AfriForum Youth report reveals: Racial discrimination wields sceptre at race obsessed universities

Despite an apparent commitment to non-racialism and equality, racial classification is rampant at South African public universities. AfriForum Youth believes that this confirms the ongoing racial discrimination under which minorities suffer at these institutions. AfriForum Youth today released a comprehensive report on the state of non-racialism at South African universities and, among other things, exposed the immense scope and far-reaching implications of racial policies that are currently applied at these institutions.

The report, titled The status of non-racialism at South African universities, stems from information that AfriForum Youth requested from all 26 public universities in March this year. This was done in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). Five elements of non-racialism at these institutions are examined in the report, namely the requirement of racial classification in university applications; the consequences if applicants refuse to disclose their race; the respective policies or procedures used to determine race; the number of policy documents that refer to race; and universities’ positions on the constitutional values ​​of non-racialism and equality.

Several shocking findings are made in the report. Among other things, the study shows that all 26 public universities require racial classification in their application process. Furthermore, applications in which applicants choose not to disclose their race are considered incomplete and therefore invalid. At one university, the University of Cape Town (UCT), applicants can even choose to be classified under the so-called “redress category” based on their parents’ racial classification under apartheid.

Racial classification at the majority of public universities corresponds to the classification applied by the South African government, namely the distinction between African, White, Coloured and Indian. Racial classification at Nelson Mandela University (NMU), by contrast, is taken even further. At this university, a distinction is made between 17 different races and cultural groups – African, Asian, Chinese, Coloured, Indian, Japanese, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Other, Southern Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, White, Xhosa, and Zulu.

In addition to the classification of races at public universities, numerous comprehensive policies were found to refer to race and the management of racial matters at universities. At Stellenbosch University (SU) 17 different racial policies apply, while 15 such policies are applied at North-West University (NWU) and 10 at the University of Pretoria (UP).

“It is shocking that institutions that say they are non-racial have as many as 17 policies that refer to race. It is clear that the tentacles of racial obsession extend into many spheres of university life and at various levels control the treatment of students based on their skin colour,” says René van der Vyver, spokesperson for AfriForum Youth.

AfriForum Youth’s main aim with this report is to document the ongoing discrimination against minority groups in South Africa and to propose non-racial policies to South African public universities. “The practice of racial classification is a repulsive violation of the right to equality as envisaged in the South African Constitution, and also amounts to a violation of the foundational principles of non-racialism,” says Van der Vyver. “AfriForum Youth takes a strong stand against racial classification which unequivocally leads to racial discrimination. Students should be selected and treated only according to merit and not according to race.”