University of the Free State‘s Vice-Chancellor Prof Francis Pietersen has emphasized that the recent incident of an alleged racism slur at the institution does not define it. Pietersen says the university has come a long way since the 2008 Reitz racial incident. This follows the allegation that a white student referred to a black student as a baboon during a practical session at the university.
The University’s Vice Chancellor says the recent incident should not be compared to what happen at the institution years ago. The institution says it has dealt deeply with issues of transformation, integration and social cohesion amongst others.
Pietersen has lambasted media reports over the recent racial incident. He insists that the incident does not take the institution backwards as portrayed.
“Media tried to make the university to be a racist university and that for me is not really balanced reporting and I just wanted to understand, if we are that non-integrated, then why are we actually getting such a lot of international support to look at issues of social cohesion,” says Pietersen.
The incident however forced the university to reflect.
“We then grouped as executive and say why did these happen and we did an internal reflection, but the internal reflection does not take us back to 2008,” Pietersen elaborates.
Some student bodies have called for the immediate suspension of a student and a lecturer that are embroiled in a racist incident.
The incident was allegedly reported to a lecturer, but the lecturer allegedly is said to have referred to it as a joke. The incident is still under internal and external investigations.
“That investigations are completed as yet but alongside as the institution of care we engage, so they have been engaging with the two students at faculty level and executive level and that conversation will continue and we are doing the same with the staff member,” Pietersen explains.
Pietersen contends that his office still awaits the investigation report into another matter.
There is an ongoing investigation that followed a complaint by AfriForum against a lecturer who delivered a guest lecture in July. It is alleged that the lecturer referred to whites as “land thieves”.
