, who made a video that placed the university in the midst of a racial storm earlier this year, will be heard next year.
RC Malherbe, Johnny Roberts, Schalk van der Merwe and Danie Grobler, former residents of the now closed Reitz men’s residence on the Bloemfontein campus, face charges of crimen injuria.
They appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
The matter was postponed to August 19 and 20 2009 for trial at the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
All four the men were released on a warning but will have to be in court during the trial.
On Friday, the case against the fourth accused, Danie Grobler from Namibia, was placed together with the other men’s case.
The video, of a mock initiation of five black staff members into hostel activities, sparked a national and international outcry.
It featured black university employees on their knees eating food supposedly urinated on by a white student.
In the video, students referred to the university’s integration policy for campus residences announced in 2007 and implemented this year.
The four women and one male worker shown in the video are expected to testify.
The UFS closed Reitz as a result of the video, saying the building would be changed into an ”institute for diversity”. — Sapa