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A black student activist has laid a racism complaint against a nuclear physics lecturer at Stellenbosch University after tracing an anonymous SMS threat he received.
The university has confirmed it is investigating the complaint after Sikhulekile Duma, who is part of a student and staff movement agitating for transformation at the university, approached authorities on Thursday asking for Dr Anton Stander’s suspension.
Last Saturday, Duma, a sociology student and member of the #OpenStellenbosch forum, received a text which read: Jou swart moer van die wit boer.
Loosely translated, it means: “You black bastard from the white farmer.”
Duma told City Press: “My Afrikaans is not too great, so I asked a friend I was with to translate it for me and I understood it was a racial insult.
“A friend then suggested I put the number into Facebook and told me how it actually tracks your number. The name Anton Stander came up and it also read that he had an association with Stellenbosch University.”
A Google search by Duma and his friends revealed the name of the person associated with the number was a lecturer in the university’s nuclear, radiation and health physics department.
City Press called the number from which the SMS to Duma had been sent, and Stander answered and identified himself.
Before the case against him could be explained, he refused to comment and cut the call. Stander also did not respond to two further text messages.
Duma said he and several other students involved in the #OpenStellenbosch movement had received a number of threats, but none of them were traceable before.
The movement started shortly after the #RhodesMustFall campaign began at the University of Cape Town.
The movement says on its Facebook page it is a “collective of students, staff, and faculty interested in purging the oppressive remnants of apartheid in pursuit of a truly African University.”
It has been behind a number of protests and mass meetings on the Stellenbosch campus.
This week, the group released an article titled The Arrogance of Apartheid Denialism at Stellenbosch University, which has been hotly debated on social media.
The group’s latest mass meeting took place on Wednesday when it staged what was meant to be – but didn’t remain for long – a silent protest at the inauguration of the university’s new rector and vice-chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers.
Duma also received a voice message on the day he received the SMS from the same number, which he did not initially recognise, but later established belonged to Stander.
“The voice sounded like an Afrikaans male. He basically said he was looking for a male associated with the address, which he then quoted, and hung up. The address is my father’s address in America.
“So then I thought, well, the only person who might have this address would be someone who works at the university, because it is not information I would ever casually give to anyone.”
Duma has lodged a written complaint with the university’s ombudsman and ethics hotline, which City Press has seen.
In his complaint, he says: “I call for Dr Stander to be suspended without pay while an extensive investigation into the matter is conducted.”
He received an email response from Professor Tobie de Coning, the university’s chief director of human resources.
“The University view [sic] your complaint in a very serious light and will handle the allegations in context of our formal Disciplinary Code,” it read.
“I shall keep you informed as the prescribed disciplinary processes are followed.”
The response from the ethics hotline was that the matter would be looked into and a response could be expected in the next six to eight weeks.
Duma said he was “worried” about his safety.
“If a person in that position feels they have the right to insult and intimidate me like this, then it tells you something about the attitude of white supremacy, which we have been challenging,” said the student activist.
