AfriForum Youth pasted stickers at the entrances of the University of Pretoria (UP) campus in Hatfield this morning to place the spotlight on racial exclusion and the university\u2019s double standards. This protest action follows after EFF members prevented white students from gaining access to the campus on 27 September. On that day, EFF members shouted, among other things: \u201cOnly black students!\u201d AfriForum Youth has already sent several letters to the university demanding the deregistration of the EFF Student Command (EFFSC UP) as a student society. The university simply refused to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deathly silence with which UP greeted the letters forced frustrated AfriForum Youth members to take a new approach to get answers from the university. The stickers were put up early this morning (9 October) at the entrances of the Hatfield campus. This unleashed a huge debate within a few hours. The stickers read: \u201cBlacks only\u201d and \u201cNo whites allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
University management reacted quickly, condemning the protest action and threatening disciplinary action against individuals responsible for putting up the stickers. It is shocking that the university reacts so quickly and heated to a protest against racial exclusion on their campus, while those who are guilty of actual racial exclusion bear no consequences for their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Louis Boshoff, Campaign Officer at AfriForum, says the contrast between these two incidents speaks volumes. \u201cAfriForum Youth will continue to apply pressure for the deregistration of the EFFSC UP, and continue to demand that the perpetrators of that incident be held accountable, as the university has now proven they are capable of responding quickly,\u201d says Boshoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStudents are being intimidated on the University of Pretoria\u2019s Hatfield campus and excluded based on their race by the EFF Student Command UP. In the meantime, the university washes its hands in innocence, but when there is a protest action that highlights this behaviour, Tukkies takes lightning-quick action and threatens disciplinary action. This is highly suspicious,\u201d concludes Boshoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n