Sipho Seepe
4 November 2009
opinion
Johannesburg — IT SEEMS it was only yesterday that South Africans reacted with horror and revulsion as they watched the video made by four white students of the University of Free State (UFS), in which black women were made to eat food laced with urine.
For these women the humiliation was shattering, especially since they regarded the students as their children.
For race-conscious people , the video confirmed the enduring existence of racism. Gender activists pointed out the video depicted the dehumanisation that women face daily. For some of us, any one of those women could be our mothers. The incident reminded us of a litany of acts of humiliation, accumulated over the years, which have become part of our existence and collective memory.
A sense of relief descended when the university authorities acted decisively and expelled the students. In doing so, they sent an unequivocal message that such acts and students have no place at a university.
Justice seemed to have been served until Jonathan Jansen's dramatic entry. In one stroke he cut through the tissue-thin national unity by pardoning the students. It was a case of advancing the interests of white racist students at the expense of the vulnerable black workers.
Cabinet, the African National Congress (ANC), the Sunday Times and Mail & Guardian editorials, and the minister of higher education all spoke in one voice reminding us of the original sin. Zapiro joined the chorus, depicting Jansen pissing on the black workers and proclaiming that he was doing it in the interests of reconciliation.
While we are still reeling from this, another group of UFS students, perhaps encouraged by Jansen's act, decided to urinate on a black student's washed linen. It would seem black people are convenient toilets. Jansen's vision would come to naught until he addresses this pissing tradition on his campus.
When the Sunday Times confronted Jansen about the latest pissing incident, he reportedly indicated that he did not "think this is an incident". And he added, "I'm tired of this." To whom is this not an incident? Not if you're on the receiving end. Such comments only serve to remind a black student of his place and the futility of trying to seek official protection. Is it any wonder the student does not want to be named, as he fears for his safety?
But Jansen is consistent. Responding to Chris Barron (Sunday Times) on whether he should have taken the victims' feelings into account, he ignored the question and proceeded to ask his own. Somehow victims of racism didn't seem to fit nicely into the vice- chancellor's bigger picture and vision. No vision is too important to treat the most vulnerable and weak in this fashion.
Most worrying is that Jansen's dismissive response comes shortly after the victims indicated that they felt like Jansen had treated them like mere toilets and nobodies. Jansen's supporters have deliberately sidestepped this issue. Instead, they have reduced it to one of standing up to the ANC, the Cabinet, and the minister of higher education.
In doing so, they have missed the fact that many well-meaning South Africans think Jansen has erred in pardoning the students. Jansen's reference to a number of e-mails supporting him is also disappointing. Of all people, he should know that numbers do not prove that one is right. This is like saying: "I've got my mob that can match yours."
Jansen's public signature is to shock. Unfortunately, this time the strategy boomeranged. I hope he will be humble enough to reflect on this and learn to listen to others. Like the Sunday Times editorialised, I too "expected Jansen to know better that any true reconciliation should be preceded by an expression of remorse on the part of the perpetrator. That ethos is the blueprint of our much-vaunted Truth and Reconciliation Commission."
I believe Jansen's act was well intentioned. But if your solution achieves the opposite of what you say you want to achieve, it is time to reconsider. I hope he does not confuse stubbornness with being firm. And admitting that you have made a mistake is not a mark of weakness, but quite the opposite. And yes, only the offended person can forgive.
Seepe is a higher education and strategy consultant.
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